Unexpected Happenings [Part 1]

It started out like any other day. I finally got out of bed after hitting the snooze button at least five times, washed my face, did my hair and makeup, grabbed a piece of toast and headed off to school.

Ugh! School. I absolutely abhorred the place. I didn’t hate it because of the classes; Learning wasn’t all that bad. The thing that really bothered me, was that it was a jungle full of people who thought they were lions when in reality they were just ladybugs, tiny little insects that flew around and tried to look pretty.

My light blue beat up truck groaned as it came to a stop in the Rose Wood High parking lot. I sat there for a moment taking in the familiar sight. Not much had changed over the years at the old dump of a school. Even though I hated the place, I would still miss it when I graduated in two months; It held thirteen years of memories. One particular memory I wanted to forget more than anything. His name was Shawn Lane.

We met when we were seven, at an ice cream parlor. My heavenly scoop of chocolate ice cream fell off my cone, and Shawn seeing the whole thing offered me his. Though it was vanilla, and not half as good as mine would have been, I gladly accepted. We instantly became best friends.

We went through all the awkward stages of youth together and by the time we reached high school we had a nearly impenetrable bond. Nearly is the key word in that sentence.

I really don’t know what overtook me that day, but junior year when I saw him making out with Katrina Lawrence, the school slut. I decided to interfere. Worst. Idea. Ever.

The whole thing became this monumental argument that lasted for weeks on end. Until KABOOM!!! Shawn and I’s friendship blew up like a nuclear bomb. It was completely over. Done. Obliterated. I was the main cause of it too. After all, I had been the one screaming in his face saying I never wanted to speak to him again, and so, he complied to my wish..

I slammed the door as I got out of my truck. Why had I ruined the one and only good relationship I had in my entire life? He was the only person I had let past my carefully built up walls. Now I doubt anyone will ever penetrate them again.

I entered the school’s big double doors and went to homeroom. All thirty-one seniors were in that class. It was the biggest class I had, except for lunch.

“Good morning, Jane,” My English teacher’s soft, sweet voice greeted me.

“Good morning, Miss Kinsley,” I took my normal seat. The very middle of the back row. I simply sat back and observed all the happenings around me.

Shawn walked in a couple minutes later. Every time I saw him I felt a pang of guilt right in the gut area.

He looked at me with his oh-so-blue eyes, and my entire body froze. He hadn’t admitted to my existence in an entire year. When he started walking straight towards me, it was almost more than I could bear.

He took the seat right next to me. I could barely breath. Why was I getting so worked up? It’s not like I hadn’t walked past him in the halls. It was pretty hard to completely ignore a person when you went to a small school.

He turned his handsome face towards me.


“Hey,” I barely whispered. A look of shock covered his features, but then he recovered his countenance.

“Hey,” He smiled. The bell rang, ending our conversation.

The next hour-and-a-half was pure torture. I couldn’t help, but notice Shawn looking at me almost the entire class period. It wasn’t the same friendly stare that it used to be either. There was a different look in his eyes that completely unnerved me.

Finally, the class was over. I gathered all my things, slipped my backpack over one shoulder, my left one to be exact, and with eyes down I headed for the door. BAM! I collided into a 6’2” piece of rock.

“You always had a nasty habit of not looking where you were going,” I didn’t have to look up to know who I had ran into to. I also didn’t have to think that hard to realize I was in his arms.