year if I wasn’t friends with Dakota or Sydney. Sure, we’d all get over this insignificant little squabble but what about the rest of the year? If we were already fighting on the first day, then I wasn’t sure how well the rest of the year would go. Other students were filing inside, filling up chairs at the tables. Just when I thought I might luck out and get my table all to myself, the chair beside me screeched painfully and a handsome, shaggy-haired boy squeezed in the seat right next to me. With so many other seats around, did he really have to choose the one directly beside me? I wondered, feeling annoyed. But then he glanced at me. Smiled softly. My foul mood disappeared completely.
His skin was the color of honey-covered toast. “Hi,” he said simply, and then turned toward the elderly, frumpy teacher who’d just stepped inside. It was obvious to me now that he had sat down so close because he wanted to be near me. Perhaps I wasn’t going to be so lonely this year after all!
***
Forty-five minutes later, I was sliding my folders into my backpack when he finally said more than one word to me. I could feel him standing there beside me, staring at me expectantly. “Hey, I’m Jordan.” His voice was quiet, but confident.
I swung my backpack over my shoulders and smiled up at him, feeling uncharacteristically shy. He seemed taller standing up, and even more attractive than my peripheral vision had let on.
“Amanda Loxx.” I stood there, wringing my hands together awkwardly. For a moment, a silence ensued between us, and I cleared my throat to relieve it. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before. Are you new here?” I was trying to sound polite, but I really wanted to know—something about him made me curious. He certainly looked too tall and mature to be a freshman.
“I’m not a freshman, if that’s what you’re thinking,” he said, reading my thoughts exactly. “I’m actually a junior. My last school in Crimson County didn’t offer any courses in child development, so I’m taking this as an elective. My mom is always saying that if I knew how difficult it was to raise a baby, then maybe I’d think twice about having so many girlfriends. Did you know that we get to carry one of those plastic babies that whine and cry all the time?”
I was too stuck on the fact that he said he was from Crimson County to pay attention to the rest of his words. “Did you say you were from Crimson?” I cut off his rant about artificial infants.
“Yeah, I was supposed to attend high school in Hawaii this year, hanging out on the beach…talk about a bummer, eh?”
“Wait. Did you say Hawaii?” I asked incredulously. This was all sounding vaguely familiar.
The rest of the students had emptied out of the room, and grumpy Mrs. Brooch was staring at us blankly from her desk, tapping her pencil rudely. “Get to your next class, please,” she grumbled. We giggled and headed for the door.
“You see, the weird thing is…I met this new girl today who was also supposed to move to Hawaii—” Based on the knowing smile that spread across his face, Jordan already knew who I was talking about.
“So, you met my sister then,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“Your sister?” I asked disbelievingly. He nodded, trotting down the hallway beside me. I noticed small herds of girlish faces, staring at Jordan as though he were eye candy. I moved a few inches closer to him, turning up my nose in their direction.
“It’s cool that you’ve already made friends with my sister. Since you guys are already friends, maybe we can hang out more too,” he suggested hopefully.
“That sounds really…wonderful,” I murmured dreamily, sticking right by his side.
“Speaking of my sister, we’re supposed to meet up for lunch. You want to hang out with us?” Just as the question left his lips, I saw Sydney and Dakota up ahead, making a beeline for the back of the lunch line. I let out a groan.
Dakota was
His skin was the color of honey-covered toast. “Hi,” he said simply, and then turned toward the elderly, frumpy teacher who’d just stepped inside. It was obvious to me now that he had sat down so close because he wanted to be near me. Perhaps I wasn’t going to be so lonely this year after all!
***
Forty-five minutes later, I was sliding my folders into my backpack when he finally said more than one word to me. I could feel him standing there beside me, staring at me expectantly. “Hey, I’m Jordan.” His voice was quiet, but confident.
I swung my backpack over my shoulders and smiled up at him, feeling uncharacteristically shy. He seemed taller standing up, and even more attractive than my peripheral vision had let on.
“Amanda Loxx.” I stood there, wringing my hands together awkwardly. For a moment, a silence ensued between us, and I cleared my throat to relieve it. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before. Are you new here?” I was trying to sound polite, but I really wanted to know—something about him made me curious. He certainly looked too tall and mature to be a freshman.
“I’m not a freshman, if that’s what you’re thinking,” he said, reading my thoughts exactly. “I’m actually a junior. My last school in Crimson County didn’t offer any courses in child development, so I’m taking this as an elective. My mom is always saying that if I knew how difficult it was to raise a baby, then maybe I’d think twice about having so many girlfriends. Did you know that we get to carry one of those plastic babies that whine and cry all the time?”
I was too stuck on the fact that he said he was from Crimson County to pay attention to the rest of his words. “Did you say you were from Crimson?” I cut off his rant about artificial infants.
“Yeah, I was supposed to attend high school in Hawaii this year, hanging out on the beach…talk about a bummer, eh?”
“Wait. Did you say Hawaii?” I asked incredulously. This was all sounding vaguely familiar.
The rest of the students had emptied out of the room, and grumpy Mrs. Brooch was staring at us blankly from her desk, tapping her pencil rudely. “Get to your next class, please,” she grumbled. We giggled and headed for the door.
“You see, the weird thing is…I met this new girl today who was also supposed to move to Hawaii—” Based on the knowing smile that spread across his face, Jordan already knew who I was talking about.
“So, you met my sister then,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“Your sister?” I asked disbelievingly. He nodded, trotting down the hallway beside me. I noticed small herds of girlish faces, staring at Jordan as though he were eye candy. I moved a few inches closer to him, turning up my nose in their direction.
“It’s cool that you’ve already made friends with my sister. Since you guys are already friends, maybe we can hang out more too,” he suggested hopefully.
“That sounds really…wonderful,” I murmured dreamily, sticking right by his side.
“Speaking of my sister, we’re supposed to meet up for lunch. You want to hang out with us?” Just as the question left his lips, I saw Sydney and Dakota up ahead, making a beeline for the back of the lunch line. I let out a groan.
Dakota was
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