Jessica's POV
I walked into third period and looked around. I spotted his tall, lanky frame and shaggy hair. I sat down next to him. We greeted each other.
"Ready to learn the history of art." He smiled so wide that I saw dimples.
"Yes. You?" I smiled back.
"Sure. It's the actually painting I'm not ready for."
"Okay." I laughed. "I'll help you." I patted his arm.
The next few days were great. I loved hanging out with Sam. He was better than any other guy. Sam was smart, gentle, and kind. That Saturday, we went on another date. He picked me up and drove me to a restaurant. I blushed every time he held a door for me. Sam was like a prince.
"What's your favorite colour?" I asked.
"Um…I don't know. I guess blue." Sam told me. "Yours?"
"I like light blue and dark purple."
"What do you like to eat?"
"I don't know. I'm not picky, but I see you prefer healthy foods."
"I do." Sam nodded. "Have you always lived in California?"
"Yes. I live in Sacramento. I have a sister named Sophie, a brother named Tommy, and my parents. Tommy is married to Vanessa and has a son named Will. He is a doctor. Sophie is a senior in high school and wants to be photographer. My father is a doctor also, while my mom stays home. What about you and your family?"
"Um." I noticed Sam looked very uncomfortable.
"You don't have to tell me." I said.
"No. It's fine. I was born in Lawrence, Kansas. We moved after my mom died in a fire when I was 6 months. We have moved around since then. My father and my brother, Dean, are all I have. We had a falling out before I got here. We don't talk." Sam suddenly looked up. "What's it like living with a doctor. I bet it was nice." He smiled.
I told him about my Dad. It felt weird. Sam had changed the subject. I could tell he was still upset. It also felt weird to talk about his Dad. I felt it was wrong and that maybe his Dad hadn't been as good as mine.
"So when is your birthday?" I wondered.
"May 2nd. Yours?"
"January 24th." I replied.
I saw his face change. He looked sad and got a faraway look. I guess either his mother, father, or brother shared my birthday. How… inconvenient. I tried to cheer him up for the rest of the evening. I took him back to my place and showed him Snow White next.
"Why would she answer the door?" Sam asked, ludicrous. "She knows she is in danger. She is supposed to lock the door, not answer the phone, or go outside."
"She is only fourteen." I replied. I thought I heard him mumbled something about his Dad and not caring about age. The peaked my interest, but I didn't care mention it now. His father probably had to work after their mother died.
Sam left after the movie. I called my friends; Ashley, Mandy, and Nicole. I told them about my date. I told them about how Sam was a gentlemen. How he held the door for me and paid for dinner. I shared what I had learned; as in birthday, favorite colour, and things like that. I didn't mean him getting upset or his family. I told them about the movie. All were surprised and commented him on being perfect.
The two of us went out again the next day. Both of us went to the park and walked around. We got hotdogs, sodas, and bracelets. We carried on talking about things. Other teachers, school, and things like that. Sam's seemed very vague. Once I think he got his second grade's name wrong. First he said Ms. Addams, then Mrs. Reaves. She must have gotten married in the middle of the year. I thought they didn't change it until the next year to not confuse people. Oh well. Also, he only talked about the bare minimal about school. Long halls, confusing turns, crowded lunchrooms, and mean principals. All school had those.
"What are some of your childhood friends?" I questioned.
"Um. Barry." Sam said after a minute. "We were friends freshman year of high school. He was pretty small for his age. I remember that Dirk would tease him. I helped him though. He wanted to be a vet because he disliked people." Sam smiled sadly at the memory.
"And now?" I wondered.
"I haven't heard from him in a few years. Changing numbers and all?" Sam shrugged it off. "What about you?"
I told him about Nicole, Mandy, and Ashley. We had been friends since we were in middle school. All of us went through high school together as cheerleaders. Sam thought that was amusing. I shoved him.
"Now we are surviving college together. Nicole is also pre-med. Mandy is in pre-law like you. Ashley doesn't actually know what she is doing, as long as it's fun."
"Oh. She is the Luis of your group." He connected.
"Yep. Seems so. How long have you know Luis?"
"Well, I met him when I got here. We are roommates. He is a lot of fun…" Sam seemed to have no problem going on about Luis.
We moved to Zach, Becky, and Emily. It was fun to hear him talk about them. He only said nice things about them. I wondered if Sam had a mean bone in his body. I doubted it. Despite his size, I couldn't imagine Sam hurting anyone.
We had lunch at Subway, then went back to his place. I got to see his room. I could tell which side was Luis and which side was Sam's. Sam's nice was all made up and nice. He still had to comforter that came with it. His desk was perfectly clean with only some pencils, a textbook, and a lamp. His shelf had books on it. On the top shelf, I saw a picture. I picked it up.
"That's a picture of my mom and dad." Sam told me.
"Oh." I sat it back down. "So you are still in a dorm?"
"Yeah. I will probably get an apartment next year. And you live with all of in friends in an apartment." Sam said.
"Yeah. It's like having a bunch of sisters. We do all sorts of things together."
I told Sam about the shopping trips, sleep overs, boyfriend trouble, and everything we had been through. Dying our hair, getting our ears pierced, and going through different styles of clothing. The horrors of high school. Sam looked pleased and didn't seem to get bored.
Soon, it was time for me to leave. I had to finish up my paper. I drove myself home. I told my friends more about Sam. They all agreed Sam was a dream boyfriend, a prince. I just worried I was missing things. Maybe I was just paranoid after Danny.