The Things We Couldn't Forget

Chapter 5.

That day started out as shit.

I'd woken up late for school, missed my bus, and had to ride to school with my father, who, understandably, was annoyed I'd over slept and now needed a ride which would in turn make him late to clock in at work.

I should also mention, I didn't actually oversleep. What actually happened was that the day before, my boyfriend of two months had unceremoniously dumped me at the bus stop before not after loading into the bus to take us home. Meaning I had to then get on said bus and ride sitting alone while I watched Jeremy sit next to Chelsea the entire way to my house.

I'd done my best to keep my composure in the back of that bus, but when I got off and rushed into my house, I had cried so much my eyes were swollen shut.

It wasn't like I was in love with him or anything, but he was my first boyfriend and that first time heartbreak hurts like a son of a bitch.

I'd intentionally missed the bus to avoid riding with Jeremy again.

I'd called my best friend Rebecca to tell her to meet me outside of the cafeteria at lunch so I wouldn't have to walk in alone and then I'd gone to bed with my plan.

Sometimes I wonder how different it could have all played out if I'd just decided to suck it up and get on that bus with Jeremy. Or maybe if I'd played sick and skipped that entire day of school all together.

But I didn't.

My father dropped me off at the front of the school and we said our typical goodbyes wishing each other a good day. Mercifully, Rebecca was still standing outside of the doors waiting for me to walk in.

"Hey," I'd told her when I linked my arm through hers and we walked inside together. "I don't want to be here."

"You're not supposed to want to be here." She'd reminded me. "This is school. We hate school."

"Right, teenage rebellion and all that." I nodded with her.

We went to walk up the back stairwell when someone called Rebecca's name and we stopped, turning to see who it was.

A boy was pushing his way through the crowd, holding his binder up over his head to wave it at Rebecca.

He came over and asked her something about a homework assignment. I wasn't listening to them until I saw that Jeremy and Chelsea were walking in together.

I turned my attention to Rebecca and the boy and when I did...

My eyes met his and he smiled politely and nodded his chin. "How are you?" He asked.

"Doing good." I'd lied.

"I've noticed you in the gym." He said casually. "Missy, right?"

He'd said my name correctly. He didn't call me Misery, and didn't even call me Missouri. And did he just say he had noticed me?

It was such a strange way to start a conversation with someone you've gone to school with your whole life, but have never once actually spoken to or taken notice of.

I may not have ever really taken notice of him before, but I certainly was then.

He was at least a head taller than me with a head full of dark blonde hair that kissed the tops of his full shoulders. I was caught up in thinking how beautiful it was, how it curled slightly at the ends. I'd almost asked him what kind of conditioner he used, but then I got distracted all over again when I fully met his eyes.

Deep set and shadowed by a heavy brow, I'd never seen eyes so blue. They were as pale blue as the horizon between the mountains in the dead of winter.

He stared at me, waiting for a response. "Oh yeah, I've seen you around." I lied. I knew he was there, but I'd never seen him. Not like I was seeing him now.