Firsts

First Crush

I exhale deeply before opening the door to face math class. When I enter the room, I run into a familiar face.

"Hey," an Australian accent says.

I look up. It's gorgeous boy.

"We meet again. I'm sorry about my girlfriend. She's kind of a mess."

All I can do is smile weakly and squeak out, "You're in this class."

"Yup," he says. "I'm also in your English class. You must have been too nervous to notice. I really shouldn't be in that class, though. My mom just put me in it because..." He trails off, blushing.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Skylar." The words feel rushed, and I wish I could take them back, but Ashton just smiles.

"And I'm Ashton. Ashton Davis. Here, come sit with me."

I follow him shyly, and sit in the desk behind him.

"Hello class," my math teacher starts. "Please get out your Trig books and notebooks and turn to page 232."

Without missing a beat, he passes a textbook and a notebook up my row, and just like that, I'm integrated into the class. Math passes smoothly and quickly although I don't really pay much attention, just stare at the back of Ashton's head. I'm ahead three lessons anyway. The only other time that the teacher even acknowledges me is at the end of class.

"Mrs. Lark, could you come up here for a second?"

I shuffle my feet to the front of the class. He sees my anxious expression and laughs.

"There's no need to worry. I'm Mr. Moore. It's a pleasure to meet you." He smiles, extending his hand.

I shake it firmly, willing myself not to freak out. He gives me a warm smile and calls, "Make sure to do those Math problems!" as I head out the door.

I somehow find my way to Home Ec. and meet up with Julia.

"Hey," she says, as I sit at the desk next to her. "How was Mr. Moore. I heard he's really tough, but pretty cool overall."

"Yup," I agree. "That pretty much sums him up."

I honestly have no idea. I only really listened to the guy for our brief conversation after class.

"This will be a new class for all of us," Julia starts, smiling at me. "It's a semester class, so you won't be the only new kid!"

I beam at her, glad to have the attention taken off of me for one of the first times today. Suddenly, Julia and I are interrupted by a perky blonde in a short, purple dress and brown boots going almost up to her knee.

"Good afternoon, class," she begins. "My name is Ms. O'Reilly. If you're looking for an easy A, sit back and enjoy!" She bursts into laughter, cracking herself up.

Julia and I just look at each other, confused, as she passes out a syllabus for us to get signed.

"Alright, put those into your backpacks, and then, we're going to play a game."

Ms. O'Reilly lines us all up against the wall and then gets a red rubber ball. She says we're going to play Truth or Dare. Some kids look excited. Others, like me, groan and roll our eyes. Julia jabs her elbow into my side.

"Come on! Have a more positive attitude than that! Just give it a chance," she pleads and gives me puppy dog eyes.

The look on her face cracks me up, and I realize that maybe it won't be so bad. We throw a ball back and forth, asking ridiculous questions and doing silly skits, like standing on top of a desk singing Surfin' USA, or lip syncing to a Justin Bieber song. I laugh along with everyone else. Eventually the ball comes to me. I pick truth and, because I'm new, am asked what my full name is and what my favorite subject has been so far. I answer, Skylar Abigail Lark and English, and pass the ball to someone else. It's all fun and games until a jock passes the ball to a guy in white skinny jeans and a purple v-neck t-shirt who picks truth.

"Alright, Mathias. I was hoping you'd say that. Tell us the truth. Are you gay?"

The kid just stands there, then drops the ball and runs out of the room. Everyone stares after to him, and, seeing no one else is going to do anything, I run out of the room after him. I find him crying in the hallway under the water fountain and tentatively approach him.

"Hey," I say. "Are you ok? Mind if I sit down?"

He looks up and shakes his head, so I sit down on the floor next to him.

"Listen, Mathias," I start. "Don't let that idiot bother you. That was so freaking stupid! If it makes you feel any better, I haven't had the best day, either. I got mashed potatoes dumped on my head. Stupid preps."

Mathias snickers a little. "Did you just call them preps?" he asks.

I blush.

"My name's actually Greg. Mathias is my last name. Thanks for sticking up for me, though. I feel better having someone to stick up for me. And not because you were wearing somebody's lunch earlier. I saw the whole thing. I feel better because nobody ever sticks up for me."

"Well," I say. "I'm new, so I could use another friend."

"I'd be glad to be your friend!" He smiles, but then his face darkens. "I need to tell you something. What that idiot Jock in there was saying, he's right. I am gay."

"I don't care. Me and my mom believe that people should be allowed to love whoever they want!"

Then I stop. My mom used to believe that people should be allowed to love whoever they want. Now she's dead. She's gone.

"We should get back to class," I say hurriedly.

Greg nods, rises to his feet and holds out a hand to help me up. We walk down the hallway in silence, staring at posters. When we get to the door, Greg stops me.

"Wait. Skylar. Please don't tell anyone what I told you. I don't want anyone else to know."

I grin mischievously, and he looks confused until I slap him, hard, and shout "How dare you reject me? I can't believe it! I've just been rejected by the guy with the best fashion sense in the entire school!"

"I hope we can still be friends," he says quite loudly, trying to keep a straight face. It's good we're both actors.

"I'll have to think about that. You've just shattered my heart. I can't even stand to look at you right now!"

I dramatically storm into the room and march back to my spot on the wall next to a confused Julia. Greg ambles in after me, and, once he takes his place, three girls move to sit next to him. There, I think satisfactorily. All it took was for someone to want him. Now no one will ever guess his secret.

Greg winks at me from across the room and then turns to talk to one of the girls. I have to fight to keep the smile off my face. Ms. O'Reilly gives us free time the rest of class, so Julia and I chat excitedly about how annoying people are who don't pronounce "Les Miserables" right. When the final bell rings, everyone rushes out the door. Annabelle has to tug on my arm to bring me out of my conversation with Julia, and she waves goodbye as we go our separate ways, me to the car line, her to her bus. All in all, this first day of school didn't totally suck like I thought it would and I leaving knowing dozens of new people. I like some, I absolutely loathe some, but I've met more people in one day than I met in thirteen years.