Unexpected (Montgomery De La Cruz)

Individual struggles - Part one (Monty)

Monty's POV

A month passed that I just had to watch her from afar. It was two weeks before I even got a glance in my direction and all I saw was the pain in her eyes before she quickly looked away. I hid my feelings behind Anna, well more like buried them inside Anna. I knew that hurt Madison even more but I didn't know how else to get through the days. I knew I cared for Maddie but I didn't realize the extent of the mark she left on my heart until she was gone. Another week went by before I saw her smile. Whenever I noticed her smile was directed at Jeff, I felt something inside of me that I had never felt before. Week four ended with her surprisingly coming back to the lunch table. Week five was the week that she sat close enough to me at the basketball game that I could just faintly smell something that was just pure Madison. Her lavender shampoo mixed with her favorite perfume. It was the same night that I felt the happiest I had felt in weeks whenever she laughed at a joke that she overheard me telling Bryce. It was week six that she finally agreed to come over to Bryce's with Justin one night, even though she knew all of us that were involved with the bet were going to be there. That night was the second time I felt the strange feeling inside of me whenever I saw her and Zack jokingly slow dancing together both with big smiles on their faces. I couldn't help but to think her and I would've looked better dancing together like that. It was the seventh week of my pain that I felt her touch for the first time again. I walked by her in the hallway and she gave me a high five. A high five that sent tingles throughout my whole body. Week eight was when I saw her joy fully come back. We were all at Bryce'a and it started to rain. All of us guys stayed inside playing video games but all of the girls' took off outside to play in the rain. We all laughed at their immaturity until I looked out the window and saw how hard she was laughing and how big her smile was as she danced around in the rain while holding hands with her two best friends. That's when I realized that I could never bring her the joy that Hannah and Jessica bring her. That's also when I realized that I didn't want to be her best friend, I wanted more. I wanted to hold her, kiss her, dance in the rain with her, run my fingers through her beautiful hair. Would our kids have her blonde hair and my brown eyes or my dark hair and her bright blue eyes. Would our wedding be in fall or summer, those were her two favorite seasons. That was the night I realized I was hopelessly in love with Madison Foley.

It took two months for her to go back to being Madison. It took two months for her to start fully interacting with me again. It took two months for me to realize how I actually felt for her. I couldn't let another two months pass me by without being with her. The first thing I did was call things off with Anna, whatever we were. I knew the second thing I needed to do was to win Madison back over. I prayed that I would be able to. It was on a Tuesday that I made my first move. I saw her and Hannah getting out of her car before school. I noticed that it was particularly cold that morning and she clearly underestimated the weather because she had nothing but a long sleeve shirt on to keep her warm. I knew this was my first chance to get her back so I acted on it. As I approached, I saw her rubbing her arms and moving around a lot while she waited on Hannah. I took my letterman off and tapped her on the shoulder once I was close enough. "Oh hey De La Cruz, what's up?" My heat ached a little at the fact that she had gone back to addressing me by my last name. "I noticed that you looked a little cold so I thought you might need this." I wrapped my letterman across her shoulders before walking off. I glanced back and smiled whenever I heard her yell thank you. The confused look on her face was cute enough to make me certain that I was doing the right thing. Whenever she gave me it back during lunch, I knew that I had underestimated the wall that she had built to keep me at a distance. "Thanks for helping me out earlier, I really appreciate it." She said to me, her voice smooth like honey. I could feel everyone giving me a questioning look except Hannah, her look was threatening. "Anytime." I responded while mustering up the best smile that I could. Another week passed before I decided to make another move other than the casual chit chat I try to start up with her anytime I'm around her. I brought a sun flower to school for her, her favorite. I walked up to her at her locker, Hannah beside her. "Are you into gardening now, Monty?" Hannah chucked. "No, actually I went to the store before school this morning and they had some sun flowers and I just had to get one because it made me think of someone. Here Maddie, this is for you." She gave me that cute little confused look again before reaching out and taking the flower from me. I watched her smell it and then a small smile form on her face. "These are my favorite. Thank you." "I know." I smiled before walking off, leaving her wondering what I was up to again. Three more days went by and it was now the day of the first baseball game. I walked into the lunchroom with the shirt in my book bag, one of my baseball shirts. I sat down next to Madison and immediately looked at her. I could feel everyone watching us but I didn't care. "So, are you going to the game tonight?" I asked, watching her reaction. "Yeah, they're making me." She chuckled while pointing to the rest of our friends. "Well, maybe you could wear this." I took the shirt out and laid it on the table in front of her. Before she even had a chance to look at the shirt, I stood up and told everyone I had to go get some last minute studying done. "You don't study?" I heard Bryce yell out to me on my way out. I couldn't help but to laugh to myself. At the game, I felt my heart racing whenever I saw her climbing up the stands and saw my last name and number very clearly on the back of my shirt. "She actually wore it." I whispered to myself with a big smile plastered on my face. I was slowly breaking down the wall.