Right in Front of You

Chapter Two

I stared at the list in front of me in complete silence. It was all a bit farfetched to be truthful. I highly doubted that I would ever find the courage to stand up to my parents (well, my mom and her boyfriend), meaning that I would never be able to quit ballet or piano. Besides, as much as I hated them both, they gave me something to do. I mean, what else was a loser like me supposed to do with my life? I had one friend (who was away at science camp for the summer) and another who I hadn't talked to since the beginning of summer exactly six and a half days ago.

I tapped my turquoise pen quickly. June 4th. I blinked. How was it already June 4th? Summer was officially in full swing, and I hadn't achieved a single check mark for my list. Things were starting to seem hopeless. With a sigh, I grabbed an apple from my kitchen sink and Pride and Prejudice, one of my books for summer reading, and headed to the back porch. I perched myself onto our oversized hammock and reclined gracefully with a yawn. My hammock was kind of perfect because it sat right beneath our tallest tree, which provided cool shade for me while I did my reading and studying. Studying Jacob, that is.

Jacob Halsey. Even thinking of his name sent chills up my spine. He was just...flawless. And he lived right behind me. I slipped my thick glasses onto my small, round face to get a better view. Just like always, Jacob was outside swimming laps in his massive pool. I admired him silently, placing a hand below my chin. Suddenly to my excitement, he popped out of the water like a rocket, pulling himself onto his deck. He stood and stretched out, revealing every inch of his tan, gorgeous body. He shook his golden curly locks and water flew. I practically swooned as he began to chug blue Gatorade from his bottle.

Every girl at my school loved Jacob. He was captain of the swim and soccer teams, head of student council, and easily the most attractive male in the world. Sadly, he was going to be a senior next year, and I was just the poor freshmen who lived behind him. I didn't stand a chance clearly, but I loved to play out scenes in my head. He would walk over to my house looking for sugar, then we would end up kissing on my couch. Not very likely, but very fun to picture.

There was one tragic flaw in the love story of Jacob and I.

"Hi, Jacob!" I yelled cheerfully, flashing my cotton candy pink braces.

"Uh, hi...Parsel?" He replied with a small smile before diving back into his pool.

"It's Paisley." I said to myself.

Jacob Halsey had no clue who I was.

I mean, why would he know who I was? I had just graduated from eighth grade. Eighth. Grade. The gap between junior high and high school seemed insurmountable. It was like no matter how hard you tried, you just couldn't pass that bridge. Especially not me.

I'm not exactly ugly or anything. To be absolutely honest, I'm actually kind of pretty. Or at least that's what my two friends tell me. In my own eyes, I'm just plain. I have shoulder length brown hair that I always wear straight and boring black glasses. My braces are probably the most exciting feature that I have, because I change their color every time that I go to the orthodontist. But I never mix colors. That would be too wild even for me.

Jacob Halsey had to notice me. I mean, I would probably die if he didn't. But how would he? I'm top of my class, I play chess with my grandma every weekend night, and my room is filled with books and old classic movies. Jacob's type of girl is much more...vibrant. Take Christina for example.

Christina Marion was the last girl to date Jacob. They dated all last year and broke up about a month ago. I only knew this because they broke up outside by Jacob's pool. She was wailing about never seeing him anymore, then she threw a bunch of his stuff into his pool. I would never do that. Throwing people's things into water is very rude in my opinion. Besides, I see him plenty from my hammock! We wouldn't need to hang out all the time. I would be satisfied with one date a week.