It's All About Stickin' It Out

Rubbing my eyes from sleep, I crawl out of my bed hearing the door bell ring a couple times. I knew my mom and dad were sleeping, and I couldn't trust them to wake up and answer the doors. A yawn rips out of my mouth and as I walk down the stairs. I look outside the window to see a huge UPS truck leaving. I open the door to a brown box outside and I grab it and walk inside, placing it on the dining table. It was eight o clock in the morning, and I had no idea that they delivered mail this early.

I look at the address tag, and see that mysteriously my name was written on it, but there was no sender. I open it up, grabbing a pen that I found on the dining table and dragging the pen across the taped space.

Finally I rip it open and move the brown paper aside, sitting there was a brown teddy bear holding a red heart that reads 'I love you'.

For some reason my heart was pacing and I wondered who it could be from, I didn't have many friends, except for Jack, but why would Jack send it to me? It was impossible, this has to be a mistake, but the box had my name on it.

I pull the bear out, and read the small tag that was clipped onto it's ear.

"I think you're amazing and I'm glad you're alive." - your admirer.

I sit down on one of the chairs and a small smile spreads on my face without me even thinking.

I could only imagine one person this could be from, but I couldn't ask him. It'd be embarrassing, what if it wasn't him and he laughs? He was my friend but there was a border that I can pass that'll make him think I'm weird. But I couldn't help but feel happy at that moment, because someone cared about me.

-----------------

I received a text from Jack a few hours later if I could hang out, and since the day I spilled my guts out to him, we'd been better friends. I trusted him enough to hang out with him, and it was nice feeling to have someone who didn't think you were weird because he could relate to what I did.

"Hello princess." he says, meeting me at the bookstore that we'd initially made our "meet up" place, because there wasn't anywhere else that was interesting around.

He'd already bought himself a coffee from the small cafe in the corner of the store.

"this is for you, since you don't like coffee." he says, handing me a blueberry muffin.

I take it from him, feeling my cheeks grow in warmth.

"It's cold outside." I say, I was glad I didn't stutter in front of him anymore, it was embarrassing every time I did.

"It's in the twenties, yeah? I think I heard that it was supposed to snow today." he says, sipping his drink, he was staring at me and I could just tell, I let my gaze move towards the back of the bookstore, reading the sign that says 'Music'.

"Do you want to check it out?" he asks me, I didn't notice that he'd turn back to stare at it himself, I shrug, he gets up and waves me over, making his way towards the section.

I watch Jack look through the CD's, unsure of how to bring up the topic of the teddy bear that is now sitting on my desk at home.

"I got a package today." I say, looking through the CD's now because I didn't want to seem like a creep, watching my friend as he looks through the plastic cases.

"Oh really? What was it?"

I didn't know if I was disappointed or confused as he asked me.

"It was a teddy bear." I reply, picking up a CD by New Found Glory and waving it in front of Jack's face, knowing he loved them. He takes it out of my hand.

"That's cute, who's it from?" he asks me.

I shrug my shoulders, leaning against the rack.

"It didn't say."

Jack looks at him with a smile.

"Alex Gaskarth, you have a secret admirer."