Chapter 1

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. It sort of moved like a Cheetah on speed! So...usually the opposite of any regular school day. And I know, you’d think the day would be slower than usual considering the “New Kid”, is in two more of my classes. And I sit next to him in art. Yay!

My best friend Abbie Daphne Daniels has definitely helped, though. And yes, she prefers being called by her full name. But since Abbie is “100% Gay is Every Way” (that’s how she likes to put it), She can sympathize. Especially since I found out what Carson’s voice sounds like. Imagine an even more, velvety version of Morgan Freeman’s voice, with a little bit of a higher pitch, and put into a 16 year old boy. Yeah…

So here I sit, hearing Abiie go on and on about this new TV show that I think starts with a “G”, when he walks in.

“Oh...my...GOD!” Abbie gives me a puzzled expression and to which I point up at Carson strolling in.

“Talk. To. HIM!” Abbie oh-so-kindly suggests.

“Unlike you, Abbie Daphne Daniels, I’m not exactly what you call “confident”.” I used air quotes for emphasis.

“It doesn’t matter! Look, you’ve been out for three years, it’s time to learn the “Art of Flirt”.”

I don’t even think I can come up with a response to that, so I just let my expressions do the work for me.

“C’mon! Justin, when are you gonna stop being a-”

“I already know what you’re about to say, and just because I don’t devour it like an animal!, Doesn’t mean I am one!”

She just sticks her tongue out at me and examines the new kid’s features.

“He kinda looks like Michael McCoy, y’know, from the Zelda Fan Club.”

“Ok, three people going over timeline theories and name pronunciations in the Spanish classroom, doesn’t make it a “club,”

“Whatever, what I’m trying to say is, you need to get out there! This is your last year to be a normal teenager!” She exclaimed.

“And by “Normal Teenager” , you mean getting stoned and wasted at Kevin Connor’s party?” She gave me a glare about the reference to her chugging bourbon at Kevin Connor’s annual Winter Bash the previous year.

“I mean...having fun!, Falling in love with strangers!, making mistakes! C’mon Jus, you’re turning 18 in a month! Live a little!”

“Abbie, life isn’t a John Hughes movie! You’re not gonna see Molly Ringwald making out with Judd Nelson or...Kevin Bacon dancing in an abandoned warehouse!”

“Footloose wasn’t-” She attempted to interject until I cut her off.

“The point is, live is a high school movie! High School isn’t a high school movie! So get used to it!”

And with that, I left her with the silence that sat between us, and her thoughts...