Just Another Lovesick Boy

My eyes shifted quickly through all of the nameless faces in the hallway as I briskly walked through the crowd. I let out a silent breath of air as I turned a corner. I was not paying attention to where I was walking when a door suddenly opened and hit my shoulder roughly. I winced and rubbed my shoulder, turning to see who opened it. There was a girl about six inches shorter than me standing in the doorway with both hands covering her mouth and her eyes wide in shock. My heart jolted in my chest when I realized her eyes were the same shade of blue as Nara Lee’s. She lowered her hands and I noticed that a strand of her extremely long blond hair was stuck to her lip gloss. She brushed the hair away as she looked at me up and down. She gave me an embarrassed smile as she adjusted the strap to her purse.

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

“It’s all good. Um, later,” I nodded before turning.

“Wait!” she said as she grabbed my arm. I turned and looked down at her hand on my arm before looking down at her from under my lashes, causing her to drop my arm in embarrassment.

“I’m Nicole,” she said as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Adrian. I really have to go, so later,” I nodded again as I turned to walk away, making sure I walked away quick enough so she would not have time to stop me again.

I turned the corner and walked down the stairs to the first floor and briskly walked down the hallway towards the auto shop class. I tapped my fingers on the handle to the door before pulling it open and walking into the garage towards Eddy’s laughing figure. I fell dramatically into the seat next to him before turning towards him. He nodded towards the guys he was sitting next to before they stood up and walked away.

“What’s the gist, physicist?” he asked.

“Dude, something of epic proportions happened in English today.”

“Are you going to keep me guessing or are you going to tell me?” he asked as he popped his gum in his mouth.

“She asked me to walk her home.”

“And?” he scoffed with a laugh.

“Dude, it’s the way she said. She called me her genie and then she got this close,” I said as I leaned forward so my forehead was touching his, “and told me her third wish was for me to walk her home. Her lips were on my fucking ear!”

Eddy’s eyes were wide as he put a single finger to my forehead and pushed me back. “That is epic.”

“What do I do?”

“Don’t be dumb. Just walk her home.”

“What if I mess it up?”

“Oh my God, that would be great. Only you would ruin a walk,” he laughed.

“I really fucking hate you,” I glared.

“Adrian Dawson, don’t you have a yearbook to be producing?” a voice spoke up.

We both looked up to the man in front of us, who stood with his hands on his hips and a teasing smirk on his face. I gave a sheepish grin to Mr. Wells before rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment. Eddy snickered to himself.

“Chill, Wells, Adrian was just about to leave,” Eddy grinned as he pushed me off my seat.

“He better.”

“You heard the man, get the fuck out of here,” Eddy said as he pushed himself off of his own chair and sauntered towards the car in the middle of the garage.

I nodded before pushing myself out of my own chair and made my way out of the room as the class began to gather together. I stuffed my hands in my pockets as I heard the bell ring throughout the campus, telling me I was late to my last class. I slowly walked towards the yearbook classroom, contemplating exactly what I would do while I endured the walk home with the girl I liked since seventh grade.



"Ready, magic genie?" a voice behind me asked.

My heart beat faster and my breath got caught in my throat as I turned around. There she was, in all of her perfection. I licked my dry lips as I stared down at her form. My throat felt tight as I looked at her. I started at her golden shoulders that were shown off from her blue dress. My eyes glided up towards her neck, to her bright lips, to her pink cheeks, to her wavy blonde hair. I saved her eyes for last. The watery sky stared up at me as her face crumpled into a small smile.

“After you, my lady,” I smiled down at her.

She bit her lip while she smiled before looking straight ahead and started walking. I quickened my steps to catch up to her and walk alongside her. The first few minutes were spent in complete silence until I heard a small sound behind us. She must have not heard it but I turned around to see what it was. There, behind us, was Eddy. He gave me his Cheshire Cat smile before giving me two cheesy thumbs up. I rolled my eyes before turning back around. I looked down at Nara Lee through the corners of my eyes to catch her looking up at me through the corners of hers. I quickly glanced away before looking back down at her to find her blushing and looking across the street.

“Can I ask you a question?” I asked as we passed my house.

“Sure,” she shrugged.

“How come I never see you outside?”

“I prefer the indoors. I don’t really get out much except for school or when I work at Daddy’s. He’s the owner of Henry’s,” she nodded at me.

“Yeah, I know. My mom goes there all the time,” I grinned.

“She does?”

“Yeah, she’s a wedding planner.”

“Wedding planner,” she repeated under her breath. “Jocelyn? Your mom is Jocelyn?”

“Yep,” I smiled widely.

“I love her! She knows exactly what she’s doing. You have no idea how annoying it is to get people who know nothing about what they want.”

“That has to be frustrating.”

“It is. So how do you spend your days?”

“Most of the time with Eddy, his sister, or my mom.”

“You like your mom? I mean, your relationship isn’t damaging?” she asked before her eyes went wide. “Not that I’m insinuating that it is!”

“No, I get you,” I laughed. “I love my mom. It’s just been me and her since I was six. And just saying, but I’m pretty freaking amazing. So that says a lot about her parenting skills.”

She laughed before saying, “She did. I see you around school, you know. Opening doors for girls. It’s cool how you do that.”

