Miss Jackson

Chapter 1

I am safe within the confinements of these four walls. No one can hurt me here. No one will hurt me here. This is my safe place, and I am rarely outside of it. My parents are two loving people who have never been outside of our state, who never take risks, who don't feel the need to go out and experience. I was produced, and as a result I have never been outside of my state, I don't take risks, and I don't feel the need to go out and experience. All unnecessary. And I like it like that. It's simplicity.
In this small town the people keep to themselves for the most part. Almost everyone knows each other and the community helps if one is in need. Those who date usually end up married, everyone knows each other's pet dogs, the milk man is not involved in any infidelities.
I don't necessarily have friends at school. I of course have people to laugh with and talk to, but those friendships are confined to school hours, making them non existent. I don't have friends outside of school either, it's just me and my cat and my parents. My life is simple. I wake up and eat breakfast, I get ready and head to school. After school I come home and eat and get ready and head to bed. That's all, and I don't mind it. It's mundane but it's simple.
"Your eyes are beautiful," is what he said to me. I looked up to a taller boy whom I've never seen before sitting across from me. I paused,"They're an ordinary dirt brown," I said as I returned to studying and eating my lunch as he shifted in his seat, sinking lower into comfort.
"You're right, they're a dirt brown, not muddy but like soil," he said as he continued looking at me, I've never seen this boy before and I would have remembered those hazel eyes. He was leaning in now with his elbows stationed on the table, and his warm eyes met my stare as he let out a soft chuckle. He looked genuinely happy.
Something about him made me want to leave as fast as humanely possible. I looked around around and noticed a few people trying to slyly catch a view of this scene. "Oh okay. Well hey the bell is about to ring so I have to go," I gathered all my belongings, got up, and walked out of the lunchroom to my locker. I was speed walking without looking back.
I lied, I looked back and he just sat there at the table looking at me with a smile on his face. The important thing was he didn't follow. I got to my locker and continued my daily routine, that boy was only a grain of sand in the road. He wasn't going to change anything, he wasn't going to interrupt me, and he certainly wasn't going to make me like him. He's a grain of sand in my road.
Only he wasn't, and he made sure of that. As I closed my locker ,"Do you wanna know why I think soil is beautiful," he asked. I was startled as I just stared at him in awe. "Its because of soil that plants are able to grow, the most beautiful flowers you can imagine grow right out of soil," he gazed into a rose that he was twiddling in his hand. He looked up and smiled at me,"That's why your eyes are gorgeous, they hold you, the most beautiful flower." All I could say was an "oh" because I was just so shocked, no one had paid this much attention to me and where the hell did this boy come from. A smile slowly crept up onto my face and there was this feeling. It felt as if my insides turned into butterflies, but not just in my stomach, my whole body. Shivers were sent up my spine, goosebumps dominated arms and torso, and lastly, my cheeks burned. He chuckled again and moved his hand with the rose slowly to me. I didn't grab it right away, and he nodded at me to grab it. And so I did, and it just felt as if this flower let something be born.
My routine was off. The repeat button was not hit today, and I didn't mind.
The rose was white and had a little note tied to the stem with silk that read: This came from soil.
From that day on I had a new person to eat lunch with and I received a rose every single day, even on weekends because he would come to my house and leave it in our mailbox.
It was actually nice having a friend. He would walk with me home after school and walk with me to school. He played with his food during lunch often trying to get me to battle him and his tater tot army. He made me genuinely happy, and it was as if he was meant to spread that joy that lies in each layer of his body.
Ever since he came into my life, the world was a happier place, the sky was always blue but have you noticed it was cornflower blue? He pointed that out. The trees always swayed in the wind, but have you noticed that their outlines look like giants swaying back and forth to a lovely song? It's as if this boy, this grain of sand, showed me the life in everything . He showed me the unknown that he knew. He showed me happiness and pure joy. I always wondered where this mindset originated. It was like a drug to me, I wanted to know more. I wanted to get my hands on it because when he shared it with me, the world was the most beautiful place.
"Alex?"
"Hm?," he answered toying with his tater tots with that huge smile on his face.
"Why are you smiling today?"
He paused,"Because..I saw a butterfly land on a flower."
I too paused, confused. "Why are you happy about that?"
He looked up with a smile bigger than ever,"Because that means that it's pollinating, and there's a chance that," he grabbed my apple," that same butterfly pollinated the apple tree that produced this apple."
His smile was contagious,"And why is that a reason to be happy?"
"Because this apple will give you energy, making you able to smile as often as you do," he handed the apple back to me and I took a bite while smiling.
I loved asking him this question, because it made me see how the world was a better place. His answers started simple, and he would build up from there.
He's even grinned to me as he got an F on a test.
"Why are you happy!? This is terrible Alex!"
"Cecilia," he chuckled.
"No! This is really bad, my parents would kill me!"
"Cecilia."
"Get your act together! What if they hold you back! Are you not studying? Are these walks home from school taking away study time!?"
He stopped walking and grabbed my hand to make me stop too. We were facing each other and just as I was about to rant again he put his index finger up to my lips.
"This F is good! It means I'm not understanding the material and it shows that our teacher is actually grading and seeing where we are. You don't understand, now I know what I need to focus on, and I will be more than ready for finals."
I never thought of it that way," Oh."
I looked into his eyes and I scanned his face.
He smirked ever so slightly,"Cecilia?"
"Yes?"
"I like you, in more than a friendship type of way."
My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach as if were riding a drop tower ride. My cheeks flushed as I    drew in a deep breath. My hands lost all heat as I curled them into little fists. I was dumbfounded, startled, surprised, speechless.
"But over the course of a year I've grown to know you well, and I know you've never thought of liking someone in that way." He began walking again and I followed close behind. I didn't know what to say so I just snuggled into my scarf and watched the leaves crush under my feet.
"But what I do know Cecilia," he stopped suddenly and turned to me, we were so close I could feel his body heat. He lifted his hand out of his pocket and picked my chin up out of my fort of a scarf and leaned in closer to my face. My heart multiplied into a hundred little hearts and they all simultaneously rode the drop tower ride as I drew in another deep breath. He smiled," is that you won't mind this," and his lips met mine. The most surprising thing was, I kissed him back. The rest of the walk home was full of silent grins. I leaned into him as we walked and he stayed standing strong to hold my weight. When we arrive to my house, his lips met mine again, an then he handed me a single rose and said he would see me in the morning. That night I dreamt about him, I don't usually remember my dreams but I remembered this one. I dreamt about his ear to ear smile, his jovial attitude, his warm eyes. He was a human version of an endorphin. He was beautiful in his own extravagant way.