The First Boy

I was no longer considered Isabelle Marino, the shy and timid girl in the senior class. I officially earned the title of being Noah Carlo’s girlfriend. That’s right. A title that I never thought I would have. I simply got it by falling in love with Noah. World traveled fast around Logan High School, and everyone knew that Noah and I were together.

At first, I thought I had to change myself to be like the other girls at school. Then, I realized that Noah liked me because I was nothing like the other girls at our school. Even though Noah and I were perfect together in my eyes, he was not the man I’d expect to end up with. I never thought I was worthy to be with someone like him. Once I figured out that I could be with anyone I wanted to be with, the rest was easy for me to fall in love with. He was no longer Noah Carlo, he was my Noah Carlo.

Noah knew that he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend one day. He also knew that he was going to be my assigned football player. Since Noah and I were a couple now, that meant that he was my assigned football player of the season. Each season, a cheerleader was assigned a football player to cheer for, bake goods for, and be their date to all school/ non-school functions. It was a job a cheerleader at Logan High took VERY seriously.

As a cheerleader, you wanted to be the best football player cheerleader that you could be. You wanted to out-do all the other cheerleaders and what they decided to do in the season. If someone decorated their house, you decorated yours. If someone gave their player baked goods, you gave them candy. I always wanted to have Noah Carlo as my football player, but since Lina and him were a couple throughout the years I never got a chance to have him. Now that we were dating, he was officially my football player. Lina didn’t like it very much, but there wasn’t anything she could really do about it.

It was finally the middle of October and all the fun senior activities were starting up for the year. The annual Homecoming Dance was this weekend and majority of the varsity cheer squad was on the homecoming dance committee, including me. Along with the homecoming dance, we had the homecoming football game, which was another big event at our school. I couldn’t help but also think about all my AP classes, cheer practices, and keeping up with Noah. Right now, things were going far from my everyday normal. I was trying to keep up with all the other things in my life. It was hard when you were dating the most popular guy in the school.

After Noah asked me to be his girlfriend, Gio was starting to get worried about how much I was taking on in my senior year. She called me every minute of the day this weekend to make sure I was on task and ready to take my SAT’s. Gio knew how badly I wanted to go to Boston University, and she knew that I had to outshine all the other applicants as well. I knew Gio meant well, but I had to worry about so much more than what she understood. I wanted to have a successful, but also fun senior year. I was finally starting to crack my shell, and I don’t think she ever thought I could do that.

Monday came around quickly and my 6AM alarm woke me out of my deep sleep. I jumped out of bed and quickly picked up my room before I got ready for school. I took a quick, steamy body shower to rinse off the sleepiness I was still feeling from the lack of sleep I got. I changed into a cute fall outfit that I had just ordered online. I put my black tights that went well with my grey turtleneck sweater dress. I accompanied the look with light make up and cute booties that I’ve been dying to wear. Now that my ankle was officially healed, I wanted to wear them all the time so I wouldn’t be too short compared to Noah.

When I was done getting ready, I quickly ran downstairs with my school bag to eat something before Stella would come and pick me up. As usual, nonno and nonna were sitting at the table drinking espresso and listening Andrea Bocelli. My mom was making eggs for breakfast, while my dad was brewing fresh coffee for us. I quickly said hi to my grandparents and made my way towards my parents before I grabbed a protein bar from the cupboard.

“Sit down and eat breakfast, sweetheart.” My mom says putting some eggs with wheat toast on a plate.

“Stell is going to be here any minute mom. Thank you though,” I say taking the coffee cup from my dad. I quickly kiss him on the cheek and here Stella’s horn.

“Bye!” I yell grabbing the toast and running to the front door.

“That was my cup by the way!” I hear my dad yelling from the kitchen.

I open the front door and see Stella’s car in front of my round-about driveway. I make my way to her car and open the passenger door. Although it was 7:30AM, Stella was blasting her morning music Spotify playlist. I start laughing and lower the music. Stella didn’t realize how loud her music actually was when you were coming from outside the car. I love the energy Stella vibes with in the morning, but it wasn’t the vibe I was going for this Monday morning after a long weekend.

“Hey! Why did you lower that?” Stella says looking at me with a smile. She knows why I lowered the music; she was just trying to be funny.

“You are seriously going to hurt your ears if you keep on listening to music like this,” I say pulling out my phone.

“Oh please, you sound like nonna. Always complaining about something.” Stella says as I read a text from Noah.

NOAH: Good morning. See you soon, girlfriend.

ISABELLE: Good morning. x

I smile a bright, wide smile that I can’t seem to get off my face. I loved waking up to messages like this from Noah. It made me feel like I had something to start my day.

