Not Another High School Love Story

21. Jonah Pierson Is a Shark

After seventeen years of living the same boring life every day, I can officially say I'm a whole new man. Shedding that old skin feels a hell of a lot better than I actually thought it would, and honestly I don't know why I haven't done it sooner. If this is what the rest of my life's going to be like then I'm kind of bummed I spent so long being adverse to change, who knows what all I've already missed by hiding in the shadows. People are going to have a whole new definition of me by the time I graduate, and for the first time they'll think something other than Loser when they hear the name Jonah Pierson. Believe me, nobody was more surprised than I was to discover a far more socially developed young adult hiding beneath all this angst, but here I am.

I'm not really sure where to start, it's kind of hard to explain how it all began, but I guess I'll rewind back to Brent. It's been about a month since I lost my virginity to him, and ever since then I've just felt more confident than I've ever been in my entire life. It didn't happen overnight, but after all the stuff he said to me I started to notice more things about myself that I actually like. For example, I have really nice lips. Not to humble brag or anything, but my jawline could probably cut glass too. I don't know, maybe I was only average because I thought I was average, because I let myself be average.

Before all this my routine was just to roll out of bed and take like ten minutes to make myself presentable. That was it, so I honestly can't be all that shocked when no one really paid any attention to me. Somehow I, the formerly homely Jonah Pierson, managed to land a hot boyfriend, so I figure it was high time I start taking better care of myself. Did I mention I have great eyebrows too? I started shaping them and I've been amazed by the results. Now I get up at least forty minutes early every day to make sure I have enough time to get ready, which might seem a little excessive, but the payoff is more than worth it.

It really hit me hard that first day we got back from Christmas break, I swear it was just like a scene out of a movie. I walked through the front door like I've done the past three years, but this time I didn't go unnoticed. Suddenly kids who'd never even looked at me before turned my way, people started whispering about the change I'd made, and I couldn't even count the number of smiles I got. It's been crazy, even now, halfway through January and everybody's still looking at me. I'm sure it probably helps that my metamorphosis wasn't purely physical either.

Like I said before, as soon as I felt better about my appearance I found out I was much more sociable than I thought. I wave to people I somewhat know in the hallway, and for whatever reason they wave back. I'm not terrified to chat with my peers when we're sitting in class, which basically means I have a ton of new friends. To top it all off, I even cracked a joke in the middle of English the other day and everyone laughed—even the teacher! When somebody says hi to me now they actually use my name, and even though it took me all the way until senior year I've finally been put on the map.

Not like he needs any more praise, from me or otherwise, but I know Brent's a large part of that. Our relationship is still going strong, we still pass notes and hang out on the weekend and after school when we can, but our newest thing is to talk on the phone all night until we fall asleep. I don't regret anything, I'm glad I got the whole losing my virginity thing out of the way, and I honestly couldn't have asked for a better guy to do it with. Plus sex is just amazing, I mean come on, I'm seventeen and my hormones drive me fucking crazy. Suffice it to say I'm having a lot of fun with him, and I'm sure Brent likes it too. He's been really cool and supportive of my changes, even though he made a point to tell me how much he already liked everything about me.

This time I'm not doing something to please him, I did it all for me, so I could feel better about myself, and I have to say it's working. You would think spending all that time in the closet would've taught me how to dress better, but everything I owned was just black and expressionless. It was definitely time for a change, and Brent went with me to the mall to help pick out some new clothes. I'm convinced my new style is a big part of this comeback, and luckily I was able to harness my inner gay and my natural gift for fashion. It also didn't hurt that I've spent so many years with Grace, I was bound to pick up a thing or two. No one dresses better than her.