Attention

1

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There he was.

Walking the halls like he owned it.

I stood at my locker, watching him and seeing only him. His dark brown hair resembled melting chocolate and his green eyes were so bright even from this far away. He walked like he had no worries at all and with so much confidence, it was really hard not to stare.

His best friend, Joey, appeared at his side and he began talking about something so animatedly that it made Carter burst out into laughter, showing his pearly whites. It gave me butterflies.

He walked past me, making no acknowledgement of my existence. I slumped against my locker in sadness, wishing that he would notice me somehow. But why would he? He's the most talked about boy in my grade and I'm pretty sure only a third of my grade knows who I am, not even that.

We've only ever talked once, last year.

I was sitting at my desk, taking out a blank sheet of paper because the teacher told us to, when I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. I turned around in confusion to be met with the most beautiful green eyes I've ever seen.

"Hey, do you have a piece of paper I can use? I ran out." His deep voice spoke to me.

I swallowed and built up the nerve to just nod. I gave him the one that I got for myself and he flashed me a smile.
"Thank you."

I gave a slight grin back, still in shock that we were communicating. "You're welcome." I managed out.

But that was last year and like everyone else, he forgot me.

I arrived in my third period class and it felt like Antarctica. I pulled my jacket closer towards my body, letting out a breath of air. I sit at my desk to the far right of the front of the classroom and watched as people started to come in, laughing and having pointless conversations with their friends.

I wish I had a friend. Because I don't talk that much, people get the wrong impression that I'm stuck up. I'm not really shy or anything, I just prefer my alone time. I like always having time to myself. I don't have to worry about someone asking me to hang out when I really just want to sleep. But it can be lonely sometimes.

"Hi, class," the teacher says walking in with a scarf on. "Sorry that it's so cold in here, the heater on this side of the building is broken and they're trying to get it fixed."

Great. I pulled at my thin jacket that I had on, trying to gain some warmth from it. The only jacket that I owned. My other ones are too small and I haven't had time to buy a thicker one.

Thankfully, that class period flew by and I got to go to my fourth period which, would hopefully be warmer. This is my favorite class of the day. And not because of the subject but because Carter was in this class.

I was sitting on the left side in the middle row, making small doodles on my hand when Carter and Joey walked in three minutes before the late bell.

I tried not to make it obvious that I was staring at him while he sat down two seats away from me in the front row. A great thing about him is that he's actually smart. He doesn't act like your typical popular guy who just has a nice face. It was announced on the announcements last month that he made a thirty on the ACT while I could only make twenty-four. See, smart.

The class seemed to drag on and I didn't mind at all. I got up to turn in my assignment that the teacher gave to us to finish before the end of class. On my way back to my desk, I looked over at Carter, Joey and him were just talking when he turned his head and his forest green eyes make eye contact with my hazel ones.

My breath hitches in my throat and my eyes slightly widen before I look away, feeling my cheeks warm up. I make it to my seat, feeling my heart beating in my chest. From just making eye contact with him. I'm going crazy.

The bell rings ten minutes later and everyone rushes to the door to get home and beat traffic but I take my time. I walk home anyways.

Carter and Joey are making their way to the door, being the last ones out, excluding me, when I see a piece of paper fall out from Carter's jacket pocket. I look at him to see if he notices but he doesn't, he continues walking out.

Before I could even get his attention to let him know about the paper he dropped, they're gone.

When I'm sure that they're really gone, I make my way over to the piece of paper that I didn't know would change my life and pick it up. It's a line paper that is a little crumpled but folded neatly. I wondered what it was but didn't open it, for some reason feeling like it wasn't just a piece of paper but maybe something really important to him.

As I held the paper in my hands, a thought crossed my mind. I need to give this back to him. This could be it. The moment he notices me, for more than just a random face in the halls.

I need to give this back to him.

A/N:

soooo, I decided at 2 am that I wanted to write a short story so, that's what I'm doing.

Enjoy :)))