Through My Eyes

Chapter 3

Two Years Earlier

The bell rang signaling class was over.  I swiped Jake’s schedule out of his hands to see what class he has next.  He gave me an annoyed look but quickly recovered and smiled. 

“I could have told you what I have next you know,” he said.

“Haha I know but what would be the fun in that?,” I responded.  “Looks like you have Espanol next Senor.  Unfortunately I do not have that with you but I have confidence you will do fine without me.  But, the good news is, Molly does have it next.  She can show you how to get there.  Right Mol?”  I looked at her as I asked that and of course saw her blush a little.

“Uh sure can.  You’re going to love Senora Schwartz.  She’s an awesome teacher.”

Jake took back his schedule from me and put it in his back pocket.  “Sounds good. Lead the way then Molly.” 

I looked up at him as he stood and was mesmerized by his blue eyes.  The guy really was gorgeous!  Jake started chuckling and I realized he noticed me staring.  I abruptly lowered my head to gather my textbook and stood up to go.

The three of us walked out of the classroom together and stopped by the water fountain.  I bent over to grab a drink when I heard someone call out to me.  I looked and saw Mark Jenkins walking toward me.  Mark was on the football team and was beautiful.  Dark brown hair, brown eyes that sparkled, and a mouth that always teased to be kissed.  We’d been out a few times but nothing serious.  I held out hope that would change though.

“Hey Mark.  What’s up?”  

“Hi.  I just haven’t seen you in a while and wanted to say hey.  Are you going to Lucy’s party this weekend?  Her parents will be out of town, should be fun.”  As he was saying this he looked over to Jake. 

“Um, I’m not sure.  I’ll have to see what’s going on.  Hey, have you met Jake?  Today’s his first day here at Rockwood High.  Jake, this is Mark Jenkins.  He’s on the football team.”

“No, haven’t met you yet man.  Welcome to Rockwood.  Where you from?” Mark asked.

Jake hesitated for a minute before answering.  “Kind of all over.  We’ve moved around a lot.  Just came from Billings, Montana.  Hey Molly, we should get a move on to Spanish. Don’t want to be late on my first day.  Nice to meet you Mark.  Will I see you later Crystal?”

His question caught me off guard.  “Uh sure.  Come find me at lunch?”

“I will.  Later.”

Molly started walking down the hall with him but turned her head and gave me a wink.  I think Miss Molly might be crushing on the new guy.  I gave her a silly wave back and turned the opposite direction to walk to my next class.

“Thanks for reminding me about Lucy’s party this weekend Mark. I need to hurry to class though so I’ll talk to you later.”  I started walking away from him down the hall.

 “Wait, I’ll walk with you.  My next class is in the same part of the building as yours.  So, how do you know this Jake?" 

"I literally ran into him on my way to History.  He has it too so I showed him where it is.  Seems like a nice guy."  

"I guess.  Anyway, let me know if you end up going to Lucy's party.  I could even pick you up and take you if you want." 

 “Oh cool, thanks.  I’ll check and let you know.”  I tried to play it cool with him, I didn’t want him seeing just how excited I was he’d said that.  As I continued walking with him, I had the strangest sensation that someone from behind was staring at me.  Get a grip Crystal, I told myself as I shook the feeling off.  I made it to my next class and told Mark I'd talk to him later.  It was time for Algebra.