Another Love Story?

Chapter 1

I walked into room 142, the math room, which was my worst subject, and the one I hated the most. But there was something I looked forward to everyday I walked in there… someone. A couple weeks had gone by since the first day of high school, and it was much easier than I had first thought. I thought I wasn’t going to make many friends but I did. I know everyone always thinks that, and they end up making friends right away, but it did take me some time. I met two girls in my P.E class, one became my best friend. Her name was Clare, and she was friends with this guy named Andrew. They talked all the time, it seemed like he liked her a lot and we always teased them.
         One day, I was sitting in math class, close to Andrew.
“I like your shoes.” A voice came from behind me. I turned around, wondering who had just said that. It was Andrew.
“Thank you.” I said. Surprised that he had said that to me, I looked down at his shoes and they were the same as mine. I laughed and looked at him. He smiled back at me; I never realized how in love I was with his smile. I kept telling myself I didn’t like him, because the last thing I really needed was another crush that would end up crushing me. But there was just something about him, I couldn’t get past it, I knew I officially had my first crush of high school. Great.
         Later that week I was talking to Clare over IM and I was talking about how bad of luck I have with guys, and how they never wanted to be more than friends. How they talked about other girls they liked which hurt even more because I usually liked the guy that was saying those things. I told her I was just going to give up looking for a guy and let him find me because I was done looking for someone that didn’t seem to want to be found. She couldn’t believe I had just said that because she felt the exact same way about this one guy. He always talked about the girls he liked, but she really liked him and he never liked her. I asked her who it was or if I knew him.
“It’s Andrew.” She said.
“From math class?” I asked hesitantly.
“Yeah…” she replied.
“Okay, he totally likes you! I know it!” I said, slightly upset because of how much I liked him.
“No he doesn’t… “She replied.
“He talks to you all the time, you two talk constantly in math. He has to like you.” I told her.
“No he doesn’t, Leah, he told me who he likes and it’s not me.”
“Who is it?” I asked.
“You… “She replied.
“Me? No he doesn’t… did he tell you word for word he likes me?” I questioned.
“Yeah, he did actually. He told me that he likes you and that’s what we talk about all the time in math class. You.” She said, I could tell the conversation was over. I felt absolutely horrible, but great at the same time. I felt awful because someone she liked so much didn’t feel the same way about her, and I definitely knew how that felt and it sucks. I also felt really happy because I liked Andrew, and he liked me. I began to think that this crush might turn into something. Then again, did I want it to turn into something? She was one of my best friends and if I went after Andrew it would crush her … but did I want to just ignore my feelings because of her feelings? I didn’t know what I was going to do; I thought I left this drama back in 8th grade…
         One good thing was coming up though; it was September 13th, my birthday. I couldn’t wait to get home because nobody wants to be at school on their birthday. It was almost the end of the day, only one more class until school was over with. I usually looked forward to this class because of Andrew, I liked him more and more everyday I went to math class. He is what made math class not completely miserable, although, because I liked him so much I acted completely stupid all the time, I couldn’t help it…
“Happy Birthday” Andrew said, giving me a piece of paper. I didn’t really know what it was, but I got that feeling in my stomach, you know the one that makes you feel like you’re going to throw up cute little butterflies?
I opened the piece of paper, expecting to find the words happy birthday or something along those lines, I glanced at it and it wasn’t anything like that, so I just tossed it, completely forgetting to look at what was actually written there.
“Thanks?” I said in a questioning way. I didn’t understand what it was supposed to be. He just looked down and didn’t say anything to me. I turned around and I didn’t talk to him for the rest of the class period. He didn’t talk to me and Clare after class like he usually did. I didn’t understand what I had done, if I had done something to offend him. For the next couple of days Andrew and I didn’t really talk like we had been, and when we did talk something was different about our conversations.
It was the end of 7th hour and I was sitting down next to him, we were talking a little more. The bell was about to ring and we were still wanting to talk.
“Text me, we can keep talking if you want to…” He asked.
“Well I don’t have your number.” I laughed a bit, and smiled.
“I tried to give it to you on your birthday, but you threw it on the ground.” He said, as he looked towards his feet. My mouth dropped… that’s what the paper was? I couldn’t believe I had been so mean to him… no wonder he hadn’t talked me.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t know that was your number.” I said, embarrassed. I could feel my face get red and hot.
“It’s okay,” he said noticing how embarrassed I was, “I know you didn’t mean to.
