Monday morning – Before class

"Excuse me?"

"Excused!" I say and turn around as my friends laugh. I'm sorry, but jokes are funny, and when you make people laugh, it's kinda..I don't know..refreshing. "Wow.." It comes out in a whisper, so hopefully know one heard. I – East High's basketball captain, some say East High's catch – do not ever fall for a girl, nevertheless open my mouth without saying anything, just stare. So I pull myself together. "Yes?"

"Umm.. I was just wondering if you could point out the direction of Ms. Hill's classroom."

"Sure," I say and point my finger down the hall and to the left. "It's just around the corner."

"Thank you." She simply smiles and walks away. How can such a beautiful girl use glasses and carry so many books and actually look like she's enjoying it? And how can I not stop thinking about her? Geez Troy, shake it off.

"Troy?"

I mean, who was – is – she? Obviously new. Name? Interests? Family? Friends?

"Dude, where are you?"

I have to ta-- "What?" Chad, my best friend since pre-school and fellow Wildcat at East High, looks at me and he seems very annoyed. "What is it man?"

"You just- You just- You-" Wow, I guess there's a first for everything, right? And I tell you, this is the first time Chad Danforth has been stuttering like that without finding any words. Well, except for 'You just'. "You looked like you just saw a ghost or something," he finally says, still looking awfully confused.

"A ghost?" I can't believe my own ears. Whatever I saw, it was real. It was flesh and blood. It was perfection. "Oh no man, there's no ghost around here.

"There's a ghost here?" Ok, so Jason Cross is one of my closest buddies, but he really isn't the smartest one. I really can't count on one hand how many times he's made himself look stupid with just one simple comment. A comment he clearly should have kept to himself, that's for sure. "Seriously Troy, you can see ghosts?" Jason is very excited.

I sigh heavily. "Jay, I didn't see a ghost. There's no such thing as a ghost." He looks at me with big eyes. "Geez, you look like someone just told you there is no Santa Claus."

Now he looks at me like I'm stupid or something. Does he really believe there is such a thing as a ghost? "Duh!" he says, like I'm the one who thought I just saw a ghost. "Of course I know there is no Santa. I've known that for the last 5 years. Do you guys still believe in that joke?" Is he serious?

"Ok ok ok. Focus, people, focus!" Chad interrupts.

"Focus on what?" I ask confused. After all, he was the one who started the whole ghost conversation.

Now it's Chad's turn to look at me like I'm stupid. What is it about today that makes everyone think I'm stupid? I get good grades. I don't get in trouble. I'm a good kid. What did I do? "You zoned out man. What happened?"

How can I know? "Nothing happened. I talked to you, showed a new student the direction of Ms. Hill's classroom, and talked to you guys about ghosts and Santa Claus for some reason. Nothing ha--" I slow down as I realize what just happened. "--ppend."

"Ehm…I think something happened," Jason says carefully.

"You think?" Chad says, loudly. "Troy, was there-" the school bell rings loudly right above our heads. "-missed?"

"What?" I missed half of his sentence and really, I don't want to hear anything more about it. "Look, I have to get to class."

And I walk away. "When did you ever care about going to class at the first ring?" Chad shouts after me, but I decide to ignore it. Whatever that happened just now, I need to figure out without anyone else – especially Chad – hanging around me.

As for now, I just want to relax for an hour in Ms. Hill's English class. Ms. Hill might be the greatest teacher on this school. She's new, quite young, and she believe that the best way to learn is to learn by our own mistakes. Therefore we always use Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday writing on some assignment she gives us, and then Thursdays we switch papers with each other and correct them before we look through our own stuff again on Friday. I love playing basketball, but if I didn't do that, I would probably work towards being a writer when I'm done with college. Cause I actually love to write. I like to just let go of everything else around me and write. You still haven't heard the best part about this class though. We get to use computers to write on. They've taken away the internet, but still. It's much easier to write and it goes so much faster. And there really is no homework. I mean, we can write on our stuff at home if we want to, but it's optional. It doesn't have anything to say. I usually do though. Chad would freak out if he knew how much I love writing (umm…yeah, he hates it), and I can only imagine his face if I ever told him any of this.

