She Will Be Loved

I walked into school the following morning dressed in a gray sweatshirt with HARVARD printed in neat letters across the chest, shorts, and my gray converse. Out of habit, I parked my old pickup and walked through the school's doors, my legs taking over for my head by placing me at my locker.

My body was sore from last night's swim and the lack of sleep due to Paige's extremely detailed story of her date with Logan. It was close to three AM when I fell asleep and unlike Paige, I did not just bounce back in the morning. Years of partying gave her the experience that I lacked.

My hair was in curls as always. Today I pulled my bangs away from my eyes, where they had tortured my retinas for the majority of the morning. As always, my face was makeup free. I slid into my typical seat first period and laid down, giving in to my dreams.

One period later, I was walking to my Lit class. Paige had let me sleep without a word last period, for which I was grateful. However, she didn't seem to carry that sensitive nature to our second period. She turned towards me with a grin that caused the wrinkles in her face to intensify. I wished she would stop smoking.

"Did I tell you last night that he opened a door for me?" Paige's voice was about six octaves too high for me at the moment, "I can't tell you the last time a guy opened the door for me, mean he's-"

Tony, a football player in our Lit class, held open the door when he saw us coming. I thanked him.

"-Such a gentleman!"

Her voice clearly indicated that I had missed something, but I let it go as we slid into our seats. She continued talking as I pulled out my things, including my very tattered Romeo and Juliet book. Paige didn't seem to mind my lack of input; somewhere she must have registered my sluggish attitude.

Within seconds of the bell, Ms. Fitz called our attention. Her hair was pulled back into an abnormally tight bun today, and it gave her the appearance of a patient who recently received plastic surgery. On the other hand, maybe it was just my eyes.

"Today, we will be splitting into pairs. Each pair will be given a scene from the book to analyze. Instead of having you write a paragraph that bears a striking resemblance to Sparknotes," She glared at the boys in the back. "You will perform the scene. I realize this isn't theatre so I'm not asking for much. You have two weeks to learn the material."

I wrote the deadline down in my notebook and glanced at Paige who was giving me the 'you're-totally-my-partner-because-I-don't-know-what-the-hell-I'm-doing' look. I smiled at her reassuringly.

"And because I know some of you like to lean on others. I will assign the partners."

A collective groan erupted from the class. I even heard myself sigh, much to my surprise.

"I know. I'm such a bitch. Go blog about it after class." She stated in a worn tone. Apparently, her weekend had not been pleasant either.

I watched the expressions of my classmates as pairs were read off a blue post it. Their eyebrows shot up with excitement, or they looked at their friends in disappointment. I scanned the room, only two or three pairs looked genuinely happy. Paige looked at me with anticipation. There were two pairs to go. We could be partners after all.

"Paige and Laura, you'll be doing the argument between Lady Capulet and Juliet."

I looked over at Paige, apology clear in my eyes.

Ms. Fitz looked at her post-it and smiled, “Last but not least, Logan Holt and Chance McDougal. The balcony scene is all yours."

"Lucky!" Paige hissed before she moved across the room to settle next to Laura.

I gathered my things and walked towards the back of the room. Logan sat in blue v-neck that hung, somehow, loosely on his bulky form.

"Hey C," He greeted and flipped the pages in his book.

***

I walked over to my usual lunch table that consisted of...well, Paige. Unfortunately, she was holding her lunch tray in one hand and had her phone out in the other. 'Sorry' was clearly written over her features.

"Laura wanted to get a head start on our project. Don't kill me?" She said and her body drooped.

I dropped my tray down, "Please, I've had your murder planned out for years. Ditching me at lunch isn't involved. Go." I stated and bit into a cheese fry.

While Paige wandered to go find Laura, I looked around the courtyard. I did that a lot, watch people I mean. It was a creepy quirk that I had accepted long ago. The summer breeze whipped my hair around my face.

The sun was shining down on us, giving all of the students a warm glow. Surprisingly most of the student body didn't have a tan. Just because you lived in California didn't automatically make you tan. The beach isn't as appealing for most people who live here, having grown up with it and all.

I tucked my legs underneath me and pulled out my book, going over the scene Logan and I had been assigned. It was one of my favorites, romantic but not cheesy.

"Hey C, mind?" My eyes pulled away from my book to see Logan standing in front of me.

I looked at my empty picnic table, "Not at all."

My hands dropped my book and grabbed a few fries. I plopped them into my mouth and licked the cheese off my fingers. They were sinfully good.

As I continued to chow down on my lunch, I felt Logan's eyes on me. I looked up at him with a raised brow, "What?"

"You eat." He stated with a wicked grin. Not a smirk, I noted, a grin.

I leaned in and looked around carefully, "I'm known to breathe on occasion too." I whispered.

The summer breeze blew softly at us, as if it was laughing. "Fascinating."

I laughed.

"Got bored of your friends?" I asked with a tilt of my head in their general direction.

He looked at them and shrugged his broad shoulders, "This seat looked better."

I nodded and plopped a fry in my mouth. The sun came out from behind a cloud and the light hit me like a truck. I laughed and covered my eyes and tried to refrain from squinting. When my eyes finally adjusted, I looked at Logan, whose ocean blues were looking at me softly.

"There's that laugh." He smiled, revealing a pair of perfectly straight white teeth.

I smiled back at him. We continued to eat lunch and enjoy the time we had in the sunlight, laughing and talking. It was nice having a guy friend.

***

I walked to my locker after the final bell to gather my massive stack of textbooks. What I could manage to make fit in I put in my bag. My eyes wondered my locker for a few seconds to make sure I had everything as I went through my checklist. I didn't have much homework, but I had a lot of tests to study for the next day.

"Hey, Chance."

I looked over and smiled. "Hey, Sawyer. What's up?"

"Not a lot," He ran his hand through his blonde locks. "I was actually thinking about maybe seeing a movie soon."

"Really, which one? So many came out last weekend. It's crazy." I slid my notecards in my bag and shut my locker. The clang couldn't be heard over the noise of the hallway.

"The Roommate looked pretty cool, but I'm a total wuss, there's no way I could go alone."

My heart lept in my throat and started doing a jig. The heat rushed to my face and I'm pretty sure my hands were sweating. I rubbed them against my leg self-conciously, yeah, definitely sweating.

The nervous look in his eyes was almost sweet, "So I was wondering if you wanted to go with me? My treat."

A hopeful smile graced his perfectly plump lips and I couldn't help but grin goofily back at him. My eyes fell on the floor and I bit my lower lip,

"Like a date?" I asked and lifted my eyes to his.

If it was possible, I think his smile became broader.

"Yeah, like a date."

"I'd love to go."

I glanced out to the doors where my car sat in the pouring rain. My first instinct was to run full speed out of the school and drive off to avoid as much rain as possible, but my feet stayed planted in front of the cute guy in front of me. He looked out into the monsoon like rain as well, and then focused back to me.

"I have to get to practice, can I text you later?"

I nodded and he jogged off in the direction of the gymnasium.

My head fell against the cool metal of my locker and I let out a huff of hot air. My cheeks were still red hot and I couldn't stop smiling. I bit my lip and shook my head to keep the excited giggle from bubbling out. The butterflies in my stomach wouldn't stop fluttering around.

When I finally gathered myself enough to get my jello legs to walk towards my car, I did the only thing I could think of doing.

I listened to the phone ring, "Hey Paige, you wouldn't believe what just happened."