Escaping the Closet

Awkward Flirting

We walked to class and I slipped into a seat next to Keesha. We sat through the lesson slipping notes to each other on my phone. Whenever Keesha was concentrating on listening to the teacher I would look at her and I started to realize how pretty she was. The curve of her nose going to a perfectly rounded point, her beautiful brown eyes, the way that she bites her lips when trying to concentrate, and the cute laugh she has. I swear I was head over heels in love. I know I am only in grade eight but what can I say this girl was perfect. Normally I loved this class but for some reason, I just couldn't wait for the next period because it was a work period. We finished the lesson and started to work on the assignment. Every so often when we were grabbing pencils our fingers or hands would touch and it sent shocks through my body. I had never felt this way before about anyone. Every single time I see Keesha my heart flutters or skips a beat, my stomach feels like it's full of butterflies, and I feel like I'm in a daze.

I try to look secretly over at Keesha and catch her looking at me. She quickly looked away going back to work on the assignment. "Keesha," I asked. "Do you have any other assignments that need to be finished?"

"There is a math assignment and a religion assignment I need to complete well plus this one, why?" She looked up at me.

"I've finished all my assignments and need something to do. Can you give me your locker combination so I can grab them to work on?"

Keesha laughs looking at me. "You're joking right?"

"No? I'm serious when I don't have anything to do, I work on homework and stuff."

"Well thank you for the offer but I can finish them by myself."

"Some of my friends have the same assignments as you. They are due today and I don't think you have enough time or the mental capacity to finish those assignments. I know what I am doing and I can finish them for you."

"Fine but only this one time because I am behind but never again because school and my grades are my responsibility."

"Great, what is your combo? Don't worry, I forget things quickly."

"It's 20, 45, 7, 10 and my locker number is 1262. Thank you for offering your help. I have been so worried about those assignments. I know the answers but I don't have the time to finish them. Between school and working a job, I also have sports and volunteering to do. On top of that when I get home from school I have to mother my little brother because my dad doesn't get back from work until eight."

"Holy shit that's a lot of weight on your shoulders. Why haven't you quit some of those things so you aren't so tired? It's not good to overwork yourself."

"Well I can't drop out of school," Keesha laughs. " I am working because I need to save up for later in life so I am not in debt every, I technically don't need to volunteer and I could probably drop that, I am in love with sports so no I am going to keep doing those, and I have to take care of my little brother because there is no one else to do so."

"How the hell did you manage to get a job at thirteen? I want to get a job but I have to wait till I am fourteen like everyone else."

"It's not like an official job. I work at a barn for a lady who needs help with her horses and cows. It's much hands-on work but I enjoy it."

"Ah, I see." I raise my hand.

"Yes, Danielle?" Responds Mrs. Seinfeld.

"May I go grab something from my locker to work on? I have finished my assignment from this class."

"Yes, you may but don't take longer than five minutes to return please, and sign out using the sheet next to the door."

"Yes ma'am." I smile at Keesha and get up to leave the class.

As I walked to her locker I kept thinking about how my parents would respond to the fact that I was bisexual. "Well, maybe not even bisexual," I said out loud. As of late, I had been struggling with the label of bisexual because I had never been attracted to any males. I had only ever found girls attractive in a romantic way. I had admired guys respectfully in a way that I would want to look like them in a certain way. When I saw guys all I thought about was how I would want to copy-paste their bodies into mine. I wanted to have a six-pack with strong shoulders and arms. My goal was to always be the protector in the relationship.

I made it to Keesha's locker and got her homework out of it, shutting it quietly but as I turned around to make my way back to the classroom I ran into a tall boy who looked as if he shouldn't be in the middle school though he wasn't old enough to be a teacher.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to run into you." He crouched down to pick up my things and passed them to me. "The name Kayden by the way, how about you?"

"Uhm I am Danielle but everyone calls me Dani."

"Cool, again sorry for running into you. I am here to pick up my little brother from school."

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

He laughed, "Yeah normally but both my parents work and my little brother is feeling sick so I got excused from school to bring him home. I had to walk over from the high school just around the block."

"Yeah I know I'm going there next year. Now excuse me, I have to get back to class." I turned to leave.

Kayden put his hand on my shoulder and turned me back around. "You're going there next year? You look like you should already be in high school." He said, looking down at me.

"No shit Sherlock, now I need to get back to class or I will be in trouble."

"I like your spunk. Can I get your number? Like in a friendly way nothing weird my bad if it came out that way."

"Sure I guess." I gave Kayden my number and then made my way back to class.

"Danielle, you were gone for eight minutes. What took you so long?" Asked Mrs. Seinfeld.

"I had some trouble with my lock, it got jammed. I'm sorry ma'am."

"All right, please sit down and get to work on your assignments. The class is over in twenty-five minutes. That is to all of your class if you are not finished with your assignment please work on it you only have twenty-five minutes to finish it or you will have to work on it at home. It is due tonight before ten o'clock."

There was a rustling of paper throughout the classroom as students resumed their assignments. I looked down at the math homework that Keesha needed to finish. The material was simple and I had already done my grade eight math last year because I was ahead in classes. I set to work on the questions and by the end of class, I was finished with the assignment almost onto the religion quiz when the bell rang.

"Don't forget tomorrow, Wednesday is the test review and the test will be on Friday. You have two days to study for the test." Mrs. Seinfeld announced to the class as we were filling out the door.

Keesha and I walked through the hallways talking as we made our way to Physical Education class. Today we were in the classroom doing our health assignment. Keesha and I had both finished our assignment the week before while the rest of the students were talking and not spending their time wisely. We got to the class before everyone else and took seats next to each other. Mr. Albisser greeted us as we entered the room. Our health teacher was probably one of my favorite teachers in the school and I was sad that this was going to be my last year with him. When we had sat down and gotten situated I started on Keesha's religion quiz while Keesha worked on another one of her assignments from last week that was overdue. Once we had both finished our assignments I pulled out my laptop from my bag and opened it to the docs we had used in History class this morning. While I was working on part of the presentation Keesha was leaning over my shoulder almost resting her head on it. I started to struggle with one of the word's spelling and Keesha reached to help me hold my hands before putting them to the side so she could type. Her touch sent butterflies to my stomach and I blushed.

"There I think that looks about right," She said smiling. "I used to struggle a lot with spelling, don't worry. It can be tough and it's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Thanks."