Strings - For the 'Single' Readers

Chapter One - The Nerd Herd

"You have no idea who I'm talking about, do you?" I look at her.

"Nope! But I'd know if you reminded me!" She stops short at a locker, admiring it's glitter designs. Whenever we took an arts class, including drama and music, we got to decorate our school lockers, so almost every locker in the school was colorful rather than dull blue. "Look at the sparkles on this one..." She mutters to herself. I grab her arm so we could continue and not block up the whole school hallway.

"Casey, remember?" I say quietly, keeping my eyes on her and lowering my voice, not noticing people passing us.

"Oh yeah! Casey!" She screams unintentionally, finally realizing who I was talking about. I groan. People turn and stare at us, one of them being Julie.

"Hey guys! I heard Megan scream about Casey!" Julie screams just as loud, earning more stares. I begin to turn red.

"You guys are so mean...." Casey is a senior here, and only the best guitar player and singer in the whole school. Not to mention he was probably the cutest and most good looking guy in the whole school. And he had the best hair. It was dark, dark brown and wavy and rested on his forehead right in front of his eyes. It was just... perfect. I mean, I probably stood no chance at all. I always wore ripped skinny jeans, band tees and flannels, and my wavy, lightish brown hair was almost always in knots. A snap in my face made me come back to the real word.

"Dreaming about Casey again?" Julie smirks at me. I get defensive.

"What? No... I don't know what you're talking about," I say, realizing that I passed my class. "Crap! I gotta go guys! See ya at lunch!" I break away from them and head back in the other direction. I begin to walk back towards my class, when my phone buzzes in my back pocket, signifying that I have received a new text. I look down to open it, when I walk head on into something and fall backwards, completely losing my footing and my papers from honors History. I look up, expecting to see a wall or a door, but no. Casey looms over me, looking like an angel, while I sit on the floor, papers surrounding me. Nice way to meet the guy you've been dreaming about for two years, huh?

Then, he sees me. And he gets down on one knee. And he looks me in the eye. And he says something. Something that I totally did not hear because I'm too busy staring into his brown-almost-black eyes and wondering why he was waving a hand in my face. Oh wait...

"W-what?" I stammer, then see his hand reached out to me. "Oh! Er, thanks..." I know I'm beet red because he bites his lip. Oh my God.

"I'm so sorry! I just wasn't looking and I just... I'm just so sorry," he looks down at all my papers. "Here..." Casey drops back down and, before I can protest, gathers up all my papers and gives them to me.

"Th-thank you..." I grab the papers from him and smile, not knowing what to do with myself. "Oh! Uh, I'm Clare by the way," I say, feeling small.

"I know," Casey replys, smiling. "You play guitar, right? I've seen you in Coffeehouse a few times," he puts his hands into his black skinny jean pockets. Wait... He knows who I am? Coffeehouse was a club where once a month, there would be a performance at a coffeehouse by bands, solo artist, and pretty much any singer. And he's seen me at one. Holy crap. "You're really good," he says, then the bell rings. "Hey, I'll see you in Algebra then? I told Mrs. Charles that I'd get a drink and be back in class before the bell... " He then smiles at me, runs a hand through his hair, and walks away towards the nearest water fountain. I turn to speed walk the rest of the way to class.

He said I was good. He said I was really good. He...Holy crap. By the time I walk into the room, everyone had already taken out their homework. I quietly take my seat, thanking God that no one said anything about me coming in late. Mrs. Charles doesn't even say anything.