“Do you want my number now?” I asked hopefully and smiled.
“Yeah” He returned my smile. I wrote down my number and gave it to him. It was a Friday, so I hoped he would text me over the weekend. He didn’t.

Chapter 2          

A week had gone by, it was Friday again. I hadn’t mentioned the fact that I had been waiting for him to text me since I had given him my number. I finally got the courage to ask him about it.
“Hey, you didn’t text me last weekend.” I pointed out to him, as if he didn’t know.
“Yeah… sorry I don’t really text people first.” He laughed.
“Well than why did you take my number? I can’t really text you first because I don’t have your number.” I said, with an awkward chuckle.
“Well here’s my number.” He took out a piece of paper and wrote it down, and handed it to me. I made sure not to drop it this time. The entire bus ride home I kept looking at the paper, I pretty much memorized the number. I couldn’t wait to go home and get my phone so I could put his number in my contacts. When I got home, my mom was home, which was weird because usually she didn’t get home until around 5:30 or 6:00.
“Mom what are you doing home already?” I questioned her in a slightly worried tone.
“Everything’s fine Leah, Meme fell down her basement stairs and hurt herself pretty badly.” She explained. Meme was my grandma; she was my mom’s mom. She was also my next door neighbor so she and I were pretty close. Meme was like another mother to me, she took care of me when I was sick and she used to drive me to school. Meme was a tall, skinny woman. She had grey, short hair and she wore classes. Meme also went nowhere without her lipstick on and her crucifix around her neck, God was a very important part in her life.
“Oh my gosh! Is she okay?” I asked stunned.
“Yeah Baba is taking care of her.” I was relived right away. Baba was my grandpa, her husband. He was a big, tall man. Not big as in fat, big as in muscular and tall. He had black short hair and tan skin. He was a very caring grandpa and husband. He took good care of my grandma; they were perfect for each other. I knew Baba would never leave her side, and he would make sure everything was going to be okay with her.
I went down to Meme’s house both Saturday and Sunday to help out with dishes, vacuuming, and taking care of her animals. I was so busy with her, I barely got my math and biology homework done.
Sunday night I had realized I had forgotten to text Andrew that weekend, which I didn’t see how that was possible because that’s all I wanted him to do the previous weekend. I guess I was so busy with Meme I didn’t even have time to think about the fact that I was slowly killing every possible chance that Andrew would like me. Every time something good would happen between us, I always screwed everything up. Hopefully he would understand this time, since the circumstances were different and more important then just forgetting to text him.
         On Monday morning I got to school early, hoping to run into Andrew. Fortunately he was walking right behind me.
“Now you didn’t text me this time” He pointed out.
“Yeah I’m so sorry, my grandma got hurt and I was busy helping her out” I told him, hoping he wouldn’t think I was making up some lame excuse for not texting him.
“It’s okay.” He said. He never seemed to be to upset about anything I did wrong. A couple nights after that I finally texted him…
“Heya its Leah.” I sent.
“hey” He replied. He actually replied… What do I say? What’s up? How are you? How was your day?
“Hiii” I ended up sending.
“what’s up?” He replied.
“Just sitting on my couch, how about you?” I said.
“at subway with my friends” He replied.
“Oh, am I bothering you?” I asked, hoping he would say no, because all I wanted to do was talk to him.
“nah” He replied. After that, we didn’t really talk about much. We flirted, and joked around until…
“Oh, so you’re there with a bunch of girls? Ladies man?” I questioned, with a winking face (or winkie faces as I say).
“yeah, I guess you could say that if you wanted…” He replied, with a winking face as well. I couldn’t help but smile. Could Andrew really like me? Why would such a great looking, funny, smart, cute guy like me?
“I bet she’s blonde right? Why do guys always like blondes, what’s so great about them?” I asked.
“well, I would actually prefer a cute brunette… speaking of cute brunette’s, what are you doing?” He sent, with a smiley face. HE. THINKS. I’M. CUTE! I couldn’t believe it; he actually thinks I’m cute. Or was it all a joke? Man… I really hope not.
“Well maybe I’ll just have to go to subway with you sometime.” I asked after awhile. Mostly joking around, but deep down I was being completely serious. I didn’t care where we went, anywhere would’ve been fine, as long as it was with him.
“Yeah you will, it’s a date.” He sent back. Date?!
