The Beginning of the End

It was finally 7:10 and the final warning bell rang. I said goodbye to Caitlin and headed up the stairs to Chemistry.

Ah, Chemistry. I never really liked science classes but I did well at them. Chemistry took the cake for challenging and most boring science class I've ever taken. It was early morning and Mr. Jacobs jumped right into the lesson, instead of offering to have us solve a riddle or visual picture that was a play on a common saying. It seemed like the class was never going to end sometimes.

The class was hard at work on the new assignment, when someone knocked on the classroom door. It was a tall brown-haired boy, kind of skinny and nervous-looking. The teacher opened the door and greeted the student. He handed Mr. Jacobs a pass and introduced himself as the new student we have been expecting. Mr. Jacobs checked his roster and found an empty seat for the student. The only available seat was to my left, and so that's where he sat.

The nervous boy took his seat next to me, smiled, and greeted me with an anxious "hi." It was obvious he wanted to be anyone else. I greeted him back and resumed working on the worksheet that was given to us. I just could not grasp the newest concepts!

"I'm guessing you're not good with chemistry, huh?"

"How can you tell?"

"By the scribbles and the amount of times you've changed your answer to the last three problems on the worksheet."

"You're right, I suck at this!" I laughed and breathed a sigh of relief.

"My name's Adam, Adam Flynn. I'm from Massachusetts, an hour south of Boston. I'm actually pretty good at chemistry. And you are?"

"I'm Alyson Smith, Aly for short. I lived in Massachusetts until the 8th grade actually and been here ever since! Thanks, can you explain the new concept to me? I grasp everything else quickly in this class!"

"Good to know I'm not the only one who hasn't lived here their whole life! Going to a new school isn't easy with cliques long formed. Pretty much, you fill in the given values to the formula. The reason why you keep messing up is not converting. Convert milliliters to Liters, Celsius to Kelvin, and torrs to atmospheres! Pretty simple actually!"

"That makes perfect sense, thank you so much man! I think I understand it now!" I said with a smile, as I re-attempted the problems one more time.

Adam inched closer to me, to see if I was doing the problems correctly. I couldn't help but notice my heart racing and I started shaking. Why can't I just talk to a guy without this happening? Ugh, only me!

He nodded and half-smiled at me.

"Almost there. You need to convert grams to moles as well. Sorry for leaving that out!"

"Dang it! But thanks anyway."

My breathing got faster and I felt like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest. I noticed the scent of his cologne, some kind of Axe sent that was oddly mysterious and attractive. I could not concentrate with the distance between us and knowing he was right in front of me. I wanted to look into his amazing dark brown eyes, but I knew I'd lose it once I did. Didn't need to turn to Jell-O on the first day with the new student!

"There you go! I'm proud of you, for grasping it so quickly now that I simplified it for you." He raised his hand for a high-five and I accepted the gesture.

He smiled at me, an almost half-smirk on his face. I looked into his eyes for a short second, smiled back, and looked away. That slight second of eye contact killed me. This can't be happening.

He noticed the space between us and inched away from me, back to his own area. We worked in silence for the last ten minutes of class. When the bell rang for announcements, I packed up my things and tried to talk myself down from the crush feelings and anxiety. This needs to stop now.

I headed closer to the door and began tapping my foot in an effort to edge away from my thoughts. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around to see who it was.
It was Adam. Oh man, what could he want from me?
“I realize we don’t have much time until the bell rings, but you seem cool and I want to get to know you. Tell me something about yourself, that you don’t normally share.”
“Concerts are the one place where I feel accepted and like I can be myself without judgments. I don’t care if I go alone, when I know my friends are waiting for me. Your turn.”
“I’ve never been to a concert myself, but they sound pretty powerful and awesome. I hear my friends talk about them all the time and they seem fun. Hmm, I’ve always been the new kid and once I fit in, we move again. This is my last permanent place before graduation and I’m scared for how things will turn out, once I start to mess things up.” Adam looked down after speaking and seemed embarrassed of his confession.
“Nothing wrong with being scared! I think every new kid has fears like that and when you’re in and out of a city so quickly, it can be hard to think about a permanent situation or place. So your fear is rational!” I smiled and Adam looked up and smiled just as big. I made his insecurity and fear seem okay and I could tell he was grateful.
“Thanks for not thinking of me as a freak. I just think people are scared of the new kid and that’s why it may be so difficult to make friends. Thank you for not walking away, yet.” Adam smiled
“You’re welcome. I was once in your place, nearly three years ago and it isn’t easy. When you’re socially awkward and have trust issues, everything about being new seems scary and wrong. But it does get better!” I told him, with a playful nudge.
Adam opened his mouth to respond, but the bell rang just before he could get any further comments out. I liked him, his down-to-earth nature gave me hope about this high school. It made me grateful he found this city to move to. I can see a bright future for our friendship.