Project Smile

One

I am early to school today, but I don't care. I'm only a few minutes earlier than I always am. And this is for something important.

   The air conditioner is blasting in my face full force, but I'm still sweating bullets. It's hot out here. Way too hot for my liking. And, plus, he'll be here shortly. He won't fail. Every day, at exactly seven twelve in the morning, he arrives.

   I look at the clock. It's nine minutes past. Three to go, and I'll see the familiar hood again, the hood that I always try to watch out for.

   Two minutes.

   I flip my visor up. The sun is blinding me now, but he always comes this way. I reach into the glove compartment, slide on my black sunglasses, and keep staring.

   One minute.

   I see him now, approaching the school on foot. The hood of the black jacket is pulled over his slightly wavy blonde hair. His striking emerald eyes are masked by his large black sunglasses, some that cover at least half of his face. His angular cheekbones have small red marks on them, almost unnoticeable unless you know they're there.

   And I watch as Gabriel Lancaster walks past the front door of the school and to the small pack of guys that gather next to the parking lot every single day. He greets them with the same dead expression, giving them all the universal dude hug before going into conversation with them.

   If this were anyone else but Gabriel, people would find it strange. But since it is Gabriel, everyone's used to it.

   The boy is a born pessimist. He has never smiled. He always fears for the worst when an incident goes on and has many different theories about things like meteors crashing into the Earth or the sun going out and stuff like that.

   But when someone needs help, he is the most optimistic person there is. No matter what someone is going through, he is always there and available to help.

   I know his ways very well, and they make me sad. I believe that everyone needs to have at least one good moment in their lives, a moment that makes them smile like a fool and not care because it makes them so excited. It makes them feel alive.

   Gabriel has never had one of those moments.

   A knock on the car window scares me out of my thoughts. I whirl around to see Erin, my best friend, tapping on it with a bony finger. I roll the window down quickly.

   "Are you going to come inside, or are you going to just sit out here and stake out guys all day?" she asks impatiently.

   "I am not staking out guys," I say. "I'm just watching Gabriel."

   "So you're not staking out guys. You're staking out a guy." She raises her eyebrows at me and smirks. "How long has this crush of yours been going on?"

   "It's not a crush," I sigh. Leave it to my boy-crazed best friend to completely take this out of context. "I'm just...I don't know. Sorry for him, I guess." I shrug. "He never seems happy, but he pulls so many people up. I just wish I could return the favor."

   "And staring at him from your windshield for minutes and minutes in end is going to help you do that?" asks Erin, pushing back her curly black hair. "Honey, all that's going to do is freak him out and make him want to stay away from you."

   I roll my eyes. Why would I ever expect Erin, of all people, to get it? It's not a crush, though people have been saying it for a little while. He's just a sad, interesting person that I'd like to get to know. I feel that if I observe him long enough, I'll find a way to get through to him.