Didn't See it Coming!

The bell rings loudly from the hall; I sigh and look at the clock, "Only third period, great, it's going to be a long day." I join the droves of cattle-like students walking, shoving, or even running, through the halls; I get jostled, bumped, and almost knocked over by the rush. I get to my locker and open it up; the inside is decorated with ancient layers of stickers from the previous "owners" of the locker. I stare blankly into my locker, thinking of which books I'll need for the rest of the day.

A shout snaps me out of my trance, "KRISTY!"

I look up and see my friend Lauren.

"Hey Lauren, what's up?" I ask as she comes to my side.

She smiles; she is the popular type, blond, tall, and thin. She is on the cheerleading and varsity volleyball teams, both of which she excels at. I always wonder why she chose me as one of her friends, she's popular, and I'm not.

She continues smiling, "Oh I just got out of gym class, Mr. Benson made us run laps the entire time."

"Lord knows how she can smile after running laps with Mr. Benson... And how does she keep from sweating like a pig and having her hair get all mussed up? I will never understand it..."

"So, do you have a date for the Christmas dance?" she asks, almost smugly.

I shake my head, "No, I don't even know if I want to go, you know I'm not really the dancing kind of girl."

"Or any kind of normal girl..."

She playfully punches me, "Oh come-on, I bet there are plenty of cute guys wanting to ask you out to a dance, just give them a chance!"

Again I shake my head.

The warning bell goes off, and Lauren and I quickly part to our separate classes.

For the rest of the day I sit thinking about what kind of guy would ask me out, me, the antisocial, quiet, not-even-cute, girl. Despite my friend's best efforts my self esteem is next to zero, my social life is virtually nonexistent and not one guy has ever asked me out on a date. As I think I doodle in my notebook, small drawings of cute guys I know and wish they would ask me out.

"Get a grip Kristy, you'll find the right guy eventually... But when??!"

The final bell of the day rings, releasing the mass of students to their own devises. I make my way to my locker to retrieve my books for a weekend's worth of homework. As I'm walking I get slammed by a passing crowd of gang-bangers, all my books and papers get flung all over the hallway. The guys and their clingy girlfriends just laugh and keep walking.

"Bastards! Can't even say sorry, I don't expect them to get down on their knees and clean it up, just a simple sorry would be nice..."

I start crawling around on the floor gathering pencils here, essays there, until another set of hands starts helping. I look up into a set of deep green eyes, instantly I am mesmerized by the depth and maturity filling those eyes.

"Hey, those guys are jerks; they should have stopped and helped. I'm Shawn by the way, you're Kristy, right?" he says, his eyes never straying from mine.

I smile and giggle nervously, "Yeah."

He grins, "Well, I thought you could use a hand picking up all this stuff. Do you really have to take all this home with you?"

"Yeah, I have to finish up three essays and two projects for English and history, then I have all my math homework too, I don't know how I'll get it all done in time for Christmas break." I sigh, inwardly jumping for joy and the fact of finding a cute guy who is also polite.