Right In Front Of You

I rode to school in the car nervously. I thought about how summer break is over. I thought about how much I would miss my friends. Over summer break, I moved from North Carolina to New York. I had to transfer new schools. I was going to be a freshman in High School so I shouldn't be worrying about being a new student, because basically all freshmans are new students. But they were coming from a school which they had friends, and them and their friends know each other. So, I'm still a new student because I don't know anyone.
My mom pulled up to my new school. My stomach churned with anxiety. I stepped out and threw my backpack over my shoulder. I was late, which was worse, because now I had to step in in the middle of class, embarrassingly. I unfolded the crumbled paper in my hand and read it: Room 12. I searched around, then finally opened the door to my classroom. Of course, everyone turned their heads to see who it was. And of course, they all looked down at their work when they realized it was just some loser new student with shaggy brown hair, and boring blue eyes. They all continued working except for one girl, who nodded at me and smiled kindly. Then she continued working.
The teacher looked up from her book and saw me.
"Oh! You must be the new boy! Sorry, I didn't notice you. You're so quiet!" She said. "I'm Mrs. Edwards, and I'll be your homeroom teacher. You'll have me for reading, which is now,"
She stood up and brought me to the front of the classroom (of course) and said, "This is our new student, class. His name is Dustin,"
I smiled uneasily.
"Well, I better tell the office that you're here. Our phone is broken, so I have to walk over there and tell them. Find and empty seat and get settled." Mrs. Edwards said. She walked out of the classroom. Everyone started socializing as soon as she left.
I scanned that classroom for an empty seat. Everyone piled their books on the empty seats next to them. It left me with only one choice, which was in front of the girl that smiled at me. I sat down sheepishly and unpacked my things.
Someone next to me shoved me on my shoulder and said, "Hey, Dusty,"
I rubbed my shoulder that had been shoved and looked up. It was a tall blond guy. You could tell he worked out and that he was one of those jerky football guys, like in the movies.
"It's Dustin," I said.
"Yeah, sure, whatever," he said. He pulled up a chair next to me and said, "I'm Kevin. This classroom is like my kingdom. I'm the king, and they go by my rules. You will, too,"
"Whatever," I mumbled.
"What did you say?" Kevin got in my face.
"Stop it, Kevin! You're scaring him!" Said a girl's voice. I looked up again and saw the girl that smiled at me earlier. She pushed Kevin out of the chair and she sat in it.
"Ignore him, he can be a jerk. I'm Ariel," she said and smiled. She had perfect teeth and a perfect smile. Her brown hair was shiny with dark blond highlights.
"Hi," I studdered. Ugh, why am I acting like this?
"Psh, your actually talking to this guy?" Kevin said.
"Shut up. He's new, be nice," Ariel replied.
"Wow, someone cares about him... don't get any ideas," Kevin said. He slipped his arm around Ariel's waist. Ariel pushed him again.
Mrs. Edwards walked back into the classroom and everyone sat back in their seats and pretended to work.
"Ariel, why don't you give Dustin a tour of the school?" Mrs. Edwards said.
"Sure," Ariel said and smiled.
We both walked out and Mrs. Edwards continued teaching.
Ariel pointed at things and told me about them as we walked throughout the school.
"What's up with that Kevin guy?" I asked Ariel
"Don't worry about him. He just thinks he's all that," she replied.
"He must like you or something, though," I said.
"Yeah, he's my boyfriend..." Ariel said.
"Wow..." I said, "You never get annoyed with him?"
"No! I love him to death," she said and giggled.
Wow she has a cute giggle, I thought.

Later, I talked to my old friend, Dre, from my old school on my cell phone. I told him about Kevin and how we're not gonna have any homework until next week.
Then, he asked, "So... got any cute girls on your mind?"
My stomach dropped. "No!"
"Hmmm..." Dre mumbled.
I knew he was tricking me, but I let it out anyway, "Well... there's this girl in my class..."
"Aha!" Dre shouted, "What's her name?"
"Her name is Ariel,"
"Oooh... Ariel. Sexy,"
I laughed, "Dude!"
"So, what's she like?" Dre asked.
"Well, she has brown hair with these highlights. She has pretty chocolate brown eyes, and a warm perfect smile," I smiled just thinking about her.
"Have you talked to her yet?"
"Yeah... and I met her... boyfriend..."
"Ohhh... so you have yourself and obsticle..."
"Yeah,"
"Are you gonna tell her you like her?"
"Maybe... but I have to find the right moment..."

