The Change in Him

Ch. 1

Celeste did not mean to, but it inevitably happened. She caught feelings for her friend, her best friend. Not only did she just catch feelings, Celeste fell for him. She fell hard. The intense feeling of love she had for him overwhelmed her daily. When she saw his name pop up in a notification on her phone, her smile stretched from ear to ear. When she saw something that reminded her of him, she blushed. Whenever she talked to him, she couldn't help but get lost in those beautiful eyes and fall further. However, she held back. Afraid that if she acted on these feelings she'd lose her best friend, Josh, forever. She felt better to hold him close as a friend, rather than lose him because he didn't feel the same and it got awkward. So she lived on, staying a friend, but still slipping farther and farther into this deep hole, where she was beginning to be swallowed by her feelings, and she could no longer crawl out.

After coming back from fall break, Celeste felt different. Sure, she was in the hospital over break, her parents saying she was in an accident, nothing major. They seemed overly upset for a minor accident, however. Celeste was grounded because they knew she was drinking when she was in the car. She was not driving, being just two years short of being able to. She did not remember, however. She could not recall who was driving, or who else was in the car with her. But, she shrugged it off, accepted her punishment, and moved on with her life. At school, people looked at her weird, but she just assumed it was because she had stitches on her forehead due to her head hitting the window during the accident. She walked down the hall, towards her locker. Her face lit up when she saw Josh standing there, leaning against her locker. She took him in as she inhaled deeply. She noticed his dark hair laid perfectly on his head, and his broad shoulders were covered with a black Adidas jacket, zipped up and covering his undershirt. He wore dark jeans, which was what he always wore, and the same black shoes he wore daily.

When he noticed her nearing, he smirked as he locked his phone and slid it into his back pocket. When Celeste got in front of him he quickly wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest and lifting her slightly off her feet. Celeste's arms immediately went around his neck, her face burying into him. She loved feeling his warmth, his hands touching her. She inhaled deeply, his smell filled her nostrils. He always smelled fresh, like nice shampoo. Probably due to the shampoo he used, but she didn't care why she loved how he smelled. She loved everything about him. As they pulled away, Celeste noticed the beautiful smirk that was plastered onto his face. She smiled before turning to open her locker.

"Hey, beautiful, how was break?" He smiled as he leaned onto the locker next to him. Celeste felt his gaze on her as she put her backpack into her locker and grabbed her book and binder for first period. Celeste blushed at the word he used to call her and let her hair fall in front of her face to prevent him from noticing.

"It was pretty uneventful, except for the accident."

"Oh, yeah, I noticed the stitches. You okay?" Celeste closed her locker and turned to look up at him, meeting those beautiful eyes she fell for.

"Yeah, I have no recollection of it. I'm fine, though, I had a minor concussion and a gash on my forehead, but otherwise I'm fine. How was your break?" Celeste asked as the first bell rang through the hallways, meaning there were only 5 minutes left until they had to be in class.

"It definitely changed me, I'll tell you that. I got to get to class, though, I'll see you," Josh's hand went to Celeste's waist, her shirt was ridden up a little, and she felt his fingers touch her skin. She felt tingles and before she knew it Josh leaned in and kissed her forehead before turning and walking around the corner. Celeste was left stunned. She blushed, pulling out her phone and pulled up her group chat.

Me: gUYS OMIGOSH GUYS

Jadyn: yea?

Dora: ??

Claudia: ???

Jaelin: mY TURN

Jaelin: ????

Me: jOsH

Jaelin: what about him..

Dora: uh

Sydney: yesss

Claudia: Jae check your texts.

Me: He touched my waist aND KISSED MY FOREHEAD

Me: !!!! what does that mEAN

Jadyn: omg

Dora: giRl

Jaelin: oh welp. he probs likes you then dude

Jadyn: ^

Dora: ^^

Claudia: ^^^

Tyler: What'd i miss

Claudia: josh kissed celestes forehead

Sydney: yup

Tyler: Lol

Jaelin: I gotta get to class, talk to ya youngins later

Tyler: We're not that much younger than you.

Jaelin: ope welp. At least i can drive

Claudia: how is that a benifit you driving means you have to do carpool.

Dora: hAAAA TURE FJIFHAISHI

Tyler: "ture"

Me: TURE

Jadyn: ture

Jaelin: HA welp i dont mind. byeeee

Me: T

Me: U

Me: R

Me: E

Dora: omfgggggg TRUE*

Dora: bye

Me: adios

Celeste locked her phone, smiling. She slid it into her back pocket before closing her locker and heading to first period. She had such amazing friends, and it seemed like the guy she was in love with might've been falling for her too. She bit her lip to hid her smile, but it fought back and won.

Celeste reached her first class, which was Science, and went in to sit down at her desk. She opened her binder to pull out a piece of lined paper and began to do the bellringer, which was a question on the board that the teacher put to have the kids answer at the beginning of class for a few extra points. She looked up when she saw Claudia walk into the class, her only friend who shared this period with her. She smiled and waved before looking down at her paper. She saw Claudia set her stuff at her desk out of her peripheral vision, before walking straight over to Celeste's desk.

"Details. Now," Claudia sat at the empty chair in front of her as she demanded to know what happened in the hallway. Celeste smiled wide and blushed before going into detail of the events that occurred a few minutes before. The smile on her face never left.

Maybe it was finally happening. Maybe the love of her life was falling for her too.