My Girl

I walked down the hallways of my school, tugging on the hem of my uniform skirt as I pulled my phone out of my backpack. When I turned it back on, my phone buzzed and sent me to my inbox.

CALL ME WHEN YOU GET HOME, WE SHOULD HANG OUT TODAY.

I smiled and bit my lower lip, approaching my locker. Nick and I hadn’t really talked in person since Saturday, since I had had such an eventful Sunday (sarcasm), and we both had school today. He had called me Sunday afternoon, but it was a rule of my mom’s to not leave the house on Sundays.

I WISH, BUT I HAVE SO MUCH HOMEWORK TONIGHT.

“Who ya’ texting?” Sylvia popped up next to me and glanced over my shoulder as I slid my phone closed. She had seen the return address already and was now giving me a somewhat shocked look. “I’m not going to tell anyone, but seriously, you need to stop talking to him.”

My phone buzzed and I slid it open, ignoring Sylvia’s warning.

DID I EVER TELL YOU I WAS GOOD AT SCHOOL? :)

I typed Nick a time for him to meet at my house back and glanced at Sylvia. “I’m sorry, were you saying something?”

“Elise, seriously? He’s our schools rival. This is like, unacceptable.” I slammed my locker door shut and turned on my heels, walking out the front doors of the Junior hallway.

“Your so dumb. Just let me hang out with whoever I want to.” I argued, grabbing my keys out of my purse that was slung around my shoulder. Sylvia trailed behind me.

“I will tell.” She threatened. Her voice was loud enough to make the small crowd outside stop their conversations. I glanced at the gawking eyes and then back at Sylvia.

Could something so small like hanging out with a guy from a different school ruin my reputation here? It didn’t seem like that big of a deal. And I know I should have stood up for the right thing, but I was too selfish. And I couldn’t honestly think what I would do if everyone was suddenly against me, instead of with me, at this school.

“Do you want that to happen?” Sylvia brought me out of my thoughts and I looked back into her eyes, shaking my head slightly. She smiled victoriously and walked around to the other side of my car that was sitting in the parking lot.

“So lets go hang out at the mall or something.” She said, sitting down in the passenger seat without even asking for a ride. The people in the parking lot had gone back to their conversations, and I started up my car.

“I have to study. We have that Bio exam tomorrow.” I stated, pulling the car into drive. Sylvia’s hand clamped down on the door handle.

“I’m not wasting my time with that.” She stood out of the car as it idled and ducked her head back in. “Are you busy tomorrow?”

I glanced down at my phone, but shook my head. “Not that I know of.”

“Good. Don’t make plans with your little faggot either, I want to hang out.” She slammed the door shut and strutted across the parking lot, approaching a group of football players who were all leaning up against a guys Jeep. My phone buzzed again and I picked it up out of my bag.

I’M ON MY WAY OVER NOW, SEE YOU IN A FEW.

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I shoved the pairs of shoes out of the hallway and into the closet next to the door, slamming it closed when everything was stuffed away. My mom and I hadn’t had guys over at the house in a long time, so our clothes and other things were laying around the house openly. My mom wouldn’t be home from work until later tonight, something at her office had been handled incorrectly..

The doorbell rang and I gripped onto the side of the island in the kitchen, looking around panicked at the rest of the house. It was still a mess. I walked from the kitchen into the hallway, shoving things into random doors and closets as I made my way to the front door.
Twisting the doorknob quickly I greeted Nick, who was rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Sorry I took so long...!” I apologized, letting him inside of the house. “I was trying to clean the house, it’s still a mess.” I rambled on, but Nick just smiled politely and looked around the house.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind.” Our eyes met and he smirked slightly, pulling his book bag off of his shoulder. “Should we start studying?”

“Let’s go up in my room, it’s the cleanest place in the house.” I flicked a magazine off the top of the couch next to me and smiled sheepishly. Nick shrugged his shoulders and let me lead the way up the stairs. The hallway narrowed out and we stood shoulder to shoulder as I walked to my room. I opened my bedroom door, turning the light switch on. I pulled my bag up off of the floor and onto my bed, sitting down next to it.

“So what are you studying for?” Nick asked, pulling my computer chair next to my bed. He leaned back in it and tried to read my notes I had pulled out of my bag.

“Don’t you have your own homework?” I questioned, pulling out my Biology book. Nick ignored my question and nodded toward my book.

“I took the class at Meadow last year, the exam isn’t that hard.” He stated, resting his hands behind his head. I nodded and rested my book on my lap.