Unfortunately we didn’t talk for to much longer after because his phone died. Or at least that’s what he had told me, I was praying that was the real reason and he wasn’t just tired of me. I wouldn’t blame him for being fed up with me; after all I blew him off on accident several times. But even though I didn’t know for sure, I started to get the hint that he was telling the truth because we started texting almost every night. And it was more then just two friends talking to each other. He was flirting with me, telling me I was pretty and how he liked to be around me and things like that. I would reply with things similar to what he had said to me, meaning I was flirting back. I couldn’t even wrap my mind around the fact that a guy was actually interested in me. It seemed impossible at the beginning of freshmen year, but now, just 2 or more months into the school year, it seemed very possible.
I got so excited about Andrew I was telling everyone about him, Clare, my cousins, even my mom, which is surprising because I would never tell her about a guy that I liked. I wasn’t supposed to date until I was 16 and I had just turned 15, so I knew if I told her too much she would stop my blossoming love life and everything would be ruined. I would grow up without another human being interested in marrying me (opposite sex preferred), and I would be a crazy cat lady for the rest of my life… I couldn’t let that happen to me.
         Friday afternoon had finally arrived again, and there was a home football game that I wanted to go to, but I had nobody to go with. I couldn’t possibly ask Andrew because it was to soon… plus I felt like if I even tried to ask him to go with me I would throw up, then pee my pants. (Great thought right?) But I had another idea.
“Hey Clare are you going to the football game tonight?” I asked.
“Well I think I’m going with my friend, but you can come if you want.” Clare said.
“If that’s okay with her that’s okay with me” I replied.
“She won’t mind.” She said. I asked my parents and they didn’t mind either, and I couldn’t wait to go because the last time I went I saw someone there who I really wanted to see again. Yep, you guessed it. Andrew. Who else would it be? He’s all I ever talk about and think about, I know it sounds cliché but it was true, I had became one of those girls. When the time had come to finally go to the football game I was nervous but ready to see if Andrew would be there again. I finally got to the game, but I had to wait for Clare, so I found some people I knew and talked to them for awhile.
“Do any of you know who Andrew is?” I asked.
“Yeah I think I know who he is, why?” a girl in the group asked.
“I was just wondering, does he come to the football games a lot?” I questioned.
“Whenever I’m here I always see him and his friends here. I would say you’ve got a good chance of seeing him tonight.” She answered. My hopes soared so high in the sky that nothing was going to bring them down tonight.
When Clare showed up I went and hung out with her and some of her friends. Than I saw Andrew walk through the gate, I waved at him and he waved back at me, I suddenly got very nervous. What if I said something really stupid in front of him and his friends? He would never date me if his friends thought I was some psycho chick. 
After I got over my fear of looking or sounding stupid, I realized that he probably wouldn’t even come over and talk to me so I shouldn’t be so nervous, Clare asked me if I wanted to walk around with her and her friends and I said sure. What else was I going to do? Its not like Andrew invited me over to his friends, I was beginning to think that I was going to be some secret girl that he likes but he would be to embarrassed to be seen with out in public. Although Clare and I got left out of the group we were walking with, we ended up back where we started. I got a text message on my phone, and it was from Andrew. My heart skipped a beat. I wondered what it was going to say, but I knew there was only one way to find out. I clicked the view now button and I read his message.
“I c u” the message said. I smiled a little.
“I see you too” I replied. We were texting for awhile when he asked me a question. “Would it be the end of the world if I came down there and talked with you? It’s so boring up here.” I looked up at his group and it didn’t look boring to me, people were laughing and goofing around. I smiled, knowing he wanted to talk to me in person.
“I don’t think it would be the end of the world.” I replied with a smiley face. This was going to be one of the first times we were hanging out outside of school; I began wondering how I was going to screw it up.
“Okay, I’m going to go to the concession stand first.” He sent back. I replied okay and waited for him to get back.

Chapter 3
I hadn’t told Clare about our conversation because I didn’t want to hurt her more since she liked him as well. I just didn’t know what I was going to tell her when he joined us. I thought I should probably think of something soon because I could see Andrew and his friend walking towards us.
“Hi” he said to me with a smile when he finally reached us.
“Helloooo” I said with a laugh.
“Why are you standing with us Andrew?” Clare asked. She looked at me suspiciously, I knew she was going to get upset with me but I didn’t really care at the moment. I know that might be the characteristics of a bad friend, but I liked him and he didn’t like Clare and she needed to accept that.
