The gravel beneath my feet was beginning to cause some pain. Maybe my mother was right, maybe these weren't good walking shoes.
They were cute, though, so I'd insisted on wearing them to the first day of school. That's how you made friends at a new high school, right? Cute shoes?
It hasn't seemed to work but, it was only one day in. The next day could be better. Or worse.
Not much worse, though, unless my mother forgot me again and I had to walk home once more. When she had asked me to sell my car so we could downsize and 'save a little money', I hadn't known how truly inconvenient it would be.
The town was small and it wasn't like it could be much of a walk anyway, but like I said, I hadn't dressed for walking.
My mind was shuffling through my wardrobe, wondering how I could make a better impression tomorrow, when I heard the gravel crunching beneath someone else's shoes behind me.
The big city girl in me felt nervous at the sound, until I remember that I was literally within sight of school and now in a minuscule town, comparatively. I was very unlikely to be mugged.
I glanced over my shoulder to see one of the few people who's name I remembered from my first day - Eddie. Eddie... something.
"Hey!" he called when I turned.
"Hey. Eddie, right?" Playing it cool, much like cute shoes, was surely a way to make a good impression in a new town.
"Don't wear it out. You walking home?" He did a little half jog to catch up to me, and the chains on his pants played a nice tune. Despite the heat, he was wearing black pants and a black shirt with a jean vest over it. I had to imagine he was sweating, especially with all that curly hair.
Eddie stood out to me for reasons I couldn't quite put a finger on. It wasn't like my old school wasn't full of guys like him. I'd even dated one or two of them.
It might've been something about the way Eddie moved. He was expressive but also seemed a little self-conscious, somehow. Plus, he was loud. From two tables over, I'd heard him enthusiastically welcoming two new members into some kind of club with lots of flowery and foul language.
He was just someone you had to notice.
"Yes sir," I finally replied.
A grin spread on his face. "Sir? I don't hate that."
I chuckled. "Are you also walking home?"
He shrugged. "Thought it was a nice day for a walk."
An awkward silence followed that I wasn't sure how to fill. I listened to the gravel under our feet once more. Luckily, it wasn't long before Eddie spoke again.
"Actually, uh, I noticed you today, and," he paused, reaching up to nervously scratch the back of his head, "well I wanted to say hi but there wasn't like a good time, you know? So, I saw you walking alone and figured I could like, offer to walk you home. That's smooth, right?"
Now I was wearing the wide grin.
Was Eddie hitting on me? He was my type. I knew all his cassettes would be metal, and there was a pretty high chance that if he didn't sell drugs himself, he knew where to get them.
He was also a little nervous, maybe a little shy, and I liked that, too.
"Do you like these shoes, Eddie?" I asked, stopping to face him.
He turned to me, a puzzled look on his charming face, and looked down at my feet.
"Uh, yeah," he replied, staring at them hard. "They're nice. They don't look like, uh, good walking shoes though."
I signed and continued walking. After a moment, Eddie caught up with me.
"You sound like my mother. You're both right, though. My feet fucking hurt. But, they're cute, right?"
Eddie smiled, though I could tell he was a little thrown off.
"I mean, they make a good impression, don't they?" I asked.
Eddie chuckled and shrugged. "It could be the shoes, could be how hot you are. Hard to call it."
I wasn't sure whether to throw my head back and laugh, or blush.
"It's the shoes," I replied, with a little pink on my cheeks.
"I have a van, you know," Eddie added after a beat.
I gasped. "You have a functioning vehicle and allowed a lady to walk home?" I threw him a chastising look, and he laughed.
He skipped in front of me, turned around, and performed a very dramatic blow with one arm crossed over his torso and the other extended to me. After a moment, he lifted his head up to meet my eyes.
"Forgive me, my lady," he said sorrowfully, extending his hand further to me.
I took it, and was shocked with the feeling of his hand in mine.
It felt... electric. He pulled me towards him as he stood up and then lifted my hand to his face so he could place a tender kiss on the back of it.
I tried not to audibly gasp. Was I swooning over this boy?
Maybe a little.
We were rounding the corner to my house now and even though my feet were screaming, I found it hard to admit to Eddie that we were at my stop.
"Nice place," Eddie said as we stood at the end of my driveway. We were clearly both looking for a reason to extend our time together, but I couldn't think of a good one.
"Um, could I ask a favor?" I said finally.
"Do you want a ride to school tomorrow?" Eddie asked in almost the same breath.
I laughed. "That's what I was going to ask, actually! Would you mind? Is it out of your way?"
"Not at all."
We smiled at each other for a moment and I felt a weird, nervous fluttering in my stomach. Eddie was rocking back and forth on his heels, looking everywhere but at me, clearly feeling a little nervous as well.
"Ok," I said awkwardly, "well, tomorrow, then?"
Eddie finally met my eyes. "Tomorrow, my lady."
Feeling emboldened, probably by the fact that he had called me hot not too long ago, I stood up on tiptoes and pressed a light kiss to his cheek.
As I did, I heard him let out a breath he must've been holding in.
We smiled at each other in what must have been a very goofy way, but only felt exciting.
I turned on the heel of my lucky shoes and headed inside, dreaming of tomorrow.