Wait, did she say Ms. Hill??

Monday – English class

I feel like a girl. I feel like a girl. Why do I feel like a girl? I feel like a girl?!

She's sitting right in front of me. Why do I have sweaty hands? I have frekin' sweaty hands! This is crazy. Never ever have I behaved like this when it comes to a girl. I don't even know her name.

"We have a new student here today. This is Gabriella Montez." Ms. Hill points at the new girl. "Welcome to East High Ms. Montez."

Gabriella. Gabriella Montez.

Ok, so I know her name. Gabriella. That's actually a very pretty name. Gabi. Ella. Gab. Gabs. Gabster. God, why am I making up nicknames for her when I don't even know her. That would be great, to walk up to her and go Hey Gabster, what's up? I'm sure that would hit it off.

Oh geez, she's standing right in front of me, looking at me. What is she doing? Oh, maybe…crap, she's saying something. "What?" Troy, what the heck?

"Umm…we're supposed to get the laptops. Aren't you gonna start writing?"

"Oh…" What am I supposed to say? Sorry, I was just thinking about you?

"Oh I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bother you. You were probably thinking about what to write or something. I'm sorry." And with her apologizes – for what really? – she sits down on her own chair right in front of me – so close that I can reach my hand out and touch her beautiful hair – and starts typing madly on the keyboard.

"Thank you," I say as I go up in front of her. She just looks questionly at me. "I mean, for telling me. I was kinda in my own world."

"Daydreaming?"

"Daydreaming? Well, I wouldn't exactly put it that way. I was just thinking about--"

"It's ok," she laughs. "I'm always daydreaming. I love to just create a whole other world that is exactly the way I want it to be. Isn't it nice to just escape from the real world once in a while?"

I laugh awkwardly. She talks a lot. She obviously loves her dream world. "Yeah, I guess. I have- I have to go get a-" I point towards the laptops and she nods insecurely.

Dammit Troy, I say to myself as I take a laptop and walks back to my seat. What's wrong with you? You like her. Just ask her out or something. It's no big deal. You're used to this. You've asked tons of girls out. You've had a million girlfriends. Just do it. I stop in front of her, but even before she gets the chance to lift her head I sit down on my own seat. What the hell?

Instead of trying to make any more conversation with her I start on my own paper. And seconds later I disappear in what must be my own dream world. Come to think of it, all her words make total sense. I usually don't daydream, but I do fall into some kind of world every time I walk into Ms. Hill's class and start to write. There's just something about it that makes me relax.

Monday – After class

I feel so stupid right now. Just the thought of what just happened makes me want to hide behind a bush or a trash can or something. I am so embarrassed, and I did it all in front of Ms. Hill. And the worst part is that she just stood there the whole time and watched and at the end she laughed and looked at me with what I believe to be understanding eyes. I can't even think about it. I need to get away.

Actually, I need to go to the bathroom.

Monday – At home after school

Gabriella Montez wasn't in any of the rest of my classes. I don't know how I feel about that. Relieved? Sad? I mean, I wanna talk to her again. Some day. But I'm kinda glad I didn't have to be in the same class as her after what happened in English. Who knows what I could have ended up doing.

Monday – late… too late

I can't get that girls face out of my mind. I seriously see her face whenever I close my eyes. I so don't wanna go to school tomorrow and meet her again. I'm so embarrassed after the incident in English.

There I was, trying to be cool and all. As she was putting her laptop back in the cabinet I put my hand on it and leaned towards it, like to act cool and all, and said "So, what class do you have now?"

But she didn't even get the chance to answer before I was lying on the ground. I forgot that the cabinet has wheels because it usually stands at the teacher's room. So it just rolled away once I leaned towards it. As I laid there on the ground she looked at me with the weirdest look and laughed silently. She must think I'm some kind of freak and wish she never asked me for the way at all. And of course, on top of it all, Ms. Hill saw at and all she did was smile and wink at me. What was that wink anyways?