My Match (Watty Awards 2013)

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I slipped back into the school, the bell had rung and everyone was packing up. I walked to my locker and piled my books into my worn backpack that I haven't changed since freshman year and I was a senior now. We never had the money to buy new things unless they were absolutely necessary.

"Hanna!" Kassia ran to me. "Where were you? Me and Jayden looked everywhere!"

I smiled sheepishly. "I kind of ditched for a while..."

Her eyes sparkled. "And I'm assuming that a certain guy has to do with this?" When I didn't respond, she squealed, "Oh my gosh, it was Max wasn't it? You guys are so cute! Do you like him?"

The last question caught me off guard and my answer kind of just came out without my permission. "Yeah."

"How much?"

I blushed, "A lot."

Kassia pulled me behind her and dragged me through the halls. I just stumbled along behind her and tried not to get trampled by the student body. "Where're we going?"

She stopped when we were outside the front doors of the school and sat down on a bench. "Just wait here for a sec."

I watched a robin fly into the cherry tree nearby and land in its egg-filled nest. I vaguely wondered what it would be like to be a mom.

"Hey Hanna," a familiar voice greeted me.

What was he doing here?

Kassia smiled at him. "Max, would you mind taking her home for me? I gotta go...drama club's meeting in five minutes, rehearsal's maybe three to four hours, bye guys!" She said all this very quickly before skipping back into school, her blue knee length skirt swishing behind her and her blond hair tangled in the October wind. Gee, subtle much?

Max sat down on the bench, "So, do you wanna hang here for a little while or should I take you home?"

"Here," I answered immediately. He couldn't see where I lived, only Kassia knew why I never invited people over or gave my address.

"Okay," he said. He reached into his backpack and emerged with one of the biggest lunchboxes I'd ever seen, "You want some? I figured you might be hungry, we did miss lunch. I've got," he rummaged through the bag, "Apple juice, ham sandwich, strawberries, celery, and potato chips. Pick whatever you want," he gestured to the food.

God, he was so nice and caring, my eyes went watery for a split second. No one had ever been so nice to me, besides my closest friends. I reached for the strawberries. "Thank you." I bit into one and its tart sweetness exploded across my tongue. "Mm."

We sat in silence and ate our fill. Since there was only one bottle of apple juice, Max let me have it. I took a sip and put it in between us, daring to say, "You know, I don't mind if we share it."

He grinned before taking a swig. "We just indirectly kissed, you know that?"

We did? I blushed. My cheeks heated up way too easily and he laughed. The conversation came much more smoothly after that, I found out that he had two younger sisters, he lived a bit far away from our school, like me, he loved being outdoors, etc. The more I got to know him, the stronger my attraction toward him became, I noticed that this afternoon. Oh gosh, I've only known the guy for a day and I think I'm already fall-

"So what's your family like?" he asked, and my hand froze on the strawberry.

I swallowed. "Um...well, I'm an only child. I don't know any of my other relatives." I stopped there and he didn't push me any farther, sensing that the subject was uncomfortable.