Tomorrow Holds Such Better Days

When You Smile, I Melt Inside

When my alarm clock went off this morning, I actually got up instead of ignoring it like I usually do. I climbed out of bed, walking to my closet to grab my favorite red plaid shirt and leather jacket. After putting on a pair of blue skinny jeans and my oldest Vans I walked to the bathroom and brushed my hair and teeth. Because I got out of bed on time today I was able to eat breakfast. I just grabbed an apple and sat down at the kitchen table, and watched as my cat stretched out in front of the heater. I glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that I had three minutes to get to the bus stop.

                For the second day in a row I ran to the bus stop, getting there just as the bus pulled up. The bus driver gave me a dirty look as I got on, and I mentally flipped her off. I looked around and seeing no empty seats, sat next to a girl wearing a Blink-182 t-shirt. She shuffled away from me slightly and looked away when I turned to her.

                “Hi, I’m Anthony. And I love your shirt, Blink was one of my first favorite bands,” I said nervously. I usually don’t talk to people, but this girl was cute. She had light brown hair, and soft features. When she turned to look at me, I saw her eyes were a beautiful pale green.

                “Thank you! I’m Samantha, but you can call me Sam. And I love Blink so much; they were the band that first got me into music. I was eight and listening to Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers when I heard All The Small Things for the first time. Then I started listening to more of their songs, and they introduced me to other bands,” she smiled at me as she answered. She had a great smile.

                The bus pulled into school and Sam smiled at me as we got off and went to different ends of the school. I found my locker and put my backpack away before heading to my first period. I walked in and sat down at my seat, hoping that this day would go by smoothly. The teacher walked in as the bell rang and passed out goggles, a beaker and some substances. I wasn’t sure what we were doing because chemistry is not my best subject. I seemed to do alright however, because the teacher came over and asked me if I was in a chemistry club at my last school.

                I shook my head no and she said, “I would really like you to be in the club here. We are short on people, and you seem to have a natural ability when it comes to these experiments. Can you meet me in this room after school today? It would mean the world to me.” Overcome with surprise, I just nodded and she cocked her head at me. “You’re really shy, aren’t you? I haven’t heard you say one word yet,” she said, looking confusedly at me. I just smiled and looked down until she walked away.

                When the bell rang I hurried to my next class. What had I gotten myself into? I settled into my math desk and took out my book, opening it to the correct page. I also took out my homework and prepared to turn it in. When the bell rang we had to exchange our homework with someone in the class so they could correct it. I turned to the person next to me, but they already had a partner. I felt the anxiety grow in my stomach. I didn’t know anyone here and I was going to be stuck without a partner. My breathing grew rapid when suddenly Sam came up to me.

                “Hey you’re the kid from the bus this morning right?” she asked. I just nodded, too worried about my breathing to speak. “Would you like to exchange papers? I wasn’t sure if you knew anyone in this class to exchange with,” she sent me a shy smile.

                I finally found my voice and said, “Of course! Thank you so much. I was really worried that I wouldn’t find anyone.” I handed her my paper, and she gave me hers. As the teacher started telling us the answers, I was surprised that Sam got almost none wrong. At the end, she had only gotten two incorrect, and I was scared to see what my result was. I didn’t want to get a bad grade on my first assignment in this class. Sam raised her eyebrows at me and handed me my paper back. I had gotten all the answers correct, which really surprised me.

                “So are you some sort of boy genius or something? Because I’ve never seen anyone get 100% before,” Sam said smiling at me.

                I shrugged and said, “I have never gotten that high of a score before. And you must be some genius too! You only got two wrong.” Sam gave me a gracious smile, but before she could reply the teacher started to talk. I cared more about what Sam was about to say then I did about trigonometry, but I couldn’t afford to not pay attention, so I pushed thoughts of passing a note to Sam out of my mind. The entire class I had to battle the urge to turn and talk to her, and I was afraid of what I would say anyway.

                I decided that when the bell rang I would talk to her, but she was up and out the door before I had a chance to say anything. I sighed and walked to lunch, worrying about where I was going to sit today. Would it be weird for me to try to sit with Sam? She would probably think I was a freak. I frowned and entered the cafeteria.