Adrian

Dreadsy

"Leah Lopez was the love of my life. No question. She was all I ever wanted and I let her slip between my fingers. My brother said that meant I obviously didn't care about her that much, but that's bullshit. I would kill to see her again, just a little glimpse, anything.
Who was Leah Lopez?
Did she even exist?
Was she real or just a figment of my imagination?
Nope, she was real alright.
I can't even begin to describe her. The first thing that I noticed about her was her hair. Oh God her hair was perfect. She had beautiful black curly, partially wavy, hair that stopped just above her shoulders. She always parted it to her right, making it her signature look. Her skin had a brown, caramel tone, thanks to her heritage mix of Mexican and African-American. Her smile was really pretty; I think it was her big front teeth that gave it character. Her body shape was pretty average, but her waist was slim, giving her a cute shape. She wasn't exactly America's Next Top Model but I wasn't interested in the Barbie doll type girls; Leah was beautiful in my eyes and I wouldn't change a thing about her.
Yeah Leah was good-looking, but that's not what pulled me in; it was her heart. She was one of the tutors for my math class and my teacher and assigned to me. Math had always been my weakest subject and I've never been good at it. Leah wasn't a bad tutor but it just didn't get to me and I was ready to have a breakdown. Rather than getting the teacher or leaving me alone, she stayed and helped me. I remembered it so vividly. She grabbed my hands and put them in her lap, catching me off guard.

"Alex, it's alright. Math just isn't for everybody. Please calm down. I don't want you to beat yourself up over this. Please look at me" she spoke so calmly. I looked up and locked eyes with hers. Her eyes weren't anything special, just a plain dark brown, but they had a warmth to them. She looked so sweet, so genuine, and so innocent.

"We'll take it slowly and if you're feeling unsure about anything, don't hesitate to ask me. Okay?" she asked, smiling. I nodded, unable to speak for a moment. I had never felt this way about anybody before. I wasn't really the dating or crushing type, but this girl had such a hold on me and didn't even realize it. I was sprung. I didn't care about the work but I asked all the questions in the world just to hear her voice. It was kind of embarrassing because we were both sophomores and she was tutoring me, but I didn't care and besides she was really smart. While I was taking Algebra 2 she was already taking pre-calculus. When class was over, she gave me her phone number in case I ever needed help, but I never called her. I was too embarrassed and didn't want to come off as needy. That was a day I'll never forget.
I saw her around campus a lot since she was in ASB, Drama, Choir, and was basically a social butterfly. While I usually sat at a table with my boys, talking about basketball and what we saw on TV/online, Leah was always either running around with papers and supplies or talking and laughing with her friends in a circle on the lawn. I loved seeing her in her natural element: laughing, playfully hitting her friend after joking on her, eating her lunch (okay that one might sound a little weird), looking off into the distance, etc. We were really different, but I liked that. I was into sports, videogames, cars, etc. and she was into the finer arts: Art, music, movies, etc.
After a few months of just straight stalking from afar, I tried to move on. It was obvious she wasn't into me and I was too much of a wimp to even say hi to her, let alone start a conversation. I started to avoid her at all costs, hoping my crush for her would fade away and life could go back to normal. It kinda worked, until I saw her in the summer. I had gotten a job at Tilly's and one day while I was working I heard someone call my name. I turned around and felt my stomach fall outta my ass. There she was in the flesh and not just her pictures from Facebook. Leah Lopez. She was as pretty as ever, especially since she had gotten dreads that summer. She had walked up to me with a couple of friends trailing behind her.

"Oh uh hi Leah" I said awkwardly. I tried so hard to keep my cool.

"How's your summer been?" she asked curiously.

"It's been good. Passed all my classes" I said with thumbs up. Ugh that was so dorky.

"I'm assuming you've got your math down because you never called me" she said with a giggle. Wait I'm missing something; did she want me to call her?!

"Oh uh yeah I kinda studied it so I wouldn't bother you" I said, looking at a shirt in my hands so I wouldn't end up getting lost in her eyes.

"That's good that you studied it, but you wouldn't have bothered me" she said. Is she flirting with me? Am I just shitty at reading signs? Ugh if only Luis was here, he'd know what she was doing.

"Oh well now I know" I said a small smile. Leah looked at me for a few seconds, as if she was studying me.

"Are you busy this Friday?" she asked, throwing me off.

"Um no, why?" I asked. WAS SHE ASKING ME ON A DATE? HAS THE GODS FINALLY ANSWERED MY PRAYERS?!

"Because I'm throwing a pool party and rather than posting the invites online and getting total strangers to show up at my door, I wanted to personally hand out invites to people I know and I just happened to bump into you" she said with a smile. Well it wasn't a date, but it was good enough for me. There was no way in HELL I was going to turn this down.

"Oh, well sure. I'll go. Sounds like fun" I said nonchalantly though inside I was dying with excitement.

"Great! The more, the merrier! Bring this to the party so you can get in, okay?"

Okay" I said as I nodded.

"Come on Dreadsy we need to pass out more invites before the mall closes" her friend behind her said as she checked her watch.

"Okay. Well it was great seeing you again Alex. See ya Friday" she said as she gave me a flier, a quick hug, and walked out, as if she didn't just make my life worth living for. Was I being punk'd? Was I dreaming? Did thAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN?! OH MY GOD IT DID HAPPEN! I'M GOING TO LEAH LOPEZ'S PARTY!