The Only Exception

Chapter 4 Part 2

I remember my first kiss with Drew. We had been friends for a short while, being in 2 classes together. Hilary had originally liked him, which is no surprise at all. She even asked him on a date after just a month of seeing him in the halls. I was proud of her, but their romance was short lived since they were just about polar opposites. Andrew liked to take things slow, while Hilary liked everything at a fast pace; Drew was a huge science nerd, while Hilary finished the semester with a 58 in Chemistry. Plus she is a full two inches taller than him, which Hilary deems to be a huge deal. She soon came to the conclusion that short boys were intimidated by her, and she would only go for guys who were at least 6 feet. I remember having to explain to her that if people are going to judge a potential relationship by body height, then they were not worth it. She ignored me and was soon going out with 6'4, Connor Matthews the next week. By then Drew and I had barely even spoken besides a few polite greetings and the occasional homework questions. But on November 11th of our freshmen year, I felt a light tap on the shoulder during a work period in science. We had been drawing posters for endangered animals and their biomes. "Hey," Drew had said flashing me a lopsided grin.

I nervously sat up straight, examining his face thoroughly. I had deemed him as nothing more than considerably above average up until this point. But, I was starting to understand what Hilary had seen in him. "Hi." I tried my best not to look like I was staring straight into his soul through his noticeably green eyes.

"Uhm, Ms. Lundman says that I should go around and help others with their posters, since I'm done. Do you need help?" I glanced over to his desk, which was cleared of any supplies; while mine was littered with pencil crayons and construction paper. "Sure." I shrugged. He dragged his chair beside mine, as I cleared an area for him. "What can I do?"

"Can you just outline this, while I draw out the trees?" I slid him the drawing I had been working on. I had turned my attention back to my work, rummaging for the last bits of green construction paper I had left. I watched from the corner of my eye, as Andrew's steady hand traced the details of a lake, in deep concentration. "It doesn't have to be perfect." I told him nonchalantly. Andrew looked up in surprise, almost embarrassed. "Oh yeah I know. It's just. I'm not that good of an artist and I don't want to mess up on your poster." I had tried my best not to squeal from his cuteness, it was not all the time where I would melt over a boy like Hilary would, but Andrew was becoming an exception whether I liked it or not. "It's okay. I'm not the best either. You're doing great. I mean good like you're doing it right." I looked down in embarrassment, not knowing why I was such a mess. It wasn't in my nature; everybody knew I had a way with my words. Luckily, Drew had smiled (probably out of pity), "Thanks. Hey, you're Hilary's friend right? I think she mentioned you a few times when we uhm."

He looked down trying to gather his thoughts, which made me feel a little bit better about the whole bid we had a few seconds prior, "Dating?" I asked.

"I mean. It lasted a week; I wouldn't necessarily call it that. She's great just really...why am I telling you this? She's your best friend. No, I'm sorry. Hilary's great we were just different." He shook his head, "Sorry. Back to work. I didn't mean to go on like that." I didn't reply but instead went back to cutting out forestry, feeling his nervous eyes on me. After a while of silence I finally reply, "I get what you meant about Hilary. She can be a lot sometimes. But she means well." Andrew nodded, "Yeah of course. And like she's with Connor now and they seem like a good match. I mean given their heights and everything." I did my best to keep in my laughter, "Ohmygod. Class is almost over, I'm so sorry I distracted you." I followed Drew's gaze to the class's clock; there were only two minutes left in class. "No that's okay" I said, gathering my supplies into my backpack. "Maybe you can help me tomorrow." At the time, I had furiously questioned myself as to why I had said that, but now I know that it was one of the greatest decisions I had ever made.

"Yeah." Andrew beamed, "That'll be great."