Chapter One: The Encounter

It was the first day of school and I am finally a sophomore in high school. I kicked the pebbles away from me as I stride along the sidewalk curb. I took a bite out of my perfectly rounded apple every ten steps that I had taken. I tasted the juicy- ness of my delicious bright red apple that I held in my small right hand, and that every bite I would take is like I was drowning in a sea of sugar because of the sweet juice that I would savor in my mouth. By the time I got to the bus stop, I had finally finished the luscious apple and all that was left of it was its core. After two minutes of waiting, the long yellow school bus had finally arrived. I showed Grace Balghmir, the kind and friendly bus driver, my bus pass. I took a seat near the back of the bus and along the way to school all I heard about is people chattering about: the upcoming movie New Moon, Twilight, television shows, Myspace, and etc. When the bus finally halted in front of the school, I got up from the slippery leather texture seat and walked quietly out of the bus. As I was walking away from the yellow bus, a guy skateboarded right in front of me.

"Sorry!" he yelled to me.

I didn't know who he was or what grade he was in, but that was the first time I encountered with him ever. His nice silky brown skater hair was brushing against the gentle wind and his black and white Joker hat was nearly falling off his head. He wore black and red-checkered Vans shoes and dark gray skinny jeans. He wasn't tall, or short. He was the perfect size and had the perfect smile on his angelic face. I stood there having a blank face on, until my best friend Jasmine Kano, a total drama queen, came by and took me by my boney arm. My first session was AP Calculus and for the time being, all I thought about was that guy who skated right in front of me. I had so many questions to ask him that were on my mind. Who was that guy anyway? What is his name? What grade is he in? Does he even know me? I wonder if he is the same grade as me, sophomore year in high school. I was somewhat daydreaming about this mysterious boy; however, I don't know anything about him and sometimes I wish I knew more about him. If only I had the courage to go up to him and have a nice conversation.

"Kaycee, what is the answer for number twenty- six?" Mrs. Gladiola questioned me.

"Um… the answer for number twenty- six is," I paused to look at my wrinkled worksheet paper, "n = 1,309,346,890."

"That is correct," Mrs. Gladiola responded kindly.

First day of school and already Mrs. Gladiola is picking on me. I took a deep breath and then the annoying bell rang. It was time for next session, which for me was AP Physics class with Mr. Kradvic, he was one of the funniest teachers I had so far and he was probably going to be the only teacher that'll ever be funny or actually is funny. I walked silently and quietly into Mr. Kradvic's classroom and I hurried to sit down in an empty seat right next to my best friend Jasmine Kano. Jasmine and I were talking how boys won't understand a girl as a well a girl does. One minute before the bell rang, a guy with a hat and a skateboard in his hand came in the loud classroom. Suddenly, the classroom grew silent as he walked to Mr. Kradvic's maple wood desk. I finally noticed that the guy, who just walked in, was the guy who skated by me this morning. He was that guy, which I couldn't get out of my mind. He was that guy, who I was wondering all the time now. Now, that guy is in my AP Physics class. I wonder as I sat on my chair if he would talk to me today.

"All right Jonathan, pick a seat in the class, anywhere in the classroom," said Mr. Kradvic, "Why don't you sit next to that nice and pretty girl over there?"

Of course everybody knew the prettiest girl in the classroom was Tessia, but no one really liked her that much and for sure Tessia wasn't nice to anyone. Sure Tessia was pretty and fashionable, but would Jonathan really sit next to Tessia? If only there was a possible chance that Jonathan would change his mind and sit right next to me, but this isn't a fantasy story- it's realistic. I looked over my shoulder to see Tessia and Tessia was flipping her hair. Tessia was a little bit conceited and then she started to fix her hair and waved at Jonathan. From the looks of what Tessia was doing, she was trying to flirt with him with her postures. I sighed and looked away from her. Tessia is perfect in everyway. I doubt that I can beat Tessia even at my own game!

"No thanks, Mr. Kradvic, but I rather sit over there," said Jonathan. Jonathan was pointing at the empty seat next to me. My heart stopped and I caught my breath. I quickly looked at Jonathan; he was smiling at me and stuck out his red tongue. I snickered and I started blushing, my cheeks grew redder and redder. Jonathan came over and took his seat next to me. He took of his green backpack and dropped it on the carpeted floor. He also took off his hat and sets it on the table in front of him. He quickly glanced at me and he wouldn't stop smiling then at he looked at the whiteboard. Unfortunately, I couldn't pay attention to Mr. Kradvic because all my attention was at the gorgeous Jonathan and of course annoying Tessia was staring at Jonathan, too.

"Stop staring at Jonathan and start paying attention if you want to pass AP Physics," whispered Jasmine, "Oh, and Kaycee I think he kind of likes you back, from what I am seeing."

"Gee, thanks Jasmine that was helpful… uh not," I responded back. Of course Jonathan probably overheard my stupid conversation with Jasmine. It doesn't matter anyway, if Jonathan does really like me then I'm happy for now.

DIINNNGGGGGG.

That was the sound of the same annoying bell ringing again. I stood up from my seat and gather all my belongings. Jonathan also stood up, but he didn't leave yet. Jonathan was waiting for me, but Tessia came rushing over to talk to Jonathan. As I was about to leave my desk, Tessia stuck out her foot, I tripped over it because I didn't notice it and I fell over her foot and on my side of my body, which caused me to drop all my things that I was holding. Tessia grinned happily and started talking to Jonathan again. How can I be such a clueless idiot? Of course I should've known that Tessia was going to embarrass me in front of Jonathan. I started to gather my things off the floors and eavesdrop on their conversation.

