Love Is Love

New school

Parker's POV

" Are you almost ready?" my mom calls into the bathroom. I just finished brushing my teeth.

" Yeah coming!" I take one last breath and head out of the bathroom door. My parents are standing in the kitchen with my little sister. When they hear me come out, they turn to see me.

" You look amazing Parker!" my sister says. I go over and rub her head, messing up her neatly combed brown hair.

" Thanks, Riles."

" We should go. Our tour is at 10 and it takes about 15 minutes to get there," my mom says. I grab my phone off the counter and stick it in my pocket. My dad comes over and gives me a hug,

" Don't chase any boys today, okay?" I laugh at his comment.

" Got it, dad." My sister comes over and gives me a hug, wishing me luck. I turn and head out the door after my mom, flashing them one last smile before I leave.

The car ride there was silent, my mind racing at what people will think of me. When we arrive, I get out, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans. My mom comes around and puts her arm around me, walking in sync with me.

" Hey, today is gonna be a good day okay? New school, this is your chance to be who you want to be," she says. I nod,

" Yeah I know," I say. We enter the doors and are greeted by the principle and a girl who was in a bright flowery dress.

" You must be Parker. I'm Principal. DeBryan. This here is Ashlee Johnson, and she will be your tour guide for a little bit," he says all that while shaking my hand. He then moves to my mother's hand.

" Well, I know that moving schools are hard, but this is a good school with amazing students and teachers," he says. " Shall we make our way around?"

" Yeah, we would love to," my mom says. We turn away from the door and begin to walk down the hall. Principal DeBryan was talking up front to my mom, leaving me with Ashlee.

" So, do you play any sports?" she asks me.

" Uh, yeah I play lacrosse."

" Oh, cool. We have a great team here at Plainfield high."

" Cool." This was so weird, I knew she was hitting on me by the tone of her voice.

" We also have dances here and fun summer activities that a lot of people go to," she says. I didn't get a chance to respond because we stopped walking.

" This is the cafeteria, we can go in and see the students," the principal says.

" I'm going to run to the bathroom a second," Ashlee says. We go into the lunch room, and the noise level surrounds me. I try to listen to the principal, but something catches my eye. I see a boy looking at me. He had dirty blond hair and is sitting across from a girl. We make eye contact, and he quickly looks away. I turn back to my mom, but can't help but look back at him. He had the same idea, and our eyes meet again and this time, he doesn't look away. We hold eye contact, but he looks away when the girl says something. I see her turn around and see me, before turning back to him. She gets up and walks over to me.

" Hi, I'm Hannah," she says, shaking my hand.

" Parker."

" Are you new?"

" Yeah, I'll be starting in the fall," I say.

" Hannah, good to see you."

" Hi, Principal DeBryan."

" Hey, why don't you eat with Hannah while I talk to Mr. DeBryan about other things, okay?" my mom says.

" Sure! That would be great," Hannah says.

" Okay," I say. I follow her over to the table, where the boy is sitting.

" Hey," I say. He looks up at me and smiles.

" Hi," he says.

" Jackson this is Parker, Parker- Jackson," Hannah says. She motions for me to sit down and I do. Jackson stays quiet, not saying much, just staring at his food.

" So Parker, what brings you to Plainfield High School?" Hannah asks me.

" I needed to change schools, my old one wasn't a very good fit for me," I say. I notice Jackson has looked up but wasn't looking in my direction.

" Where did you go before?"

" Chesterfield."

" Oh, we play them in sports!" Hannah exclaims.

" So I've heard," I say. I want Jackson to talk, to hear his voice, but he's not saying anything. Be brave Parker.

" So Jackson, do you do any sports?" I ask. He looks at me, his eyes meeting mine.

" Yeah, I play soccer," he replies.

" Oh sweet. I play lacrosse," I say. He just smiles and then turns away. Shy guy.

" So Jackson and I always go to this cool ice cream place on the last day of school, it's like tradition. You should join us," Hannah says.

" Oh I wouldn't wanna intrude on your tradition," I say.

" We don't mind. We would love to have you!" she says. " Right Jackson?"

" Right yeah, you should come," he says. I could tell he was a little flustered at the offer.

" Meet us there after school," Hannah says.

" Okay, sounds good." The bell rings at that moment. I get up and they do too.

" Thanks for eating with us. See you after school Parker," Hannah says before leaving with Jackson right by her side. I go find my mom, who's in the hallway and stand by her.

" Well, thank you so much for the tour Mr. DeBryan," my mom says.

" Anytime. We look forward to seeing you in the fall," he says. We walk to the door and exit the building. She gets the keys out of her bag.

" How was it?" she asks, getting in the car.

" Amazing."