Maya and Parker
Painting sets for the drama club wasn’t exactly the most exciting thing Maya had ever done. Her mother decided she needed to be more involved in her school, so her she was, kneeling in the middle of a hallway, trying to get the sting of paint fumes out of her nose. Her kneecaps throbbed from balancing on them for so long. A piece of stubborn hair refused to stay in place, constantly falling into her eye each time she slicked it back. Forest green paint decorated her jeans, right arm, and nose, though she wasn’t sure how that happened. She was just thinking how horrible she must look when he came up to her.
Parker, a senior, was the lead in the school play. He wasn’t like the stereotypical drama club boy at all. Maya thought he looked more like a soccer player than someone who spent his time memorizing soliloquies. In other words, he was the obsession of all the drama girls.
“That’s pretty nice,” he said, surveying her work.
“It’s a tree,” she replied in her best oh-it’s-nothing voice. She couldn’t help but take notice of the way his hazel eyes sparkled when they caught the light.
“Yeah, but still. It’s pretty nice,” he repeated before walking away.
Even from that simple exchange, Maya was hooked. She never expected Parker to talk to her. The word around school was the actors ignored the crew entirely. They were hotheaded, conceded jerks that were nasty to everyone but the director. But Parker wasn’t like that. As soon as she got home, Maya tossed her homework aside and hopped on the computer to check out his Facebook page. She found out he was into indie music, never missed an episode of CSI, and, most important, that he was currently single.
After a little digging over the next few days, Maya found out where and when some of his classes were. She figured out that if she took the long way to science, she might be able to see him if she walked at the right pace. The day after formulating her plan, she put it into action. She timed it out perfectly.
“Hey, it’s the tree painter!” his smooth voice came from behind her. “I didn’t know you went this way.” They readjusted so that they were walking right next to one another.
“Yeah, I guess you’ve just never noticed me before. And it’s Maya, by the way.”
“Okay, Maya. Hey, you like Silversun Pickups?” he asked, referencing the shirt she had bought specifically for the occasion.
“Mm-hm. They’re one of my favorites.” She couldn’t stand Silversun Pickups. “Well, I go this way. See you later.”
“Yeah, see you around.”
Maya’s heart didn’t slow to its normal pace until halfway through biology. His last words echoed in her mind as she pictured his remarkably white smile and the way his hair stuck up to one side in the back. Does he smile at everyone like that, or was it just for me? she wondered. It might have been all in her head, hope and jitters clouding reality. It might turn into something more, or it might always be a crush. Either way, she planned on enjoying it while it lasted.
Logan and Ashley
Logan checked the movie listings for the thirteenth time in three days. He was finally taking Ashley out this Friday. The only problem was that he felt an immense amount of pressure to make the date special. The two had talked everyday since they met in English class a few weeks ago. He needed the perfect movie. The horror genre was completely out. The last thing he needed was for Ashley to feel uncomfortable. First dates were awkward enough without your date being scared. Chick flicks were out of the question as well. Not only did he feel strange watching them, but Logan’s sister had told him they give girls high expectations for what guys should be like. He prided himself and being a pretty nice guy, but he was no Jack Dawson. Logan needed something funny, something to make them laugh and keep the vibe from getting strained. Nothing stupid funny though. He didn’t want Ashley thinking he was immature.
Taking a deep breath and pushing the air out slowly, Logan leaned back in his desk chair. He rolled himself over to the window. Something scared a bird and it darted out of a tree, causing a crispy brown leaf to float to the ground. He had three days left to decide. Why had he asked her to the movies? He should have checked the listings beforehand. That way he would have seen there was absolutely nothing good playing and asked her bowling or something.
Staring out his window would not help him solve his problem. Why was he wasting his energy trying to find something that clearly was not there? There was still plenty of time left. There was no reason he couldn’t call her and change their plans. Grabbing his cell phone off his desk, he punched in her number. It rang twice before she picked up.
“Hey, Logan,” she said, replacing the usual ‘hello’ of answering the phone.
“Hi, Ashley. So, I was thinking about Friday night.”
“Uh-oh. Are we still on?” Her voice had gotten smaller.
“Yeah, of course. I just don’t think the movies is the best idea. I mean, it’s so overdone.”
“Oh, okay. So what did you have in mind as a replacement?” He could hear the smile reenter her voice.
“Oh, yeah. I probably should have come up with something before calling you. Hmm… Well, do you want to grab something to eat downtown and then go for a walk around there or something?”
“Yeah that sounds good. I’ll meet you at the gift shop where they take your picture and make it all crazy.” He heard the snap of a marker cap, like she was changing the plans on her calendar.
“Okay, that works. See you in English tomorrow.” He hung up the phone, glad to have that dilemma solved. A moment later he grabbed his jacket, scribbled a note to his mother, and left the house. Now he needed to scope out the perfect place to eat.
Penny and Joe
“Do you want some McDonalds while we’re out?”
“Joe, keep your eyes on the road!” Penny screeched, pressing herself against her seat.
“Jeez, all I did was look at you for half a second! Calm down.” He shook his head, focusing on driving again.
“Do not tell me to calm down, Joseph. I do not need to calm down. Gosh, it makes me so angry when people tell me to calm down when I don’t need to calm down,” she said in one breath.
“Well, clearly you do. I’ve had my license for a while now and I know what I’m doing. I don’t need you telling me how to drive.”
