A Poetry Love

2

          I stared down at the blank sheet of paper that held endless lines of emptiness wanting to be filled with meaningful words but about what in particular? I had nothing to write about. I hadn't experienced anything crazy yet in high school, besides witnessing dumb fights between nerds and jocks. I wasn't that girl. I was a definite homebody that had two friends all together. The last time I wrote something meaningful was when I was with Carter the night of the party, which was exactly a week ago. He showed me a place that impacted him, and that oddly made me feel special. He showed me what my brother never did.

I groaned, propping my chin up on my hand and sitting my pencil down beside the paper that would just lay there, blank and empty, until the bell rang for my next class. I had study hall, and my teacher usually gave me permission to go to the library where I'd slip my headphones in to drown out the utter silence and write, but today there wasn't a single thought that popped into my brain when I went to put pencil on paper.

Ring

I sat there for a minute, watching everyone exit the library before gathering my own books and bag that laid in the chair beside me. I snatched the paper up so I could crinkle it up into a ball and throw it away, sighing as I was met with the loud thunderous laughter of high school boys and girls when I stepped foot into the hallway. I stepped in pace with the rest of the crowd like every day and smiled when I felt a figure beside me, glancing up to stare at Austin.

"My morning sucked," he grumbled, gripping the straps of his backpack tightly.

"Every morning sucks when you're in high school," I corrected, and looked at him from the corner of my eye. "Alright. What put you in a bad mood?"

"I literally put myself out there and get rejected for being too nice," he said, putting 'too nice' in air quotes. "How can somebody be too nice? I mean, even if I am, is that really so bad?" he said exasperatedly, throwing his hands up.

I nodded, "Yes, it is."

"Excuse me?" He stared down at me with wide eyes, following me into the last class of the day, Calculus. Great.

Once we were seated in our normal spots with Austin in the desk beside me, I leaned towards him and said, "Girls secretly like the bad boys, not all of them, but most of us prefer guys who make us feel butterflies with one glance and have a profound sense of humor but can also be serious in certain situations."

Austin rolled his eyes. "I'm bad if anything. I got a detention yesterday for being late to class."

I rose an eyebrow at him and scoffed, "I mean the leather jacket wearing bad boys that take girls on motorcycle rides. Not detention bad, idiot," I said, making him slump down in his seat with a pout on his lips, mumbling, "I'm gonna be girlfriend-less for the rest of my humiliating life."

"Hey, don't say that. If you think about it, I haven't had a real boyfriend either, so technically, we're both partner-less when it comes down to it," I said in hopes to make him feel better. I didn't choose to be single, but I tried to embrace it. There were lonely days, and then there were days where it felt good to be able to talk to other guys without having a jealous boyfriend complain about them flirting with me or vice versa. In all honesty, sometimes I felt like I was meant to be alone because I'm the type of girl that is just a good friend and nothing more. It wasn't a bad feeling, but it wasn't necessarily a good one either.

"Yea, but when girls don't have a boyfriend, that means they're trying to focus on school, when guys don't have a girlfriend, that just means they're too chicken to ask a girl out," he huffed.

I furrowed my eyebrows and replied, "Okay, that isn't always the case, but believe whatever you want to believe."

"I will," he sassed, crossing his arms and sitting up straighter in his seat when the teacher arrived. She directed us to take notes off the board and work out the equations we received yesterday before class ended.