To Be Her First

Chapter 3 - Cry-Baby

At 3:05, the afternoon bell rang dismissing the pep rally. David stood up from the bleachers as students scattered like cockroaches across the gym floor. On the far side of the room, heading out through the door to the cafeteria, was Kara Robertson's towering head above the sea of red, white, and blue. David minded his steps as he navigated down the risers.

A hand came down hard on his back, and his sneakers squeaked to a stop on the floor. He spun around to see his best friend, Marcus Garrett. A perky blonde in a cheerleading uniform was tucked securely under his arm. She was from the junior varsity team. Her name was Karie. Or was it Katie? David couldn't remember. The girls of West Emerson flocked to Marcus like ants to sugar. He had a year-round tan, black hair, and eyes the color of antifreeze. Marcus always had a girlfriend, though the position had a pretty high turnover rate. It was no wonder David couldn't keep up with their names.

"We're gonna grab some wings before we've got to be down at the field house. You wanna ride with us?" Marcus asked.

David shook his head. "Nah. I'll try and catch up, but I've got something I want to take care of."

Marcus narrowed his eyes. "What's her name?"

David rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"Bros before hoes, man." Marcus quickly planted a kiss on Katie's—no, Kasey's—cheek. "Not you, baby."

She blushed and gathered a fistful of the front of his blue jersey.

"It's not that." David turned back around. "Save me a seat at the restaurant."

David jogged across the room and out through the cafeteria. Kara's head was bobbing through the door to the outside. He pushed his way through the crowd. As he had hoped, the spunky, pink-haired girl was next to her. "Hey, Journ," he said, reaching for her arm.

She stopped walking so suddenly that two people bumped into them from behind. Her hazel eyes widened. "Yeah?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets. "You want a ride home?"

She jerked a thumb toward Kara. "I have a ride. Thanks."

Damn it.

He nodded. "OK, cool. Just checking." He gave a little wave. "Enjoy being grounded."

Her eyebrow arched. "Uh. Thanks."

Enjoy being grounded? How stupid are you, Dave?

She was still eyeing him with confusion as she turned back around with Kara. "Good luck tonight, Dave. I'll see you around."

"See ya."

He watched her until she and Kara disappeared down the steps to the junior's lot.

David had met Journey the year before, just after his breakup with Rebecca Ashburn. By lunchtime that day, the entire school had heard Rebecca dumped him in a note that was taken up and read aloud by their first period English teacher. What no one knew was that just the night before, the quarterback had finally scored off the field as well. Rebecca had been David's first, and she'd dumped him before he even had a chance to tell his friends about it.

Journey Durant wasn't the kind of girl who gave a shit about high school gossip, so she was the only person who hadn't laughed at him that day. She had simply asked if he was all right and tried to cheer him up. From that day on, he made mental notes of all the ways she was different from all the other girls he knew. She was smart, unique, and completely unimpressed with him.

David hadn't seen Journey all summer, but on the first day of school, he ran into her—literally—in the hallway. When she looked up and registered his face, she winked at him and said, "Look! It's my favorite cry-baby."

He had blushed for the first time ever in front of a girl.

Girls didn't speak to him that way, and it caught his attention. The way her t-shirt dipped off her shoulder had hung in his mind as well.

Journey Durant was an enigma that had been keeping him awake at night for over a month, and David was determined to get close enough to figure her out.

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I also hope you check out the videos that I'm posting with these chapters! Mmm... Anthony Kiedis. :)

I dedicated this chapter to @Rose_Catherine whose book 'The Sleep Part 1: The Fan & The Things That Hit It' was the first book to ever make me LOL on Wattpad! I still think about this line and laugh: "I'm not particularly attractive... If this were a movie I'd be the quirky second-best-friend that doesn't make the sequel."  Everyone in the world who is over the age of sixteen has suddenly fallen into a mysterious sleep, leaving the youngsters behind to carry on civilization. It's fun and brilliant. (I really hope she finishes it! Hint.Hint.)