I swept my frizzy, dark brown hair up into a bun and secured it with an elastic, then stuck a pencil in it, hoping it wouldn't fall out, and I wouldn't forget about it. Grabbing my binder out of my locker, I checked my watch. Fifty minutes to go until show time.
I smoothed my nervous hands on my jeans, and retied my black hoodie around my waist, which was my claim to fame. The creepily perky guidance counselor really emphasized on her "Be YOUnique" program, and this hoodie was my ticket in somehow. In fact, most people called me Hoodie Girl, even my teachers and friends.
Checking my watch again, I slammed my locker door shut. I heard something fall inside, but didn't care. Forty-five minutes, and it was all over. I nervously clutched my USB and hurried into my half-full English class, taking my seat and keeping my head down.
Leslie sat down next to me, and I caught the scent of Jolly Ranchers coming off her. She ate so many, yet still managed to have perfectly white teeth.
"Want some?" she asked, offering me a red one.
"No thanks."
Leslie shrugged good-naturedly. "You'll want it later."
I twirled a lock of my wavy brown hair and occasionally fixed my glasses. My mom consistently tells me I look like a nerd, or a geek, but what did I care?
Collin slid in beside me, effortlessly looking cool. Since I was the only person sitting next to him, at least eight other girls sent me a nasty look.
He pushed my glasses back up my nose, since they had begun to fall again. "Nervous?" he asked.
I gave a little shrug. "Maybe."
"Cool shirt," he commented.
I looked down at my Attack of the Clones shirt that mainly featured doe-eyed Padme and Anakin. "Thanks," I said quietly, then started playing with a hole in my jeans.
One of the girls who had previous glared at me sent a flirtatious smile towards Collin, only to receive an exasperated sigh in return.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance," the intercom crackled.
I stood up and, for the sake of making life interesting, mumbled what I could remember of the Jedi Code. Unfortunately for Collin, he overheard, and snorted loudly enough to be asked to sit down.
"Sorry," I whispered when announcements were over and we were allowed to talk again.
Collin's startling light eyes twinkled in amusement. "It's okay."
After a few more moments of quiet chattering, the teacher finally stood up and started the day. Mrs. Allard was an amazing teacher that always let our class, the advanced class, do fun projects. She was, by far, the best teacher I've ever had. No contest.
"Okay, class! Did everyone complete their science fiction projects?"
She paused and managed to get back a mumbled response. After clearing her throat expectantly, Collin yelled, "yES!"
"Awesome! Let's start with Maddi, then."
Maddi's presentation was extremely boring, no offense to her. Little by little, everyone gave their presentations until it was just me and Collin left.
I shakily stood up and grabbed the USB, fighting away the waves of nausea I got from class presentations as I made my way to the computer. I plugged the USB in, clicked on the file, and made a tiny mental prayer that everyone wouldn't fall out of their chairs laughing.
I clicked the laptop's space bar, and the presentation began - starting with the opening crawl, but with my words instead of theirs. I cleared my throat and faced the expectant class. "This is my science fiction presentation," I said, trying not to stutter.
The presentation lasted a little over ten minutes, as I explained the plot structure of every Star Wars movie in the order they were released. When I finally stopped talking, there was an awkward silence, followed by polite clapping.
Collin sauntered up next and did a much shorter and less organized presentation on some book series starring a kid named Michael. Or was it Vey? At any rate, his applause was a lot rowdier, and after he finished, Mrs. Allard gave us the remaining five minutes to "socialize".
I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up through my rather long eyelashes (that I am quite proud of) to see Leslie's round face.
"That was awesome!" she encouraged, clapping her hands a little. "You obviously put in so much work."
I felt my face flush. "Thanks," I mumbled, unaccustomed to the praise.
Collin nodded, his eyes focused on his phone screen. "Better than mine. I b.s'ed it last night."
I lightly smacked him on the arm. "Dummy. Don't you care about your grades?"
He sent a forehead pic to someone and looked over at me. "No. Do you?"
"Well, I mean-"
He held up a hand. "Got it. Well, anyways, great presentation today. I really liked it."
I started to blush. Hard. And lemme tell you this: I hate it when I blush. My skin is really pale and covered with freckles, and when I blush it's always super visible and soooo embarrasing.
I was luckily saved by the bell. I pushed away from my friends with a quick "Bye!" and hid my face as I hurried into the girls' room. I checked the stalls for feet, then locked the door and looked in the mirror.
Fire-engine red.
I frantically splashed water all over it, and soon my face was its normal complexion.
I put my glasses back on and swept out of the room, hurrying to my next class in the hope that I wasn't late.
