Topsy-Turvy

Out of My League

Caroline's POV:

The memory was still fresh in my mind. Crystal clear, and I couldn't forget it no matter how hard I tried...

"Do you really think I have a chance?" I asked Jocelyn, as we walked down the same hallways as always to our lockers, yet that day, the four walls held so much more than just the same people that always walked from classroom to classroom in the same monotonous routine. For once it held more than just drama and heartbreak.

Hope.

It held hope that maybe I could do something I loved and make this place a little more bearable for the next three years, and be more than just another face in a sea of people.

"Of course you do! It's just a position with the school newspaper!" she shrugged like it was no big deal, and it really wasn't if you looked at it from people like Jennifer's point of view, but to me it did mean a lot, and I knew I'd be crushed if I didn't get to be a Westmont High journalist. Maybe then I wouldn't blend into the boring white drywall of that boring school quite as much. I knew I'd never be good enough for you-know-who.

"I mean it's not like you're going for student body vice president or anything," she didn't even need to mention Jennifer's position for me to know how ridiculous it would be to think I could ever do that, just what I was doing then would honestly be a long shot to have. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you could totally do it if you wanted to! I'm-"

"I know what you mean, Joce." I giggled, stopping her before she started ranting.

"What? You could!" she insisted. I shook my head, glad someone had confidence in me.

"Sure." I sulked, wishing I had the same faith in myself that Jocelyn had in the both of us.

"Hey," she quietly asked for my attention. I looked up from my hands. "You could. Anything is possible." at that moment, something inside me sparked. I suppose you could say a light switched on in the back of my head, though I never imagined the adventure I would have in only a year. She put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I could always count on my best friend to say the right things.

"I hope you're right." I began reciting every inspirational quote that I could think of to myself, and they helped, surprisingly.

"I am. I always am." she grinned satisfiedly. Her intrepidity seemed to glow off of her, rubbing off on everyone around her, and much to my luck, that included me.

"I don't know about that one." we both chuckled to ourselves, glad the school day was over, as we put the last of our belongings away in the metal storage units.

"You ready to see if your the newest writer for the Westmont times?" she leaned against her locker in the most dramatic way possible, and said it like it was a glamorous job or something.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I stood up straight, and fidgeted with those darned buttons on my cardigan that just wouldn't look right that day no matter how much I fussed with them.

Buttons soon became the least of my worries when I spotted a pair of piercing cobalt eyes getting colder and closer by the second, making time appear to go into slow motion. His gaze wandered my way for a split second, and just when I thought he might actually think about me, he tore it away, and walked off with his friends... Leaving me in the dust.

As usual.

I was used to this, it happened almost on a daily basis. He usually passed me by without so much as a turn of the head. Only this time, he actually looked at me. It hurt more to be right in front of someone, and for them to look at you while you silently scream how much you love them, yet even as their eyes take you in, for you to be completely invisible.