Forever and Always

The First Day

The car feels warm on this early, August morning in the city of Leafside. My summer was pretty much spent in my room, on Youtube, Netflix, drawing and reading books. I texted my best friend, Sarah, and we had multiple sleep overs. She couldn't seem to contain her excitement about the biggest change that had come into our lives lately: high school. We had both turned fifteen in June, and we were to be freshmen at Leafside High School.

Sarah was quite a popular girl, she had short, burgundy hair. Her eyes were a beautiful hazel color, and she was thin. My body was slightly larger than hers, which made it easy for us to share clothes. My hair was long and bleach blonde. My eyes were pale and green. I, on the other hand, was nowhere near popular. I felt like there was just too much drama, so I tried my best to avoid it.

Sarah and I had lots of things in common, we were both Christians, we had been best friends since middle school, we both LOVED Markiplier, as well as many other youtubers, and we both had boyfriends. Hers, Jason McCloud, was a nice boy. They had been together for a year and a half now and as far as I knew, he treated her right. My boyfriend was Sean Taylor. We had known each other since our 3rd and 4th grade split-class in elementary school. We had been great friends, then grew distant. However, in the year of 2013, he asked me to be his girlfriend. Of course, knowing that he was a well-behaved boy, and knowing his personality, I said yes. Our two-year anniversary was coming up in a few days, and I was happy. I felt like my life was going great.

"Cora," my mother snapped me back into reality, "did you sleep well? I know this is quite an early time for you to be up."

I adjust my glasses and answer, "Yea, I'll be alright. It's just the first day."

We pull into th parking lot of the school, and my heart starts to race. I didn't feel nervous before, but now the butterflies in my stomach seem to be fighting each other.

"See you later honey, pick you up at 3:00, I love you."

"Bye mom. I love you too."

I get out of the car and shut the door. As I make my way towards the school, I look around and notice how foggy it is. I glance at my mom's tail lights, watching them disappear into oblivion as she heads home. My thoughts are interrupted by my vibrating phone. I pull it out and see a picture of Sarah and I at Carter Caves, in Kentucky. I hit answer:

"Hey."

"Where are you, Cora? Sean, Jason, and I have been waiting here for you in the commons."

"I just pulled into the parking lot, I'll be in in a moment."

"Alright," she says, she sounds like she is about to burst with excitement, "HURRY!!"

I laugh, "Okay, okay!"

When I hang up, I am at the door. Some of the student council members hold the door open for me, as well as the dozens of people flooding in behind me. When I walk in, I feel anxious. I haven't been around this many people in a long time. I look around frantically for my friends, and a wave of calmness overcomes me as I feel Sarah's hug from behind me.

"Hai there!!" She says, just loud enough for me to hear over the voices of multiple students.

"Hey!" I hug her, and I see Jason and Sean following close behind. They envelope us in a big group hug, and I feel like I may burst with joy. When we all pull away, Sean plants a kiss on the side of my head, "Hey beautiful," he says. I kiss his lips, "Hey there."

"I've missed you," he says, hugging me.

"I missed yo-" My words are cut short as the bell rings. We're instructed to go to our assigned Advisor/Advisee and Sean claims he wants to walk me there. Sarah, Jason and the two of us say our goodbyes and dive into the ocean of students before us.

When we arrive at Mrs. Dubose's room, Sean enters and we have to part ways. I weave my way through the crowd, and just as my room is in view, I run smack into an upperclassman, dropping my binder, lunch and, surprisingly, myself. Great, I think, first day and I've already made a fool of myself. I start to get up, collecting my things, but I see a hand reaching out for mine. I take it, and a tall boy helps me to my feet.

"My bad," he says, "I'm so sorry."

I open my mouth to say it was okay, but once my eyes meet those twinkling, blue orbs of his, I can't seem to make a sound. He looks at me for a while longer before handing me the lunch I forgot to grab. As I take it, our fingers touch and I pull away slowly.

"It's f-fine," I reply. Shoot, now I'm studdering.

He laughs a bit and grins, "See you around."

"See ya," I manage to shoot him a smile before I turn my back and head into the room, silently scolding myself for lingering on his touch.