Nick looked around my room for the first time and his eyes fell upon something behind me. I turned around and followed his gaze, to the small keyboard that was in the corner.

“Can you play?” He seemed completely distracted from work now, his face showing concentration on the ivory keys. His fingers ran across them lightly as I walked up behind him.

“A little.” Only since I was five.

“Liar.” Nick teased, turning around to me. He turned the switch on the keyboard to ON and nodded toward it. “Will you play something?”

“We are supposed-”

“We will. I just want to hear you play.” Nick’s voice was quiet, intense, in some sort of way. I sighed and nodded, reaching underneath my chair for the folder that I kept all of my sheet music in. Nick sat down on the edge of my bed and watched me eagerly.

I looked at him once more as I set up the sheets, smiling at his encouraging nod. The piece I had been working on wasn’t that difficult, but throughout the entire piece it got faster and more intense.

I bit my lip in concentration and started slowly, pressing down on the peddle when I was supposed to. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Nick’s smile grow, especially when I flew through the song, even to the part that I hadn’t perfected yet, with sheer perfection.
I put my hands in my lap when I finished and glanced back up at Nick, who was still smiling. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again.

“That was…amazing. Your really good.” He said after a few seconds of silence. I blushed and tucked my hair behind my ear, getting up from my piano bench.

“So what about your music? You and Joe are like, in a band or something?” I sat down next to Nick and he suddenly seemed interested in the book he had taken off of my bed.

“We should get to work.” He had started to flip the page, but I slammed my hand down on it, smiling up at him.

“I don’t think so.”

“We sing, and play and everything…with my other brother Kevin.” He informed me, his face suddenly settling. “You should come over sometime, we could play for you.”

“So your in a band.”

“Yeah. So can you come over?” He seemed to be thrilled with his new plan. I stared down at my phone, where my unread text messages from Sylvia were still crowded in my inbox and sighed.

“Not tomorrow, Sylvia wants to hang out. When are you not busy?” I questioned.

“Well, Kevin is gone until Friday anyways, and he’s like…one-third of the band. I could always pick you up from school and you could come over afterwards.” I cringed at the idea of a rival coming onto school grounds. From the look on Nick’s face, he was thinking the same thing.

“We shouldn’t let this stupid school thing get in the way.” Nick mumbled. Although he hadn’t meant it to be funny, I started to laugh.

“You may be set for life since your going to be a superstar someday, but I have no talent whatsoever, so school is the furthest away from stupid.” Nick rolled his eyes and stood up from his chair.

“You know that’s not how I mean it.” He glanced at me and smiled. “And of course you have talent.” He nodded toward my keyboard.His phone rang in his back pocket and he quickly pressed a button, placing it over his ear.

“Joe, I told you five, didn’t I?” he said quickly, shoving the phone back in his pants. “I’m sorry, I should get going.”

“It’s fine.” I followed him down the stairs. He slipped his shoes on and paused outside my door.

“Do you think you will be able to come over Friday?” Nick reached out for the door and opened it halfway.

“Yeah, I think so. My mom can drop me off or something.” I suggested, following him out onto my porch. A few kids from my school were hanging out in the front lawn of the house in front of mine, but they didn’t seem to notice Nick.

“I’m willing to pick you up. Unless you don’t want to be seen with me.” Nick teased. I smiled and glanced at the kids again, who were still caught up in their own business.

“Psh, I don’t.” I smiled, watching Nick rub the back of his neck nervously. What was supposed to happen? Would it be weird to hug him? Sure, we had only known each other for a few days, but there wasn’t many things I wanted more than to feel his toned arms wrapped around my body, just to get the idea of what it felt like.

He smiled at me and I bit my lower lip, my stomach twirling as he came closer to me.

“See ya.” Instead of pulling me into a hug, like I had expected, he reached out for his bag that I had been holding in my hands the entire time. His fingers brushed up against my palm slightly and electricity seemed to pulse through my veins. My face felt hot and I smiled as Nick waved to me from the drivers seat of his car.

The loud noise of his engine starting up had distracted my peers and they all glared at the bumper sticker I had just realized now of his school’s baseball team. I felt their eyes on me after his car was out of sight, and I turned to walk back into my house.

My eyes met one of the kid’s from the front yard across from mine. Arielle Johnson. A girl that had been in the same class as me since preschool, but someone that I have never really paid all that much attention to. Her house was right across from mine, and her brother Parker seemed like exactly the type of guy I would usually fall for, but they had never been more in my life besides “my neighbors”. She smiled at me and waved slightly. I returned the favor, opening the door slowly and disappearing back into my house.