The Boy I Married

I

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP..." uhh. My alarm was going off. Did I really want to stop the noise and wake up? Or did I want to stay in bed all day with my noisy clock? I slammed my alarm off.

I groggily got out of my warm bed and pulled a sweatshirt on over my head. I attempted giving myself a mental pep talk to get me going, but I failed. I walked down the creeky old wooden steps, still half asleep. I grabbed myself a bowl of stale Cheerios, plopped onto the couch, and clicked the TV remote on.

It was September 2. My first day of school. My first day of school at a new high school. My junior year. My junior year that I was supposed to be spending back home in Oregon. But instead I'm here, in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

My mom and dad had already left for work, so it was up to me to make sure I got to school. No problem, I'll just make sure to crash the car before I arrive.

I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and slipped on jeans and a tee. I grabbed my bag and headed for my car.

My car smelled of take out food and was covered in remanence of the road trip I took with my friends after school got out the previous year. I frowned. I would do anything to be with them right now.

I pulled into the high school's very crammed parking lot. I threw a piece of mint gum into my mouth and locked up my car. I grabbed my schedule from the office, and tried to find my way around.

I walked into my first class, English. I sat at a desk in the corner of the room. And as planned, I made no friends that class.

The day went by really slowly. I was about to go into my fourth class, but all I could think about was lunch, which was coming up after this.

I stepped into the History classroom. I took a seat at an empty table. The bell rang.

An old man stood up from the desk at the front of the room. He gave his whole spiel on classroom rules and all that none sense. Then, words I haven't heard since middle school spilled out of his mouth. He has created a seating chart.

A seating chart? I'm not participating.

He told everyone to stand up and go to the edge of the room. Then, he wrote down the seating chart on the board. I found my seat.

Seconds later, someone took a seat next to me. This someone looked awfully familiar.

"Hey," he sat down in the chair next to mine. His eyes met mine for a split second, but then he started digging through his bag.

I knew him. I had seen him before. "Hey," I replied looking down at my books. He had hazel brown hair and hazel brown eyes. He was just about perfect.

Mr. Louis, our History teacher instructed us to create a PowerPoint about all our knowledge on specific topics. He partnered everyone. I was partnered with the person sitting next to me.

I opened up my laptop. "Oh, and I'm Maddie by the way,"

"I'm Joshua, but you can call me Josh," he glanced at me, but then switched his gaze to his laptop.

holy shit.

The Joshua Lane. From kindergarten. The kid who proposed to me in front of my whole class. The kid who kissed me in front of the lunch lady... of course we were only 5, so nothing really happened but...

Wow. He had grown up nicely. Really fricking nicely.

And here I go... about to do something stupid.

"Oh my god. You're Joshua!"

He looked at me funny. "I did just say that..."

"You're Joshua Lane. From kindergarten!" I have to shut my mouth. Joshua gave me another look of confusion.

"You don't remember me? Madelynn Parker? From kindergarten? You proposed to me in front of the whole class, and kissed me in front of the lunch lady, Ms. Betty." My excitement died down. Maybe I was totally wrong and just made a fool out of myself.

"And then I gave you a flower under the slide?" He laughed. "How could I forget you? You were my first wife."

We laughed together.

"You look completely different," Josh commented.
"I hope that's a compliment," I smiled.
"Dang right," he joked and I giggled. Our eyes met for moment, but then his dropped.
"Maybe we should actually get started on this assignment?" I gestured to my laptop.
He smiled and started working.

The class was going by so slow... but maybe that was a good thing. I fake dropped my pencil in between our chairs.

"Oh, here, I can get it," Josh started to reach down.
"No, I can get it," I reached my arm down at the same time. We bonked heads.
"I am so sorry," Josh said and handed me my pencil.
I giggled. "Sorry!"
Again. We were practically having a staring contest. His eyes on mine.

I continued working, but then felt his leg touch mine. I could feel his leg hairs brush. Whatta fairytale.

The bell rang.

It was lunch. I didn't really have anyone to sit with so I sat alone. I unwrapped the foil around my sandwich and started eating it. I felt a hand brush against my back. It was Josh.

"Hey," he sat down next to me.
"Hi," I somewhat managed to say with my mouth full of food.
"So I know we don't really know each other very well, but I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come to a party with me," I focused on Josh now instead of my sandwich.

"Whose party?" I asked, still chewing.

"It's at my house, but it's my brother's party. Our parents are out of town, so my brother had to take up the chance." Joshua gestured to one of the senior's table. "He's the one surrounded by girls,"

"They're all over him, huh. Mr. Popular I see," I couldn't believe I had just said that out loud.

"Haha, yeah," Joshua looked at his feet. "So you coming?" I nodded.

We exchanged phone numbers. I was expecting for him to leave, but he stayed seated.

I could feel his body heat. I could feel his eyes on me. I could feel him breathe.

I finished chewing, and then looked over at him. Our lips were just inches away. Josh looked down at my lips and back up at my eyes.

fuck.

I've fallen for him.