My So-Called Life

I was walking from fourth period with my friend, Carmen.

That's when I first saw him. I didn't usually pay attention to guys but he...his mere presence pulled me towards him. I couldn't look away. His hair was brown and his curls were falling in front of his eyes, which I later seen were a unique shade of bluish-green. I remember thinking; "There's no way he uses any chemicals, that hair has to be natural." He dressed like he just came off a runway, which was possible. We were living in Manhattan, which is in New York, the fashion capital of the world. No one could compare to how breath-takingly gorgeous he was. He was looking down at what I assumed was a schedule. Someone who looked like that would definitely be memorable.

Like he felt the draw, he looked up at my awed gaze, pulling me into him even deeper. I immediately looked away and starting to twist a lock of my dark hair with my finger; Something I do on a regular when I'm nervous. Starting to walk faster, I put my head down and walked past him to my locker. I put my combination in and switched my books as quick as humanly possible. I could sense a talk coming on.

"What was that, Malia?" Annnd I knew it... "I never seen you look like that before." There was more than a hint of smugness in Carmen's voice and I rolled my eyes, slamming my locker shut and turning the dial back to zero. There might have been hilarity in her voice but her facial expression was a totally different story. She was irritated and of course I knew why. Carmen hated when I kept things from her, she knew me inside and out.

The story everybody else knew was that: My mother, Selena Sanchez, the big top model was my sister. My mother didn't care if people knew who I really was and truthfully neither did I. But I wanted to protect her reputation despite her many objections -that if the whole world knew that my mother had a child, the better.

"Um, I don't know what happened." I wasn't lying. I had no need to at this moment..

"I never seen you look so incoherent before." She stated matter-of-fact. Carmen was facing me and I had my back to the way we came, I didn't want another stare off with the new guy. Suddenly, a knowing looked popped into her eyes and a sly smirk crossed her goddess like features, making her high cheek bones rise. I dreaded what she was about to say next. "...It was when we passed that new guy, um what's his name again?" She stared off in the air, deep in thought.

Sighing to myself, I prayed she forgot was she was about to say.

"Oh! Milo Odette!" No such luck. A victorious smile took over at the renewed information she was about to spill. "Milo Odette, yeah, that's it. He just moved here from California with his mom, a divorcee. Seleice said that his 'rents were having major marriage issues." Why am I not surprised? Seleice, of course, would be the one to know.

"You should have seen yourself, Malia." She raised her perfectly arched eyebrows. "I think you have your first crush..." I nearly choked on the air.

My eyes snapped away from the manicured grass I was staring at to look straight into Carmen's milk chocolate ones.

"I do not have a crush on him, I didn't even know his name until you dished." I said with nothing but utter seriousness. Albeit, I started to play with my hair again, twisting and turning it in my fingers. "Let's just go to Spanish, okay? Forget it." I stated more than asked.

"Yeah, okay." She dismissed it as well. But I knew this girl like I knew my underwear drawer. There was no way in hell that this was forgotten. She would bring it up again later. Turning around, my breath faltered.

"What are you looking-" Before she could finish her sentence the bell ringed. She grabbed my arm and nearly dragged me as she ran to fifth period. I chanced a peek over my shoulder as we passed him and he was still staring at me -making me wish I didn't. My Spanish class seemed to fly by, so when it was time to go to my trigonometry class I was okay until I saw who was sitting in the usually empty seat next to mines.

Milo Odette.