Brown Eyed Boy

Third Glance is a Start of a Friendship (Jessie POV)

By the time the first day of school came around, I was sure that I had dreamed the entire exchange. I hadn’t seen Carlos or Cassie again after that, so when I woke up and got ready, I stayed sprawled across my bed reading a book. At seven thirty, my mom went out the door to her car and about a minute later I got a text message telling me someone was waiting for me outside. I walked from my room at the back of the house to the guest room in the front and looked out the window to see Cassie and Carlos outside messing around. Carlos laughed at something Cassie said and happened to look up, catching me at the window. Still smiling, he waved me down and I ran back to my room to get my things. For someone who was trying to make a new friend, I was failing at making a good impression.

            When I finally got to them, Cassie tackled me with a hug and I almost fell backwards from her enthusiastic force. “Hi Jessie,” she beamed up at me.

            “Hi Cassie,” I laughed. “Hey Carlos.”

            “Hey,” he smiled at me. “Did you forget we were meeting up today?”

            I didn’t want to tell him the truth because that would be too embarrassing. Admitting I thought our last encounter was a dream was like admitting I dreamed about him period. Again, not a good impression to leave on a potential friend. “Yeah, sort of,” I answered. “Sorry, I haven’t really walked to school with anyone in a while.”

            “Of course not,” Carlos said. “Summer vacation is about two and a half months long.”

            “Yeah, well it’s been longer than that for me,” I replied, keeping my eyes away from his. I felt like if I looked into his brown eyes I would spill every thought I ever had about my life and I wasn’t comfortable with that after what happened the last time.

            I expected him to ask me why and press until I told him, but he didn’t. All he did was bump my elbow with his and say, “Well you better get used to it Jessie because we are going to be going to school together for the next year.”

            I looked up to see him smiling and couldn’t help but smile back. Every second I spent around him and Cassie gave me hope that my life would get better. I just hoped this friendship won’t be a repeat of Jared.

*          *          *          *          *

            “I don’t wanna go. Can I go to school with you and Jessie, please!” Cassie pleaded as she held on to Carlos’ arm.

            “I’m sorry Cass, but you can’t,” he told her.

            “Then I don’t wanna go!” she said loudly, eyes shut tight. Carlos looked over at me and I just shrugged, not knowing what to do.

            “Come on Cassie, you’ll be fine,” he assured her. “It’s just like when you went to preschool remember?”

            “No it won’t,” she answered. “You won’t be here too. You’re going to school with the big kids.”

            “Yeah, but I’m only going to be two blocks away,” Carlos told her. Cassie kept shaking her head and holding on to his arm with a death grip. Carlos sighed and I tried to think of something that would help.

            “Do you know what teacher she has?” I asked Carlos.

            “Um, I think it was Ms. Davidson,” he answered. “Why?”        

            I smiled at the name of my old kindergarten teacher and crouched down in front of Cassie. “Cassie, do you want to know something really cool about Ms. Davidson?” I asked her. She opened her eyes to look at me and nodded.