You and Me and Us | Muffy

Part 1

Buffy's POV

I stand with my friends outside Grant High School. TJ, Cyrus' boyfriend, has his arm around Cyrus as usual. It's become such a normal thing around here that nobody teases or bullies them anymore like they did when Cyrus and TJ first came to high school. Last year they were even voted cutest couple in the yearbook.

"What do you think?" Andi asks.

"Sorry, what?" Jonah responds, shaking out of whatever trance he was in.

"Were you even paying attention?" Andi says.

Jonah shrugs. "Sorry. The bus just got here."

We all look over to see what he was so mesmerized by. Our eyes land on Libby, who walks alongside two of her friends, laughing about whatever they're saying. I never learned sign language that well, but Jonah apparently knows what she's talking about.

"She got a new dress yesterday and it was really expensive," Jonah tells us.

"Don't eavesdrop," Andi tells him, pulling on his shoulder to get him to turn around back to us.

Andi and Jonah aren't together anymore, but the breakup was mutual, so the Good Hair Crew stayed in tact. Now they tend to act as a first screening for anyone the other person likes. Libby has apparently passed Andi's test, and now Jonah can't stop thinking about her. She's all he talks about, and frankly, it's kind of annoying. He didn't talk about her this much when they dated in grade eight.

"Go talk to her," I say.

He shakes his head. "She's with her friends."

I roll my eyes, but as I refocus them ahead of me, something in the distance steals my attention.

"What is it?" Cyrus asks.

The group turns to spot what I'm seeing. He doesn't go here. He doesn't live here anymore. How is he here? Am I seeing this right?

Andi whips back around to me. "Is that Marty?"

I feel my pulse speed up. I haven't seen him in two years. What do I do? Do I say hi? Do I pretend this is normal?

Just then, he notices me and gives me a wave with a small smile, to which I wave back, my hand shaking slightly.

"Are you okay?" TJ asks.

Then the brown-haired boy begins walking in my direction.

"Oh, crap," I whisper under my breath.

Suddenly, the heavens bless me with a gift: the bell rings. Marty glances away at the sea of teenagers flooding into the school, then back at me. He smiles once more before going to join the stream. I stare at him as he leaves, feeling my stomach stop twisting but now my head is racing; it's like my body has no idea what to feel, which is fitting because I sure as hell don't.

"Buffy?" Andi says. "Are you coming to class?"

"Uh—yeah."

I shake my eyes away from where Marty disappeared into the building, and turn to follow my friends inside.

________________________________________

I tap my pencil on my desk, making graphite marks on my notebook. I'll have to erase them afterward, but the repetitive motion helps calm my nerves, albeit it's annoying for everyone around me. Thankfully, there's only one person who sits near me, because I sit at the back corner of the room and the desk beside me is empty. The classmate who sits in front of me, Agnus, has learned to ignore my tapping. Either that or she's slowly getting more and more irritated until one day she explodes.