“Well clearly you do,” Penny said, mimicking his tone. “And it is not my fault I’m not old enough to have my license yet. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know that it isn’t safe to drive without watching where you’re going.” She pressed the button that lowered her window. Crisp November air entered the car, but did nothing to cool the heated air between the young couple.
“Why are you getting so worked up about this?” Joe asked, doing nothing to hide the annoyance in his voice.
“I don’t know, Joseph. Maybe if we went out yesterday like we were supposed to we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.” Penny folded her arms tightly across her stomach and stared out the window. She could have sworn everyone on the streets were coupled up which, at this moment, sickened her.
“’Kay, first off? Stop calling me ‘Joseph’. And I told you, work called last minute asking me to come in.”
“You should have told them that you were meeting your girlfriend in twenty minutes and that they would have to find somebody else.”
“But there was nobody else! And you know I need the money. Gas does not magically appear in the tank, and the car did not just show up in my yard one day.” Joe had redirected his course from heading to McDonalds to bringing Penny home. “It would be a lot easier to pay for if I didn’t have to waste my money on a whiny girlfriend,” he muttered after a moment.
“Oh, and what is that supposed to mean, Jo-seph?” she asked, stressing the name.
“It means get out of my car, Penny Gertrude,” he answered, using her middle name, which she despised with every cell in her body. Penny stepped out of the car, threw him one last hateful look, and slammed the door shut as hard as she could. As soon as he felt the door close, he stepped on the gas and drove away faster than he should have.
Josh and Emily
Tying his left shoe, Josh could tell everything was going to go right tonight. Exactly three hundred sixty-five days ago, he took Emily out for the first time. They went mini-golfing and grabbed a pretzel from the snack bar after. Emily won all three rounds and he had only let her win one. Straightening his tie in the mirror one last time, he shut off the lights in his room and walked out to his car.
He had told Emily to dress up so she would think they were going to a fancy restaurant or something. In reality, he was taking her back to the mini-golf place so they could do everything they did on their first date. He had spent plenty of time trying to figure out what to do on their anniversary, and had considered going the conventional route. But that wasn’t who they were. They were always doing crazy things.
Josh felt a knot tightening in his stomach as he traveled the walkway up to her door. He knew it was a risk to make her think they were doing something lavish and end up taking her mini-golfing with a bunch of middle schoolers running around. But something told him she would like this even better.
“Is that you Josh?” Emily asked as she opened the door. “It can’t be Josh. It is exactly seven. Josh is never on time,” she teased. He took in her outfit as she shut the door and joined him on the walk back to the car. Emily wore a fluttery deep purple skirt with black butterflies paired with a black blouse. She had curled her hair—something Josh knew took her hours to do because her natural texture was pin straight and fussy. “So where are we going?” she asked, slipping into the passenger seat.
“I told you, it’s a secret,” he smiled. Emily played with the radio stations as he drove, getting bored with songs halfway through.
“Hey, I know this place,” she said half an hour later. They were quickly approaching their destination. “Are we going where I think we’re going?” A huge smile had taken over her face.
Josh smiled back, mostly because he was relieved Emily wasn’t mad. “That depends on where you think we’re going.” Five minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot of the mini-golf place. They stood in line to get their clubs and pay for the games with the rest of the crowd, who were dressed in jeans and hoodies. Although they looked like they were headed for the opera, Emily and Josh much preferred their long-awaited rematch.
Carly
“I just don’t think this is going to work anymore,” he had begun. “Goodbye, Carly,” it had ended.
She sat up against her headboard with pillows for support, still under the covers. Her room was dark, having shut the door and drawn the shades. The only light was from her TV, playing The Notebook for the second time in three days. There were only so many DVD’s in her room to choose from, half of which were not appropriate for her current state, and she certainly was not going into the living room to get more.
Carly was taking her time enjoying the pint of Chocolate Therapy Ben & Jerry’s ice cream her best friend Amanda had dropped off. She had left Phish Food, Chunky Monkey, and Cake Batter in the freezer. Her hand had numbed from holding the frigid container for so long. She made a face when she noticed she could see the bottom of the container on one side. As a result, she put even smaller amounts on the spoon to make it last longer. She rested the rich chocolate in her mouth, letting it melt before swallowing it, feeling the cool liquid slip down her throat. Her stomach started to ache, but she paid no attention to it. Despite her best efforts to concentrate on Ryan Gosling’s offbeat smile, Carly replayed the conversation over and over again, searching for some hidden meaning or answer.
They had dated for eight months, not counting the weeks when they were ‘just talking’. The least he could do was tell her why it was over. But he didn’t. When she asked him, all he would say was that things weren’t the same, and that it wasn’t working anymore. She wracked her brain, searching for the moment when it all went wrong. She couldn’t find it. She didn’t even know anything was wrong until he pulled her aside after school. The movie ended fifteen minutes before she realized it, being so lost in her thoughts.
Luckily it was vacation week, so she didn’t have to worry about facing anyone at school. She couldn’t even leave her room at the moment, let alone make herself presentable for her classmates. Carly pushed back the covers and with a great deal of effort managed to get up and walk over to her DVD player to pop in 27 Dresses. Scooping up the melted chocolate in the ice cream container, she sighed. Carly knew she couldn’t do this forever. And she probably would never find out why he broke it off. But she wasn’t ready to accept that yet. Instead, she got back under her covers and pressed play. If she couldn’t be in a relationship with a great guy anymore, then at least she could watch someone who was.
hehe 
