Decisions

Kole

That night, Meg lay curled up into a little ball underneath her covers. Kole. Kole filled every corner of her mind, and she hated it. She didn't want to like anybody. She didn't NEED to like anybody right now. She squeezed her body tight and put her hand against her chest, feeling the soft thump-tha-thump of its pulse. She felt horrible, like she was falling in love just because of his looks. She hated herself for feeling like this before even getting to know him. Pulling the covers down, she took a deep breath of fresh air, the coolness of the open room spreading over her face. Meg squinted at the ceiling, trying to find a solution to this feeling she felt within her heart. Her mind racked again and again for more, searching every little piece of knowledge she could dig up, but nothing could teach her about this. Meg's squint turned into a glare, and she kicked off her sheets. She quietly stepped over to her desk, as to not wake anyone, and pulled out her chair and softly sat down. She stared into the pitch black screen of her desktop. With one click of the mouse, the computer glared bright. She immediately shut her eyes as she turned down the brightness. She went to her email account, hoping for Brenda to be online. Fortunately for Meg, Brenda was almost always online, no matter if it was 1:00 AM in the morning.

megman1546: brenda u there?
brendzy: ya course. Y
megman1546: theres a guy
brendzy: srsly? thats unusual
megman1546: ikr. so...its a sophomore. hot, nice(as far as i know) and in my new math class. i got moved up to sophomore math yaaaay i guess?
brendzy: congrats! well?
megman1546: well what?
brendzy: tell me more! duh ya idiot
megman1546: oh. lol sorry. name's kole. heard of him?
brendzy: uhm i think he's the main assistant of the science teacher. science geek?
megman1546: for real? i suck at science
brendzy: lol sorry thats all i know. cya tmrrow

"brendzy is now offline"

A science geek? Well, at least he wasn't a stupid jerk like a certain someone she knew(his name started with a T and ended with an R), but that was only what Meg could assume for now. She rubbed her eyes with her palms and took a deep breath. Exhaling, she slowly got up and stepped towards her bed again. Suddenly her old flip phone began vibrating. She jumped, but then gave it a glare, wishing her mom would finally buy her an iPhone. She reached her hand out onto her phone, but stopped. It was an unrecognized number. How did they get her number? Who were they? Meg put her hand back down by her side, and while still looking at the phone, now worried, quietly stepped towards her bed and pressed her hands deep into the bedding. The vibrating didn't stop, and when it finally did, it started again. Her heart pounded. The phone vibrated. She placed her knees onto the bedding, feeling them sink into the sheets. Slowly crawling towards her pillow, she kept looking back at the phone. She duck into the covers, and wrapped herself up in blankets. After almost what seemed like forever, the vibrating stopped.

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Meg cautiously stepped into the Sophomore Math room. It felt like a foreign area, a place she didn't belong. She glanced around, pretending to look for a seat, and almost immediately spotted Kole. He wasn't hard to spot. He was tall for his age, and sat straight up, higher than all the other students who were slumped down or laying on their tiny chair-desks. He had been looking down, scribbling something onto a piece of paper, but glanced up and saw Meg standing in the doorway. Their gazes met, and he smiled. Meg attempted a smile back, but halfway through her smile she found an interesting bug to study on the tiled floor. When she managed to look up again, Kole had gone back to scribbling on his paper. Meg took a deep breath, puffing out her cheeks as she exhaled. Today he was wearing a blue hoodie and cargo pants. His black, bed hair spiked upwards, and even when he ran his fingers through it, they easily bounced back. Meg felt she could stare at home the whole day, if not longer, but finally decided that she probably looked like an idiot dawdling around in the doorway and rushed towards an empty seat in the corner of the room. While passing Kole, she got a whiff of his deodorant. It smelled like... Meg blushed bright red. Once she got to the desk, she set her books down on the ground and flopped down onto her small seat.

Meg was walking out of Sophomore Math until a voice behind her startled her. She whipped around, her hair lashing around her face.
"Hey! Remember me? Kole?" Kole was standing a few feet behind her with a slight grin on his face.
"Oh! Uhm- yeah, I remember you!" Embarrassed, Meg struggled to straighten her hair. Just like it would in this kind of situation, it only got messier. "Jesus, I'm sorry, I just-" Meg stuttered.
Kole laughed aloud. "It's alright. I mean, look at my hair!" He pointed at his own hair and laughed again.
"No, no, no! Your hair looks great!" Meg gasped. She covered her mouth, realizing what she had just said. She spun around to the hallway and began walking down at a fast pace. She held her books tight with her other hand.
"Wait!" Kole grabbed her arm.
Meg jerked and dropped her books. Kole sucked his breath in. "Oh, God. I'm so sorry. Here, let me help," he bent down and picked one textbook up, then a notebook, then her pencil case, and then another book. Meg could only stand, staring down with her head hot and blank. She couldn't even bring herself to bend down and pick up her own godamned books. Kole stood up, books in his hand.
Handing her her books, he asked, "Why don't you just put everything in your backpack and carry that around? Isn't that easier?" He shrugged his backpack back on off the floor.
Meg's head still hot, she muttered, "Well, it's just... my locker is like my peaceful spot," she covered her mouth again. She could not believe what she was saying. She looked down, her head felt like it was about to explode, and she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for Kole to laugh at her. He laughed, but not in a mean way.
"Man, that's too cute!" He snickered and laughed, doubling over in laughter.
"Wait, I'm not cute! Don't get me wrong!" Meg didn't know how to respond to this. Her only option: just run away. She sprinted down the hallway to her locker, hiding in the crowd of students. Kole was nowhere to be seen. She let out a breath of air, shuffled over to her locker, and opened it. Suddenly, a hand slammed onto the locker next to hers. Another hand slammed down on the locker the opposite side. She was trapped by two hands. She slowly turned around.

It was Tyler.