When Will He Realize

Chapter 1: The Start Of Something New

Today is Monday, August 19, 2018, and I am quickly jerked awake by the annoying sound of my alarm clock. I have instant regret for setting my alarm as my favorite song, I can't listen to the song peacefully anymore. I set my alarm for 5 am because I wanted to dress up for my first day of high school. I am beyond nervous; I get chill bumps even thinking about the fact that in under two hours, I will be stepping foot into a huge new high school for the first time. Well, technically I guess it will be my second time being in the high school building. On one of the last few days of eighth grade, my old middle school took us on a "field trip" to visit the high school building. I hardly remember what the building even looked like, all I can remember is the fear and terror that was running through my veins the entire time I was in the high school building. River Fill High school is a school combined with a total of four different middle schools in my area. It is safe to assume that the school is huge and that I will definitely get lost. Freshmen still haven't received our class schedules, so we have no clue what classes or teachers we have this semester or who our classmates are. I hope that I have classes with my absolute best friend Morgan. Morgan and I have been friends since seventh grade, I truly believe that she has saved more times than either of us will admit. As I lay in bed thinking about the day I have ahead of me, I look at my phone and the time is already five thirty. I quickly get up out of my cozy warm comfy bed and open my hot pink curtains hoping to expose sunlight only to realize it is still almost pitch-black outside. I sigh as I go into my bathroom that is connected to my bedroom, I turn on the shower to the coldest setting, and then I briskly brush my teeth struggling to hold my eyes open and stay awake.

I then get into the cold shower in another lame attempt to wake myself up. I find myself dozing off in the shower and decide it is probably the best and safest option for me to get out of the shower right now. As I am getting out of the shower, I slip on the grey hardwood floor in my bathroom and fall flat on my butt. If that doesn't sum up how my day is going to go then I don't know what will. I get dressed for the day and then go back into my bedroom, where I then look at the time on my phone and it is already six o'clock. I only have thirty minutes left until I must catch my bus. I quickly brush my long brown hair and curl it before I do light makeup and then rush downstairs to eat breakfast. My mom has made me strawberry oatmeal that she the fridge for me. She is a nurse who works the night shift so I don't get to see her as often as I would like. My dad walked out of my life when I was born, and I haven't seen him since I only know him based on the things that my mother has told me about him, and none are pleasant. I have other siblings, but they are grown and live on their own. They come and visit us occasionally but most of the time it is just me and my mom against the world. My mom is my favorite person on this entire planet, she is my absolute best friend and I tell her everything that happens in my life. Well, not everything I spare some details, for instance, I don't give her details of my love life. Although, the reason I don't give her details about my love life is that my love life is pretty much nonexistent. I have been in love with the same guy since third grade and the only time he notices me is when he wants gum, money or for me to do his homework. I don't know if I will ever find love or even if I want to. I spend most of my time reading or studying and I watch the Bachelorette every Monday. If I ever do find love, I believe that I will be in my mid-40s and out of options. I am quickly eating as I hear a bus drive by my house and stop next door. I grab my backpack and run out the door as I see my bus stopped at my neighbor Kelan's house. As I begin running after my bus, the driver closes the door and begins to take off. As I am about to go back home and give up hope I hear the bus come to a stop, so I start power walking, and finally, I am on the bus. "Don't be late again because I won't wait for you next time." said Suzan. Suzan is my rude grumpy bus driver who really needs a cigarette. She has been driving my bus for as long as I can remember. She drives to the elementary school, middle school, and high school. I never understood why she took her job so seriously; anyone can drive a bus. I think... anyway, I was getting ready to put my headphones on and take a brisk nap until I heard a loud yeehaw voice say, "I told her you were coming and that she needed to stop the bus, so your welcome." I turn to look behind me and see Kelan Ford doing a sideways grin expecting me to thank him for his act of kindness.

