Three Things/You're It

Originally, this was two novels that came to me within a month of each other. I wrote about 20 short chapters of one, and 7 of the other. They both lacked something; one lacked plot, while the other lacked character development. Last week, I had an epiphany. They are the same story. I wasn't sure at first, but as I wrote, I found that the two novels linked together quite well, and so far, I have two chapters. Here's chapter one. Rip it apart.

Chapter 1

What a wonderful way to start a morning, I thought sarcastically as I picked myself up off the floor.

“Is it just me, or do you need to work on your balance?” I turned around to find my best friend Kenzie laughing at me.

“Hey, you know me; I like to get familiar with the floor before I walk on it. Make sure it’s stable and whatnot.”

She giggled. “Uh huh. Sure.”

I shrugged, holding back a smile. “I’m not kidding.”

She rolled her eyes. “Somehow, I don’t believe that.”

“Are you calling me a liar?!” I asked, looking as offended as possible.

“Maybe…”

I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to give a witty response, but a concerned voice made me completely forget what I was going to say.

“Hey, are you okay? I saw you fall, and I wasn’t sure what happened. Do you need to go to the nurse?” A guy with auburn hair and sparkling sapphire eyes frowned, eyeing my knee.

When I looked down to find out what he was staring at, I discovered that there was a trail of blood running down my left calf and onto my pink flip-flops. Great. At least it hadn’t ruined my new denim shorts. Yet.

I turned to open my locker. “I’ll be fine. I’m just a major klutz.” I spun the combination and realized that I hadn’t seen him before. “What’s your name?”

“Kale,” he said, reaching out to grab the math book that tumbled out of my locker as I opened it. “I’m new.”

“Oh, okay.” I bent down to put a band-aid over my knee. “I’m Lauren, by the way. And this is Kenzie.”

“Finally, some recognition!”

“You can sit with us at lunch if you want. Who do you have first period?”

He glanced at his schedule. “Gorgodi.”

“Oh! Social Studies. Mr. Gorgodi is pretty cool. I’ve got Health with Ms. Saunders. Let me see your schedule.” He handed it to me willingly, and I skimmed over it quickly. “We have second and fourth period together, and lunch. That’s English and Science. I’ll save you a spot.”

“Thanks. I better go. Don’t want to be late on the first day.” He handed me my math book back.

“Okay, cool. Gorgodi is down that hallway, third on the left. See you next period.”

“Thanks for your help. See ya’!”

I slammed my locker and turned back to Kenzie, only to find that she was gone. I looked down at my watch and realized that I had about thirty seconds before class. Kenzie flew toward me out of nowhere and pulled me into the health classroom. We sat in our desks, subconsciously sliding them closer together.

“Do you have any idea who’s been watching you?” she whispered urgently.

“No,” I said cluelessly. “Who?”

“Max!”

“You’re kidding! Did he see me fall?!” My cheeks warmed, and I knew they were slowly turning an unappealing shade of pink.

“I think so. Sorry. But still, he was watching you the whole time you were talking to Kale, and he looked jealous!”

“No way! You think he likes me?”

“Maybe,” she smiled.

“Girls!” We both looked up to see Ms. Saunders scowling at us.

“Sorry Ms. Saunders.” I mumbled, my excitement lost.

She continued her lesson, but I heard about three words before she turned around and my phone vibrated in my pocket.

So who was that guy?

I checked to make sure that Ms. Saunders still wasn’t paying attention. Then I texted my response.

Kale. New. Kinda cute.

She grinned, and I knew her response would be something interesting. She was about to hit send when Ms. Saunders called out, “Lauren, what’s the largest organ of the human body?”

I glanced at the board. There was a person drawn on it with labels on each of the organs. I was about to say the heart, but then I remembered. “Skin?”

She frowned. “Yes, that is correct.”

The second she turned back around and continued writing, my phone started buzzing again.

You like him? He’s definitely cute. All those freckles are annoying though…

I rolled my eyes.

No. I like Max. You know that.

