A Little Love Story

The Beginning

     She walks into school. She finally learned how to make friends this year and it has been going better than ever before. Yet, something still pings sadness every now and then. She has the urge to go back to the quiet. Without the friends. Without the struggle to learn to speak about her day all the time. Simply most everything was more simple. But she knew that wasn't good for her.

    It was around March, Spring was soon and the green was overcoming the winter. She had seen him before and thought nothing really. She had other interests and others caught her eye quicker. It appeared he showed up everywhere though. They didn't know each other but she wanted that to change over time. She heard him laughing with his friends and said something to one of hers.

    She asked. "Who is that?"

    The friend replies. "Ignore him that's my brother." She rolled her eyes.

   This sparked more interest for some reason. She would hear bits and parts of jokes and conversations from him when near. She couldn't help to eavesdrop a bit. He made her laugh without even knowing her. Slowly every day was a good day as long as she saw him. Everything could be going wrong but a quick glance from him in the hall made everything better.

    She knew what this meant and she was fine with it. She knew she had to tell her friend at one point. It wouldn't end well but things would resolve sooner or later. So she built up courage and just said it. Of course her friend was disgusted, she knew her friend would feel that way. What she didn't know is that he would find out as well that night as well. Her friend told him. He felt disturbed and confused. Her friend just made her out to seem worse.

    She regretted most everything. She still felt happy seeing him, but now embarrassed because he knew. Now when she accidentally eavesdropped she heard words like "creep" and "she always stares". Her friends were tired of hearing of his name so often, but it made her happy to talk of him. The sister of his finally got tired of hearing hopeless wishes. The friend pretended to be him and gave his number and flirted some to her. She soon found out later that evening it had not been him.

     She was betrayed and hurt. She felt naive and embarrassed. She texted him an apologized and assured not to bother him.

    He was beside himself. How could his sister treat her friend like that and laugh about it. He felt sorry this had to happen to her. She must be so embarrassed.

     And they talked. He realized she wasn't actually as creepy as he had thought and was actually quite pleasant to be around. They were both alike in too many ways. Loved the same things, had the same humor, even loved the same foods. Both were nerds that enjoyed the same YouTubers and video games.

    She finally found someone that thought like her. That liked the same things and understood her even on the bad days.

    He finally found someone to be there for him in every way. He felt comfortable. He felt accepted. He had never even felt romance before this.

   She was happy at first but realized. He still had done nothing. Surely if he felt the same way he knew that she felt, he would say something right? ...Right?

    She was at lunch one day, everything had been normal till she was told the news. Someone had asked him about her, and the answer was not pleasant. She sat in horror as she heard the words "freak" and "why would I like someone like her" and "stalker". She thought things had changed. She was numb for the rest of the day. She cried that night more than ever. Those words have haunted her all her life from several people. And to hear them from him destroyed her.

     The next day she had a different attitude. She couldn't look at him. Those words would fill her mind. Though she still felt for him the way she did. She no longer payed attention to him if he entered the room. She ignored his glances in the halls. She pretended she had no clue of his existence. Though they had never talked in person. Their worlds were extra quiet.


     

      He would walk past hoping for the daily eye contact and he got nothing. She walked straight forward without a care in the world what he was doing. Passing through the gym she gave no recognition of his existence. He wondered what happened. He had thought the often stares and glances were awkward or annoying, but now that they were gone everything felt wrong. Was something wrong? Did he upset her? They hadn't talked about too many important subjects lately. He tried to text. Sometimes she answered, sometimes she didn't. The absence of her attention in his life caused it to feel dull. He hadn't realized how he'd felt until then.

     She couldn't stay upset for long. He had shown more interest than ever before. She couldn't figure out what changed. She had stopped trying to impress. She let loose some and brought out a little of her weird side. He seemed to converse better with the loose fun. Although it was awkward at times. She tried to ignore it.

     Her friend had accepted the attraction between the two and decided she was happy for them. Whatever type of friendship they did have together.

   She decided to go to her friends house. It was scary. Seeing him in his own house would be awkward, more confined. But she wasn't there for him, she was there for her friend. At the end of the night though, somehow all three ended up in the living room playing video games. She had something to focus on. She wasn't as nervous anymore. Slowly over the long hours. They had so many different conversations and jokes and this time not behind a screen.

    Her friend gave up and fell asleep on the couch. They, however, stayed up and continued. They talked about different games and even funny stories about their lives. They both opened up tremendously. They hadn't even known they had been playing into the first hours of the day, but it seemed neither cared. They finally decided to go to sleep. He turned off the console and left to his room and she returned to her friend's room and passed out.

     The next Monday at school was completely different. She had a friend that was also a friend of his. She talked to this friend often and he helped a lot when it came to him. The friend told her that day how excited her crush was on how much they had connected. Her crush admitted to wanting to do it again and how much he got along with her. This made her beam with happiness. She still refused to get her hopes up though. She wasn't going to be naive again.

    Things began to move rapidly at the end of the school year. They talked every day for an entire week. That was way different that the random times every couple of weeks. Which were mostly started by her. He texted her that night asking if she would attend the last day. Confused, she answered yes. He confirmed he would be too "for no reason". And then later said he "had something he absolutely had to do". She laid in her bed thinking about what he could mean.

     The next morning she arrived at school and found him to be abnormally in most rooms she went to. Right before the bell she heard her name.

     He stood awkwardly, took a deep breath and clapped as he said "Will you be my girlfirend?" Hands raised in suggestion for emphasis.

    She was shocked. She didn't know how to answer without seeming weird. Obviously she said yes. She had liked him for two years and dreamed of this day forever. And that was the beginning...