Lost in the Love Letter

ch. 6 - the boy

Their eyes met.

She stopped in her tracks. A flustering heat filled her cheeks. Butterflies filled her stomach. She hadn't felt butterflies like these in so long. Everything drifted away in her sights, and he was the only thing in her vision. There was a small piece of her that hoped it couldn't be him, but she was sure it was. His chestnut brown hair, his soft and sweet chocolate brown eyes; it was undoubtedly him.

Hunter.

Dominic: "Mandy? You good?"

Suddenly, the bell rang to resume classes.

Mandy: "Um.. I- yes, let's go."

She firmly turned around and headed to her next class with Dominic.

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Their next class was math. Mandy chose to take a class the school offered called "Consumer Math" which incorporated math into real life situations, like taxes and mortgage stuff. It was perfect for her senior year, since she had already completed her college math requirements.

Her and Dominic stepped inside and took a seat next to each other as usual. But then, her nightmare worsened when she turned her head to see who came in next. Hunter. He took a seat on the opposite end of the classroom. His eyes scanned the room, and then saw Mandy, who was turned away in hiding. His eyes widened, and the teacher spoke up:

Mrs. Rozenburger: "Hey guys, welcome to 6th period! Just one more period after this and you will have made it through your first day! I'm sure you've had lots of lectures about going over a silly syllabus, so I'm going to pass out mine and you can look it over at home! But other than that, you can start taking notes from the video I posted online, and talk with a friend when you're finished." 

Mandy was struggling to crank out the math notes. Simple assignments like this are a piece of cake to Mandy, but her mind was elsewhere. Her thoughts were intensely on Hunter. She felt her thoughts from 7th grade rushing in and butterflies returned to her stomach. She didn't want to be sucked back into middle school. She didn't like who she was back then. Mandy spent so long climbing up from that ladder, and refused to come down now. She fought with everything she had to keep herself from glancing his way. She decided to finish taking her notes later at home, and wanted to focus on Dominic to distract her. 

Mandy: "So, how many people call you 'Dom'?"

Dominic: "A few friends..."

Mandy: "Okay, Dom, haha"

Dominic: "Woah woah woah, I don't get a nick name for you?" 

Mandy: "Yes it's already been established; Mandy is my nickname"

Dominic: "Nahhh, everyone calls you that.... it's not as special."

Mandy: "Well my apologies NickName Police. What do you suggest?"

Dominic: "Hmm... in my professional opinion, I now dub thee.... Manda. A subtle change, but still unique."

Mandy: "Okay, I can work with that." *she laughed*

Dominic: "Oh here! Let me give you my number so that you can text me if you ever need something... and so we can remain friends if you're not appalled by me."

Mandy: *Mandy laughed* "Me? Appalled? Never!"

They swapped phone numbers and labeled their contact names as "Dom" and "Manda". Thankfully, Mandy distracted herself from Hunter for the remainder of the class.

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*the end of the school day*

Mandy: "Thank you so much for everything today. I'm so glad I got you, and not some crazy ASB freak."

Dominic: "Weren't you in ASB at your old school?"

Mandy: "Exactly, that's why I know some of them are freaks"

*they both laughed*

Dominic: "Well of course, I too am so glad I got assigned to you. I actually had so much fun today. Let me walk you out."

They headed to Mandy's car.

Dominic: "Wow I've never seen a Range Rover in person before."

Mandy: "Ugh I knew it would make me stand out!" *she rolled her eyes*

Dominic: "No it's okay! If anyone should stand out, it should be you." 

Dominic shut her car door and waved goodbye. Mandy waited for him to leave and then pulled out of the parking lot.

When Mandy arrived at home, she had a lot on her mind. She was trying to process everything that went down today, but then her mom came in... probably to bombard her with questions.

Mandy's Mom: "Hi honey... so how was it?!"

Mandy: "It was pretty good."

Mandy's Mom: "I'm gonna need more information than that! Come on, tell me some details."

Mandy: "Well I met some new people. And my ASB guide was actually really great."

Mandy's Mom: "Oh how were they?"

Mandy: "Dom was so cool, and just down to earth. We actually had some stuff in common."

Mandy's Mom: "Dom?"

Mandy: "Oh yeah, his name is Dominic, but I call him Dom."

Mandy's Mom: "Well that sounds awesome! We can talk more about it later, but I'm gonna go shopping now, and explore the town a little bit more. Wanna come?"

Mandy: "No thanks, I have some stuff I need to do here."

Mandy's Mom: "Okay, Dad will be home late tonight too, so feel free to order a pizza or Door Dash something for dinner tonight."

Mandy: "Got it, Mom" *she smiled as her mom left her room*

Mandy later ordered a pizza online and then grabbed her phone to text Emily and Selah, who were back at home. As she opened her previous messages with them, she saw that they left her on "read" and never responded. She once again remembered how things changed when she moved, and felt a deep sorrow. She never imagined her friends completely pushing her aside when she moved.

However, she did receive a text from Dom.

TEXT MESSAGES: 

Dom: "Hey Manda :)"

Mandy: "Hey lol what's up"

Dom: "Tomorrow I'm gonna ask you something"

Mandy: "okay....? why'd you text me then HAHA"

Dom: "Just to give you a little heads up"

Mandy: "Should I be worried?"

Dom: "Maybe ;)"