I'm not quite sure how I got in this situation or if it was something I was imagining, but I found myself pressed against a wall of an empty classroom with my crush standing in front of me, her face an inch away from mine.
I was just heading toward the gymnasium to see how the Homecoming decorations were going. The next thing I knew was yanked inside the classroom. I would suck if I got kidnapped. I need to be more aware of my surroundings.
"Umm...can I help you with something?" Alyson was acting so strange ever since senior year started. I was not used to this change because it left me more confused than normal.
Alyson's doe-like eyes widened when she realized how close she was toward my face. She took a quick step back and bit her bottom lip, unsure what else to say or do.
I thought it was really cute, but I had to look away because I really didn't want to crush any harder on her than I wanted to. "Do you need something?"
I looked back at her all she did was look down at her feet while still biting her bottom lip.
You're the one that pulled me into this classroom." I tapped my foot impatiently. After another round of complete silence from Alyson, I let out a sigh before I started walking toward the door.
"Wait!"
I turned back to face her, doing my best to contain my annoyance. "Yes, Miss Crawford. How may I help you?" I said in my best teacher voice.
"You should stay away from her," Alyson said. Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Excuse me?" I walked closer to her, just so that I could hear her.
"Amelia. You should stay away from her." Alyson finally looked at me.
"What? Why?" I was just getting more confused as I talked to her.
"She's not good," Alyson said like it was the simplest thing.
"Trust me, I'm not worried about her stealing my boyfriend, I answered as sarcastically as I could.
"That's not what I meant, "Alyson replied.
"I don't even know why you are telling me this. You're so strange. For the past, I don't know, six years, you've basically ignored me. Now it's like you're suddenly Miss Sociable."
"I..." Alyson looked away from me, unable to speak another word.
"Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean I have can't like them," I said. "We're not even friends. So why does it matter?"
"Like you." She said it so quietly that I thought I was hearing things.
Do you know that moment where you're so completely stunned that everything feels like it's in slow motion? You know you heard what you just heard but it still takes time to process complete in your brain. Was I hearing the correct words that were coming out of her mouth?
"What?" This must be some sick cruel joke. I was not going to fall for this.
It didn't make sense. I glanced around the classroom to make sure there wasn't anyone hiding somewhere.
Alyson stared at me with wide eyes, too shocked by her own words.
I felt like I was in some kind of weird dream or something because why are my crushes suddenly coming out of the woodwork to say that they like me. I did not know if I would want to wake up or stay in this strange world.
"I...uhh.." A look of panic came across Alyson's eyes as she struggled to find the correct words to say.
"I thought you were always so articulate," I said with a smirk.
Alyson's eyebrows furrowed in confusion for a moment before the realization hit that I used her own words against her. A small smile formed on her lips. "You got me."
"I got you?" We were standing do close to each other, that I could smell the sweetness of her perfume. "But I don't get you. I don't know what you want from me."
Her eyes flickered down toward my lips for a moment before moving back up to my eyes. Staring at each other at that moment felt magnetic and I could feel us getting closer toward each other. She was so close, that if I move an inch toward her then our lips would have touched. This was like some kind of weird dream and I had to wake myself from it. I quickly backed away from her.
"Wait. You? Like me?" Saying those words out loud sounded so strange to me. "Like like-like me?"
Alyson took a step away from me as she pursed her lips together. "I...don't know." Alyson ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.
"You don't know a lot of things," I scoffed.
"This...you...it's all confusing," Alyson stated.
"I don't get it. Explain it to me." I leaned against the wall behind me as I crossed my arms against my chest.
"I can't even if I wanted to," Alyson answered. "I don't know why I keep thinking about you. Why I want to be around you?"
"Seriously? I've tried so hard to be your friend and all you ever did was ignore me like I wasn't good enough to be around you."
"It's not like that," Alyson defended.
"You did a great job pretending. You're such an actress. I guess it runs in the genes." I wouldn't call Regan Crawford a good actor by any means since he basically played one role for his entire career. He was a poor man's Sylvester Stallone.
The look on her face was as though I told Alyson that her mother was a cow. She looked that offended.
"I'm not like him," Alyson defended with barely concealed anger.
"Could of fooled me," I said.
"I tried to hate you, but I couldn't. Now you're making it a little easier." Alyson was back to glaring at me now. Looks like things were getting back to normal.
"Why were you trying to hate me? What have I ever done to you?"
In an instant the glare softens and Alyson stared back at me as though she's hurt.
"I've always wanted to be your friend, but you've always pushed me away," I said. "I've always wondered why."
"You have it easy," Alyson answered. "You get to be you."
"And who do you want to be?" It was never easy for me. Sure, I was lucky growing up in a loving household where everything was taken care of for me, but there were a lot of high expectations from my mother. Coming out to her was one of the hardest thing I ever had to do.
"Who I want to be is not as important as who I need to be," Alyson stated.
"I had the same thought before," I explained. "Then I realized that who I actually needed to be was myself. You can pretend as long as you want, but you'll always have that emptiness inside you. I hope you figure it out."
I quickly walked out before Alyson could say anything else. It's not like she would have anyways. It seemed like she needed more time to find out what she actually wanted. As I walked down the hall, Logan ran straight into me. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw me.
"Whoa, is everything alright?" I glanced at the direction she came from. "Logan, did you noticed you went to the boys' restroom?"
"I..uh...stupid me," Logan laughed as she quickly brushed her disheveled hair with her fingers. "I didn't realize. I had a blonde moment." She continued to laugh while she quickly turned me around.
"What are you.." Logan linked her arms against mines as we walked the opposite direction.
"So are you going to Homecoming with anyone?" Logan's gripped tightened around my arm.
"No. How about you?" This has been such a strange day.
"I should have went with you. I'm going with Duncan Hines," Logan replied.
"You mean Duncan Hanes." I was pretty sure Duncan Hines was a cake mix brand.
"Whatever. Same thing," Logan said causally.
"Not the same but okay. Logan, I actually need to head the other way." I tried to turn us around, but I quickly stopped when Logan suddenly grabbed my butt.
"Wow, Zara. Do you do squats?"
"No and what are you doing?" I removed Logan's hand from me.
"The cheerleading team was playing butt tag with each other," Logan explained. "You should get Monique next."
"Definitely not going to do that," I said. "Also you should know that I'm not on the cheer team."
"We're friends so that's okay," Logan replied.
"Uhh... I don't think so." I could imagine Kenzie straight up murdering me if I ever did that.
Logan giggled while she wrapped her arm around my waist. At that moment Alyson came out of the classroom. Her eyes automatically went to where Logan's arm was before turning her attention back on me.
"Hey Alyson." Logan waved at her when she noticed her staring at us.
With a roll of her eyes, Alyson stormed passed us.
"She's so uptight," Logan whispered to me.
"At least she didn't see you grabbing my butt," I muttered as I glanced back at the direction Alyson went. I still had this unsettling feeling about her. My crush liked me and she has been hiding it all this time. This was too much for my brain to focus on at the moment. Why did this have to happen when I all I wanted to do was focus on graduating?