“Just thought I would come stand with your group, it seems more fun than mine” He answered Clare.
“How’s your night so far?” I asked him.
“Great… now” he said looking at me. I blushed a little and smiled at him. He smiled back.
“Are you two going to be like this all night?” His friend said in an annoyed sarcastic tone. I laughed and looked at Andrew, hopefully getting the clue that I didn’t know who his friend was.
“Oh, sorry Leah, this is Joey.” He said, answering my thoughts.
“Hey, nice to meet you,” I said, “I’m Lea- “Joey cut me off.
“Yeah I know who you are, you’re Leah Carter. Trust me I know your name…” He said looking at Andrew. Andrew blushed a little, and elbowed Joey out of embarrassment.
“So Clare, Leah do you girls want to go sit with me and my friends up there by the fence?” Andrew asked, trying to change the subject I guessed.
“Sure that sounds great!” Clare answered right away. As she walked past me, she stared me down. As I followed her I knew this night was going to be interesting.
“Coming Leah?” Andrew called over to me.
“Yeah” I called back. We all sat in a circle at first, and I sat by Clare and Andrew. Andrew was on my right, surprising that Clare so graciously let me sit by him, as if it was up to her anyway. She sat on my left, watching Andrew and smiling at him everytime he looked at me. I guess so he would look at her instead, too bad it wasn’t working.
“I really like your jacket!” Andrew yelled over the band playing.
“Thank you!” I yelled back. And I smiled at him, and he looked at me. We looked at each other for a good minute until one of Andrews friends threw something at him. He laughed at looked away from me.
Andrew was one of those guys that had the perfect body. His arm muscles were visible when he wasn’t flexing, and his abs were… perfect. He wasn’t to skinny and he was nowhere near fat, or overly muscular. He was perfect. He had dirty blonde hair that was shorter, but not to short. Under his eyes and on his nose there were freckles everywhere, and he had no acne (which is a big plus). His teeth were straight and really white. His smile was one of the first things I noticed about him, it stood out. His eyes were a dark brown, which looked really good with his blonde hair. He was maybe 2 or 3 inches taller then me and he was tan. But not one of those ugly guys who tan to much, he was the perfect amount. Everything about him was… perfect. He had everything girls like about guys, everything… so what would he want with a girl like me? I didn’t really want to question the fact that he liked me; I was just hoping that it wasn’t a huge joke and I wasn’t just some girl he was pranking. 
“Hey Leah, do you want to come over here with the rest of us?” He laughed. I hadn’t realized while I was lost in my thoughts everyone had moved over by the fence.
“Oh,” I laughed, “Sure.” I sat down between a pole and Clare, which meant there wasn’t any room beside me for Andrew to sit.
“Here you can sit by me Andrew.” Clare offered. She pointed to a spot on the other side of her, that way he wouldn’t be sitting by me.
“I think I’ll sit over here.” He answered her, pointing to the other side of the pole by me. As he walked past me he smiled at me, I returned the smile. We were sitting “watching” the game. Nobody really ever goes to football games to watch them, they just go there to see there friends and hang out without parents around. My legs were out in front of me and I wasn’t paying attention when I felt something touch my foot. It was Andrew’s foot. I smiled, I know it was just his foot but it was better then him not touching me at all.
Everyone was standing up now because we had been sitting for such a long time. It was starting to get cold out, and the only person who brought a jacket was me. Clare was standing by me trying to get warm when Andrew came over.
“Do you mind?” He asked, pointing at my jacket pocket.
“No.” I said, wondering what he was going to do. He got closer to me and put his hands in my pocket. Unfortunately my hands weren’t in my pockets so we weren’t holding hands or anything but I could feel my face getting warm and beginning to blush, despite how cold it was outside.
Before I knew it, the football game had ended (all too soon in my opinion). I was really dreading leaving Andrew, not knowing if he was going to text me, or if I should text him. I didn’t want to seem too clingy, but I didn’t want to act as though I wasn’t interested.
“Joey, guys, my mom is here let’s go.” I heard Andrew telling his friends. He went over to Clare to say bye, I was curious about how he was going to say bye to her. He held out his hand and gave her a handshake, I laughed. Not because she didn’t get a better goodbye, but just because he was funny about it (oh yeah, I forgot to mention another great thing about him, he was hilarious. He always made everyone laugh). He came over to me; here come the stupid cute butterflies again.
“Well… see you later Leah.” He smiled. He started coming towards me and put his arms around me.