Luckily, I got in right before the bell rang. Our ever-cheerful chem teacher, Ms. Wharton, gave me a sweet smile as she checked me off as present on the attendance list.
"Alright, everyone! Grab your gear and partner, and meet at your stations in five!" she announced.
Immediately the classroom erupted into mild chaos as everyone started moving around. I felt a hand grab mine near my lab station, and whirled around, half-ready to smack the kid in the face until I saw who it was.
"Oop, sorry bout that," Collin joked. "I almost forgot about the no-touchy rule."
I smiled at my doofus lab partner, although it probably looked more like a grimace, and accepted the goggles he was offering me. "Might not be so lucky next time," I commented casually.
Collin placed his on top of his head like Doc Brown, which probably wasn't the safest idea in the world, but one had to admire his enthusiasm. Minutes later, Ms. Wharton was passing out gloves and beakers of a mystery liquid to the groups.
After fifty minutes of separating chemicals by burning the crap out of them, class was dismissed and Collin and I met Leslie in front of our American history classroom.
"Why'd you skip?" I asked her.
She shrugged. "Didn't feel like going. Don't give me that face, I didn't waste my time or anything. I was re-watching an episode of The Office in the bathroom."
"That's a good reason," Collin agreed, and we entered the class. Moments later, the best part of sophomore year was revealed: the cast list to the Civil War play!
I almost squealed with delight when those words left Mr. Hanna's mouth. Okay, yeah, fine. I was a bit of an introvert and got stage fright at times, but the idea of participating in such a popular school tradition, with the added benefits of dressing in the cool 19th century clothing, was appealing enough for me to actually go and audition for the lead role.
I nudged Collin when he came back from reading the class list. "Well?" I asked.
"Thanks to you, we both have lead roles," he pretended to whine. I almost rolled my eyes. As if he wasn't popular enough already.
The script was soon passed around. After further examination, I felt an unfamiliar feeling building up inside of me. I pointed to a part in the play, and my co-lead reddened, paled, reddened again, and stayed that way as he raised his hand. "Mr. Hanna?"
Mr. Hanna walked to our desk group. "Is there an issue with the script? I'll tell you this right now: if there is, you're not allowed to change it. That's final. Got it?"
He gulped. "Uh, yes sir. Never mind, then, carry on."
After Mr. Hanna left, Collin looked at me curiously.
"What?" I asked.
"I'm not gonna kiss you in front of the entire school," he stated plainly. "I don't care what the script says. I'm not doing it."
Leslie looked up from her script. "That's rude."
He ran a hand through his hair, looking mildly frustrated. "No offense to either of you ladies, but I have a bit of a reputation that you seem to care nothing about, and Baelie..."
"I get it," I snapped. "You can stop talking now."
The rest of the class was spent in a tense silence. After class let out for lunch, I beelined for the nearest bathroom, checked for feet again, then hopped up onto the counter-top and felt my eyes tear up. Frustrated, I took my glasses off and rubbed desperately at my eyes. We're friends, right? Why would he say something like that?
I didn't hear anyone come in after me, or hear the door lock, but I felt a comforting arm around my shoulder. Figuring it could be only one person, I leaned closer onto their shoulder. "Did you hear him, Les? Crooning about his stupid reputation and social status again, as if I'm some loser who doesn't get it."
"You're not a loser," Definitely-Not-Leslie said.
I felt myself smile a little. "How'd you get in here?" I asked.
Collin shrugged. "It was easy. I waited until there was nobody around, snuck in, and locked the door. Simple."
I wiped a straggler tear off my face, but said nothing, silently looking back over at the guy sitting beside me on the slightly damp counter.
Collin took out my bun and began braiding my long hair into a french braid. He tied it off and sighed. "I didn't mean to insult you. I wasn't thinking."
"You never think." In that moment, I wanted to tell him how I really felt about him, but managed to resist.
"Hoodie Girl...I rather it be you than anyone else. Honest."
I meant to silently wonder about how many girls he'd kissed, but accidentally blurted it out. I slammed my hand over my mouth. To my relief, Collin just laughed.
"Seven. No..." he paused for a moment to think. "Nine. And some of them more than once," he winked.
"Oh," I merely said, and swung my legs down, lifting my head weakly and finally realizing how close we were. I could see every one of his lashes as if they were in HD, as well as his warm breath on my cheek. Make it ten, I wanted to say. Make it ten, and no one would have to know except us.
Somewhere outside, a locker slammed shut, breaking the spell. I quickly looked away, and he started to push me towards the door.
"How red are my eyes?" I demanded, shoving my glasses back on my face
"You look fine," he assured me. "Geeky as all get-up, per usual. Now c'mon, let's get out of here."