If You See Him

Chapter 1

Reba glanced across the courtyard, catching the sight of an all too familiar face. Two and half years. It had been two and half years since they had broken up and she had to tried to move on, but she compared every guy she was with to him and none of them seemed to add up. She missed him more than words could say and deep down inside she knew that she gave that all up when she slept with someone else. It was all her fault, so she accepted the pain and her sorrow, knowing that she had brought it on herself. The once outgoing, carefree, and popular cheerleader was now the quiet, shy, and lonely singer.

She left a small sigh leave her mouth before looking back down at her food and realizing that she had lost her appetite. Her best friend sat across from her, noticing the change in Reba's facial expression. She turned around and noticed what her friend looked at. "Oh, Red," she whispered as she reached her hand to place on top of her friend's.

"It's okay, Mel, I should be over it. It's been two years." Melissa let out a sigh.

They had been friends since before they could remember, always stuck to each other's hips. Melissa had been there when Reba went off the deep end, catching her when she started to fall even further. Growing up, Melissa knew that Reba was never a party girl. Entering high school had changed that and it created a distance between the pair. When Reba started dating Narvel Blackstock freshman year, Melissa noticed that Reba started to calm down and that she was slowly returning to the friend she knew. Melissa still remembers when she got a phone call from her best friend, crying about how she made a major mistake at the after party for a huge football game. Ever since that night, Melissa is scared to leave Reba alone for more than a day.

"What's going on?" Ronnie questioned. Ronnie was Reba's newest escape from her heartbreak. He slid in next to Reba on the bench, lightly tapping her shoulder with his. Reba shook her head and looked over at him, her head cocking slightly.

"Nothin'," she stated as she picked up her sandwich, forcing herself to take a bite. As more and more of Reba's friends filled in the lunch table, she started to feel more and more like she had a support system behind her. Ronnie was the first guy since Narvel that Reba felt like she had a chance with. Of course, Reba knew that no one could ever replace the part that Narvel played in her life, but gosh darn it, Ronnie was close.

xxx

Reba sat in her World Studies classroom, staring at the book she was currently reading, waiting for the bell to ring. As it rang, Reba put away her book, knowing that the teacher hates when people don't pay attention. "So, today I'm assigning a project about a conflict to help close out our unit. You each will be paired up with a partner and will be given a conflict. The project is due in two weeks. You will have time to work in class on it, but only these week so it's up to you to get together with your partner to finish on time," The teacher stated as she started to hand out papers detailing the project. After she finished, she started to read off the list of partners. It wasn't look until she got to the one Reba had been dreading to hear.

"Narvel Blackstock, you're partner is... Reba McEntire."