“Bye Andrew.” I said, smiling. But inside my head it was more like “Oh my gosh! Wow…”
The hug lasted at least 10 seconds, then he let go and left. I looked back to see him leave, and he was looking at me as well. I smiled, he smiled back. Tonight had officially been one of the best nights of my life. Then I remembered one thing that ruined it all, Clare.
“That was weird.” Clare said, looking at me.
“What was?” I asked, already knowing her answer. I wasn’t stupid.
“He shook my hand, but gave you a hug.” She answered.
“Well you did say he liked me Clare.” I pointed out. I looked at her and she wasn’t to thrilled I had said that. Even though she knew it was true, he liked me not her.
It may seem like I don’t like Clare, but I do. No, really I do. She just sometimes gets on my nerves and she thinks she’s always right. But she’s one of my best friends at the same time plus, Andrew liked me, not her.
“So my youth group is having this party like thing tomorrow at the movie theatre, do you want to come along with me?”  Clare asked me.
“Yeah, that sounds like fun.” I said, actually meaning it.
“Okay, be at my house around like 3 or something.” She told me.
“I’ll be there.” I said smiling as she got out of the car. We had just gotten to her house and dropped her off. Wasn’t a bad ending to a perfect afternoon, I thought.

Chapter 4          

My mom was backing out of Clare’s driveway when she looked at me.
“Why are you so happy?” She asked, smiling.
“I’m not that happy, mom” I replied, in a bored tone.
“I can see it all over your face Leah, you can’t hide it. What happened? Something with Andrew?” She asked in that voice all parents use when they are talking about a person their kid likes.
“Well… He was there, but nothing happened.” I answered her. She looked at me with one of those looks, and I could tell she knew that I wasn’t telling her everything. I looked out the window and she knew that was the end of our conversation for right now. To my surprise she actually didn’t ask about Andrew for the rest of the night, she probably didn’t want to have to break the news that I had a boyfriend to my dad. He’s the one that made up the rule about me not dating until I was 16, and you didn’t want to mess with his rules. Especially after what happened with my sister… but that’s a whole other story that I do not want to get into.
Once I got home I went into my room and sat on my bed, staring at my phone. I so badly wanted it to go off and be Andrew, but it didn’t. I fell asleep around midnight then my phone buzzed awhile later. I sat up, got out of my bed and ran over to my phone. “One new text message from: Clare(:” Damn. I didn’t want to talk to her, what would she even need to tell me at 2 in the morning. I ignored the message and lay back down in my bed. Did I do something wrong at the game? If he really liked me, which I thought he did, why wouldn’t he want to talk to me? I could feel myself start to tear up. Oh my gosh… I will not be one of those girls. The girls that get so worked up over something that is so far from a big deal. I really tried not to be like that, but there was just something about him and I didn’t want to lose him before I even had the chance to get him. With that thought, I could feel myself falling asleep. Before I knew it, it was morning. I looked at the clock and it was 1:00 pm. I checked my phone as I clumsily got out of bed, almost falling over all the clothes on my floor. No new messages. I wondered if I should text him or not, I decided not to. If he wanted to talk to me he would text me.
“Morning sleepy head.” My mom said cheerfully.
“Hi.” I answered back.
“What’s wrong with you grumpy butt? You were all happy last night.” She pointed out.
“Nothing… “I snapped back.
“I guess I just get 5 minutes of your happy side these days don’t I?” She asked. I glared at her, and she could tell that I didn’t want to talk about anything. I know I was making my situation much worse than it actually was, but it was a big deal to me. I went back into my room and grabbed my clothes. After my shower my phone went off, with high expectations I looked at it. Clare again.
“Hey are you on your way yet?” She asked.
“Almost, I’m still getting ready.” I told her.
“Okay, just get here soon because we are leaving in 45 minutes or so…” Clare said.
“Yep, I’ll be there.” I said finishing up my make up. “Well this is as good as its going to get” I told myself out loud. I was having one of those days where no matter what I did I felt ugly. These days always happened when I was already in a pissy mood and now I had to go hang out with Clare all afternoon and night. I’m sure she would really help out my mood. Not.
“Hey Leah!” She said as I walked up to her door.
“Oh, hey Clare.” I said back to her.
“C’mon, let’s go up to my room.” She offered, more like told me. But whatever, I didn’t know where else to go. This was my first time at her house, and the bedroom definitely matched Clare.