Only Noah could get me to smile like this on an early, Monday morning. I stare at the message like a little girl opening her favorite gift on Christmas morning. I could feel Stella’s stare, but I didn’t care. My boyfriend was waiting for me at school and I couldn’t wait to see him. I saw him yesterday at my families Sunday dinner, but being a couple for the first day was exciting!

My smile went from bright to dark very quickly. I was so wrapped in the moment that I completely forgot that my friend “Lina” was going to see me for the first time since news broke about Noah and me. I knew Noah wouldn’t let Lina get to me, but I was scared go see her and what she was going to be like today. Lina didn’t really like me to begin with, I’m sure she was going to hate me when she saw Noah and me.

“Belly are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.” Stella says turning into the school’s parking lot.

The ride seemed much quicker now that I felt a sting of pain.

“I have to see Lina today,” I say staring blankly at our school building.

I really didn’t want to go inside.

“Yes, and every other day. I don’t get it,” Stella says shutting of the car and giving me her full attention.

“Stell, Noah and I are a couple now and I never even asked Lina if it was okay. Doesn’t that break some sort of “cheer sister” code?” I say still looking at my phone.

I know Lina and I were never friends, but before Noah, we were some-what acquittances. She was respectful towards me, and I respected her as well. She did cheat on Noah with his brother, but that was none of my business. What happened between Noah and Lina was the past and I needed to remember that. But I couldn’t help but question in my mind was Noah even other Lina? Was I just the girl to get him over that icky feeling that he was having?

“Belly what are you talking about? You sound insane right now.” Stella says opening the car door and slamming it shut.

I follow her out of the car and towards the school. I don’t know what I said to offend Stella, but she was clearly taken back by something I had said. It wasn’t like Stella to get mad at me. Don’t get me wrong, still and I could go at it sometimes, but not over boys. In fact, I don’t remember ever fighting with Stella about something so silly. She was my best friend. I never wanted to get into fights with her. We never really had anything to fight about.

“Stella!” I say before she opens the school doors. “What is your problem?”

“My problem?” She says getting loud with me. “My problem is that you are finally living for once and Noah has gotten you out of your shell and now you are second guessing everything. Why? Why are you scared of everything, Belly?”

“I don’t know!” I say getting loud back, “I’m scared that this isn’t going to last, and this is just a silly dream. I’m scared that Noah will never get over Lina and I am just a replacement. I’m scared because I just don’t know!”

“You need to put on your big girl pants and start living your own life! Noah wouldn’t be with you if he didn’t want to be and honestly, fuck Lina! You don’t owe her anything.” Stella says.

I open the school door and walk straight to my locker. Noah is waiting for me there with his bright smile. He looks so sexy with his hair pushed back and his light brown eyes glistening in the florescent school lighting. He is wearing black jeans with a black top and black sneakers. Noah always looked so handsome in his all black outfits. Usually, I wouldn’t analyze his outfit, but I couldn’t help but think that my boyfriend looks so attractive this morning.

He pulls me by my waist and takes his pointer finger to lift up my chin.

“You are too beautiful to walk around with your head down,” He says brushing a stray hair out of my face.

He then wraps his hand around the knap of my neck and pulls me closer to him. I smell his fresh mint morning breath mixed with his Axe cologne that I can’t get enough of. His scent is intoxicating to me and I can’t help but want to take all of him in. I breath out and try to remember that we are at school. He presses his warm, welcoming lips to mine. I wrap my arm around his shoulders to hold him tighter to me. He pulls me closer to his lips and I let out a smile. Although I’m not looking, I can see his bright smile down on me. Oh! how I could never get over this.

“Good morning,” I say still holding him as he held onto me.

“Good morning, you look beautiful.” He says letting me go.

I open my locker and pull out my books for my first period class. As I pull out my books for my class, a strip of pictures of Stella, Cassie and I fall on the floor. I bend down and pick up the photobooth roll. It was pictures from a graduation party we went to last year during the summer. We had so much fun at that part that I remember that night so vividly.

I felt my smile fade away more and more. I didn’t want to be in a fight with Stella, I never wanted to fight with Stella. We had our disagreements, and we called each other out for things, but we never liked to be on each other’s bad side. She was my cousin, and I was her annoying cousin, but we always had each other.

“What’s wrong?” Noah asks putting his arm around my waist again.

I wanted to tell Noah what happened between Stella and I this morning, but I didn’t want him to worry, or think that this was a fight about him. Noah and I were in a good place and I didn’t want my doubts of everything affect that. I knew Stella was probably going to tell JP, and JP would tell Noah, but I didn’t want it to get that far. I pull out all the books I need and place the photos back into my locker. I slam my locker door and peck Noah on the cheek.

