Ninth Grade: The Obsession Starts

Here it was, the first day of school. Ross woke up at the sound of the alarm and rolled out of bed, stumbling towards the bathroom. Eyes half closed, he knocked into several objects before reaching his destination. With his hand, he felt around the wall for the light switch and flipped it on. Startled by the sudden brightness, for it was early morning and the sun had not yet risen, Ross blinked his eyes several times. Finally accustomed to the light, he looked up to the mirror at his reflection.

His dark hair was suffering from major bed head, sticking out in all directions. To add to his troubles, several new zits had appeared on his face, apparently overnight. Sighing at his less than perfect teenage appearance, he picked up a comb and began working on his hair.

A minute or so into his work, another light switched on. Puzzled, because no one else was usually up this early, he checked to whose room it was.

'Oh right', he remembered, 'Monica's going to the same school as me this year.'

Focusing his attention back on his hair, he had almost lifted the comb to his head when it was roughly knocked out of his hand.

"Move it, loser. I have to use the bathroom." Ross, trying to protest, only lasted a few more seconds before he was shoved into the hallway. The door slammed shut. Dejectedly, he walked back to his bedroom.

'I guess this is what it's going to be like from now on', he thought to himself as he changed into his clothes and gathered his things for school.

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"Bye Dad, see you later!" Ross called as he walked away from the car.

Lincoln High School loomed before him, hundreds of students walking through the front doors. Most of these students were traveling in small packs, excitedly chatting and catching up with each other. Observing this, Ross's feelings of being an outsider hit him like a ton of bricks.

Everyone in sight had tons of friends, whereas he was the dorky guy with a bad afro who liked to hang around the computer room. These thoughts were circling round his brain, when he heard someone to the left of him shout his name.

"Ross!" Again came the call. Ross turned in circles, trying to find the source of the noise.

Over by the trashcans, Will was waving wildly at him. Ross smiled at the sight of his only friend. Will ran towards him as fast as he could. He was blonde, with blue eyes, and the beginnings of a beard. Will would have been quite the heartthrob if not for one thing. He was fat. He had tried several times to beat his weight problem but had never been able to, and had reluctantly given up at the end of eighth grade. It was probably the main reason for his unpopularity. But Ross had no problems with it. After all, he had grown up with Monica. Now, however, Will seemed perfectly happy, greeting his friend with an enthusiastic high five.

"So man. How was your summer?" Will asked.

"It was really great. Dad put a pool in our backyard."

"Awesome, dude. I'm gonna have to try that out sometime."

Ross grinned, "Is after school too soon?"

"Not at all," Will laughed.

They'd missed each other over summer. Will had spent most of his in Washington, visiting his dad. His parents were divorced and he lived with his mom in Rhode Island during the school year. They continued to catch up with each other until the bell rang.

"See you later!" Ross called, running towards his homeroom.

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Lucky for him, when he arrived at the room, the teacher wasn't there yet. He slid into a chair in the back, noticing that some other students were missing as well, because there were still several unfilled seats. Ross, having no friends to talk to, reached into his bag and took out his book. Before he knew it, he'd become lost in the words, and was so captivated that he didn't realize the teacher had arrived.

Mrs. Hamilton was standing at the front of the class with her roll call sheet.

"Ross Geller", she stated, looking over at him, completely immersed in his book.

"Ross", she said a little louder and with a hint of anger. People turned around to look at him, still reading intently.

"ROSS!" Mrs. Hamilton shouted, and he jumped in his seat. Hastily putting his book away, he focused his attention to the front of the class.

"Glad to see you're paying attention," she glowered at him, before moving on to the next name.

Relaxing somewhat, Ross looked around and noticed that several students were still staring at him.

Directly in front of him a smiling girl quickly turned away at the sight of him staring. He hadn't had enough time to register who she was before she'd turned away. Now all he could see was her hair, hanging down behind her chair. As he gazed, suddenly mesmerized, at her long, dirty blonde hair, an unfamiliar feeling crept into the pit of his stomach. He wasn't sure why exactly, but at that moment, all he wanted was to catch another glimpse of her face. He'd never felt this way before. Just thinking of that brief interaction, he could feel himself getting redder by the second.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Hamilton continued with the roll call.

"Rachel Greene", she called out.

"Here", a hand rose from the seat in front of him and he felt his jaw drop.

The mystery girl that he'd practically fallen in love with moments ago, was his little sister's best friend, Rachel.

Rachel, who had lived down the street from him for thirteen years, and who spent as much time at his house as she did her own.

He had never seen her this way before, and something told him, this feeling wasn't going anywhere.

When the bell rang, announcing the end of homeroom, Ross was still sitting there, staring at the seat in front of him. He watched as she stood up and, not noticing in the slightest that he hadn't taken his eyes off of her all class, walked out of the room.

It took a few seconds after she'd left for him to realize that he was still sitting there, frozen. Grunting awkwardly, he swung his backpack over his shoulder and walked out of class.