One Word

Chapter 1

I thought this year was going to be amazing. Hanging out with friends. Going out. All that stuff. This year was messed up for me. That one word changed me. Here it is.

BEEB BEEB BEEB BEEB. My alarm again. Every 7:00 AM my alarm rings me up. Go get ready for school. I get out of bed and head straight to my bathroom. I look at myself in the mirror. "Today is the day. Today's the day I tell him. I know I can do it. Right?". I head over to the shower. I undress and get in. The warm water sprints down my body softly. All I could think about was his reaction. Is he ever gonna like me as much as I like him? Maybe I'm over thinking it. 20 minutes later I'm out. I'm brushing my hair. As I brush my hair I stare at out the window. Rain. The rain hits the ground with fury. I always hated it when it rained especially on school days.

Now I'm eating breakfast on the table. Alone. My dad leaves for work very early so I never see him until 5 PM. My mother stays in bed all day. I never know what she's up to. But that doesn't really bother me. I grab my phone out of my pocket. I scroll through Instagram. One picture catches my eyes. Hudson Rivers. He's standing tall and he's flexing, showing off his strong muscles. My cheeks were now dark red. I stare at the picture for a while until I see the time. 7:54AM. I rush the kitchen and dump my plates in the dishwasher. I run out the door. I can't afford to be late for school, AGAIN.

I'm walking to school in the rain. As I walk I can hear cars beeping at each other. I knew exactly what is happening. Traffic. Rainy days are just the worst. I start running now. Tired and out of breath, I'm at school. I run to the door as fast as I can before it starts to rain harder. There are people everywhere. Our school is always crowded. There was only one person who caught my eyes again. There he is standing next to his locker texting. His hair cropped and smart. His dark green eyes focused on his phone. Now I'm nervous. How on earth am I going to tell him that I like him? I slowly walk towards him. I can does this right? He doesn't notice that I'm standing right next to him. The last person I wanted to see today arrives. Scarlett Edwards. Her long black hair distracts me. Her blue eyes stare at me with anger. I could see straight through her. She is telling me to get lost. I run back to where I was. Hudson and Scarlett are a perfect couple but what I don't understand is why Hudson hasn't asked Scarlett out yet. But this was MY chance to tell him my feelings.

"I'm going to partner all of you up for this project," Says Mrs. Green. She says partner by partner. I hope I get someone that's nice. Actually, I don't even know who's nice or mean because I have no friends. All the hope I had just faded. "Hudson and Kim,". My heart skips a beat. Did she just say, Hudson and Kim?! I look over to where Hudson sits and He just sits there not caring. For me, this is bad news. What if he doesn't like me when I tell him. What if we end up failing because of my stupid feelings!. All these what if's were popping up in my head. What I didn't realize is that Hudson is sitting right next to me. Hudson Rivers is sitting next to me. Now my heart is racing. "You ready?" He asks me. Nothing comes out of my mouth. He nods very slowly. "What do you want to do?" I ask shrieking. He thinks for a moment then stares at me again. "How about we meet at my place to work on this because I need to do something else right now?" He says. I nod trying to put a smile on my face. I watch him leave. Now I'm disappointed with myself. How could I just let him leave? We're supposed to be meeting- wait. Did he say for me to meet him at HIS house? Oh my gosh. I'm dead. This is just a dream right. I slap myself a couple times. This is real.

RING RING RING RING. It's lunch now. I'm sitting on my own. My lunch just on the table. I stare at it. I can't eat this. I take out my own lunch out for my bag. Then a tall light girl sits next to me. Her long blond hair tied up into a ponytail. Her light blue eyes are so beautiful. "Can I sit here?" She asks. I just stay silent. She sits next to me. "Why are you sitting here?" I mutter. This girl eyerolls me and stares at Scarlett. "I wanna hang out with nicer people,". "Out of all people here you choose me,". She stays silent. No one would ever want to be friends with me. Why would she want to be friends with me? A thought pops into my head. "Is it because Hudson's my partner?" I say furious. The girl blushed a little. "Well no," She whispers. I knew it. Now people will use me. Just great. But this girl stuck with me the whole day. She even insisted to drive me home. I rejected it.

Now it's home time. As I walk through the puddles left by the rain I see a reflection. It is Hudson Rivers. His dark brown hair touches my neck. He's holding me tight around my waist. I feel myself blush. He turns me around slowly. His nose touches mine. We're silent. My heart beats very rapidly. He leans in closer. His lips 'JUST' touching mine. This is all I ever wanted. He all of a sudden pulled back. My heart skips a beat. I thought he was going to kiss me. "Do you want a ride?" He asks. I nod very slowly. I didn't want to be taken back home but after that moment, I will never see Hudson as a crush again.

Moments later I realized I was home. The whole car ride was so silent. All we could hear was the car engine. "Bye and thanks by the way," I say. Hudson leans over to me and kisses my cheek. Now I'm like a tomato. Did he actually like me? Is this all a plan? Why would he kiss me rather than Scarlett. I look at him straight in the eye. "You know we don't have to act like we never have these romantic moments," He mutters. He was right. This wasn't the first time we've had these romantic moments. The first one was when we went to Paris for a school trip and he bumped into me on our way to the Eiffel tower. He was on top of me, his hands on the sides making sure he doesn't crush me. He had leaned and kissed me and then pulled me back up. I wanted to say something that day. Just 3 words, just 8 words. I like you. But I never told him.

I'm back in my room wishing I had said something to Hudson about the kiss today. What can I say ha? I'm never EVER gonna be that attractive girl that he looks for. I think I'll be ready to tell him tomorrow. The sky is very dark. Stars shining like they've never shined before. I am on the dinner table with mum and dad. They're both silent. My parents usually shout at each other during dinner. This is the first time they've not shouted at each other. "Mum, dad?" I whisper. "Why aren't you asking me about school?. My dad looks at me with burning eyes. He is mad. Not at me. At mum.