I almost didn't even recognize him, everything about Kelan looks different from the last time I saw him. At the beginning of summer, he was about a whole foot shorter, he had long blonde hair, and he wore knee-length shorts with cowboy boots like they were going out of style. The Kelan sitting behind me has short brown hair that somehow is perfectly in place, tan skin, dreamy brown eyes, and biceps that look like they are about to bust his shirt open. I sarcastically say "Oh Wow! Thank you so much for your service, I don't know what I would do without you." Kelan then rolls his eyes and lays back in the seat not speaking another word to me. I dated Kelan for one day in eighth grade just to see what it was like, and it wasn't a very pleasant experience. He tried to tongue me, and I yelled "Ew stop! Get off me!". We didn't speak much after that. As the bus begins to pull into the high school parking lot, I begin to feel nervous. I can feel my heart racing out of my chest and my palms begin to sweat. I really hope I don't get lost today. I hear the door to the bus open and everyone begins getting out of their seats, I stay seated until everyone else left. After everyone got off the bus I nervously got out of my seat and walked off the bus. I look around and everyone is in their best new outfits serving looks. I started feeling very glad that I also wore my best outfit too. I look down at my pink and white polka dot sundress and quickly realize that the back of it was tucked into the back of my backpack exposing my red lacey underwear. I have never felt more humiliated and there was nothing that I could do to change what had happened. As I walk into the main front doors, I see a sign that says, "All freshmen report to the auditorium." The auditorium is right beside the front entrance and was surprisingly thankfully very easy to find. I walk into the auditorium alone but as I am walking, I see both of my friends Morgan and Tezza both sitting in the main back row. I wave at them, and they start pointing at a seat they had saved for me. I have no clue what to expect from today, but I am trying to take it one second at a time. Morgan and I hung out all summer, but I haven't seen Tezza since June. "I cannot believe we are finally in high school." Says Morgan. "Me either I hope we get some classes together" I say. I hear the door to the auditorium open, so I look back and see Calvin Collins aka the hottest guy in school walking in. My eyes gaze not breaking contact, he almost looks like he is walking in slow motion. He has long brown fluffy hair that is in his eyes, but he takes his hands and moves it away from his face, he's so tall that I Have to strain my neck to look up to his face, his tan skin and big blue eyes are glowing in the auditorium lighting. I want to look away, but I cannot seem to force myself to do it.

He's halfway grinning with his perfect pearly white teeth. He can probably hear the sound of my heart racing as he walks by me. He doesn't even look my way the whole time. He is sitting beside his best friend Fred. Before Calvin sits in his seat, he takes off his River Fill football-themed hoodie and underneath is a white t-shirt that slightly comes up exposing his hard six-pack and his happy trail. At this point I am pretty sure everyone can see my drooling. I can't help but wonder why he wouldn't even look my way. At the beginning of July, I posted a vacation selfie to my Snapchat, and he slid up on it with a heart eyes emoji. I thought that could have meant something, but I guess not. "Ophelia you are staring, stop." says Morgan as she aggressively snaps her fingers in my face. Morgan and Tezza both try to convince me that I and Calvin could work together but I am not convinced. The loud auditorium full of excited freshmen quickly becomes silent when the principal enters. the stage and begins talking. "Good morning freshman, I am so glad to see you all here today. We are going to go over the student handbook and then I will pass out the schedules." Said Mrs. Elkins. I look over at Morgan and let out a big sigh, both of us are worried that we will not have any classes together. I don't know if I can make it through this year without Morgan by my side. Mrs. Elkins finishes going over the handbook and I am surprised that I stayed awake during the whole thing. The handbook is pretty much the same as the middle school one. The school is more worried about females showing their shoulders than the people doing lines of crack in the bathroom stalls. Mrs. Elkins dismisses each section of the auditorium to go up to the desk and get their schedules. Morgan, Tezza, and I are the next sections to go up to the desk and you can see the fear in all our eyes. "What is your name?" asked the teacher behind the desk. "Hi, my name is Ophelia Wild," I say in a nervous voice. The teacher hands me my paper and tells me that I am free to exit the auditorium to go to my first period. I exit through the door, and I wait in the cafeteria for Tezza and Morgan to come out. I see Morgan come out first and I quickly run to her to compare schedules. We both panicked and look for the classes and we then find out that we have no classes together.