Finding Home

Olly

 My bag is slung over my shoulder, I have an apple in my left hand and a book in my right.

I'm obviously running very late and time is everything, so I'll wait til I get in the car to put on my shoes.

I slide in next to Gabbi, and throw my bag on the floor before finally taking a moment to catch my breath.

Max starts to pull out out of the driveway but my mom chases after us, holding a brown paper bag up, "Stop! Wait! Olly your lunch!"

I do my best to resist a groan. I love my mom a lot, but I don't love her first day of school lunches.

Last year, when I dumped out the bag to get my lunch, glitter and tinsel spilled all over the table, along with a banana that read, I love you, Olly! I hope you're having a fantastic day! Let me know if you see any cute girls!

As for how she fit all that on a banana? It's been a year and I still don't have a clue.

Max rolls down the window and my mom hands me my lunch bag. I plaster a fake grin and thank her as we drive off.

I can hear Gabbi humming as she looks out the window and I turn to face her, "Excited for kindergarten?"

She grins and nods, her smile stretching from ear to ear.

I face back to the front and turn up the radio as I take a bite of my apple.

"You got everything?" Max asks me.

I respond, mouth full, "Yeah," I laugh a little, "almost forgot my lunch there..."

He chuckles, "I tried to convince Rose to keep the glitter on the minimum... She didn't listen to me."

I finish the apple and tie my shoes just before we pull into the high school. I lean back and kiss Gabbi's forehead, shooting a goodbye at her and Max as I run off.

Winnie wanted to meet me before school at her locker to help her pick out some after school clubs, but now I'm barely five minutes early, and she'll be pissed I didn't get here early enough.

I toss my apple towards the trash and race towards the school.

I'm barely up the steps when I bump into someone and he falls over.

I spin around to help him up and apologize and holy sh*t. He's beautiful, and not the kind of beautiful that feels unnatural and hidden under pounds of makeup, like the girls you'd find in magazines or in the beauty shops my mom drags me into on her errands. He is here. Real, natural, and absolutely stunning.

Before I know it, I'm rambling, words tumbling out of my mouth, "God, I am so sorry, I'm really stupid, man, uh sh*t," I find something to look at other than his face, because I'm sure if I stare at him for too long I'll combust. I look at the bottle he's holding and it's broken, I can only imagine that I caused it to break when I knocked him over, "I'll pay for your bottle."

He shakes his head, "It's fine... I- uh... I need my glasses though." My heartbeat quickens again and I look back at his face and his startlingly olive green eyes, because holy sh*t, his voice.

It's higher than I expected, but that's not what catches me off guard. It's the way he talks. He's got this accent that I guess is British, but I can't be positive because he's barely said more than I sentence.

I must be staring because he clears his throat, and I quickly bend over and grab them, "Oh god right, I'm so sorry, wow, way to screw up the first day." His glasses are really thick, and I pray that means he couldn't see me staring. There's an awkward bit of silence as I wipe them off for him so I fill it with and equally awkwardly phrase, "Wow, these carry a pretty hefty prescription, don't they."

I want to scream at my stupidity but instead I hand him his glasses and run off, muttering, "God, I'm so late. Winnie is gonna be pissed...She's gonna kill me..."