Just Another Lovesick Boy

You know how on the first day of school, teachers always go around the class, asking people to say their name and something about them, giving the illusion that the teachers actually give a fuck? I had gone through that for about the sixth time in my life when I saw proof God exists. It was a random situation. Nothing special. After all, that is how most of these stories begin.

It was the start of seventh grade when it happened. We were all sitting in alphabetical order in our second period English class as the teacher went down the list, asking us to state our name, what we preferred to be called, and two things about ourselves. My best friend, Eddy, was giggling behind me as I quietly mocked the boys who introduced themselves before me. I was slightly turned in my seat, grinning at my friend when I heard my name.

“Aiden Dawson?”

I glanced up before standing and walking up to the front of the class, like the teacher wanted us to do. I cleared my throat once before speaking. “It’s Adrian, not Aiden. My name is Adrian Demetri Dawson, so yeah, my initials are A.D.D. I prefer to be called Adrian. I like cooking and yeah.”

“One more thing, Adrian,” she pressed.

“Um…” I pondered before smiling and pointing to Eddy. “Eddy has been my best friend since birth. Seriously.”

“Good, good,” she grinned. “Edward Dev-er-ex, you’re next.”

“It’s Devereux,” he corrected as he passed me to walk up to the front of the class. “Deh-vuh-row.”

“Apologies.”

“Accepted. Okay, so you heard my name. I prefer to be called Eddy. E-double D-Y. I’m obsessed with the color blue and Adrian is my twin brother.”

“Wait a minute, Eddy,” the teacher said as Eddy started to walk back to his seat. “What do you mean by ‘twin?’”

“We were born on the same day,” we said at the same time.

“March twelfth,” I said.

“I’m older,” he stated.

“Only by four minutes,” I argued.

“Four minutes older than you,” he grinned.

“Jerk.”

“Loser.”

“You even act like twins,” a girl at the other side of the room exclaimed.

I turned back to smile at her. And that was when it happened. Previously, I had never really been interested in girls. My life before that moment revolved around Eddy, my mom, and food. But then I saw her: the angel with the light blond hair and light blue eyes. I didn’t remember the exact specifics but I remembered that she was wearing a blue dress and had pink pins in her hair that matched her pink backpack. I stared at her and I knew God. Only God could create something so gorgeous. Eddy liked to refer to that moment as the second I went through puberty.

Excuse my sarcasm when I say that he was so funny.

But, seriously, nothing had changed. Every single year since then, I had at least one class with her. And every single year, I listened to her say the same words every time: “Hi, my name is Nara Lee Evans. People call me Nara Lee. I like the color blue and I like to laugh.”

And leave it to me to not realize she lived right around the corner from me until I was tenth grade. It was another chance meeting when I realized. I was late and running out of the house and ran straight into her. She gave me a small smile and said it was okay while I embarrassingly stumbled over my words to give my apology. Ever since that day, I made a point to leave at the same time so we might bump into each other again.

I was walking some distance behind her with Eddy as we all walked to school. I had one arm going across my stomach as I slightly chewed the edge of my long sleeved shirt as I stared at her form in front of us. Eddy had an arm lazily draped over my shoulders as he leaned against me and played with my hair. He rolled his head to the direction where I was staring before scoffing.

“Dude, stop being a pussy-bitch and talk to her.”

“You know I can’t.”

“Oh, right. Because the great Adrian Dawson is shy,” he said as he rolled his eyes.

“Eddy, shut up. You know I can’t help it. It’s life,” I mumbled.

“C’est la vie, mon cher,” he said with a huge grin.

“Whatever.”

“How is it so hard to talk to a girl? I mean they’re just like us. Except they have boobs and we don’t. And we have dicks and they don’t. And they do get periods…” he trailed off.

“Have you finally come to the conclusion that we’re extremely different beings?” I asked.

“Nope. We’re still human,” he grinned. “We just need to get you some sugar or drugs, I don’t know. Maybe then you’d have some balls.”

“Thanks, Ed,” I said sarcastically.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” he said with a smile before he pushed himself off of me and started walking ahead to catch up with her.

My eyes widened as I watched him walk towards her. He jumped to her side and tapped on her shoulder, causing her to slightly jump in surprise before she smiled tentatively at him. I took a few quick steps forward so I could hear them but still be at a safe distance.

“Hey, Nara,” he grinned.

“Hi. Edward, right?”

“It’s Eddy, actually. But it’s just a preference.”

“Oh. Cool.”

“So can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“What kind of guys are you into?”

I winced a bit before lightly slapping my face in disbelief. Only Eddy would be so blunt. I chewed my sleeve anxiously as I stared at her shocked face. She blinked a few times before looking away with a nervous smile.

“What I mean to say is, are you into certain guys? Like the jock, the artist, the emo kid, what?” Eddy specified.

“I don’t have a type.”

“What about short or long hair? Blue eyes? Dark skin?”

“I’m serious when I say I don’t have a type. I mean, I don’t care about looks. As long as he’s beautiful on the inside and treats me like a lady and acts like a gentleman, I’ll be happy.”

“Wow, that was beautiful. Was it a fart? Because it just blew me away.”

“What?” she exclaimed.

“Bye, Nara, see you at school maybe!” he grinned before skipping back to me.

My eyes widened as she stared back at us while Eddy hooked arms with me. “Tally ho, my dear knight!” Eddy exclaimed before pulling my arm, eventually dragging me right past a still shocked Nara Lee.

Eddy waited a few moments before leaning over into me to whisper in my ear, “I don’t think she likes cheesy romantics. You are absolutely shit out of luck, dude.”

“I hate you so fucking much.”

“No, you don’t.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Man, why did you have to go and say that?” I asked as we walked through the grass in the front of the school.

“I was just trying to help,” he shrugged with a huge smile.

“In what way in the world would that possibly help?”

“The Eddy Devereux Way. What other way is there?” he asked with a genuinely curious look on his face.

I shook my head at him before saying, “You’re an idiot.”

“You love this idiot.”

“Yeah, because no one else will.”

“I’m glad you admit it though,” he smiled as he wrapped both his arms around my shoulders.

I gave him a small smile before slightly pushing him off me. Eddy, of course, made a whole production out of it and went dramatically spiraling off into a wall before looking at me with a hurt look on his face. He gave me a huge Cheshire grin before pulling my arm into the direction of our first class. I couldn’t stop thinking about her, even throughout the loud singing my Spanish teacher insisted on putting us through. I looked out the window and up into the bright blue sky that matched her smiling eyes perfectly. I could not help but smile at the thought that I would see her the next period. It was only then that I decided to pay attention to my teacher and wait.