“That’s manners,” I shrugged as we slowed to a stop in front of the house she pointed out as her own.

Nara Lee nodded slowly before she turned to look straight up at me. She inhaled deeply as she crossed her arms. She looked up, searching my eyes, before looking away.

“Adrian, can I ask you something?” she asked before I nodded in response. “Are you like every other guy at school?”

“What do you mean?”

“The guys at school can be nice when they want to be. But being me has its ups and downs. I meet tons of people and then I see them for their true colors. Guys at school only want a good fuck. They only want the answers for the next Calculus test. They only want more popularity. Are you like them?”

I stared down at her before looking up at the tree that bloomed small, tiny flowers above us. I licked my lips before reaching up and picking one of the flowers of a branch. The petals of the flower were light pink and felt like silk under my fingertips. My eyes were glued to it until I tore my gaze away and stared at Nara Lee. I held the flower out to her and her fingers ran over mine as she took the flower cautiously.

"I promise you, I am nothing like them. Those guys are so shallow. All they see is a beautiful girl. Do you want to know what I see?"

She stared down at the flower with furrowed eyebrows before nodding up at me.

"I see a smart girl who can get an A in every class without even trying. I see a girl who twirls her hair around her finger when she's thinking. I see a girl who gets lost in the skylights every day in Calculus. I see a girl who laughs when her hair gets into her face. I see a girl who wears blue every day. I see a set of the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen. She deserves every single ounce of happiness in the world. I see a girl who is herself and isn't afraid to show it. I see you."

She looked up at me with her wide blue eyes while she twisted the flower around her fingers. Her mouth opened but nothing came out as I heard the breath get caught in her throat. She looked up into my eyes before quickly glancing to the side. A small smile curled onto her lips. I was about to turn my head to the side to see what she was looking out when a voice cried out.

“Now!” the voice yelled.

Nara Lee quickly ducked away before I could feel the impact on my head and right arm. The blow was causing a stinging sensation all over my body. I raised my arms over my head to block the thick texture from hitting my face. I caught the scent of a poisonous scent as I breathed heavily from under my arms. My lips were dry when the blows stopped and my arms lowered. I looked up from my dripping blue hair to see Cassandra Carta and Phillip Williams smirking at me with water balloons in their hands and balloon-filled buckets next to them. I slowly looked over at Nara Lee. She was still slightly smiling at Cassandra and Phillip and a strange emotion in her eyes before she slowly turned towards me. She stared at me with her perfect lips slightly parted and the flower I gave her still in her hand. My nose stung with the tingling sensation as my hazel eyes filled with angry, bitter tears.

"You knew, didn't you?" I said as I stared at her angrily.

She bit her lip and never said a word. I kept looking at her, hoping she would say something, but was disappointed as she stayed silent. I shook my head and I closed my eyes tightly. My nose scrunched up as one tear fell from my eyes and mixed with the blue paint on my face. Air was sucked up through my mouth as I took in a deep breath and held one fist to my eyes. I smeared blue paint across my face as I wiped away the tear.

"Fuck this bullshit, I'm done," I shook my head violently before pushing past Cassandra and Phillip, who were roaring with laughter, and running down the street.

I panted angrily as my vision blurred with tears of humiliation while my feet carried me around the corner. My running slowed down to a foot-dragging walk as I held my head down and my hands stuffed in my pockets. My eyes were glued to the ground as I heard a door open and two voices call out my name at the same time. Footsteps echoed throughout the neighborhood as they ran towards me.

"Adrian, look at us."

I looked up at Eddy with a blank stare before looking down at Freedom's wide eyes. I glared angrily down the street before rolling my eyes up toward the sky. I shook my head as I closed my eyes. I sat down on the grass of their front yard with my knees bent up and my arms resting on my knees.

“I fucking wasted five goddamn years on her, Eddy. She was just another bitch,” I spat.

“Adrian,” Freedom whispered softly.

“Did Nara Lee fucking do this?” he asked in anger.

“I don’t know. It was fine. We were fine. I practically told her I loved her and then Carta and Williams totally attacked me with paint filled water balloons. And she was fucking smiling at them. And she never said a word, Eddy. She didn’t say a thing.”

“I swear to God, Adrian, I will fucking – “

“Eddy! Not now,” Free scolded. “Adrian, listen to me. I’m smarter than you and Eddy, you know this, so you have to listen to me,” she said as she placed the palms of her hands on both sides of my face and forced me to look at her.

“Things will get worse before they get better. That’s how life is. That’s how it’s always been. Things will get better for you, Adrian. I can’t say when but I promise you, they will get better.”

“Free, you’re seven. You don’t know what this is like,” I shook my head.

“I won’t pretend to know your pain, Adrian. I’m just stating a fact about life.”

I stared up at her as she looked down at me with her hazel eyes. She smiled at me before leaning down to kiss my cheek and wrapping her small arms around my shoulders. I let out a shaky breath before I tightly wrapped my arms around her small form. I buried my face in her yellow hair, most likely getting blue paint in it. I felt Eddy sit down next to me before he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and leaning his head against shoulder.

“I wish I could make you feel better, Adrian,” Free whispered.

“You always do, baby girl.”