As I run down the hallway, I yell to Noah, “have a great day! See you later!”
I didn’t have to look back to know he is shaking his head and not even questioning why I ran away.

I have 15 minutes before the bell rings, and I have to make it to my homeroom. I find Stella and Cassie at their lockers. My smile widens because I know that Stella and I are going to work this out. I make my way over and Stella gives me her I’m sorry smile. I take my arms and fling them around her and squeeze her tight.

“I’m so sorry I got upset and took it out on you. I love you!” I say still squeezing her.

“Belly you are embarrassing me!” She says laughing. Cassie joins in on our hug and my Monday already feels complete. I guess that’s the funny thing about family. You may feel like sometimes they don’t understand you, or they don’t know where you are coming from, but they do. You can always have your family around, and that is what Stella and I needed. We needed each other and remember that we may be dysfunctional, but we can only function together.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Lina and Nikki staring me down, but I didn’t let them get to me. I didn’t let them bring me down where I wasn’t going to enjoy my day. I was starting to teach myself that I didn’t need Lina or Nikki to like me. I had great friends and a wonderful boyfriend. What more did I need?

Most Monday’s go by slow and drag on, but today went by fast and easy. After school and cheer practice was over, Stella and Cassie insisted that we go to the mall. My two best friends wanted to go shopping for homecoming dresses. I wasn’t in the mood after cheer workouts, but I knew Stella and Cassie really wanted to find their dresses and I should be looking for one too.

We walked into Bloomingdales and we had found the beautiful dress section right next to the gorgeous shoes that caught my eye as well. Of course, Cassie found a beautiful black dress that made her slim and tall figure even more and slim and tall. It was strapless and classic, just like Cassie. She paired it with a black stiletto that she didn’t need, but looked amazing in.

Stella picked out a long sleeve, royal blue dress with beautiful rhinestones all at the bottom. It brought out her light eyes and light hair. Stella then found these pretty silver heels that had the same rhinestones that were on the bottom of her dress. Stella and Cassie looked absolutely beautiful in their dresses.

For me, dress shopping was something I dreaded. I never found anything I liked, or nothing ever fit me right. Being short and curvy was a blessing and a curse at the same time. Stella and Cassie had the same height and body. It wasn’t hard for them to find something that they would look amazing in. They didn’t know that they were beautiful, but they truly were.

In my fifth rotation around the store, I was starting to give up. My feet were dragging, and I was losing hope at this point. It was late, we were hungry, and I knew a dress wasn’t going to be in these racks. When all hope was lost, Cassie pulls out a beautiful emerald green dress that hangs off the shoulders with a slit on the side. It is a classic empire waist that flares out to perfection on the bottom. The dress was absolutely stunning, and I needed to try it on. I practically sprinted to the dressing room and tried the dress on. Luckily for me, it fits like a glove. Although the price tag isn’t what I wanted to spend, I had to buy it.

I couldn’t find shoes to match the dress, but as long as I had the dress, I didn’t care about the shoes. I was shocked that I found a dress that I actually liked on myself. Sometimes, the dresses we think we won’t like, end up being a perfect fit.

We leave the mall and Stella decides to drop me off at my house first. I say goodbye to Stella and Cassie and make my way to the front door with my beautiful dress in hand. As I get closer to the door, I see Noah sitting at the swing on the porch with a dozen red roses in his hand. Once he sees me, he stands up and walks towards me. I can’t help but smile and kiss him.

“What are you doing here? It’s freezing out! You should’ve went inside!” I say with my words coming out a mile a minute.

“I wanted to wait for you to get home so I could give you these.” Noah hands me the roses and tucked inside the middle is a note. On the front of the note it simply says ‘Belly’. I give him a reassuring smile that I am so happy that he is here. I open up the envelope and I pull out the card. In his sloppy, yet beautiful writing it has on the inside “Will you be my homecoming date?” I put the card back in the envelope and pull his head down to mine so I can give him a long and alluring kiss.

“I would not want to go to homecoming with anyone else, Noah Carlo.”

“I never want to be with anyone else, Isabelle Marino.”

He pulls my waist and we start to kiss again. This time I feel dizzy and faint. I am soaking up all of him, every inch that I could have. I was slowly falling more and more for Noah Carlo. He was the drug that I not only needed but wanted. He made me want to be fun and exciting. He made me want to go on adventures and do different things. I was always shy and timid, never knowing what I should do next. With Noah it was different, he made me want to be fun, but he also made me want to be a better person.

I don’t know what I would ever do without this boy.