catching teardrops {nemi}

• when they first met

November 2007

demi turned 15 in august and nick as well, in september. but they didn't know that yet, they hadn't met each other.

it was fall and quite a chilly day and it was currently lunch. nick was the new kid this freshman year.
he was always the shy, awkward kid. he didnt even go get lunch; he was so scared of the fact that he didn't know where anything was, so he just sat in the breezeway.

he took out a notebook and pen and started writing lyrics as he loved doing in lonely times like this.
it was hard to write about love due to the fact that he had never had a girlfriend-at least not a serious girlfriend. he had this perfect idea of love but no girl ever cared to carry out a  conversation with him.

his attention was grabbed by a small group of girls walking down the hallway. he was expecting them to giggle at him or make a remark to him that he was a loner but they didn't; in fact they didn't even look happy. they looked worried about the girl in the middle, who seemed like she was on the verge of crying.
"it's ok, dem, he was an ass anyway," he heard the blonde girl say. he figured the girl who was sad was named dem, but obviously 'dem' was short for something.
"you'll find someone better. you're so pretty; any guy would be lucky to have you." another girl said; she was brunette and pretty. well, they were all pretty in nick's opinion.

they were about to pass nick; who still had his attention on them.
dem held her head up a bit and made eye contact with nick; whose heart skipped a beat. he swallowed and looked back down at his notebook. he pretended to jot things down, hoping she stopped looking.

as they passed him, he looked up again and watched them walk away and turn the corner.
he continued with his notebook and only managed to get a few lines down.
before he knew it, the last 15 minutes past and the bell rang; letting him know it was the end of lunch.

he had two more classes left. the one he had right know was PE (which he absolutely hated but did a good job in it anyway) he walked his way to gym and as his luck would have it, it was a mile run. he rolled his eyes and his teacher told the class to go change. he was happy he didn't have to worry about pe clothes, gym shorts and crappy t-shirts was pretty much all he wore. except for school, he always wore skinny jeans and simple t-shirts. all the good looking guys wore that so he didn't understand why he never got attention?

he walked his way to the locker rooms and changed into his pe clothes and put his regular clothes into his backpack.

he huffed a sigh of relief as he realized once again, he had one more class and he could return home.
he walked his way to the field and once he arrived, the teacher greeted him in a welcoming matter.

"hi! nick, right?" the teacher smiled. nick pressed his lips together and nodded. "it's nice to meet you. my name is mr. walsh and please if you have any questions, don't be scared to ask. i hope we have a fun time this year." nick gave a small friendly smile and shook mr. walsh's hand.

not long after, mr. walsh had everyone line up and counted to 3 and they all started running.
nick didn't mind running at all, he just didn't like that his poofy hair bounced as he did it. he felt like there was this huge cloud on top of him that everyone noticed. he just hoped it was just him that noticed, though.

as he finished his third lap, he stopped for a little to get a breath. he noticed he was walking past bleachers and he seen the same girl from the breezeway.

what was her name?
what was it, nick?
something with a d.....dev?
noo, uhhh
.
.
.
dem!

she was on her phone, it was a nokia. his older brother got one for his birthday and nick wanted one too but he got a new pair of shoes and some notebooks and pens. he was grateful of course, but a phone would've been awesome.
he guessed his parents just didn't see a successful future for his older brother, joe, who stopped going to school this year, his last year. but they did see one for nick, they knew one day he'd become a singer/songwriter.

she suddenly looked up and noticed nick staring at her. she gave a soft smile and nick didn't know what to do. he gave back what felt like a smile, but most likely it was an ugly frown.

she got up and started walking down from the top of the bleachers. nicks heart started racing and wanted to continue running to avoid what could be an awkward situation but he felt glued to the floor.
she was walking right his way and looked down, trying to seem casual.

"hi, i'm demi. what's your name?"

ahh, so it's demi.

"nick, hi." he smiled. or so he thought.
"are you new?"
"yeah, you can tell?" he forced out an awkward chuckle.
"kind of. nobody ever really sits in the breezeway," she smiled. her smile revealed a gap, which he thought was unique and quite adorable.

he heard a whistle blow and he quickly turned around to his teacher, who seemed to be urging nick to continue his run.
"ah, uh, i gotta continue running."
"that's fine, i'll run with you," she smiled once again and nick blushed.
"okay,"

they had finished the last lap and demi let out a breath, "i love running," she stated happily.
"really?" nick chuckled, "i don't mind it, but i'd rather not." he smiled and she giggled.
"it's okay, it's not for everyone. i don't know, i get this rush and i feel invincible."
nick nodded and was surprised she continued talking to him for the last 15 minutes of class. he didn't even want to change into his clothes, she was just interesting to talk to.
they talked about her breakup, and the school, and nick's songs and writing and such, and wow, he was so happy he didn't want this class to end.

he was sad when the bell rang for the last period.
"what class do you have next?" she asked as they got up from the floor.
"uhh, let me check," he got out his schedule from his pocket and seen his last period was math.
"algebra 1," he complained and demi giggled.
"me too, what teacher?"
"fox,"
"looks like we have a class together," she smiled and so did nick.

he was happy. maybe he could have a real friend, finally.