Clare had long blonde hair, and blue eyes. Yeah, the typical blonde I guess you could say. She was short, and tan. She wasn’t fat, but she wasn’t skinny. Just the average girl, in my opinion I thought she was really pretty and I didn’t know why she didn’t have a boyfriend yet. But I guess her personality has something to do with that.

“Are you ready Leah?” She asked. It had been about a half an hour since I’d gotten there, so it was time to go.
“Yeah I’m ready.” I told her.
Once we got there, I realized it was in the parking lot of the movie theatre. Weird right? I guess not to them, they had drink stands, a bouncy house, and a big screen thing for watching movies later tonight (we were going to watch UP).
“Andrew texted me last night,” Clare said with a smile. “He said he doesn’t think you like him.” Why would he think that?  We flirt over text all the time and we hung out at the football game. What did I do wrong?
“Did he say why?” I asked anxiously.
“No, he just said that he doesn’t think you like him.”
“Oh, hmmm” I said, thinking out loud. I got my phone out of my pocket to check if he had texted me, but he hadn’t.
“Do you think I should text him, Clare?” I asked. What a stupid question to ask, I know she didn’t want me to like him so I already knew what she was going to tell me.
“If he wants to talk to you he will text you first, don’t be one of those clingy girls that annoys that guy who she isn’t even dating.” She said, as I suspected.
“Yet.” I added. She didn’t like that; she gave me that look again.
“Maybe, I mean he probably got over you now that he doesn’t think you like him.” She told me.
“I hope not…” I said worriedly. Just then Clare’s mouth fell open and her cheeks started to blush. I turned around and saw what she was looking at. It was Andrew and one of his friends, I’m guessing his friend was coming to this too because I knew Andrew wouldn’t be. I don’t think he’s the same religion as Clare. I turned back around to Clare and looked at her still opened mouth.
“What is he doing here? Did you invite him Clare?” I asked quickly.
“No! I didn’t, but Michael goes to my church…” She said drifting off at the sight of Andrew.
“Michael?” I questioned.
“The guy he’s with, Michael is Andrew’s really good friend. They hang out all the time, but I didn’t know they would come to this.” She said.
“Hey Clare,” Andrew said as he walked up to us. Then he saw me and he smiled. “Hey Leah, I didn’t know you were going to be here?” He finished with a questioning look.
“Yeah, Clare invited me.” I said, blushing.
“Michael knew I was going to be here.” Clare pointed out.
“Well I didn’t know you were bringing Leah too.” Andrew said.
“Sure you didn’t…” Michael tried to say quietly, but everyone heard him. Andrew looked embarrassed, Clare looked jealous, Michael had a pleased smile on his face for embarrassing Andrew and making the conversation akward and I smiled. I couldn’t help but smile, knowing Andrew came because he knew I would be here made me happy, and a little nervous (the cute little butterflies were coming back again).
Chapter 5

“Leah, did you want to come over here with us?” Andrew asked, noticing that Clare and her friends were excluding me.
“Yeah, I’d love that.” I said, a bit too happy.
“Alright.” He laughed, noticing my embarrassment but not really understanding why I was embarrassed. I walked over to him, he looked so good tonight. Everything about him always looked good… I felt like throwing up.
His hair was slightly swept over his forehead, but his hair wasn’t in his eyes.
“So, how are you tonight?” He asked, trying to start a conversation.
“Great… now.” I replied. He smiled noticing what I had just said.
“Me too.” He said. We sat there for awhile, not saying much. Then Clare came over, looking as she usually does whenever I’m around “her man” without her permission.
“What’s up guys?” She asked.
“Just talking, how about you?” Andrew said.
“Oh you know, just talking. Looking at you…” She said to Andrew. Let me tell you this, he was not expecting that. Neither was I though, I thought she’d get the hint at some point… guess not.
         After that, nobody really said anything to each other. Andrew’s friend had left so he was hanging with Clare, her two friends, and me.
“So, Leah…” He started. He smiled, in that crooked smile he does. It took my breath away. I know, I know, I’m probably getting carried away with myself. But hey, it’s my life and I heard it’s my job to make my decisions, not other people.
“Yeah?” I asked, hopeful for some kind of… question.
“I’m really glad I got to see you tonight.” He said, blushing. Okay, not what I was expecting, but still good progress.
“I’m really happy I got to see you too, I was wondering when I’d see you next. I mean other than at school.” I answered.
