The New Kid

Chapter 20

I woke up on Friday morning to my normal alarm. I slam my alarm clock off and climb out of bed. Almost going back to bed, I sit up and say immediately being wide awake, "Tonight is homecoming."

I run over to my closet and pull out a black long sleeved shirt, red skinny jeans, and my Converse. I put my outfit on and go to the bathroom to fix my hair and brush my teeth. 

I storm downstairs and out the door quickly. I walk down the street and waited in front of Sebastian's house. "Hey," I said. He replies, "Hey. Ready for tonight?" I nod and say, "More than ready. 8:50 right?" He answers, "Right. I might be about ten or so minutes early because my mom has to leave for a business meeting, so I don't want to accidentally bother her." I ask, "Is that true, or do you just want to see me a little bit earlier?" Sebastian hesitates and admits, "Kind of both." I blush a little and smile. I look over to see him smiling. We continued walking down the road to school.

***

School dragged on forever, but luckily I didn't have any homework. I met up with Sebastian after school so we could walk home together.

We just walked and talked as we went along. When we got to his house, he said, "See you tonight." I wave and say, "Bye." He waves back.

I get home, and Mom isn't home yet. I really wanted it to be eight o'clock so I could start getting ready. I decided to go to the living room and watch TV for a while. After so long, I fall asleep.

***

"Vanessa," someone calls. "Vanessa, get up," they call again. It was Mom. I didn't want to get up. I was too tired, so I respond with a tired voice, "I don't wanna." Mom commands, "Get up, Vanessa! It's twenty after eight!" I get up really fast and run upstairs. I pull out my dress and change into it. I touch up my make-up and hair really fast and realize that it's 8:30.

Just as I got done getting ready, the doorbell rang. Mom was already downstairs, so she answered it. "Vanessa!" she yells, "Sebastian's here!" I yell back, "Be down in a second!" I look in the mirror and make sure I look good. I grab my five dollars for admission then go downstairs.

I look at Sebastian who was staring at me in awe. He was wearing a black button-up shirt, black slacks, and his Converse. Sebastian says in amazement, "You look...amazing." I respond, "Not too bad yourself." After I said it, I play punch him in the arm.

Mom snaps a few pictures and we leave. As we walk down the road, I start a conversation. "I find this a lot more romantic than driving." Sebastian answers, "It was nothin'. Hey, so are you wondering why I couldn't hang out with you after school?" I hesitate and say, "Well, sort of." He responds, "Well, the past couple days, I've been feeling really depressed. I didn't want you to be there." I ask, "Why not?" He answers, "I really don't want to talk about it." I look over to see tears roll down his eyes. I stop us both from walking and face him. I tell him, "Sebastian, you gotta have someone to talk to. If I wasn't here, who would you talk to?" He looks at me and says, "Vanessa, I'm so sorry. This week I screwed up." He rolls up his sleeve to reveal fresh cuts. I start tearing up and ask, "Why did you do this?" He doesn't say anything for a while, but he eventually answers, "I've just been through a lot of stress. I miss my dad, and I just can't take it anymore." I let the tears roll down my cheecks and say, "No, you can get through this. I've been going through it for almost four years, but when I met you, I felt more confident in living. Thank you." I smile and he also smiles. Sebastian eventually says, "C'mon, let's get this dance over with." I respond with fake enthusiasm, "Yay, school dances."

We get to the dance and pay our admission. The gym had a decent size of people. Most of them were in our grade. I look over and find Elizabeth and Sierra looking at me. They wave with excitement, and I slightly wave back.

I look around and find Amanda who was looking at me. I gave her the signal we made up, which was me pushing my bangs out of my face. Amanda nods and starts. "Oh look! It's the new emo couple of East Seattle High School!" Everyone goes silent. I walk over and ask, "Got a problem with that?" She responds, "I don't need an input from a person whose 'pets' scratch them." Everyone laughs and Sebastian comes up and says, "Listen Amanda, I don't think you realize this, but these are battle scars. We go to war with, ahem, jerks, like you, and we can't take it. I don't think you realize this, but I commit self harm. I lost my dad, and I might be going through depression." He started unbottoning his shirt, and luckily he had a shirt on under and showed his scars. He asks everyone, "Can we just stop with this? We've all been through something devestating. I lost my dad. So did Vanessa. You know our names not our stories, so you all just need to stop judging for a change." Everyone continued what they were doing. Some people even whispered to each other, but I didn't care.

A slow song came on, and it was "Iris." I was about to cry. Sebastian asks with his hand out to me, "May I have this dance?" I grab his hand and say, "Yes you may." I try not to tear up because this is the song that reminded me of the time I flipped. I did what Mom said: Wrap my hands around his neck. When I did, he put his hands around my waist. After a while into the song, I rested my head on his shoulder. "Thanks for standing up for me," I said loud enough to where only us could hear. He replied, "Anything for a friend."

We continue dancing for a while, then he says, "You know, I wouldn't even consider us 'just friends' anymore." I ask, "So, is that a nerdy way for asking me out?" He continues, "Vanessa, I love you. Will you be mine?" I look at him and answer, "Yes, I will." Sebastian smiles and kisses me for the rest of the song, which was about thirty seconds.

When Sebastian moved to Seattle, I realized that you don't have to hurt yourself to make things better. People need you in their lives. Believe me.

Almost the end!