A Teenager's Guide to Screwing Up Life

Step 2: Have a Crush

Screaming. On the inside, of course. He talked to me. "He who?" you may be saying to yourself.

His name is Matt and he just moved here from Japan where he was on the national swim team. I know. He is a really good swimmer (obviously) and seems really smart. He is in my Alegebra 2 and my Geometry class (story for another day) and there was a sheet we were working on in Geometry and he did it really fast. His English is really good, and he has a little bit of an accent, which is super cute. He is really tall (6'2", I asked) and has the best sense of style. He wears Gucci shoes. Gucci. They probably cost about a thousand dollars. (I just Googled them, and they are $650 without tax and shipping.) And every day he dressed like a K-pop star. It's AMAZING! And he wears these circular glasses which look fantastic on him. Sometimes he wears these pants (joggers?) which stop a few inches above his ankle, and when I see him wear them I can't help but wonder if he gets them a size or two too small, or if he buys pants that are made to be short. Or maybe he shortens them himself. Anyway, so he talked to me. But before we get into that, let me give you some background info.

There is a swim meet today (which I didn't get to go to) so there was a pasta dinner at one of the swimmer's houses so people could carbo load. Even people who weren't going to the meet went to eat and Matt and I were both there. I went down into the basement with my friend, Ira, and we sat down and ate. More people came in and sat in empty chairs and one of those people was Matt. Except he was sitting on the other side of the room. There was an empty seat next to him, but I thought it would be too weird to sit there, considering I had never talked to him and didn't really know anyone he was sitting near. So time went on and I talked to people. A little while later the whole row of seats where he was sitting was empty, so Ira and I went over there. (I sat on the end and Ira sat to the right of me.) Then Matt came over and sat to the right of Ira with his food. So the three of us were just kinda sitting and eating and a few moments later he leans over Ira and says,

"How did you do on the Algebra quiz today?"

Jumping at the chance to talk to him, I say, "I don't really know. I did not understand the solve by graphing, and when we were supposed to put the equation into the graph and find out where the parabola hits the x-axis, my calculator wouldn't work, so I just guessed."

And... wait for it...

HE SMILES AND LAUGHS.

And just when I think he is done talking to me he says that he isn't taking the quiz until Monday. (Probably because he takes it with the English Second Language teacher, I think.) And then he says,

"And what about Geometry?"

Let me break this down for you. I thought that he didn't even know I existed. But I wanted him to realize that I am the same person who is in his first and second period classes, and on the swim team, I tried to wear T-shirts from my old club team so he could see that I was a swimmer. I talked about the meet we had the day before to one of my friends while he was nearby. I would change quickly after practice because we would both sit in the same area after practice, although he would leave a lot sooner than I would, because I like to take my time getting back to my house. Basically, I wanted him to at least make the connection even if he didn't talk to me. So, for him to realize that I am the same girl who is in his classes and on his team is amazing. Anyway, back to the conversation (that he initiated, by the way).

"I don't like Geometry. I mean, I'm never gonna need to know if two triangle are congruent!" He laughed at that. "Mr. Rumin is a good teacher and he has extra credit on everything so I do well, but I'm just not super interested." He nodded and smiled at that. His smile is so cute.

So, I feel like I should mention that, not only did he start that conversation, but he moved closer to me in the place where we sit after practice. We sit in the lobby of the rec center while we wait for our rides and he usually sits with his back to the window facing the other row, in a chair farther from the TV. I usually sit facing the window and close to the TV. After about a week or two of us sitting like that, this week he suddenly moves to sit in the chair right across from where I normally sit. Although, my spot is closer to the exit than his is, so that might be his motivation, but I don't know. Also, when we were talking yesterday, he leaned over Ira to talk to me. Anyway, I should go, because I have to start studying for the ACT next week. (I got Ira to take a picture and it worked, so I'm all good to go.) I'll update you tonight or tomorrow about what is going to happen tonight with Matt (hopefully) at the party. Bye!