I Can See You | Lynn Loud Jr.

I.

"You brush past me in the hallway and you don't think I, I, I can see it, do ya?"

The school bell rang as Ms. Collins finished up her lecture about frogs. "Please be aware that we will be dissecting frogs tomorrow! You'll need to bring your own pair of latex gloves." she said, but nobody was listening.

I shut my journal and shoved it into my backpack, not bothering to zip it up. I rushed out of the classroom into the crowded hallway. After squeezing my way through, I felt an arm snake around my shoulders.

"Hi, Margo." I said, snarkily. She huffed at her failed attempt to catch me off guard. "I hate you." she breathed, taking her arm off of me. "I know." I smirked at her. "What do you want?"

"Just seeing how you're doing." I stared at her blankly, knowing there was more to it. "And because I need the geo homework.. like now." Sighing, I said, "Of course you do."

I pulled her into the bathroom, placing my backpack on the counter and searching it for my math folder. "Please hurry! You know I have to go across the school." She said, pacing the bathroom. "Calm down," I pulled the folder out of my bag, "it's right here."

I took out the page of loose leaf with work and answers on it, handing it to her. "Thank you tons! I owe you!" she said, bolting out of the bathroom.  I sighed, putting my bag back on my shoulders and leaving the bathroom.

I guess I should take this as an omen to always zip up on my backpack because the one time I wasn't paying attention, someone ran right into me, my folders and loose papers flying everywhere.

"Shit!" I shouted, quickly kneeling down to collect my things. "I'm so sorry! I was in a rush." The culprit knelt down beside me, also picking up papers. I recognized them almost immediately.

"Lynn?"

She looked up from the ground. "Oh my God, Freya! I'm so so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." I laughed a bit. "It's totally fine. Stuff happens, I guess." Once everything was picked up, we went our separate ways, sprinting to our classes.

The thing about Lynn and I is we've only ever spoken a few times through our mutual friend, Margo, but there's always been some kind of tension between us and I'm not quite sure why.

I first met her when I joined the soccer team at Royal Woods High. Margo introduced us, hoping she could convince Lynn to let us three be a trio. But for some reason, that never happened.

I made quick friends with the rest of the girls but Lynn just seemed distant. There were days when she completely ignored me and there were days when she wanted to be my best friend. It was the strangest thing.

She was never rude or anything, she doesn't seem like that kind of person, but she did seem indifferent to the idea of me. I mean, not everyone is gonna like me, so I got over it.

We're good sports on the field and we smile at one another in the hallway. We're acquaintances. That's it.

I burst through the door of AP Gov. The whole class turned their heads to look at me. As I caught my breath, Mr. Sanchez ordered me to my seat. "Sorry I'm late, I was in the bathr-"

"No excuses. I expected better from you Ms. Wilson." I discreetly rolled my eyes and took out my book. Throughout class, I dreamt about playing soccer and drew random doodles. One that I had subconsciously drew was of Lynn. I hadn't known I was doing it until it was done.

"Who's that?" The girl next to me asked, leaning in to get a closer look. I panicked, "Uh- no one." I threw my arms on top of my journal, covering the drawing. She hummed, continuing her work. Nosy Natalie is what we call her in the locker room.

She doesn't know how to mind her own business and seems to know everything about everyone. No one likes her. She's a try hard and a teacher's pet. Lynn did us all a favor by shoving her over one time in English class. She wasn't able to be in school for two whole weeks while she recovered.

And here I am again, on the topic of Lynn. The afternoon announcements broke me out of my thoughts, soon followed by the bell. I don't think I've run out of a classroom faster. I flew down the stairs and out to the field. The best part of Wednesday's was having soccer practice right after school.

I was beat there by Margo, who, to be fair, was only a few steps ahead of me. We joked around while we waited for Coach Keck and the other girls to arrive. We shoved each other around and kicked a soccer ball back and forth.

When more people started arriving, we settled down. I could faintly hear my ringtone coming from where I had dropped my backpack. I ran over and answered the call. It was my mom.

"Hey, Freya. Lori Loud is going to be driving you home after practice today. I can't make it."

"Lori Loud?" I asked, confused by the name. "Lynn's older sister." I hummed and nodded my head. "Okay. Sounds good!" We both said 'I love you' and hung up.

After practice, I jogged up to Lynn, who was drinking water. "Hey! Uh- my mom said you were driving me home today so-" She put her water down. "Yup." She smiled slightly and grabbed her bag, making an effort to hand me mine which was right beside hers. "Thanks." I said.

She began walking off, which I guess I was supposed to follow her but I didn't realize that. She stopped and turned around. "You coming?" I looked at her. "Oh, yeah! Sorry." I chuckled dryly and caught up to her.

The walk to the car was awkwardly silent. We both hopped in the back and said hello to Lori. She smiled at us and started the drive to my house. Lori was very talkative, which came in handy when Lynn and I obviously weren't.

She asked me a bunch of questions about what I like to do and what my interests are. One question she asked caught me off guard. "Do you have a boyfriend?" I choked on my breath, coughing. Once I was okay, I read the room. They both seemed like nice, accepting people, so why not?

"I'm actually a lesbian." I laughed a bit, hearing it out loud. "Oh!" she paused, "I'm sorry! Well, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Nope. All the girls here that are my type are either straight or taken." I laughed again, filling the silence that had returned. I cleared my throat to shut myself up. "You should meet our other sister Luna, she'd like you." Lori winked at me in the rear-view mirror.

I scratched the back of my neck and prayed for this car ride to be over.

She pulled into my driveway and put the minivan in park. "Here we are! It was nice meeting you, Freya!" She smiled at me and I smiled back. "You too, Lori. Thanks for driving me."

"Anytime." she said as I hopped out of the car. She used the buttons up front to close the door behind me as I walked up the steps of my porch. "Thank God that's over." I breathed out, unlocking my front door.

I put my bag on the floor and flopped onto the couch. I turned the TV on and relaxed a little too hard that I literally fell asleep.

I woke up in horror after having a dream about Lynn. "Nope! This is not happening." I ran upstairs to my room and hid under the covers on my bed. "Please God this is not happening!" I shouted out in frustration and confusion.

Lynn Loud and I aren't even friends. There's nothing there. Absolutely nothing.

The more I said it, the more I thought about her. "Ugh, STOP!" I cried, throwing my pillow across the room.

It's safe to say I stayed up all night thinking about her. And you know what? The more I did, the more I realized.

I like Lynn Loud.