Never Knew I Needed

Chapter 7- High School

Andréas

First period was a drag. Mr. Davenport went on and on about British history. The guy seemed content and passionate with his job, because he was extremely hyper about teaching at eight the morning. He also lectured the entire time without pausing, except when he'd sip his coffee loud enough that it echoed in the room. Although he was as boring as Abby said, which made the class go by slow, I missed this. I missed being in school, surrounded by classmates, my friends, goofing off with Ortiz. That last thought surprised me. Even though I hold resentment towards Ortiz, memories of the good times we had flood into my mind. I remember the time when we were seven and Uncle Rico caught us sneaking strawberry gansitos out of the pantry at one in the morning. Instead of condemning Ortiz and I, he ate the gansitos with us, while he made us promise not to tell Aunt Cecelia. Or the time we were thirteen and we invited two of our other friends to ride bikes around my dad and I'd janky old neighborhood, and make nuisances of ourselves. Unfortunately, Ortiz and I's last "exciting" memory together was the night I lost my everlasting mind and committed arson, before being sent away at juvenille detention. Those were good times; I couldn't even lie. Yet, our lives changed drastically and I'm the one to blame.

After Honors British Literature, my new "best friend", Abby, met me outside of my classroom, hitting me with a million questions that went something like "how'd class go?", "what did you guys talk about?", and "how did you get your hair so curly?". She had become friendly in just one hour of us knowing each other. Abby seemed decent but I grew annoyed at her forced and practiced giggles, her touchiness and her habit of grabbing my arm as we walked down the hall, as if she was trying to claim me. I had to come up with slick ways to pull away from her by either reaching up to scratch my neck or stretching my arms out in front of me. Abby and her friends probably thought I was nervous or had ADHD because of all the movement I did. While I was grabbing a book out of my locker, Abby invited me to eat with her and her clique at lunch. She even told me I could sit by her so that she could keep me company. It was a nice gesture, a little desperate, but I told her I'd rather sit alone. 

Around eleven, I had my free period, which is like an extra class where we could do anything we wanted. I used that time to go into the school's library. The place was so huge, it required its own building. When I waked in I found that it had two levels. The first level had tables and chairs, sofas and coffee tables, and three classrooms; the second had bookshelves with a few single tables, then again, I couldn't see the rest of the upstairs. I found a sofa in a hidden area, and I grabbed it before anyone else could.

I listened to music and started to read Stephen King's novel, "It" that I picked up from the local library. I usually wasn't into dark fantasy or horror novels, but I had been feeling pretty dark at the time. Anyway, people were coming in and out of the library, then, of course there had to be that one group of people who chose to be obnoxious and loud in a place that was meant to be completely silent. It was group of six girls standing a few feet away from a bookshelf; I could tell by their high pitch voices, exaggerated tones and endless giggles. They eventually got quiet by hushing one another and all I could think was "Thank God". 

"Bye, girl!" I looked up from my book and watched as beautiful brunette waved her dainty fingers at a beautiful dark-haired girl who was staying back in the library, I assumed to study. All of the girls in the group were beautiful. Yet, my eyes locked on the girl who stayed with waist-length black hair and glowing skin. I felt like a stalker watching her every move, as she sat a a table by herself that wasn't too far away from me, but I couldn't take my eyes away. Where had I seen her before? 

Her flawless mocha skin, dark brown eyes, beautiful smile and...long, curly black hair. 

It was the fourth of July.