January 1st

Chapter 1

I knew this day, January 1st, that it was official  I had a crush on Caleb Bracewell. At first, I kept it to myself because I didn't want anyone knowing of course.
It was a new year, and I felt like I needed to reset everything. Not just with people I mean, but with school, clothes, friends, my attitude, anything. I wanted a fresh start. Now I'm not saying I chose Caleb and decided to go after him. Before then, I had an on and off crush on him. Sorta like when you're reading a book and you're not sure if you like it or not. So you keep reading it to figure it out. Well, I was reading Caleb. I wanted to see if I liked him, his personality mainly.
We were just friends and we only had one period together. 7th period, Language Arts. So we only talked after class when we went to our lockers together. And no, it wasn't just the two of us. But it was our little friend group.
There was the five of us. My best friend Amira, her "boyfriend" Jared, and my other really good friend Jayden. We were all the trouble makers of that class which I guess is why we all became really close. Jared just talked a lot, I laughed at everything, Jayden messed with Amira, and Caleb made comments on everything. Perfect friendship.
Whenever Caleb and all of our friends walked out to the bus port, including me, we always had some type of connection. I knew he felt it, and I guess it was just always there. It was our little thing. It was cute and romantic. We'd smile at each other, trail off into our own conversation, or just tease each other. It made me happy and gave me butterflies in my stomach. We never got to talk outside of school since I didn't have his number for a little while, so it was just an in school thing. But I liked it. He made me happy.
Finally, on January 5th, I ended up telling Amira that I liked Caleb. So being the good friend she is, she did me a favor and told him flat out that I liked him. I didn't want to be there when she told him so I was far back in the hallway talking with another good friend of mine, Trinity.
Trinity is a softball player, and she's so good at making me laugh, I don't know how she does it. She was just that goofy friend everyone has. And I love it. I love her.
I just remember Caleb looking back at me as he locked his eyes with mine, smiling. I smiled back. It made my heart warm.
I hurried to my locker, grabbed the books I needed for home work, my coat, and caught up with everyone. Amira and Jared were walking in between us, separating our hearts that together made a whole. We stared at each other as we walked out of the hallway into the cold weather
of winter. Everyone said their good byes and headed separate ways to their buses. I walked away smiling feeling really warm inside no matter how cold the temperature outside was.