The Art of Late Blooming

Prologue

My name is Anastasia Oaken. Pronounced OHN-astasia, not ANN-astasia. Although, it seems no one ever says it right. Much to my aggravation. Even some of the people I'd known for years still pronounced it wrong. But no matter! This is it! Today is the day, the last day of eighth grade. I was determined to start next year (my freshman year of high school) on the right foot. I was determined that next year I would not only talk to Matthew Hansen, I'd make him love me. Okay.. so that was a stretch. But at least make him like me a little, enough to put me on his radar. Love takes time and I had waited this long. 2 years, to be exact, since sixth grade when I first laid eyes on him. His sandy brown hair that swept just above his ears and his striking blue green eyes. Some days they were more green, some blue. Every day I took note though. Not to mention his perfectly toned body. Seeing his abs in gym made school worth while. I'd waited this long for him, I could waiter longer.  Matthew Hansen was by far the most popular boy in our small corner of the world. To say he was the most popular boy in school just wouldn't cut it. It wasn't just our Maple Grove Middle School that loved him. Girls from schools all over the district would just fawn over him and the entire county came to watch him play basketball. Not that I could blame them, I didn't miss a game. Watching Matthew in his element was inspiring and not just for me. Although it was safe to say I appreciated it in a different way. It was the perfect excuse to stare at him without any shame. But it was quite obvious I wasn't the only one taking advantage of the opportunity. So when it came to winning Matthew's heart, I had a lot of competition. Why am I so confident then, you ask? I am by no means popular but I'm not UNpopular either. Invisibility was a nice comfort zone from where I would blossom out into Matthew's perfect line of vision.  Hope was a strong propellor and I was ready to feel the wonders of sailing.

"Ani." Hearing my oldest nickname brought me back to reality. Before I even looked I knew exactly who was calling me. As I closed the door to my locker and turned my head, I saw my best friend since birth (and cousin) Kyra coming down the hall.  I secretly loved that she called me Ani. She coined it when she was just a baby and it stuck, now my whole family called me by it. Outside of the family though I was Anastasia. Kyra and I had been inseparable since birth. She's a few months older than I am but since the day I came out it had been me and Ky. Our mothers called us Day and Night, because even though we're cousins you'd never guess it. Kyra's hair is wavy and blonde and her eyes as blue as they come and she has a heart shaped face with slightly chubby cheeks that blaze red when she gets nervous or embarrassed. She's the lucky of the two of us to be day. She's the kind of girl who is absolutely gorgeous and could without a problem be popular but she chooses not to and instead of doing her makeup and cheering she wears her long hair up in a bun and uses her RBF to ward off rude girls. I loved her because of this. Obviously though since she is Day, I am Night. With pin straight black hair and brown eyes that are almost just as dark as my hair. I have an angular face with absolutely no special characteristics whatsoever. It's not that I'm ugly, I've never thought that about myself. I'm just not the kind of girl who earns a second look. 

When she finally reaches me she gets right to the point. "Guess who just broke up!" She's jumping for my reaction and by this I know EXACTLY who she's talking about. "No way!!" I try to keep my voice down because even though Kyra knows about my obsession, no one else does. "Matthew and Allie?!" She nods but she doesn't even have to. "Oh my god, this is perfect! That means he will be single this summer and when we come back as Freshman he will be free for the taking!" I am way to excited about this. The rational part of my mind is telling me that in no way does this mean he is magically going to notice and fall in love with me but I don't care. It feels like there's a world of possibilities that just opened up and I am on cloud nine. Walking beside me Ky is going on and on about the specifics of the breakup. I don't care though, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that Matthew Hansen is single and free from the perfectly manicured clutches of Allie Sinclair. 

