Stars Collide

Chapter 6

School had officially started. I couldn't wait for school to end so I could get out of here and go to a school in the real America. I hadn't seen that girl, Leah since the day before school started and we were already a week into school. She couldn't have been a senior if she wasn't in a single class with me. She didn't look like a freshman- she looked far too old for that- but she would've had some classes with me if she was a junior. She was probably a sophomore.

What was getting into me? Since when did I care what grade a girl was in? I didn't have the time or commitment for a girl. It was my senior year.

"Oh, Ben!" Ian said when we were in AP Chem. "You have it bad."

I shrugged. "I don't know, Ian. It seems like too much trouble."

"Look at it this way," Ian said. "Do you ever like any girl? No, right? So if you finally actually like a girl, do you really want to throw it all away? This could be really important."

I laughed, earning a glare from Mr. Sorenson. "Since when did you become wingman extraordinaire? And when did I say I liked her?"

Ian shrugged. "I don't know, man, something's gotten into me. See, that's another sign!"

I laughed. "I'll think about it, Ian. I think we should pay attention to chem now."

"Me too," Mr. Sorenson said. Ian and I both knew that Mr. Sorenson wouldn't have done anything even if we didn't listen. He believed that if you listen, it's your gain. If you don't, your loss. It's your choice.

Mr. Sorenson had been a teacher for at least one of my classes since eighth grade. He was also great friends with Dad, even before he started teaching me. I had no doubt that he would inform my father of my choice so I always made sure to choose the former.

"Hey, Ben," Ian was saying to me later that day. "What do you think it's like out there?"

"America?" I asked. He nodded in confirmation. "I don't know," I admitted. "You're the one who was born there."

"I know," he said. "That doesn't necessarily mean that I remember stuff from before I was three months old."

"I still can't believe you haven't been there since."

"I know!" he exclaimed. "Dad always makes our family over there come over here instead of us going over there."

"Slow down, kiddo," I joked. "I think it's great."

"What if you don't like it there?" he asked.

"Then I'll deal with it. I wouldn't want all my hard work to go in vain."

Ian snorted. "I would come back here."

"That's where you're not like me," I told him. "I stick to my commitments."

He was silent for a minute. "Get the girl," he finally blurted out. "She's in the East Coast Dorm, second floor."

"That's creepy," I said, thinking that he was joking. "How do you know where she lives?"

"I overheard Ms. Cohen the other day," he replied. "Go get the girl, Ben."

I sighed. "Will it shut you up?"

"Shut up! We both know that you want her. We've been friends too long to deny stuff like this, don't you think?"

"It's not denying," I told him. "I don't even know what I think myself."

"I do," he told me. "You like the girl. When you like a girl, you have to grow a pair of balls and ask her out."

"Cut me some slack, okay? It's my first time asking someone out."

"You're going to do it?" Ian asked excitedly.

I nodded. "I'm going to do it. But it's only for the year. If I have a broken-hearted girl on my hands, I'm going to hand her off to you."

"Deal!" he said enthusiastically, sticking out his hand. I shook it, trying to appear halfhearted when really, I could feel my heart threatening to escape my ribcage. I pulled my hand back before it began to get sweaty.

For the rest of class, I paid attention. Ian kept on sneaking me excited glances but I ignored him. When class was over, he held my shoulders down as I tried to get up. "What?" I asked.

"When are you going to do it?"

"I swear, Ian, you're so into it that you should ask her yourself."

"It's just that... It's just that you've never been with a girl before and this is like a moment in history. The first time Ben asks a girl out."

"Don't make me change my mind," I threatened.

He held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, we won't talk about it. But you didn't answer my question."

"After I'm done with all my classes today," I answered. "Now, can we give it a rest?"

Ian smiled. "Sure, dude."

When my eleventh period teacher signaled the end of class, my pulse began to go up as my palms got sweatier by the second. For once, I was thankful that Ian wasn't in my last class when I noticed a small brunette head making its way to the exit. I wanted to smack myself on the forehead. How could I not have noticed that she was in this class? I speed-walked to catch up with her. It was now or never.

I tapped her shoulder and she turned around. "Hey," she smiled.

How could she be so confident about it? "Hi," I replied. "I- I wanted to ask you something."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to know what was going on in class today. I took notes."

I chuckled nervously, rubbing my hands together. "No, I pay attention in class. I just- I wanted to know if you would like to go out with me sometime."

She raised her eyebrows and clutched her books tighter to her chest. "Sure," she said after what seemed like a minute of silence. "That sounds great."

"It's a date," I told her, the relief flooding in.