corrupted lungs | d.w #Wattys2016

s i x

I arrived to school just in time, rushing to my locker, getting my books and running into class just as the bell rang. Phew. I'd looked around the classroom and everyone was here. Except for Dallon. Of course. My eyes scanned across his empty seat as I passed by, before I got seated next to Sarah.

During the first period of class, we talked a lot while working together with the tasks that our teacher assigned us to work with. I'd told her a bit about the tall boy I ran into on my way to school. Gabri- Gabe. Apparently he wasn't a stranger to her and most girls around here knew who he was. He seemed to be a 'ladies man' from what Sarah told me.

Towards the end of the day, here's what I knew about Gabe;

His full name was Gabe Saporta.
His family was very well-known in the neighborhood.
He knew how to play the bass and the acoustic guitar, and was currently taking a lot of singing classes.
According to Sarah, I was extremely lucky to have gotten the chance to speak to him.

I didn't know about that last part. I didn't consider myself lucky. I mean, he was just a human being, but I left Sarah to her own opinions. When the bell rang and the last period of class was over, Dallon still hadn't showed up and Sarah kept on wondering why I cared. I couldn't answer that question, because I knew it'd sound stupid.

I just feel so attached to him. We don't know each other and we've only ever exchanged words about two times but I still worry about him when he's not around. He's just something different, and I like it. I like him. I enjoy his presence, his mysterious ways that scares everyone else off.

I realized how pathetic it sounded when explaining it to myself in my head, and trust me, I'd tried to come up with something better to say when she asked- I wish I could, but it was impossible. I couldn't put my feelings into other words than that.

Sarah had followed me a bit on my way home, but we parted ways when being half-way home to my house, since she had to get home and get ready for her brother's birthday party. She told me it was "going to be boring" and that she'd "rather be with me" but deep down, I knew how much love she harbored to her brother and that she in fact was excited for it.

I arrived home, once again being alone, which I'd be until at least 12 am tonight. My parents were going out to eat, since they hadn't been able to spend a lot of time just the two of them lately. I totally backed that up, knowing that they needed to talk and just laugh together without having a teenager to care about. Besides, I could take care of myself and enjoyed being alone, so it wasn't a problem for me.

I walked into my room and sat on my bed, kicking off my tight jeans. I got back up and slipped on a pair of black sweats that didn't fit too tight, but not too loose either, along with a shirt were 'twenty one pilots' was printed over the chest. It was a shirt I'd gotten from my dad. Twenty One Pilots, were his and my uncle Josh's band. I tied my hair into a bun and plugged my phone into my speakers. I pressed 'shuffle' and the first song that started playing was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. I smiled, because it was one of my favorite songs.

I quietly hummed along to the song as I cleaned up a bit on my desk. My room was for most of the time a very clean space, considering how much I hated when it was a mess. Nowadays, with the school and a lot of homework, I'd been way too busy and tired so the cleaning had to wait. But since I was free from homework this weekend, I had more time.

When I was done, I skipped downstairs and looked through the fridge to see what I could make for dinner tonight. I wasn't the worst cook, but my mom was still the best. I found some pasta in the cabinet, and decided for pasta carbonara. I placed the ingredients that I would be needing later on the counter, before going back upstairs.

I grabbed my 'Wreck This Journal' and a pen and got seated in my window with a blanket over my knees. I opened up a page, continued to listen to the beat of another song and got lost in my own little world again.

+++

After making three more pages in my book, I looked up to realize it had been two hours already. Shit. I closed up my journal, removed the blanket off of my legs and just as I was about to go back downstairs to start making dinner for myself, I got caught of guard as small, white stars fell from the sky and landed on the window outside. I shook my head and got closer, thinking I was dreaming, but I wasn't. It was snowing in October. I realized I had to get my bicycle inside of the garage and quickly headed downstairs.

I brought on my thicker thermal boots, and my winter jacket, before I opened the door and walked outside. It assumed it hadn't been snowing for too long, but a delicate blanket of snow was already covering the faded summer grass. I left footprints in the snow as I walked over to the garage and stuck the key into the hole, slowly pulling the door open. It was heavy, but I succeeded. I headed back to my bicycle and started leading it towards the opening, but a voice stopped me.

"Hey, Gabrielle?" A voice behind me exclaimed. I turned my head to my side and spotted the tall boy from earlier. Gabe. I smiled.

"Yeah, hi. Gabe, right? What're you doing here?" I asked him casually and he pulled his shoulders into a shrug.

"I was heading home, then I saw you. Thought I'd say hi." He smiled, taking a few steps closer to me. "Looks like snow came early this year." He chuckled and I nodded.

"Yeah," I lead the bicycle inside of the garage and fell the support down. "I'm not really used to that. Where I lived before, snow always came super late. Like a day before Christmas or so." I told him as I walked back outside.

"Where did you live before?" He asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"It depends on what era you're talking about. Before I moved here, we lived in Arizona. Before that, Miami." I giggled. "We move around a lot." I explained and looked down.

He smiled. "I hear that." He said and I could feel his eyes lingering on me, which made me look back up. "Are you moving away from here?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No. This is actually the first place my parents had wanted to stay at. They told me we aren't moving, so that's pretty relieving. I already like it here." I said and he nodded.

"I'm glad you do."

I smiled at that, before quietly turning around to close the garage gate again. I stretched up standing on my tiptoes, but the gate had moved too far up. I sighed loudly. I could hear a little chuckle come from Gabe, before he walked up beside me and helped me close it. I grinned.

"The pros of being tall?" I questioned, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so." He replied. We both chuckled.

"Thanks." I then told him with a smile.

"Anytime, neighbor." He said and lightly bumped his fist into my shoulder. "See you around." He told me with a smile before heading up the street again and waving me goodbye.