The next morning, I woke up still thinking about him. Which was irritating. It wasn't as though anything had happened. He smiled. I'd stared. End of story. I decided the best way to avoid thinking about it was to fill my head with something else, so on the bus I put my headphones in and turned my Indies rock up loud enough to drown out everyone around me.
And it worked.... mostly.
When I got to school, Jesse and Lucas were waiting near the entrance.
"Where's Alice?" I asked while maintaining a steady pace still trying to make to class reasonably early.
"She wanted to get an early start," Jesse said. "She's reviewing for a test."
I stopped walking.
"Alice?"
"Yeah."
"Studying voluntarily?"
He laughed.
"Apparently."
Something felt off. Alice was many things. Prepared was not usually one of them.
"She okay?"
"Probably. She didn't say anything was wrong."
I nodded, though I wasn't convinced.
We dropped Lucas off at his classroom before Jesse walked me toward mine.
"Alice might stay after school for a while too," he said. "So it'll probably just be me, you, and Lucas later."
I gave him a look. He knows how much I despise Lucas. He laughed but he knows it's not all fun and games.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You made a face."
"I did not."
"You absolutely did."
I rolled my eyes as he smiled and headed toward his classroom.I continued down the hallway. By the time I reached sociology, I'd almost forgotten about the new neighbor. Almost.
I walked toward my usual seat in the back of the room and saw that someone was sitting there. I stopped and stared at the figure sitting in my seat. He looked familiar. Black hair. Dark eyes. The same quiet confidence.
AJ.
Of course. I stared at him with hate and malice. Of all the student in this class and it had to be him. He looked up and inevitably our eyes met. Then the corner of his mouth lifted. Not quite a smile.Something more deliberate. It was almost as if he were plotting against me.
I immediately changed direction and took the empty seat across the room. I could feel him watching me. I opened my notebook and focused on the board while spending the next forty minutes trying to ignore him.... I had no luck. At all.
Every few minutes, I caught him looking at me. Eventually, I looked back and he didn't flinch, didn't . He simply lowered his eyes to the sketchbook in front of him and continued drawing. I watched his pencil move across the page. Whatever he was drawing, it clearly had nothing to do with sociology.
I returned to my notes.
A few minutes later, I heard paper tearing. I glanced over only to see that he had ripped a page from the sketchbook. He folded it once and then again. He slipped it into his backpack. I glared at him from across the room.
What was this guy doing?
When the bell rang, everyone began gathering their things. I shoved my notebook into my backpack and headed toward the door. I was almost outside when someone caught my hand.
I turned sharply and there he was again. Our dark haired friend who stole my seat and clearly has a staring problem.
AJ.
He gently pulled me a few steps to the side. I immediately snatched my hand back.
"What are you doing?"
He looked at me.
"You've got something sticking out of your backpack."
Mildy confused, I reach back to see if I could find an open zipper.
"What?"
He pointed. I turn a bit to see if I could spot anything but I still couldn't feel anything. I turned back to look at him and he was trying not to smile.
I narrowed my eyes and set my backpack down in a an attempt to find the culprit.
Then I noticed the corner of a piece of paper sticking out of my backpack pocket. I pulled it free. There was writing on it. It was in bright blue ink and read:
Cute sweater. Call me or come by. But if you're feeling shy, you can always watch from your mailbox.
At the bottom was a phone number and a small cartoon drawing of what I assume was supposed to be me.
And beneath it:
XOXO, Friendly Neighborhood Lover Boy
I stared at the note then at him with clear signs of irrigation written all over my face.
At this point he had already made it out of the classroom and started heading in the opposite direction. He turned and smiled.
I felt my face heat up. I couldn't differentiate whether I was flattered or pissed off. I was really hoping it was the second option.
"You've got to be kidding me."
He laughed.
I shoved the paper into my pocket.
"This is not funny."
"Who said it was supposed to be?" he responded as he disappeared into the crowd.
I walked away before I said something I'd regret.
I cut the corner and went into the bathroom in hopes that I could calm myself down. I was furious. Not because he'd flirted with me. Well.. not exactly. It was just the confidence. No…. the audacity.
The fact that he'd apparently decided he could walk into my life, sit in my seat, stare at me for half an hour, and then leave his number in my backpack like we'd known each other for years.
I pulled the note from my pocket and looked down at it again.
I should've thrown it away.
Instead, I folded it carefully and put it back inside my pocket.
I told myself it was so I could throw it away later. I didn't...sigh.
That afternoon, I went home and invited Alice over. I needed someone to tell me whether I was overreacting. Knowing Alice, she'd probably tell me I was. She usually did. I just didn't know yet that the boy next door wasn't going to be a temporary inconvenience. He was going to become the beginning of something I wasn't prepared for. And eventually, I would have to decide whether I was more afraid of falling in love— or of what would happen if I did.