He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Chapter 2: The Meeting

     I stared at the clock as it kept ticking and moving by ever so slowly. Mrs. Brookes, my history teacher was explaining some last minute assignment that was due tomorrow apparently. I rolled my eyes as she tried to keep everyone's attention when the bell was going to ring in about thirty seconds. Typical. I glanced over at the girl beside me and she stifled a laugh when Mrs.Brookes began to raise her voice. "Students! School is not over until that bell rings and I don't know why you think-" The shrill alarm of the bell rang, cutting her off. "Finally," I muttered to myself as I walked out of the door and into the sea of students running through the halls, trying to hurry up and get out of this place as fast as possible. For me, however this wasn't any option as I had dance rehearsal after school until 4:30. Dance was one of those things that always calmed me down. For some people it was hard and strenous, but for me it was an artistic expression. Something that I loved to do, I loved to move to the beat of the music and feel like I was flying. It fascinated me really, all the different ways you could move your body and make it look graceful, beautiful, and effortless. Or at least try to. Plus, it kept my mind off of things. Like that I might have failed that chemistry test, or how I had thought about Adam all day even though I knew I was being ridiculous. Ten minutes later, I had to been to my locker to get my dance bag, changed in the dressing room into my sweat pants and tank top, and walked into the dance room. I stepped onto the familar hardwood floors and smiled at the other girls beside me warming up on the barre. After a warm-up and stretch, we would either practice a ballet routine, modern dance, or do a hip-hop combo and it was a surprise every day. "Ok class! Today we are going to be doing...." My dance teacher, Mrs. Croft, let out a dramatic pause. We all leaned foward slightly in anticipation. "Hip-Hop!" she laughed as we burst out into applause. Hip-Hop was that fun, upbeat workout that always kept us on our toes. I positioned myself in front of the mirror and made sure I was in the correct stance. Mrs.Croft walked to the stereo to plug in her I-Pod and seconds later the song "Give It To Me" was blasting from the speakers. For the next hour, we performed body  rolls, quick jumps, and speedy turns to the music until we were completely worn out. This was probably the only time this entire day that I'd been focused entirely on what I was doing, and not on the cute new guy in my chemistry class that could be prince charming in disguise. When the class ended, I grabbed my water bottle as I exited the building, taking huge sips to hydrate me. I checked my watch to check the time when suddenly I felt a body bump into me. I looked up, startled and ready to apologize when I realized it was Adam. Of all people, this is the guy I run into. "Oh..I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." I apologized awkwardly. He looked at me for a second. "I know you, you're in my 1st period right?" I looked at him for a second, taking in his chiseled features, until I realized he was still waiting for my answer. "Oh! Right, yeah I'm Katharine." I said awkwardly again. Why was I being so stupid? I was making a complete fool out of myself in front of him! "That's right, I'm Adam." He stuck his hand out and I shook it, feeling the warmth of his strong hand. "Yeah, I know." I said and  he looked over my sweats and tank top and I was suddenly aware of my appearance and the fact that I was probably sweating and my hair was probably all messed up. Perfect. "So, you on the track team or something?" he asked. I shook my head. "No, I'm in dance." I said, making myself sound proud. Before he could respond I asked him, "What are you doing here so late?" "Football practice" he said it like I should know. "Right, right." I said matter of factly. We didn't say anything for a few seconds so I looked at my watch. "I really should be going, my mother should be on her way here to pick me up so..." I trailed off. "Yeah, of course. Nice meeting you Katherine." He said as turned to walk back towards the field. It was only then I realized he was dressed in a football uniform. "You too." I said but he was too far away to hear me. I watched him walk away for a few more seconds before turning to walk towards the parking lot where I could see my mother's Audi pulling up. I picked up my pace until I approached her, opened the door and got in the passenger seat. "Hey you." she smiled at me. "How was school?" she asked as we pulled out of Boardwalk High School. I smiled to myself remembering when I first saw Adam and how I ran into him just now and how he actually talked to me. Me, not a popular cheerleader or anything, just an ordinary dancer. "Great actually, I had a good day today. How was work?" My mom worked as assistant manager at Macy's at the mall which was down the street from our house. "Pretty good, the customers weren't too bad today." she laughed and I smiled, looking out the window, watching as the football field got smaller and smaller as we drove away.