Stuck On Loving You

Alex–

It took longer than it should have to get away from the studio in order for me to go see Lana. I had been waiting to see her since we talked last night and it's been killing me inside having to wait and then lie to my friends about where I was going. I said I was going to see Gabe, but Gabe isn't even here and I knew that damn well, so I hope they weren't going to catch on to my stupid lies.

I stood outside the cafe and peered in through the window, spotting Lana right away like I always did. My eyes had always been drawn to her, finding her immediately in a crowd of thousands. She looked beautiful, as usual, as her brunette hair casually fell over her face while she pursed her perfectly pink lips.

I put my hand on the door handle after moments of just looking at her, it was like seeing her for the first time all over again. I was in complete awe of this girl that I had known for years, the girl I fought with constantly, but she was also the girl that I loved endlessly, no matter what mood she was in. If I could go back to that dumb high school kid that I once was, I'd tell him to be careful and to love with care. He didn't know that, she didn't, either. But if those two stupid teenagers knew that, we'd still be together. I wouldn't be sneaking away from my friends to enter a cafe just to talk to this girl one more time.



September 2004–

"Who is that?" Alex asked his best friend while he looked off into the distance at a girl who he'd never seen at Dulaney High before today. He was in awe of this new girl; taken away by the way her hair delicately flowed as she walked and the way her hips swayed perfectly in sync, looking like she was naturally born in her tall high heels. This girl almost looked as if she walked out of a 1960s catalog; someone like her stuck out like a sore-thumb at their school. It wasn't the "norm" and that was intriguing to the young teenager. But at the same time, it looked so modern that no one would be able to tell unless they really took a close look.

"Dibs!" Jack yelled with a chuckle. He, too, was staring at the girl, trying to figure out who she was and where she was from. Also, why she choose to come to this school out of the many others in the Baltimore area.

"I saw her first, you don't get to call dibs!" Alex yelled at this friend who was still standing there with a huge smile on his face. In Alex's head, it was love at first sight. Or so he hoped it was, at least.

"She's a person, not an object," Rian chimed in, "neither of you should be calling dibs." Rian shook his head at his idiot friends who glared at him for saying such a thing. Leave it to Rian for being the sweet one and actually having morals.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Rian, stop being a little bitch."

The trio walked to their lockers together, discussing their band practice after school, and how they were going to get Zack to Rian's house. Rian left the other two behind, knowing that the first bell was going to ring soon and he couldn't be late again, otherwise his math teacher would probably strangle him. Jack got to his class just in time, but Alex decided to walk around the lonely hallways by himself instead of heading to his first hour right away. Creative Writing was the class that he was best at, so he thought that no matter how many times he was late, the teacher wouldn't get that mad when she saw his writing.

He was two minutes late when he decided to finally stroll in to class. "Mr. Gaskarth, it's the third week of school and you've been late almost every day so far." Mrs. Hanthorn wasn't happy with him, but she wasn't happy with a lot of students. She was a teacher in her mid-thirties, but she acted like a crotchety substitute teacher that was well beyond her sixties.

"Sorry, Mrs. H." Alex spotted the new girl when he looked out into the sea of students. Lucky for him, there was a seat open right next to her. He almost ran over to it and slid right into the seat.

"I'm sure you are, Alex." Mrs. Hanthorn showed Alex a weak smile and walked in front of the white board, writing down the days assignment. When she was done, she dropped the marker and turned to face the entire class. "So happy Monday, I'm sure yo all enjoyed your weekend. Today will b expend writing a special assignment, but first I'd like to introduce you all to our new student." The woman walked in-between the desks in order to reach the new girl's desk. "Would you like to introduce yourself, dear?"

The new girl giggled in a coy manner, batted her cartoon-like eyes, and cleared her throat. "Hi," she waved at her classmates, "I'm Lana Alston and I just moved here from Maine."

Alex was even in awe of her voice.

"Why did you move?" Mrs. Hanthorn asked in a curious tone.

"My dad got another job promotion," Lana laughed like a goddess, "I'm originally from Wisconsin."

"Well," the teacher spoke while making her way back to the front of the room, "Maryland welcomes you. We're glad that you're here." Lana nodded at the teacher and tried to hide the rosy color on her cheeks from blushing. "Everyone, please get started on your paper." She turned around and headed back to her desk to grade papers from last week.

"Hey," Alex whispered to Lana, "I'm Alex." His smile was extremely mischievous, so much show that it almost was a turn-on to Lana. She was taken by his dark, chocolate brown eyes; they made her feel comfortable and safe from the moment that he made eye contact.

"I kind of got that information at the beginning of class." She turned her head and started writing in her notebook, but at the same time, she still had a silent smile on her face that Alex defiantly noticed.

"Thought I'd introduce myself anyways." She wasn't paying too much attention to the boy anymore, so he turned his entire body around in his chair and leaned over across the aisle, almost putting his head on her desk. While doing this, he snuck a glance at her writing. Beautiful calligraphy and descriptive writing that struck his liking. "Come sit with me at my friends at lunch, we'll talk." She nodded her head and thanked him for the offer, and said that she'd meet him by the cafeteria doors.

And she didn't lie about that, she met him later in the day, and they bonded over music, books, and movies. Alex's friends loved her and she loved them right off the bat. Later that night, they even talked on the phone for two hours before drifting off to sleep; making both of them feel struck in the heart by some sort of cupid.