Joe Do You Think I'm Cool

Ryan and Joe

As I was putting books in my locker, I saw Joe again, he always walked by my locker with a group of three other guys. I always kind of just stared at him, he never noticed me, why would he? He's the cool guy that gets all the girls, he's probably been high and drunk, I would be surprised if he hasn't lost his virginity at this point. I sighed and stared at him as he passed by. He looked at me and smiled and I blushed a bit and looked away. Why was I blushing? Was I embarrassed that I got caught staring at him? It was, or at least I think it was.

"Hey, are you alright?" Evan said as he walked up to me.

"Huh, yep, yeah, mhm, I'm good," I said, snapping out of my trance.

"Ok, good, I'm having a party at my parents' place tonight, they're gone for the weekend, it's gonna be sick, do you wanna come?" He asked me.

"Yeah, sure, who have you invited so far?" I asked.

"Basically, the entire grade," he shrugged. I wasn't surprised honestly, Evan was a people person, he knew everyone, so it made sense that he would invite the entire 12th grade.

"Ok, cool, I'll be there at like, 9 ish, does that sound good?"

"Perfect, see you then Ry," he smiled and walked away.

I got out of my car and locked it and went inside Evan's house. It was crowded and there was loud music playing, I wasn't surprised to see people doing shots by the counters in the kitchen. I sighed to myself and sat down on the couch. I never really went to parties that often; I only went if one my friends was hosting.

"Hey Ryan!' Evan yelled over the loud music.

"Hey Ev!" I called back.

"We're about to play spin the bottle, wanna join?" He asked me.

"Oh! Yeah, sure!" I smiled widely and followed him to the corner of the living room where a big circle of people sat. I sat down next to Evan and looked at all the people in the circle to see who I was dealing with, then I saw Joe.

"Shit-" I whispered to myself.

"So, who wants to go first?" Evan asked.

"I'll go," a girl shrugged and reached for the bottle. I looked up and straight across me at Joe again. He looked at me too and smiled a bit. His black curly hair hung from his head down to his face and a few strands covered his light blue eyes. I loved his eyes; they were so light that they were almost white, they were gorgeous.

Everything slowed down when Joe reached over the middle of the circle and reached for my neck. What the hell was going on?

"Hey, you're ok with this, right?" He asked, looking at my straight in the eyes. I nodded a bit. I forgot we were playing spin the bottle; I must've zoned out while staring at him, and he must've spun the bottle... and it landed on me.

I was snapped back to reality, everything sped up again. Before our lips could even touched, I launched forward and closed my eyes. Why did I do that? Did I just want him to think about me later? Did I just wanna be a thought in his mind so he would think about me now? No, it was none of those, I think I...

"I like you," I whispered as I pulled away. He stared at me for a bit.

"I'm gonna go get some whiskey," he looked me up and down and stood up before walking away.

"Damn, are you two gay," Evan joked.

"I wish," I whispered under my breath. I grabbed the bottle and spun it.

I eventually broke from the circle and grabbed my jacket at the front door to leave.

"Hey Ry," Joe smiled at me.