The In-Betweeners

"Hi, James," Melanie said as she placed her books down on the lab table.

It had become a daily routine, almost. Everyday I would be the first person to Chem. I'd like to think it's because the period before Chem I had Lunch, which was just down the hall; but in reality it was because I was one of the only people who had no one to stop and talk to in the halls. If you want to find out who's a really a wallflower, look at who gets to class first.

Without fail, my other peers would file slowly into class (usually by order of popularity) and Melanie would eventually wander into class. She wasn't first to class but she wasn't last either. She was stuck in-between somewhere. The girl always seemed so lost; a lost soul wandering through the land of high school.

Or is that too cliche?

Cliche or not, the Melanie Ryan was the epitome of normal. Maybe that's what drew me to her, and her to me.

"Hey, Melanie," I replied, putting my pen down from the cartoon face I had been doodling so I could face her.

"That looks pretty cool," she gestured to the cartoon as she shrugged out of her jacket. She was always wearing jackets and scarves to school, even in the spring and early summer she would wear that damn jacket. I didn't know if she was always cold or if she just liked the look of it. I kind of hoped she was just cold, kind of hoped she didn't care about her looks.

"Oh, thanks. Mr. Brandt is having us do caricatures so I figured I'd practice. It's supposed to look like me," I grinned. Play it cool, I reminded myself.

"I think it looks like you," Melanie said. And then she added, grinning, "If you squint like this."

I laughed. "Thanks, I guess."

Fuck, I thought. I couldn't think of anything else to say after that. How was I supposed to start up another conversation without sounding as awkward as I felt? And why wasn't she saying anything? Aren't girls supposed to be fucking chatter boxes for God's sake?

We sat in awkward (for me at least) silence until the bell rang a few minutes later. During those few minutes I silently wished that I was in a TV show. Everything in TV shows is always fucking perfect. A life-changing problem suddenly arises? It's all fixed within a half-hour. Some prick is hitting on the girl you're in love with? The girl always ends up with the sweet, invisible guy over the prick. There's an awkward silence between you and the girl you might possible like? It's all okay, you would be saved by the bell every single time.

They may be predictable, and cliche, and sappy, but that's why everyone likes TV shows so much. No one would ever admit it, but we're all secretly hoping for that predictable, cliche, sappy ending.

The bell finally rang and class started. I couldn't focus on a single thing that class except for Melanie Ryan. I could go into everything I noticed about her that period, but I don't want to sound overly cliche (which seems to be the theme of the day) but that period was the period I really noticed Melanie. And I don't mean noticed that she was there, that she existed; I mean it was the first time that I noticed the little things that made her Melanie Ryan.

It's funny that I still remember all those things. And of all the things that I remember from that day, not a single one of them includes something that Mr. Agostini said.

When the class finally ended, I stood up and was ready to leave when suddenly,

"James?"

I turned back to face Melanie.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd want to hang out this weekend?" Melanie asked timidly. "I could give you my number and you could text me whenever you're free..." her voice trailed off slightly.

It registered vaguely in the back of my mind that this was all backwards. Wasn't I, the guy, supposed to ask her out? Give her my number? I suddenly realized that I was just standing there like a total idiot, and it occurred to me that I should respond.

"Yeah, that sounds great."

She smiled this huge smiled, and those damn eyes of hers lit up. "Great," she sounded relieved. "Here's my number."

She handed me a small piece of paper that had been ripped out of her binder with her number written down in black ink. I took it in a kind of daydream, and watched as she walked out of the classroom, throwing a "talk to you soon" over her shoulder as she left. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say I was in a daze for the rest of the day.

I was lucky I guess that I only had gym left after Chem, because I didn't have the attention span to get through any classes that required actual thought by that point. At the end of the day I met up with Shane by her locker as usual.

"You okay?" she asked as she kneeled in front of her locker, looking not at me but at her planner to see what homework she had.

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine." I replied.

Fine? I thought, I was more than fine. I was fan-fucking-tastic.

"Oh, you just seem weird is all." she shrugged.

She stood up, thowing her book bag over her shoulder.

"Look, I had a question for you." she stated. "I was wondering if you'd want to come to a family party with me this Sunday. It's by cousin's birthday and my aunt said I could invite a friend if I wanted to."

"Yeah, sounds cool." I said.

"Great!" she smiled. It was one of the only times I remember Shane ever smiling and looking genuinely happy.

I smiled too, a real genuine one. For the first time I had real, exciting plans for the weekend. For the first time a girl that I may have sort of liked gave me her number with the hope that I would text her. Maybe it's pathetic how much I read into those two, very simple invitations. But I don't and didn't care.

I felt alive for the very first time.