It went on like that for the rest of the class. Ms. Saunders almost caught us once, but we got away with it. When the bell rang, I dashed off to English. Not only was I more than happy to get away from Kenzie’s interrogations and Ms. Saunders’ dirty looks, but for some strange reason, I couldn’t wait to see Kale.

“No way! You have got to be joking!” Kale’s eyes had to be at least the size of grapefruits by now, if not pumpkins.

“I’m dead serious.”

“So you’re like, famous?”

I laughed. “Nah. But people get impressed when I tell them.”

“So now you’re trying to impress me?”

“Very funny. No, it’s just easier to fool people who don’t know me.”

“You lied?”

“Um, yeah. Do you seriously think I would get picked to write for Time magazine?”

“Well, no, I suppose. But the way you said it made it really believable.”

I bowed to an imaginary crowd. “Thank, you’re too kind.”

He grinned. “So should we maybe, I don’t know, finish this?”

I glanced down at the forgotten worksheet in front of me. “Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me.”

“Anytime. So, what’d you get for number one?”

“Hey! You can’t copy all your answers from me! Unless you let me copy yours sometime…”

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Awesome. But you’re going to wish you hadn’t done that. I suck at science, and rumor has it, we have a hundred-question worksheet to do today. With partners.”

“What?! That’s not cool. This one only has ten!”

“No take backs. And besides, I’m your friend. That’s got to be worth at least ninety questions.”

He laughed. “Alright. So, number one?”

I grinned. “C.”

Half an hour later, I was in math class staring at the back of Max’s head. His dark mocha curls were falling on his smooth tan neck in just the right place, making me want to reach out and stroke them. He shifted in his seat, and my eyes became fixated on his muscular shoulders. Oh, how it would feel to rub his sore back after a rough football practice. Mmm…

My thoughts were interrupted by a sharp movement near my left foot. I slipped my tiny foot out of my flip-flop and picked up the skillfully folded piece of paper with my pedicured toes, depositing it in my bag. About thirty seconds later, I pulled the bag into my lab and pretended to be rummaging desperately for a pencil, while I was truthfully reading the note.

You’re beautiful.

I looked around, searching in vain for the sender of the note. Could it even have been meant for me? Why would any guy call me beautiful? I wasn’t special. I had long hair that always either fell limp or frizzed up, short stubby nails, and eyes that were neither blue nor green, but rather somewhere in the middle. I never wore make-up because not only did I not own any, but I also didn’t have the slightest clue as to how to put the stuff on.

The idea of a guy thinking I was beautiful consumed me for the rest of the class period, and when the bell rang, I looked down in surprise to find that I hadn’t written any of the notes down.

“Do you want to borrow mine?” I jumped, startled by the musical voice that I instantly recognized as Max’s.

“S-sure,” I stuttered.

He grinned and handed me his notebook. “You can give it back to me tomorrow.

I nodded speechlessly and reverently tucked it into my bag. “Thanks,” was all I could manage to choke out.

“No problem. I’ll see you around, Lauren.” He gracefully swept out of the classroom and left me to stare after him for a minute, wondering if I simply had dreamed this moment. Not only did he know my name, he was willing to do favors for me, too!

Could it have been he who slipped me the note? No. That wasn’t possible. No matter what Kenzie said, it was impossible for a guy like him to like someone like me. Or was it?

I frowned. Of course he didn’t like me; he could choose any girl from our entire grade and maybe even the grade above us, if he wanted to. How was I different? I wasn’t. And I doubted that I ever would be. But maybe…

I shook my head, attempting to erase all thoughts of the note from my mind, but failed. Stubbornly, I fumbled for my stuff and made my way out of the classroom, unwilling to think about what had just happened.

I wandered into science in a haze and sat in the first seat I saw, completely oblivious to the fact that Kale was waving at me from across the room. I was sneaking another look at the note when he put his hand on my shoulder, making me jump like a kangaroo.

“Whoa. Where did you come from?” I gasped, my heartbeat still resembling the clunking of a racehorse’s hooves.

“Over there,” he said, pointing across the room to two desks that were scooted up next to each other. Looking around the room, I realized that all of the desks were in pairs. “I waved at you, but apparently, you’re a little out of it.”

