Forte Knox

1. First

I'd always remember the first time I laid eyes on him from the opposite side of the hallway. Him, leaning against the lockers in all perfection like a tribute to the gods, surrounded by a posse of friends almost as equally beautiful as he was; and I, soaking wet with water furiously dripping from every inch of my body, was fortunately hidden from his sight by the mass of student body. I watched as he threw his head back and laughed at something his friends had said, and for a fraction of a second, I saw his eyes wander over to my direction. Just as my brain was beginning to fry at the thought of him actually noticing me, he glanced away, and the moment was gone.

I never stopped watching him even when I felt something warm drape across my shoulders and the familiar scent of pine and faint cinnamon engulfed me. It was Landon. I could pick him out from a crowd anytime even if I was blindfolded and my senses dulled. I knew him like the back of my hand.

"You really need to start bringing an umbrella if you're not going to let me drive you to school." There was a two-second pause where Landon, presumably, followed my line of vision and found the source of my distraction. "And just like the rest of the female population, you have succumbed to the charms of Knox Langley on your first day of public school."

"Knox Langley," I repeated in a daze. "Beautiful name to match a beautiful face."

Landon scoffed in mock annoyance. "Are you kidding me? That guy has two last names! I don't trust a guy with two last names."

"Well then." I finally had it in me to look at my best friend. "What do you know about Knox Langley?"

He shrugged. "Enough to say that you're better off without knowing him."

My eyebrows drew together as I really looked at Landon, noticing the way his jaw was clenched and the presence of creases underneath his eyes. "You're jealous?"

"No!"

I remained unconvinced.

"Maybe? A little? Okay, yes, because you've only ever adored me that much and I don't like that you're giving him so much attention."

I chuckled at that and pinched his cheek just like I always did when we were little.

"Don't worry Lan, not even Knox Langley can take your number one place in my heart."