As if on cue, Allie walks right out of the English room. The very same room I'm about to go into. Great. The closer we get I can hear Allie's fake crying about how Matthew is just going through a hard time right now and he will come to his senses before freshman year. I hope she's wrong. She's still standing at the door when Ky and I slip in and immediately I see why she's being so dramatic. Matthew is in English, sitting directly in front of where I sit. I feel Kyra stiffen next to me at she matches my gaze. My heart skips, today is the greatest day of my young life. She gives me a little push and my feet realize they should begin moving. I make my way to my seat and sit down, Kyra takes her seat behind mine. Even though I feel a little weird about it, I take a deep breath and the heavenly scent of Abercrombie and Fitch cologne fills my airways. Needless to say, I love this scent. The first time I smelled it when I passed Matthew in the hall I went straight to the store and bought it and sprayed my pillow at home. I realize this is a bit much, but I like to think that I like the scent on my own and not just because it's become Matthew's trademark scent. It smells like the woods. I like the woods, definitely just not because of him. I'm so distracted trying to justify my behavior that I don't even notice when he turns around. As I snap back to it, he is staring right at me. I swear, my heart stops completely. "Can you still see the board?" he asks, so caring. Swoon. "Yeah, I can see it." I reply. Hopefully, he doesn't notice my voice wavering. "Cool," he says. Cool. What a great word. "I'm usually in the 4th period English but I missed the final exam last week. Mr. Allen is letting me do it now since I have free period in the morning." I know this already, Matthew uses his free period in the gym practicing basketball. What a man of dedication. "Oh, that's cool of him." He smiles and turns back around and just like that the conversation is over. I don't hear a word out of Mr. Allen's mouth the whole period. I replay our conversation on my mind a million times. And that smile.

When class dismisses, I stay put and take an extra second to put my book away in case he wants to turn around and make my day all over again. He doesn't, he just turns in his test and heads to next period. I begin to head out myself, the second we hit the hall I lose sight of Matthew and Kyra. It's always a madhouse between classes. I just focus on getting through the rest of today, I'll find Kyra later at the assembly. When fourth period comes, the last class of the day, there's an excited buzz in the air. We get out of our last class for the assembly so of course everyone is happy. We all file in to the auditorium and right away I find Ky waiting for me and we sit right in front. We go back and forth about our summer plans and debate on if we should cut our hair or color it a crazy color. Everyone is doing the same around us, chatting and making plans. When Principal Collins comes to the stage though, we get quiet and listen to his annual end of year speech. I think to myself how happy I was that next year we'd have a new principal and a new school. And I would be a new me.

In the middle of my daydream I was jolted by an announcement, "Now, for your final farewell we have asked one of your peers to come and speak to you about your upcoming year as a freshman in high school. Matthew Hansen, please come on up." Matthew heads to the stage and I'm paying more attention than I have this whole assembly. What better way to end the year than hearing Matthew's voice. He always has a way of inspiring me. He gets one of those microphones  that clips to your shirt so you can be hands free and he gives the best speech I've ever heard. My mind is reeling when Matthew says his final words, waves, and heads off stage. Principal Collins says one final goodbye and it's all over. Everyone moves to stand up and head off to the busses and cars to go home for the summer, I can feel the excitement in the room jump from 2 to 10. Then we hear a voice from the loud speaker once again. Right away I recognize it as Matthew's. Silly boy, he forgot to switch off his mic. He clearly didn't realize that it was still on. I smile, and then I fill with absolute joy because Matthew Hansen is talking about me!

"Anastasia Oaken?" he says, "What are you talking about Allie?"

"Oh shut up Mattie, everyone knows she's gaga over you and has been since sixth grade. I just never thought you'd actually be flirting with her!" 

My joy turns to pure dread as the entire auditorium is now looking right at me. I look to my right to Kyra for reinforcement but her face just makes me feel worse, she's blood red. She's embarrassed for me. This can't be happening. 

"I was not, I would never flirt with Anastasia," OUCH. "She's so ugly!" Double ouch.

After that I didn't hear another word, just laughter coming from all around me. My face is hot and my legs stop working. I want to run, I want to hide, I want to collapse. It's Kyra that finally pulls me away and once we're outside, alone, I bawl my eyes out.