I sat on a bench outside at recess and saw Kevin and Ariel macking behind a tree. Kevin glanced at me and smirked, he pulled Ariel closer to him. I doodled in my notebook. Suddenly, someone sat next to me. I jumped and my pencil flew out of my hand. I looked up and saw a boy looking at my drawing. He picked up the pencil and gave it to me.
"Finish, finish!" He said.
I finished my drawing of Ariel. I didn't shade in her hair, because I didn't want the boy to recognize who I drew.
"Wow, that's beast," he said. Then he looked up at me and said, "I'm Nicholas. You can call me Nick for short though," he said. "I'm President of the art club. I saw your drawing, and I was wondering... would you join?" He pushed his glasses on his nose.
"Um... no... I'm still new and I'm still getting used to it here," I said. "Are you sure?" Nick said.
"I'll think about it," I said. He walked away.
I shaded in Ariel's hair but left some parts white for her highlights. Then, another hand snatched up the paper, "Aha! What's this? A drawing of.... Ariel? How cute,"
I recognized the voice. I turned around and saw Kevin. He smiled evilly and gave my drawing to Ariel. She gasped. I winced, I was waiting for her to say something mean.
"Aw! It looks just like me!" She said, surprisingly. I looked up and smiled. "Wow! You're a good drawer. Kevin, you should draw more like Dustin,"
"Why would I want to draw more like Dusty?" Kevin crossed his arms. "I see you appreciate him more than me."
"Maybe it's because he's not a jerk like you!"
"Then maybe we should break up!"
"Fine! See if I care!"
"Oh, I know you will."
Kevin ripped my drawing and stomped away. I looked at Ariel, her lip was quivering.
"Ariel, I'm so sorry," I stood up and touched her arm.
"Its fine," she whispered. A tear rolled down her cheek.
"Ariel..." I started to say, but Ariel shook her head and ran away.

The next day, I walked into the classroom and saw Ariel sitting at her desk, reading a book. I walked up to her and said, "I have to tell you something,"
She looked up, smiled, and said, "You don't have to say sorry. Everything's fine,"
"No it's..."
"Really, me and Kevin made up. We're back together," she shrugged and smiled.
"Oh..." I said, "that's.... good."
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"Yeah... it's just..." Someone pushed me before I could say. It was Kevin. He pulled up a chair next to Ariel and kissed her. I could tell Ariel wasn't ready, because then she pushed Kevin away.
"What the heck, Kevin?!" She yelled.
"Sorry, it was a dare," he grinned and looked back at his friends, who started laughing. I walked away. Then I heard Ariel get up and follow me.
"Wait!" She said. I turned around. She handed me an envelope. "It's an invitation. My birthday is on Saturday and I'm having a party. Wanna go?"
I looked at the invitation, "But.... Kevin...."
"I'll make sure he lets you go. Its MY party anyway," she smiled.
"Okay," I said.
Ariel went to walk away, but she turned around and said, "And hey, don't let Kevin scare you. He just thinks he's tough, but deep down he's a softie. Don't let him boss you around." She giggled and walked away.
Wow, I'm sure that if they weren't dating, Ariel would be all mine...

