Almost Romance

2: Jillian

I blinked my eyes open, looking at my broken alarm clock. Most mornings I would blame the stupid thing for me being late, but it was the first day of school. I couldn't wait to learn more. It may sound nerdy, but I was nerdy. It's not like I had many friends at school to go back to. My best friend lived right down the hall from me. I threw on my Superman t-shirt and black shorts, my usual clothing pattern. My socks had faces on them and my shoes were sneakers. I tied my hair back in a ponytail and looked at myself in the mirror. My golden brown hair was curly enough that it didn't really stay back. Little wisps framed my round face. My friends said I had the cute, round face of a baby doll. My sea blue eyes sparkled back at me through the reflection. From down the hall, I could hear Karen's alarm going off. My big sister was not much of a morning person. Even if we were in the same grade, she is older. She got held back to be with me. I grinned widely. Annoying her was the highlight of my day.

"Karen!!!" I yelled, summoning her from the dead.

My short sister dragged herself to my room, looking like the undead. Her brown hair with Carmel highlights looked like a lions mane and her dark brown eyes shone with exhaustion and annoyance.

"What do you want Jill? I know you're probably hyped up about today, but some of us actually want to sleep," she complained.

"Yea, yea, yea, why don't you admit it already that you're looking forward to this year? You big baby, c'mon you're the oldest!!" I teased her.

"Age doesn't matter. What can I do for you so I can go back to bed?"

"You're unbelievable."

"Jill seriously."

"You know what I want," I giggled, smiling.

She sighed and pulled me into a tight hug.

"You woke me up for that?" she growled.

"Yes, yes I did. Now wake up silly!" I said, slapping her in the face lightly.

She sighed, nodding slightly. Then she tackled me, using my ticklish self against me. I squirmed, grateful for the alarm that went off. Karen bolted up and to her room, leaving me to walk out to the kitchen, grabbing a muffin, a bowl of cereal, and a bagel and beginning to eat. Karen came back a few minutes later, looking much better. Her hair was neatly draped on her shoulders and she had on her sun necklace on. My moon necklace, as always, hung around my neck. The silver necklaces were symbols of our sistership, almost like Ying and Yang. We were complete opposites, but that's why we got along. Her skinny jeans and converse were her normal look, along with her blue jean, strapless shirt. It was flowy and had 2 pockets, and buttoned up.

"It's a wonder you're not fat," she pointed out, grabbing strawberries herself.

"We're gonna be late! We missed the bus!" She cried while eating, grabbing her sky blue bag and running out the door.

I grabbed my light pink sweatshirt and neon pink bag and bolted after her, looking after her. We ran to school, panting the entire time. By the time we reached school, my klutzy sister had already bowled a boy over

He was fairly broad shouldered and a bit taller than me. He had dirty blond hair perfectly cropped above his curious green eyes. I had never seem him before, but he looked nice. I could tell my sister was drooling over him, her face turning bright red as she laid on top of him. Something about them face to face on the ground reminded me of Ash, causing me to frown slightly. Ash was my boyfriend I had had since 7th grade. We had been perfect, until he cheated on me around New Years last year.

I watched my clumsy sister get up, still looking at the boy. I helped her walk away, whispering,

"Never thought you'd fall for anyone."

She looked at me, her face beet red as we walked into our new homeroom. The boy was already in the room, so Karen was lost to watching him. I plopped my books down in an empty seat and looked around. Our teacher looked like she was asleep, and the other students were talking. I, as always, sat alone. That was until a familiar voice sounded from next to me.

"Hey. Haven't seen you in a while."

I turned to the seat next to me and saw a friendly boy with brown hair my hair color that fell into his unique eyes and a small smile.

"Caleb. How you doing?" I asked with a small smile.

"Pretty good. Oh happy Left Handed Day by the way," he said, pointing out the date.

Caleb was my long time locker buddy and lefty buddy. We both kinda stuck out, so we naturally became friends. The 13th of every month we celebrated Left Handed Day, and it happened to be today.

"Happy Left Handed Day indeed. You meet the new boy?" I asked, pointing to the boy Karen was staring at.

"Oh Brady? Yeah he's the new guy. Why?" Caleb asked, glancing at the boy.

"No reason," I smiled, looking back to my friend.

He wore shorts, a T-shirt, and a grey jacket, very similar to what I always wore. He had gotten a bit taller, finally becoming taller than me and was as always, fit. Even if we were gamers, we still looked ok.

"I missed you over the summer. We missed 3 days you know," he pointed out with a small smirk, his signature smile. It was just like mine.

"Missed you too pal," I smiled, looking towards the door.

I widened my eyes as a tall, fit and gamer-esque boy stepped through the door. His black hair was perfectly cropped, a bit like Superman's. His golden brown eyes sparkled with mischief as he looked around, his eyes resting on me. We locked eyes for a moment before he made his way over.

"Hey Ash," I said with a small smile. After all, we were friends first and exs second.

"Hey. Hey Caleb," he said in a lower voice than Caleb's, looking at him.

"Hey," Caleb said, looking at me for a moment.

Ash looked at us before walking away and talking to the Brady kid. Karen immediately marched over to me, whispering,

"Sister conference. Now."

I shrugged and followed her, waving bye to Caleb.

"What?" I asked, looking her in the eye.

"Ash was so jealous of Caleb talking to you!"

"Why would he be jealous? It's not like-" I began, stopping myself.

I thought of the two boys for a moment. Karen was obviously hinting that I liked Caleb. I thought on this for a moment. I thought of Caleb's friendly personality and how close we were and smiled slightly.

"So maybe I like Caleb a little..."