The Life Of A Quarter

Eleven

After he had gotten home from school, Zach collapsed into his favorite beanbag chair, and tossed his backpack onto his bed. It had been a long day, and his back was sore from being stuck in that tiny closet for so long. He had tried to eat his lunch during sixth period, but Mrs. May caught him just as he was beginning to eat his goldfish crackers. She took them away. Zach was still bitter about it.

As he shifted in the chair, he felt a crinkling in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. It was the note he was going to give Olivia today. But he decided not to after they were stuck together in a closet for 4 hours. It read:

Dear Liv,

Roses are red,

I'm gonna make this quick,

But you remind me of my chapstick,

Cause you're the balm. ;)

-Z

PS. I see your standing on the quarter still has no change. *bad-um-tsss*

Zach smiled at his own joke, Liv would have hated that. He thought back to earlier in the day. Being stuck in that closet was simultaneously the most awkward, but best moment he could have imagined. He never expected Olivia to open up to him like that. He pulled me from his pocket, and looked me over. Turning me in his fingers, flipping me in the air, and sighing when he dropped me on the floor.

He wondered if everything he had done was in vain. If she would ever have feelings for him too. If he could ever have the courage to ask her on an actual date.

Little did Zach know, Olivia's opinion on him was beginning to change. She had hated him all their previous years of high school, thinking he was trying to prank her. But now she thought differently. She had began to see the more human side to him, his humor, his quirks, and his insecurities. And she had enjoyed it.

He went and sat on the swivel chair in front of his desk, then picked up a pen, and his notebook from school. He was going to come up with a better poem for tomorrow. But as soon as his pen hit the paper, his mind went blank. How could he make this more personal than a dumb pick-up line? Pick-up lines were the only way he knew how to flirt. To put off writing the poem, he decided to get nicer paper. After all, Olivia deserved that.

"Hey mom?!" He called out from his bedroom.

"What do you need, sweetie?"

"Do you have any fancy paper?" He asked, walking into the living room where she was sitting on the couch.

"Yeah..." She paused, giving him a weird look. "What do you need it for?"

"Um... It's for a group project at school." He lied.

"Okay. I've got some in the green filing cabinet in in the office. You can take as much as you need." Zach nodded, and headed in that direction. Once inside, he opened the filing cabinet and looked inside. He had to find some paper that Olivia would like. There was paper with polka dots, there was paper with owls, dogs, cats, elephant, there was even a couple pieces that had hot dogs printed on them. Really, mom? Zach thought.

He kept looking, and finally settled on a nice purple one. It had silver stars printed on the corners. He pulled it from the cabinet, and headed back to his room. He sat down at his desk again, and started writing ideas down in his notebook. He wanted to make sure he had it perfect before he wrote it on the nice paper.

Dear Olivia,

Roses are red,

I've got a dog,

You've got my heart leaping like a bullfrog.

-Z

He crossed it out. That's so lame, Zach. Think of something better. He thought to himself.

Hey Liv,

Roses are Red,

Houses are made of Lumber,

This may seem dumb,

But here is my number.

434-268-2928

-Z

He scribbled it out again. Everything he wrote came out too cheesy. Behind him, someone cleared their throat. It scared Zach so bad that he jumped, and tipped the swivel chair over. After it came crashing down, he looked up to see his mom standing there. "Hi mom."

"This isn't for a group project, is it?"