Third Degree

chapter one.

Thalia's POV

My heart pounds furiously against my chest as my hands increasingly get clammier. I can only hope my hair looks presentable. It's too late to touch it up or even glance in a mirror.

When Grayson had asked me to meet him after class, I nearly choked on air. Then I thought 'I'll be fine once we actually meet'. Of course, I was absolutely wrong, and now, I feel like I need to cease to exist before he gets to me.

My undeniable crush on Grayson began when we were tiny little third graders, when our only concerns were getting to school, having fun, and going home. It had only grown since then. Now, in the second to last week of freshman year, I'm standing here as he awkwardly smiles and blushes, coming to a stop directly in front of me.

"Hey," he smiles softly. My heart rate continues to rise.

"H-hey," I respond, nervously tangling my hands within each other.

"Uhm, so, I wanted to ask you something." He blushes as my face blooms in red and pink hues, making his cheeks seem discolored. I nod and he let's out a deep exhale, but takes an equally deep inhale, in what I assume is an attempt to calm himself, but why is he trying to retain his composure?

"Uhm, do you wanna hang out after school? Ya know, maybe go to the park, or swim in my pool?" He fiddles with the hem of his shirt and I blush so hard, I fear my face is swelling immensely and starting to resemble a giant, embarrassingly red apple.

"Uh, yeah, the park sounds fun." I smile. I wasn't ready to go to his house yet! And I wouldn't be for another 4 months, a solid month and a half into sophomore year.

By then, we were already an official couple, and had been for 3 months. And it was going great, everyone was okay with it, other than the few girls who wanted him for themselves.

By the time we hit our 3 year and 6 month anniversary, we were well into senior year. There was only 2 and a half months until graduation, and we couldn't be any more excited to end the school year. We were absolutely ready for this! Other than graduation, we had prom and grad night just around the corner.

We were ready. Grayson and I felt more than ready to tackle the last bit of high school together, and we were definitely ready for the real world.