“Yeah I know we definitely need to hang out sometime, maybe at Subway.” He said, with a laugh. He laughed, but he didn’t know how much that would make me smile. Noticing me smile, and me noticing him looking at me, I knew something was going to happen. Something that I’d never experienced before. He started by holding my hand, then he started to lean. It was like the movies, everything about it was so magical. But Clare was across the room, how could I kiss Andrew when she was right there?
“Hey, wait…” I interrupted.
“What? Is there something wrong with me? Bad breath?” He asked, freaking out a little.
“No! Everything is perfect. You’re perfect… it’s just…” I looked over at Clare, finishing my sentence with my eyes.
“Oh, right. You guys are like friends.” He said, clearly disappointed.
“Yeah… and as you know she has a thing for you.” I told him.
“Right… Well do you want to go walk around outside? I think the movie is about to start, and they are playing it outside.” He said, with a smile. His smile was all I needed to feel better.
We walked out, still holding hands. Then I saw Clare, and I tried to let go of Andrew’s hand. He wouldn’t let up on his grip.
“Andrew let go, Clare is right there.” I said nervously.
“I don’t care. I like you.” He replied. My heart was going so fast, I wondered if he could hear it. Not because he said he liked me, because that was pretty obvious by now. But because… the words he’d just said sounded so planned, like in the movies. The timing and the way he said them was perfect.
“Um Leah, can I see you for a minute?” Clare asked, in obvious anger.
“Well, we were-“I began to say, but Andrew cut me off.
“We were actually going to go watch the movie together, you’re welcome to join in you want, but I need to do something that I have wanted to do all night.” He said, again having those movie script words. He took a hold of both of my hands and wrapped them around his neck. Then he put his hands on my face, and kissed me. All like that, in front of Clare and everyone else watching us. The kiss lasted to short in my opinion, and it was perfect just a long, kiss on the lips. We stopped, and looked at each other; we both had the biggest smiles on our faces.
“Leah Noelle Carter, will you go out with me?” He questioned, getting down on one knee as if he were asking for my hand in marriage.
“Yes!” I shouted. He picked me up and gave me another kiss. Was this really happening? The most perfect and amazing night, stolen right from the scene of some movie about two love struck teenagers finding love? Yes, this has happened to me, and everything was still perfect until I looked up and saw Clare, looking at us. She was in tears.

Chapter 6

It was my first kiss, with my first boyfriend. The kiss was everything I had imagined and more… there was something unique about it though. Something that made me instantly feel like I… loved him. I was terrified, if he figured out that I loved him this thing would be over. He asked me out literally 3 minutes ago… what the hell was wrong with me? Maybe I was just overly emotional because he had just kissed me; I probably didn’t love him yet…
“Uhhh Leah… “Andrew whispered to me. I looked at him and realized what he was looking at. Clare. I had forgotten about her, I’d been so lost in thought about his kiss, what was I going to do? I had hurt her so much, but at the same time I had made myself happy for once in my life.
“Clare… “I began, but she held up her middle finger and walked away. I could tell what she was thinking.
“Oh my gosh… What am I going to do?” I asked myself out loud.
“I’m sure she’ll get over it, she knew I didn’t feel the same way about her. I mean I told her like two days ago.” He said to me, holding my hand for comfort.
“What do you mean you told her two days ago?” I asked.
“We were texting, and I was talking to her about you. And she told me that she liked me, and I told her I didn’t feel the same way,” He replied. “She didn’t tell you?”
“No, she didn’t. She just told me you thought I didn’t like you.” I said, beginning to get upset. I started to cry, the reason I was unsure of.
“Don’t cry, she’s going to be fine. Why don’t we take a walk, my house isn’t to far from here.” He offered. I nodded to him in agreement. 
We walked and talked about everything. Where we have grown up, our families, our friends, how many girlfriends he’s had and how many boyfriends I have had.
“So you’ve never had a boyfriend?” He asked, smiling.
“No.” I answered.
“Oh… I don’t know what’s wrong with every guy on the planet. Because they are missing out on the best girl in the world, I’m glad nobody has asked you out before though.” He said, in a weird tone. I gave him a confused look and frowned a little. Why would he say he’s glad nobody’s asked me out?
