Not Your Typical Love Story

Chapter 3

I am sitting at my table in disbelief. Zack. Zack the boy I have been obsessing over for not even a day has messaged me. Breath Levi maybe this is a dream. I lay my head down on the table and closed my eyes. 'When I wake up I will be at home in my bed,' I said to myself with my eyes closed right. I lift my head. Before I open my eyes I say, it was all a dream. No. It wasn't. Can you believe that? The boy I wanted to talk to has sent me a message. I wanted to raise my hand and go to the bathroom. I could feel those butterflies dying in my stomach and I wanted to throw up. I muscled up to compose a message to him. What am I thinking? What do I say? Does he even know who I am? My eyes wander the sky looking for the words to say. I decided to send a simple message. Hey with an exclamation point. I deleted the exclamation point. That's too much, right? I don't wanna seem desperate. However, I don't want to seem like I didn't want to hear from him. What do I send? I deleted the message. The voices in my head tell me to send different things but one voice stuck out. Play hard to get it said. I poked my lips out. That's not a bad idea. Let's see if he is truly interested in me.

What if he doesn't know who I am or remember what I looked like. He could be going into this whole situation blind side. I don't want it to be like a blind date. I decided to try the hard to get approach. I compose a short message that said "Oh yeah. Hey". That should be enough. It's kind of bland, vague, and mysterious. I don't feel completely vulnerable. My walls are still up just in cause this doesn't work out. He instantly responses to me. "How are you?" He asked. With the quickest of my fingers, I told I was doing just fine. The conversation was pretty light but we eventually got into a conversation about English. I didn't like English class. It was my least favorite subject. I would rather be in art or math class. The two main classes I could comprehend. That day we never met up at school. I was not prepared to talk to him in person. He did ask me a few times to see him but I declined. I hope I was going too far with this approach. I don't want to push him away but the approach did seem to work.

That night I couldn't stop smiling. I had so much joy in my heart at this point. I had a sparkle in my eyes. My grandmother knew something was different. I wasn't miserable anymore. She didn't say much but smile. She was happy that I was happy in my life. When you are down the littlest things make your day better or different. I was invested in my friends' drama that I forgot who I was. This was an opportunity for me to branch out a little bit. Find new things to spark my interest. Find out what I want in life after high school but at this very moment, my attention was focused on Zack. He wasn't like my ex. He gives me hope for a new beginning. He is very kind and sweet. I found out today that he is a choir boy. That's adorable. I never liked a choir boy before. At my school, choir kids were very snobby and stuck up. Both choir and theatre kids acted like they were better than everyone else but not Zack.

As the conversation carries on, he mentions some of his interests. I had a few similar interests. We both love horror films, The Sims, and even some of the same bands. It's not common to meet someone with the same interest as me. I mean it is common but not common in a sense of I want to date you. "I'll see you tomorrow?" His message read. My eyes read the message over and over again. I wanted to say no but my fingers typed yes. It cannot be all that bad. Right? I'm just overreacting about the situation. I'm used to long-distance relationships. I didn't have to see their face. I didn't have to see the emotions in a person. All I had was a text to dissect. I didn't have to face rejection face to face. It's easier to face it over text. I mean the emotions aren't any better. Probably worst in person but it's easier for me. I lay down in my bed. I close my eyes and fall asleep. I sleep with a smile. I sleep happy.

The next morning I am not dreading to get up. I am happy I woke up 30 minutes before my alarm goes off. I'm in a better headspace today. "'Maybe for once, I can go to school and not hear Amber's inescapable drama," I whispered picking out the clothes in my closet. I throw on my bed a pair of Superman converse, a plain white tee-shirt, a gold-ish color bomber jacket, and blue denim skinny jeans. I hum my way into the bathroom. I look in the mirror. Maybe I should shave my widow's peak. My hair has slightly grown out some but not too much to where I need a haircut. After snapping away my widow's peak, I give myself a thumbs up before hopping in the shower. This shower felt like it was taking longer than usual. I know why. Every time I close my eyes I am thinking about seeing that boy. Zack. This was the first step for me. For me to experience an in-person relationship. For me to experience how it feels to develop feelings. To experience what some call love. I'm not ready to experience it. However, I am ready to experience the journey.

The bus drive to school was short too. When you're in the mindset of nervousness and excitement time flies by. I didn't realize we were at the school till the bus driver got on the intercom and told me to get off. Luckily enough no one was on board. That would be embarrassing. I was already embarrassed enough. How would you feel having a bus driver tell you to get off the bus? It's just unexpected. I grabbed my backpack placing only one strap on my shoulders. "Next time I may not remind you." The bus driver said closing the doors. Yeah yeah and I'll wake up at some nowhere place. Each step I took felt long. The double doors were tiptoeing away from me. My mind must be playing tricks on me. I look down realizing I haven't taken a step yet. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and look at the beautiful, majestic, and carefree birds flying over the school. Sometimes I wish I was a bird. Carefree. I could fly away. Fly away from my problems.

My phone dings ruining my imagination. It was Zack. My hand clutched the phone. My hand wants to through the phone. I want to close my eyes and believe it was a dream but I knew it wasn't. "Where are you?" The message read. My finger messaged back. "I'm coming." I took the necessary steps to the doors. Forcing my legs to walk even further I get to the schoolyard. There he is looking cuter than ever before. Zack. He was leaning against the wall by the door. None of my friends were there. My heart starting racing. My breathing picks up. Sweat races each other down my face. Students moving in fast motions. I feel faint. I want to faint. Maybe if I faint just this once I can sleep through this whole day. It was too much of a coincidence. There he was. All alone. My friends weren't there at all. It's just as if fate brought us together for this day. My imagination cluttered my mind to the point where I didn't realize he was right in front of me. "Are you- are you Levi?"