When (If)

I want to learn you: Chapter 1.

It's a Monday morning, the first one of the school year. "It's the beginning of the most important year of your life," as my mom puts it. It's my last year in high school and I couldn't be more stressed. I am supposed to apply for colleges and obviously, pass the year.

My morning daydreaming session is interrupted by mom calling me down for breakfast. I dress into jeans, a t-shirt and my all stars. I run downstairs and grab my lunch.
I say, "I'm late to meet Kat. I'll see you later."
My mom says angrily, "I made breakfast, Zoey."
"I've got lunch. I love you."
"I love you too. Enjoy your day."

I walk out the door and sigh. I see Katherine waiting by the gate. She's typing a message, probably to her boyfriend.
She turns and says, "Good morning, cheerful one. Are you ready for the best year of our lives?"
"Kat, I'm ready. Are you?"
She laughs, "I was born ready. I can't want to leave and go travel."
"Who doesn't?"
"Exactly. I would like to know something; do you want a boyfriend anytime soon?"
I give her a dirty look, "Do I need one?"
"Whoa, okay. Just asking. All I want is to go on cute, little double dates with you, Zo," She laughs. I stay silent because she always does this. She walks ahead of me and stops.
She grabs my shoulders and says, "I'm sorry. I just want to see you happy, Zo and don't worry, I'll sort it out for you."
"Please make sure it's not someone like Gus," We both start laughing.

We arrive at school and greet all of our other friends. I listen to the conversations, but I am distant. I'm staring just beyond all my friends, focusing on the entrance of the school. I watch all the other students, laughing and chatting away. I see a new student, standing awkwardly by the doors. I think he's pretty gorgeous. My friends notice and start giggling.
Kat clicks her fingers in front of my eyes, "Hello? Earth to Zo."
I turn my head and look at her, "Sorry, the new guy. He is drop dead gorgeous."
All my friends turn and look at him.
Kat says, "Holy crap! Why don't we go introduce ourselves?"
I say, "No!"
My friends laugh and say, "Come on, Zo! He won't think you're weird or anything."
"It's just that I'm pretty sure that he caught me starting about four million times," He looks over at me and walks inside the school, "Look, he's gone now."
Kat says, "We'll find him later." The bell goes as I'm about to say something.

Kat and I walk to our first class together. We sit next to each other and wait for our teacher to arrive. Instead, he walks in. He looks around for a place to sit and sees an empty seat behind me. He looks at me and then, sits down. I turn my head to look at Kat and widen my eyes. She fans herself and mouths, "So hot."
I start laughing and see Mr Robbins waiting in the front of the class.
He says, "Welcome everyone and welcome to our new student, Nate Cavin." The whole class looks at him and he just smiles. I think, wow that smile is amazing. His smile is stuck in my head throughout the entire day. I keep searching for him, just so I can see that smile again.

Kat finds me after school in the parking lot and sighs, "Isn't Nate Cavin just beautiful? I have him in three classes.
"I only have one class with him. Can I please call dibs on him? I mean, I did see him first."
Kat groans, "Fine, but you have to speak to him. Tomorrow."
"Kat, there's no need to rush," I laugh, "I'll find a way to work things out."
"Okay. I see my mom waiting. Bye, Zo!"
"Bye, Kat."
She turns, "Don't forget; tomorrow!" We both smile and she gets in her mom’s car and leaves. I sigh and sit down on a bench. A few minutes go by and then, I notice Nate walking to a car. I watch the car drive off. I read things on my phone until my mom arrives.

The whole afternoon, I am overthinking what I might say to him, but I'll probably just lose all speaking abilities if we ever talk. I laugh at that because knowing me, it will probably happen. Another possibility is that I'll blush and start shaking like a leaf. I can do both. I finally decide that I won't talk to him yet.

I type into Facebook, “Nate Cavin.” I can’t find him. Maybe he just doesn't have it. It's very disappointing. I know Kat will probably do her research.
I message Kat, "No Facebook. Find anything yet?" I wait for her to reply. I lay down on my bed and close my eyes.

I wake up just after five and grab my phone. I have 4 messages from Kat.
"He just moved here from New York."
"Born on 7 June 1997."
"Has Twitter!"
"@natecavin."
I type, "Thank you." I search him on Twitter and look at his profile for ten minutes. I'm deciding whether I should follow him. I don't want to make it seem as if I'm stalking him. My finger hovers over the follow button for awhile until I press follow. I throw my phone onto my bed. A few minutes later, my phone goes off.
"@natecavin is now following you."