“Yeah, sorry. Tough math class,” I lied unconvincingly. “So, I guess I was right about the partners thing.”

“Uh huh. I suppose I have to hold up my end of the deal now. Unless of course…” He trailed off hopefully.

“Ooooh, no you don’t. If I had to do all those problems in English, you have to hold up your end of our deal.”

He sighed dramatically. “Alright. I guess when you put it that way…”

I laughed, completely forgetting the note in my bag. “You’d better get started. And maybe I’ll help.”

“I knew you weren’t completely evil!” He moved my stuff to the desk next to his and sat down. “So, uh, what’s an atom?”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“No,” he said innocently. “I honestly have absolutely no idea.”

I rolled my eyes. “Really? Then I guess we’re just going to have to fail, because I don’t know either.”

“Darn,” he said, feigning disappointment.

I nodded. “Darn.”

“Oh wait,” he exclaimed, “I do remember! I’m not dumb! Praise the Lord, hallelujah! It’s B!”

I laughed at this mental breakthrough. “So now you’re going to get us an A?”

“Well, duh!”

We spent the rest of the class period arguing about neutrons and making fun of each other, and when Ms. Jenkinz announced that we needed a partner for a project that was due in two weeks, he immediately started begging me.

“Please, please, please! If you don’t say yes, I’ll fail!”

I pretended to think about it for a moment and agreed. “I guess.”

“Yes! So do you want to work on it tonight so we get a head start?”

“Sure. But I’ll have to come to your house, because my dad is having his friends over for a football game tonight.”

“Done,” he replied. “Here’s my address.” He wrote it on my hand along with his phone number.

I blushed. “Why do I need that?”

He chuckled. “Don’t get so excited. It’s just in case you get lost.”

I giggled nervously. “Who says I was excited?”

“Um, nobody.”

“Good. Because I wasn’t.”

“Sure. Of course you weren’t,” he said sarcastically.

“Exactly.”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, whatever. I’ll see you at lunch.”

The bell had just rung, so I grabbed my bag, walked out the door and was surprised to find Max sanding there.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him.

“I wanted to walk you to class. If that’s okay.”

My eyes grew wide. “Y-yeah, sure,” I stuttered.

He took my bag and asked, “Where to?”

“Um, Mr. Gorgodi,”

“Gorgodi, huh? He’s like, completely deaf, right?”

“Yeah, we get away with everything in his class. It’s pretty awesome.”

I jumped as the late bell rang and I realized that we were only halfway to class. “Crap.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m late.”

His mouth stretched into a grin as wide as the Mississippi River. “No problem. I can forage pretty much any signature.” He pulled out a piece of notebook paper and scribbled something down. “There. Now you were in the nurse’s office because you slipped and stubbed your toe.”

I glanced at it nervously and found that it looked extremely real. “Th-thanks.”

“No problem,” he said. “I’ll see you around.”

We were right outside Mr. Gorgodi’s classroom now. He handed me back my bag, and just as I thought he was going to leave, he leaned in and gave me a hug that made my entire body feel like I had just shoved my finger in an electrical socket.

Then he was gone, and I stood numbly in the hallway for a moment before coming to my senses and walking in.

Kenzie stared as I walked into social studies and handed Mr. Gorgodi my late note. I grinned at her and slipped into the empty seat beside her.

“Where were you?” She mouthed.

“Max,” I mouthed back.

She looked confused, so I sent her a text when Mr. Gorgodi wasn’t looking.

He walked me to class!

I didn’t want to share the part about the hug quite yet. It might not even mean anything.

Kenzie sent me her response quickly.

You’re kidding! I want details!

So I told her. About the hug, him waiting for me, everything. She was my best friend, and she deserved to know. I was in the middle of explaining about the hug when my pencil broke. I reached into my bag, looking for a new one, and stumbled on the note. I wanted to be Max so much. Why couldn’t it be him? I knew why. He could have any girl in the school, and I wasn’t special. But as I thought of that electrifying hug, I couldn’t help thinking that maybe it could be him.