Is It Him?

How it begins.

*He started this. -> http://www.wattpad.com/user/KnightNox *

Angelina stared at the e-mail on her computer screen.

It said:

We are pleased to inform you that you have qualified for the Leaders for Life Leadership program. The confirmed date is 27th July. Find enclosed a list of requirements for the trip. We look forward to having you here!

A fuzzy feeling rose from the tip of Angelina's toes to her whole body. She couldn't believe it! She was going!

She thought back to when she'd heard about it.

Thinking back, it had been an ordinary day. She had trudged to assembly behind her friend Katherine, as usual. They stood in height order, Katherine being the shortest, stood in front, and Angelina, not much taller, was after her. Katherine was an intellingent girl, top of the class, and one of Angelina's best friends. Angelina often annoyed her by making snide comments about the principal's bald pate while in assembly (since Katherine stood in front, she would be easily spotted while laughing, and might get into trouble) and tugging the end of Katherine's long plaits. Katherine was adorably chubby and wore green-rimmed glasses; green because it was the colour of her school house and she was extremely over-patriotic.

She had been standing in the morning assembly at school, not paying attention (as usual), and generally drifting off into the vast expanses of her imagination, when she heard her Principal, who had been talking for a long while now, say the word 'Ireland'.

Oh, a small fact for you, Angelina was a directioner. A Niall girl, in fact. So she started paying some serious attention, but the Principal was already done. She began to panic slightly.

She nudged Katherine, and whispered, 'What was he saying about Ireland?'

Katherine whispered back, 'Some leadership program in Ireland.'

She almost started jumping with joy! Leadership program. Ireland. It was perfect! She had wanted to find something to focus on achieving.

And now she had. Then she thought about John. The warm feeling fizzled out a little. She would be leaving him, for one whole week.

John was her boyfriend.

After 9th grade, the students had been shuffled. Angelina got put in a new class. There were a few familiar faces, which she was grateful for. But mostly, she was leaving things behind. Some true friends, an old and loved classroom, a boyfriend. Angelina never really counted that as a relationship. True, she had liked him, and he had liked her, but they barely even spoke.

She felt them drifting apart, and ended it before he had.

After the shuffling, she was mostly sad, but also grateful for a new surrounding. Angelina always needed change.

And she had got it.

In the form of John Brown.

She remembered the beginning.

She had been sitting at her new desk in her new classroom next to an old friend. She remembered thinking that the guy behind her, next to Paul, was startlingly cute. Angelina and Paul had mutual family friends, so she sort-of knew him, but she'd never seen the guy who sat next to him. She quietly studied him when he wasn't looking.

He had straight black, soft-looking hair which made her want to run her hands through it. He had pale skin. He had high cheekbones, and a pronounced jaw-line. His eyes were framed by long lashes - longer than hers.

Angelina mentally smiled. This was something she had set her eyes on, and she would not fail.

Then once, she had heard a deep voice absently say 'One Direction.' She sneaked a look and saw the cute guy reading the words carved onto his table.

Then, horror of horrors, he had said, 'I really don't understand why on Earth anyone would go crazy about such a stupid band. They hardly even know how to make music.'

Angelina froze.

'I know, right?' Paul had said.

Cute or not, she would give him a piece of her mind.

She turned and said, 'Another word about One Direction, and you'll have it from me!' Then she looked him straight in the eyes, and thought, I don't think I'll ever really be able to hurt you.

She shot him a bitter look and strengthened her resolve.

'I'm serious. Mind your tongue.'

He didn't seem to mind her being angry with him.

He had simply said, 'And you are?'

Was he actually blushing?

Her blush was hidden by her coffee-coloured complexion.

'Angelina. Angelina Johnson.', she said, then mentally condemned herself for the James Bond style introduction.

'John Brown.', he said with a friendly smile. 'Nice meeting ya! You seem new to this school.'

'Nope, studying here since I was eight!' she said.

And so they became friends, and then better friends. Angelina couldn't remember the day she thought she'd fallen in love.

And then one day, in chemistry class, she sent Paul a note.

Does John like me? I really like him, but I don't know how to express it. Help me?

And before she knew it, they were together.

But there was one thing that sometimes haunted her.

At a point in time, when she was certain that John was about to ask her out, she had panicked. Adrenaline rushed through her, the fight-or-flight kind. She felt like running away, and suddenly, she didn't want any of it. She didn't want to be with him, she didn't want to have a relationship. She rushed to the school washroom, and locked herself inside one of the stalls. She waited till her breathing slowed, and till the feeling passed.

She shrugged off the anxiety, something she had great talent for, and walked out.

She was determined to beat herself.

When he asked her out, she said yes.

And there they were, the happy couple.