"So Jonathan, I saw you looking at me today of course because I'm pretty," told Tessia.

"You can say that if you want, but just telling you, I wasn't," exclaimed Jonathan.

"Huh, what do you mean? Anyway. What is your full name?" questioned Tessia and she gave Jonathan a sweet smile.

"Jonathan Naipeatto, and you are?" responded Jonathan.

"My name is Tessia. Just call me Tessia and I'll call you Jon or Johnny. I got to go to class, so I'll catch up with you later," said Tessia.

I got up and brushed off my new blue skinny jeans. I started to walk out of the classroom door, until Jonathan grabbed my arm. My cheeks turned rose red when Jonathan touched my arm. I looked back at him and he smiled friendly. So Jonathan and I walked to the next class we had, surprisingly we had the same class again! We both had Beginner French class together at classroom number seventeen. When we walked into the classroom Ms. Elise greeted us with a French phrase.

"Bonjour classe (Hello Class)," greeted Ms. Elise, "êtes-vous aujourd'hui? Faites-vous bien dans la classe aujourd'hui (How are you today? Do you do well in class today?) ?"

Jonathan and I looked at each other with a confused face. We didn't know French at all, but we are willing to learn. I am so happy that Jonathan and me are friends now. I like Jonathan, but only Jasmine knows that. On the way to this class, Jonathan apologized for his rude behavior in the morning today and of course I forgave him. He also told me that we should be friends. We both laughed because we had no idea what Ms. Elise was talking about. Ms. Elise suddenly gave us the look as if she was saying not to mess around in her class especially the first day of the school year. I got a little scared of Ms. Elise because of her expression.

"Who knows what I said to you when you had enter my classroom?" questioned Ms. Elise. Ms. Elise had a heavy French accent so it was hard to understand what she was saying. Ms. Elise looked around the classroom and stared at everyone in it. She looked over my shoulder. A freshman was sitting behind me and Ms. Elise called on her instead of me.

"Elizabeth, do you know what I had said?"

"Umm….."

"Elizabeth, dear I know you may not have perfect French hearing, but try."

"Ms. Elise, you said… Hello Class. How are you today? Do you do well in class today?"

"Yes that is correct Elizabeth. That was perfect."

I sat on my blue chair wondering if French class will be over soon. Every five minutes I will look at the classroom's old clock then at the beautiful Jonathan to see what he is doing at the moment. Finally, the noisy bell rang. One more session till lunch. Jonathan walked over to me and asked me some questions then later on he walked away to his next class. My next classroom was right next to my French class so it was classroom number eighteen. I walked inside the classroom of Miss Lee. Miss Lee teaches AP Biology and I heard this class is one of the hardest classes yet. Knowing this fact, I must study hard so I do not fail this class and make a fool out of myself. I wish I were with Jonathan because he makes me laugh and smile all the time. Jonathan has AP Compsci, which is a computer class and they probably learn about computers and Java. At least I can relax in AP Biology and concentrate on what Miss Lee has to say. The past few years my science wasn't my strongest point so I know I might struggle through this class.

When class was over, I ran to get in line for the lunches. I was going to get teriyaki and rice that costs $4.50, which I thought, was way too much but whatever. My stomach grumbled and growled, I looked around to see if anybody heard my stomach. I caught my eye on something. It was something all right; Tessia was all up to Jonathan and being all girly to him even though you can tell that Jonathan didn't want to talk to the conceitedness Tessia. I just remembered I was in line so I couldn't walk over there and give flirty Tessia a piece of my mind. I got to the window and gave them my money; in return I got my teriyaki and rice lunch. I walked over to where Jasmine Kano, Brooke Hazelen, and Erika Cisvillionas were sitting at. I told them about Jonathan. How his smile would brighten my day or make my week even so. My friends told me about their day so far and I told them about mine.

"You know Kaycee, you like Jonathan right?" exclaimed Brooke.

"Yes, why?" I questioned.

"Well… Kaycee, we should give this Jonathan guy a nickname? Right?" questioned Erika.

"Sure why not? But do you guys have any clue?" I replied.

"I do." Responded Jasmine.

"Well Jasmine what is it?" I asked.

"Joncee. It's the name 'Jon' in Jonathan and your last syllable 'Cee' in Kaycee. So Jon plus Cee equals Joncee! Brilliant right!" yelled Jasmine.

"Not bad Jasmine," I responded.

His name is Joncee. My gorgeous Jonathan is Joncee. That was his nickname we call him. Only my friends and I are allowed to call him and anyway we are the only ones that know about it. I wrote his name 'Joncee' a million times on a piece of white printing paper and taped it on my china white wall. I smiled at it and lay on my soft comfy bed. I pulled my red polka- dotted blankets over my body and I was thinking about today. Tonight is going to be a cold night so I cuddled into a ball shape and turned off the CFL lights. The shadows danced around my room to the rhythm of my heartbeat and the moon shifted a little bit to every minute that past. I would want to dream about something happy and Joncee would be in there, too. Maybe something like a fantasy story where the happy endings come true. All I would think about is Joncee. I finally closed my eyes after ten minutes I had got into bed. In my mind all I heard was:

JON- cee

JON- cee

JON- cee

JON- cee

I grabbed my stuffed monkey and held it tight making sure it won't slip away like Jonathan might slip away from my grasp. Tomorrow might be a better day than today, but no one really knows the full story so it may be a bad day, but I'm hoping and wishing. Even though today was the greatest day in my life so far. I still wonder what Joncee thinks of me, but no matter what he will still be in my heart today and tomorrow and in the future.