“That way I can be your first everything and I know that nobody has or ever will hurt you. Because you’re mine now, and I’m not letting you go.” He answered; with the biggest, sweetest smile I have ever seen any person on the planet make. I smiled back at him, not one of those fake smiles that girls just do because they know they should smile at that moment. A real smile, the kind that even if I had tried to make it go away, it wouldn’t have disappeared. He stopped me right there, in the middle of the street, looked up at the stars, then looked back and me and kissed me again. And this time, it lasted for more then four seconds, in fact it ended, started again, ended started again and then ended. He kissed me 2 or 3 times. We held hands and continued walking again, but in silence now. For I think at this moment we both knew we had found somebody we loved, and not high school love. But real “grown up” love.
After we had walked in silence for awhile he finally said something.
“So my house is right around the corner, I don’t think my mom is home tonight are you comfortable with that?” He asked. I thought for a minute. Hopefully this night didn’t turn into something that I was going to regret.
“Yeah, that doesn’t bother me.” I said, in a high voice. He could tell I was nervous.
“Have you ever been to another guy’s house without parents there before?” He asked, noticing how nervous I was.
“No, not really,” I said with a little laugh. “But I guess there’s a first time for everything right?” I asked, but didn’t really intend on getting an answer.
We walked around the corner, crossed the street and walked into his driveway. We went up to the door and he got his keys out and unlocked the door. Here I go, into my new boyfriend’s house, my boyfriend of an hour…
“So my room is down stairs,” he said pointing to the stairs in front of us. “I’m going to go get something for us to drink and eat. Do you like Rootbeer?” He asked.
“Yeah that would be great.” I replied.
“Take a right at the bottom of the stairs and it’s the first door on your right.” He said. I nodded and smiled. I walked down the stairs and opened the door to his room. It looked like a normal guy’s room, although there weren’t any pictures of tan, skinny, women in bikini’s posing on motorcycles or anything.
“Sorry, it’s kind of messy. I just had some of my friends over.” He apologized.
“Don’t be sorry, you should see my room. It’s always a mess.” I laughed.
“Ahh, a little to much fun in there every night?” He sarcastically questioned. It took me a minute to figure out what he was trying to imply by saying that. But I figured it out. Great, 5 minutes in his room and he’s already joking about that.
“No, actually never,” I said. “Have you?” I questioned. Although my question was vague he still understood what I was asking.
“Oh, no not in my room.” He answered.
“So other places?” I questioned, suddenly getting nervous.
“No, I’ve never done that actually.” He answered, looking around trying not to meet my eyes. Was he telling the truth or was he just embarrassed?
“It’s okay with me if you have or haven’t. I mean I’ve never done that so…” I said.
“Yeah, well I haven’t. I’ve never found the right girl. I know a lot of guys do it with anyone who’s willing but I want to be in love when I do that. With a girl that I know loves me back and one that I could easily get married to.” He said. All I could think is how perfect that answer was. Not many guys tell a girl the truth about what they want, but he did.
I just smiled and sat down on his bed. “So what are we going to do?”
“We could watch a movie if you want.” He offered.
“That sounds nice,” I said. “It doesn’t have to be a chick flick. I’m cool with watching whatever movie you want.”
He nodded and picked out a movie. He came over and sat next to me on the bed and hit play. Once the lights were off he took my hand. I loved the feeling holding hands with him gave me. It made me feel safe. It didn’t feel like he’d asked me out a little over 2 hours ago, it felt like we’d been dating forever. I was so open and comfortable with him, and I felt like he thought the same about me.
“Kiss me.” I demanded. He looked at me, stunned about what I had just said. He leaned over, put his hands on my face, parted his lips and kissed me. It had been my first “real” kiss if you want to call it that. I could feel my heart going as fast as I’ve ever experienced. I could feel those butterflies in my tummy; it felt like there were a million of them floating around. He leaned me back on his bed, and got on top of me. I knew where I was going to draw the line, but it wasn’t here. He continued to kiss me for awhile, and then stopped and looked at me. He smiled, and lay next to me.
“Out of all the kisses I’ve ever had, yours felt…” He didn’t finish his sentence. I had taken a hold of his face and started kissing him more. I didn’t ever want to stop. He made me feel so special and beautiful, and I hadn’t ever felt this way before.
After the movie ended Andrew looked at me.
“Well as much as I wish it wasn’t, it’s getting late. You should probably head home, before your mom doesn’t like me.” He said with a laugh.
“Yeah, I guess… “I replied. I really didn’t want to go, I don’t know what it was about Andrew but it felt like he was the one. I knew I needed to give it more time, things could change. Although I hoped they wouldn’t.