And away we go with chapter two…..
French was hard enough without the seemingly most beautiful girl on the planet sitting next to you. I would sneak glances at her every so often. Catch her doodling or writing down random fragments of sentences that made no sense to me whatsoever. I noticed her charm bracelet which had only two charms on it, the letter M and a cello (I think). So I presumed the little words were lyrics to future songs swirling around her brain. The letter M was still puzzling though. M for Maya possibly? But I she doesn't strike me as one to be so narcissistic as to have a charm for their own name. I pondered the thought for a moment, scanning the faces in the room in search of people whose name begins with M when my eyes landed on the boy next to me. Miles. I studied him for a moment, looking at his choice of attire and wondering why in the hell this kid was here. He, even more than myself, looked like he didn't belong here. I guess he noticed my staring because he nudged me and then spoke.
"First my girl and now me?" He inquired "Damn you'll be in jail for stalking by the end of the day"
I rolled my eyes at him avoiding his crude humor when he decided to strike up a conversation.
"Listen man, I've got a bit of a reputation around this place. I'm sure you heard. Super good at basketball, rich, handsome kid? Yeah that's me and that girl next to you is mine. So I suggest you back off…."
He didn't need to offer an "or else" because I already fully grasped the meaning behind his so called threats. I didn't want to lower myself to his barbaric level but unfortunately all of my common sense went out of the window.
"First off, don't call me "man" as if we're pals because we're not. Secondly it's hockey time, man. And finally I don't know who you are because I wouldn't condescend to associate myself with you."
He opened his mouth as if to speak but he didn't like he couldn't understand what the word condescend means. I turned my attention away from him and started taking notes off of the board. After teaching us about verb tenses the teacher, whose name I've still failed to learn, handed out the homework. After receiving my paper I started at it blankly for a few seconds. I didn't even bother to write my name down yet as others were already working diligently.
"Can't remember your name?" Maya asked turning towards me "Is it a hard one?" she said giggling to herself obviously amused with her comment.
"No- I just don't really understand it…" I replied sheepishly
She giggled once again and I concluded that it was the most adorable sound I've ever heard come out of another human being. She stared at me blankly for a few seconds suspecting I was lying.
"Oh you're serious" She said "Well um if you ever need any help I could possibly tutor you." She sated but it came out as more of a question
I grinned. "That would be amazing. I hope to actually pass French this year." I said earning a laugh from her
"Well Mr.….." She said staring me in the eyes waiting for me to provide her with my last name. But all I could think about was how blue her eyes are.
"Saunders. Campbell Saunders." I said smiling trying to hide the fact that I was making direct eye contact for much too long which I can only assume is awkward for the person who doesn't have a huge crush on the person starting at them.
"Well Campbell," She said "I'd love to tutor you" She smiled at me one last time before she started to put her books away.
"What time does this class end?" I asked her.
"Nine oh five, and seeing how it's 9:04 you should probably pack up" she replied as she tried to shove all of her books back into her bag.
I didn't respond just shoved my crap back into my bag. When the bell rung I watched her get up and sling her bag over one arm.
"I'll see you around, Campbell" She said as Miles walked up to her and put his arm around her free one, leading her away from me.
As they walked away I heard him tell her of how I distracted him from learning his "French word of the day". This made her giggle and poke the pout that had settled on his face with her index finger. But before they exited the room she turned around and gave me an apologetic smile as if she knew I heard everything he had said.
After French I had math, which as impossible as it seems was harder than French. God this year is starting off great. As I sat in math class staring at the board trying to figure out what was actually going on I gave up. I gave up thinking about math and other things that make me want to move somewhere where I can just be. Not have to do a single thing and still be able to survive. So I decided to think about Maya and how she was endlessly amazing. The way her eyes lit up when people talked to her. The way she giggled and laughed. The way she wore her pants so they showed off her amazing butt. Endless observations that make me fall harder and harder for this girl I barely know as the seconds tick by. When the bell that signaled the end of class rang I grabbed my bag and went outside since I had a free period. I came across this beautiful garden with benches and flowers and things that just make you sit down and think about how breathtaking nature really is. I lied down on one of the benches and pulled out a copy of the book Dear Mr. Henshaw and started to read. After awhile I got the feeling someone was staring at me. When I looked up I expected to see some big scary maintenance man with beady eyes who would yell at me for laying on the bench not the blue eyes of the girl I could only stop thinking about when Beverly Cleary transported me to that amazing fictional world.
"Hi." She said looking at me from across the small patch of flowers "That's been my favorite book for ages…"
I chuckled as I replied "Mine too. Has been ever since I was a kid"
She laughed and got up and moved towards me. I sat up and put the book in my bag as she sat down on the spot on the bench where my feet had been just moments ago.
"So why are you out here?" She finally said
"Oh I had a free period and I wanted to get away." I replied looking down
She nodded understandingly "I come here when I want to get away too. It's a nice place for thinking." She smiled and stood up. "We'll its almost time for the next round of classes to begin so you should get going."
"Oh no my next class is lunch so I'm fine. But you can go if you'd like." I said looking up into her eyes
I watched the corners of her mouth form into a smile as she began to speak.
"My next class is lunch too. What a coincidence." She smiled at me one last time and then walked away.
As I watched her leave I couldn't help but think about how amazing she was. In every single way possible. I stood up and grabbed my backpack following the steps she took to get back into the building thinking to myself: Damn am I in deep.