It hadn’t even been a month since the school year began and already a new IT-couple had been formed. Diana and Jay. The girl had been hanging on to him like a lost puppy ever since they met, and he didn’t seem to mind the attention. Who would? If the most beautiful and popular girl in the school wanted you, why refuse? Jay had every girl following him, at least until he began dating Diana. When that became official every other girl backed off, no one wanted to face the wrath of a jealous Diana.
Ronnie was still only known as Klutz with him, she was fairly certain he didn’t even know her real name. But why would he? It was only her teachers and Julie who knew whom she was. She had been careful to avoid going too close to Jay, she didn’t want to cause another scene, making him hate her even more than he already did.
“Hey Klutz! Get out of my way!” Diana laughed evilly as she pushed Ronnie into a locker to get through the hallway. Ronnie tripped over her own feet trying to regain her balance and then ended up on the floor again. She cursed herself for being so uncoordinated.
“Here, let me help you.” A deep male voice spoke from somewhere above her. Ronnie looked up at Jay who stood with a hand extended towards her. Ronnie carefully took it and he pulled her up on her feet.
“Thanks.” She muttered, not looking at him. She kept her eyes on the floor, face red from embarrassment.
“You okay?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned. Ronnie’s heart skipped a beat in sheer surprise, surprise that he actually sounded like he cared about her. She was dumbfounded and couldn’t anything but nod. Her voice was gone.
He chuckled, “Good. Well, I better get going. It’s best not to let Diana wait. I'll see you around, Klutz.” Ronnie looked up at him as he walked away, he was quite far down the hall when she finally found her voice again.
“My name is not Klutz!” she yelled in frustration. Jay turned around on the spot and sent her a beaming smile.
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet!” he called back and with a wink he turned and began walking again. Ronnie’s eyes widened and her heart stopped beating, she had to support herself against the lockers so she wouldn’t fall smack on her butt again. Did Jay just quote Shakespeare to her? She had always loved Shakespeare; she knew Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream by heart. She’d always wished she would find a soul mate that could quote Shakespeare on the spot; nothing was more romantic.
