The Year I Met Her

The Year I Met Her

Well kids, all I can remember is that it was the first day of sophomore year. She was in my first hour class and so were many of my best friends. I only had one person I wanted to sit by and I was lucky to be the one privileged to sit next to her. Her American Eagle jean shorts, plain, light purple shirt, and small diamond earrings showed her simplistic style.

The announcements took extra long that since it was the first day of school. The principle was talking about how he was glad to be back and hoped we all had a good summer. Explained the new lunch schedule and the other usual boring stuff. So ten minutes after class should've started, Ms. Mason took attendance. Ms. Mason needed to make sure that everyone was in their proper seats and tried to say each person's name correctly.

After attendance was finally over, I leaned over and whispered to Sophia, "Hmm.. Sophia.. That's a pretty name. I'm Cole."

"Hey! How did I get so lucky to sit next to such a cute guy?"

I couldn't believe it! Your mother was already hitting on me. She was the pretty, new girl was hitting on me and you could tell that every guy in that classroom was wishing that their last name started with an "M". Her long wavy hair and tan skin were distracting me from pretending to learn Algebra. Usually Evan and I get distracted by talking about the latest hockey or lacrosse game, but today, I was distracted by a girl. I'm not into that gushy stuff and there is no way I thought love at first sight existed, but looking back at it now, I was proven wrong.

I was thankful to have Ms. Mason as my teacher this year. She never admitted this, but her past students always said that she is responsible for introducing people that would eventually be best friend and even for helping relationships form. And obviously, they told us that she was a great math teacher. Ms. Mason made one seating chart for the whole year and never changes it. So the first week of school, she had us play games to get to know our seat partners. The games varied from 20 questions to 2 truths and a lie, to just basic topics for us to talk about. All were merely conversations starters and supposed to create ways for us to connect on a more personal level.

"Listen up everyone. Here's the first question: Does the person sitting next to you play any sports or is he or she involved in after school activities? I will give you guys five minutes to talk about this question."

"So Sophia, do you play any sports?"

"Umm.. yeah I do. I play hockey and I was on varsity at my last school. And I can tell by your Jets shirt that you like hockey too. Do you play?"

"Yes I do and I really want to be on varsity this year. Also, you might need to show me some of your moves."

"Ehh.. maybe. Are there any good ponds or lakes around here?"

"Of course there are. We live in Land of 10,000 Lakes, remember? But actually, my dad puts a rink up in our backyard in the winter."

"Oh my. That's awesome!"

"It takes a while to put up but it's so worth it. Every weekend, my brothers, sister, and I have friends over. You might need to come once it's set up."

"Oh for sure! Wouldn't miss it. So, tell me about your siblings."

"Well, my brothers are seniors. There the main reason that I want to be on varsity this year. I want to play with them before they leave for college. Mason got a full ride offer to play in college at the University of Boston and Alex also got a full ride offer to play at the University of North Dakota."

"Wait. What about your sister?"

"Ohh yeah. Natalie is a fifth grader. She's the baby of the family. Like my brothers and I, she also plays hockey. Now, Sophia, tell me about your siblings."