Saturday. I put on a blue button up shirt and some jeans. The other day I had bought a silver necklace with a heart dangling from it for Ariel. I walked to her house and knocked on her front door. Her house was nice. It was a two story. You could hear music blasting from inside. The door opened. It was Kevin.
"Ugh, who said you could come?" He said.
Ariel came up behind him and shoved him. "Kevin! I told you to be nice to Dustin," she said. Kevin rolled his eyes and walked away. Ariel looked at me. "Sorry," she said.
"Its fine." I said. Ariel looked down at my hands and saw my present for her.
"Oh, you can put that over there," she pointed to a long table with a green tablecloth on it. It was full of presents already.
"Well... this one is small... and fragile," I mumbled.
"Oh... well... can I open it now then?" Ariel asked. She smiled and batted her eyelashes.
"Uh... sure," I said. I handed her the box, foolishly, and she opened it.
She gasped. "Wow! It's so pretty!" She put the necklace around her neck and smiled at me.
"It looks good on you," I said. Then I had realized what I said.
"Oh, thank you!" She giggled. She ran over to Kevin. "Kevin, look what Dustin gave me!" She pointed out her necklace to him.                     Kevin glared at me, then looked back at Ariel and said, "Oh... I um..... I got a bracelet just like that!"
What a liar! He's trying to be better than me! Before I could say anything, a girl ran up to Ariel and grabbed her arm.
"Ariel, come play spin the bottle with us!" She said, giggling.
"Okay!" Ariel laughed and followed her. I went with them.
We sat in a circle with some other people and the other girl spun the bottle. It landed on a boy. His eyes widened and the girl covered her mouth and giggled. The scooted closer and kissed. The girl blushed and the boy covered his face after the kiss. Everyone took their turn.
Then, it was my turn. I spun the bottle. I spun it hard so it kept spinning and spinning. It stopped. Everyone gasped. I looked at the bottle. I looked up and saw Ariel. Her eyes looking into mine. I shook my head, but she nodded. So I leaned in. She leaned in. Our lips touched, and we were kissing. But we didn't stop. We hugged each other and kept kissing.
Then someone grabbed me. They threw me off my chair.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
I looked up. It was Kevin.
"I.....I...." I studdered.
"It's a game, Kevin!" Ariel shouted.
"Yeah, but you kept kissing!"
"I know! It was my fault!"
"You didn't have to do it!"
"Maybe I wanted to do it!"
Everyone gasped. Kevin's jaw dropped, but then he grabbed Ariel's arm. Ariel closed her eyes and Kevin whispered in her ear. Then he grabbed me and he dragged us into a hallway.
"Kevn!" Ariel screamed.
Kevin threw us into a closet and shut the door. We heard the lock click.
"If you guys wanna be together, then you can stay together!" He shouted. We heard him walking away. Ariel pounded on the door. Then she stopped and sat down.
"Locked in my own closet," she mumbled.
"I'm sorry. This is my fault," I said.
"How?" Ariel said.
"I kissed you,"
"It was just a game!"
"I know, but..... Ariel, I have to tell you something."
"What?"
I sighed, "I like you, Ariel."
Ariel gasped. Then she frowned, "This is the worst time to be telling me this, Dustin!"
I clenched my fists. "Then I guess we better get out of here!" I shouted. I pounded against the door. The door shook and the shelf full of books on the door shook. It got loose and fell off, hitting me against my skull. Everything went black.

I woke up. I was in my room. My head itched. I went to scratch it but I felt a cloth paper-ish feeling. A bandage was wrapped around my head. The door of my room opened and my mom came in.
"Sweetie! Your awake! How are you feeling?" She said.
"Um, confused." I said.
"You were at a party and a bookshelf fell on your head. You almost got a concussion. You were asleep for 2 days." Mom said.
"Wow,"
"You have a visitor though. A girl named Ariel,"
My stomach dropped. "Okay," I said.
Mom walked out and Ariel came in. She walked in slowly. She sat on my bed next to me.
"Dustin..." she hugged me. I hugged her back and she cried. "I'm so sorry. I made a mess," she said.
"Its okay," I said.
"Oh Dustin, you forgive easily." She said. "I like you too, Dustin,"
It felt like my heart skipped a beat. I stopped hugging her. We looked into each others eyes. I kissed her.

Author's Note

Enjoy?

Reviews

[Iddy]

Sooo cute.

[Keizia]

Awww, its so cute!

[Starrbitt]

awww,I thought it was cute....
well done

[Tasha]

Awwhh this is so sweet. It seems like it could be a scene in a movie. I loved it. Great job.