Don't Go Crankin' My Heart

Chapter 1.2

A blond-haired girl named Emmaly Satterly sat in the front row. Her hair was tied back in a low ponytail, held together by a light blue scrunchy. She had golden brown eyes behind large black glasses that she would always readjust out of nervousness. She wore silver hoop earrings and a small chain necklace that held a lock and key. She told me about it once, telling me it was a gift from her dear boyfriend who transferred to a University hours away. A gift to signify his loyalty and love for her. I thought it was sweet. She writes in her notebook with a pink pen, her brows furrowed in concentration. Emmaly was a talented poet, but she was always so nervous to share her creations with the class.

I turn my gaze over to Thomas Milbourn, a boy with tan skin and long, silky black hair. He sits in the row in front of mine and to the left. Thomas would write stories that include his Native Culture and stories of his upbringing. They were always interesting. Instead of typing out stories and concepts on his laptop, he was currently playing games on his phone. I turned my head to get a good look at what he was playing, as I also love video games. He was playing Minecraft.

Lastly, I look over to the other end of my table, Ethan Nestor. Ethan sits low in his seat, laptop out and wireless mouse in hand. He has headphones on and is intensely focused on the screen. He's also playing video games. Ethan has fluffy dark hair, bright blue eyes, and a cute nose. He's lean and slender. He did gymnastics for 10 years, he told me once. Apparently, he was really good at it too. Ethan and I get along very well, he's become a good friend of mine, though this is the only class we have together. We've been keeping in touch outside of class recently. He didn't know this, but I thought he was absolutely adorable.

Ethan didn't notice me coming into class, which is fine I guess. I held my gaze on him for a little longer, admiring the little facial expressions he made while gaming, before opening my laptop. I open up Google Docs and create a fresh document. I pick up my phone and change the song to "Change" by Deftones, and begin writing. I had a few ideas in mind, so I wasn't just blindly writing. The ambiance of the song caused my fingers to fly across the keyboard. I was given so much inspiration from those beautiful lyrics.

After about a paragraph of writing, I feel like I'm being watched. I glanced over to see that Ethan had moved from his seat at the end of the table to the empty seat right next to me, and was staring right at me. I stare back at him wide-eyed and pull out my AirPods. "Ethan!" I shout in a hushed voice. He giggles and pokes my side. I slap his hand jokingly. "What are you doing? you creeped me out!" I laugh as he smiles at me. "Well Mavis, I looked up from dear PubG round and saw you made it to class," he says. "And I saw you had your AirPods in and were typing away, so I just knew something delicious was happening" he chuckled and twiddled his painted black fingernails at me. I let out a small sigh and looked back at my screen. I was disappointed about being interrupted mid-write, but it was Ethan. I could never be upset with that precious boy.

"Hey, I'm sorry for interrupting, though," Ethan said sincerely. Seeing that he probably ruined the good momentum I had going on, his smile started to fade. My heart instantly winced. "No, it's okay, Ethan," I replied quickly. I weakly smiled back at him and he once again smiled at me. "So....can I read?" he asks giddily. His eyes gaze over to my laptop screen. I slam it shut with a small giggle. "No!'' I say, "It's not finished just yet. But once it is, I'll let you read it as much as you want.'' I finish with a grin. Ethan nods and smirks teasingly, knowing I've let him read my unfinished projects many times before. He knows this must be something different.

It's now 4:15, class starts in 5 minutes. The other students were already trickling in and finding their seats, as well as our professor. I expected Ethan to move back to his usual spot like he always does, but instead he stays. I mean, we usually partner up together when we're assigned partner or group activities, but he always returns to his spot. I looked over at him with a puzzled look. As if he can read my mind he replies, "Hey Mavis, is it alright if I just sit here?" Is it alright? I think to myself. Usually, I like to sit by myself, farther away from other students. I like to have my space, I'm more introverted and shy. Other people usually smell, take up space, and can be overall annoying. I'm emo and alternative, remember? I'm different and not like other girls. But Ethan? That's completely different. Ethan is always so respectful of my space, and he smells like fresh linen with hints of his sweet cologne, Vanilla and Whiskey from Bath and Body Works. My first instinct was to immediately let him sit by me. I was filled with sudden excitement. Of course, I try to play it cool though. "Oh yeah, sure!" I say semi-excited with a small smile. His eyes brighten as he smiles back and says "Cool."

It's now 4:23 and the professor begins taking attendance. All the other students have arrived by this point. The professor calls my name and I reply with my usual "here!" which is then followed by Ethan's name being called, as his name falls right under mine in attendance. Ethan responds and the professor glances up at us, eyes shifting between the two of us, before returning to the sheet. We've always sat in the same seats this semester, so a small seating change must have thrown them off a bit. After completing attendance our professor jumps right into today's activities.