Chapter Two: Something About Briar

 

“I wonder where she’s from, I’ve never seen her before,” I muttered. She leaned against the wall almost directly across from me, and she seemed worried, uncertain.              But she was remarkable, how she looked, and how she dressed.

                Her hair was layered, choppy, but long, hanging down in silky russet layers against her skin. Her eyes, which were a sapphire blue, shimmered, and were lined lightly with black eyeliner. Her skin was pale, but smooth, like glass.  A deep purple graphic tee hugged her torso, and washed blacked jeans clung to her thin legs. I couldn’t stop looking at her.

                Josh shrugged. “No clue man.” He looked over her, too, smiling. “She’s cute though, huh?”

                “Yeah,” I whispered, looking at her sweet, pale face. I’d never been so drawn to one single person before. There was just something about her.

                “Go over and talk to her,” Josh suggested, pushing me a bit.

                I blushed. “Oh… I don’t know.” I really would have loved to go over and talk to her, but I had never seen her except for today, and it seemed pretty absurd to go over and start talking on the first day of school. Well, to me at least.

                “Go, I’m sure she would like it.”

                I looked to Josh; he was serious. I sighed. “Okay, fine.” I walked up slowly, not quickly, and smiled once she spotted me. “Hey, did you need help with something?”

                The girl looked up to me, that look of fret still crossing her insipid face. “Um, actually, I’m new to this school and… I don’t know where anything is.” She gave a gentle grin, finally, and broke the worry that came between her asking. “And I don’t know anyone, so…” She looked away, and stared at her Converse-dressed feet.

                “Well, do you need to get somewhere?”

                “Um, yeah, could you just point me in the direction of guidance?”

                I grinned. “Sure! Here, I’ll show you.”

                She let out a heavy breath, and returned my grin. “Thank you sooo much.”

                “No problem.” We walked out of the lobby, the pretty girl trailing behind me. “So, where are you from?”

                “Maine.” Her smile faded. “I didn’t want to move, but we had to.” She sighed, looking away. “I miss it so much.”

                “I can imagine.” With that, we arrived at the guidance door. “Here ya go. My name’s Cole by the way.”

                She smiled, a pleasant, thankful smile. “Nice to meet you, Cole, I’m Briar.”

                “Nice to meet you too, Briar.”

                She took a deep breath, and then turned the door handle. “Well, I’ll be seeing you around, thank you again.”

                I gave a temperate nod. “Like I said no problem.”

                She waved and then walked into the guidance office.

                And I was left smiling like an idiot.

                I stayed outside for a long time when I arrived home from school. I didn’t really have a reason to, I just felt like I should be outside. Whenever I wanted time to think or whenever I had time to think, I would go outside. I’d breathe in the air and take in the surroundings. I loved the outdoors, it was my second bedroom.

                My dad walked out and stood on the porch. I could feel him looking at me. “Hey, how was school?”

                “It was school.” My eyes drifted up and down the road.

                “Yeah?”

                “Yeah.” I turned to face him. “Nothing new, same old crap.”

                He chuckled. “Yeah well, that’s school.”

                I wanted him to leave me alone. Not because I was mad at him, but just because I wanted time to think. I needed time to think. I needed to think about Briar, about Sophie, about love. And what it really meant, and if I could love at sixteen years old. And the more and more I thought about it, the more and more stupid it seemed. I was too young to be in love. I never really thought about love before. I never looked into it. But right now, for some reason, love seemed foolish, it seemed silly. “I’m going for a walk,” I grumbled, and stood up, walking away from the porch.

                “Cole! Hey! Come talk to us!”

                “Later,” I yelled over my shoulder, and I continued to walk.

                I walked steadily for about twenty minutes. I didn’t check my phone to see the time, and I hardly looked up, except for when I crossed streets. I held my head low, hanging lazily and heavily. Why does everything all of a sudden seem so complicated? I wondered. It was only the first day of school. I already felt like I cared for some girl that I had just barely met, and my ex was all of a sudden being nice to me.

                I stopped and stood in one place. “No,” I announced aloud. “I’m not gunna keep analyzing this, I’m not going to.” I took a deep breath, dropping my chin to my chest. I stood there. I let myself feel lousy. And then I turned around and walked home. I didn’t see the point in walking through the streets when I felt as crappy as I did. So when I arrived back at my house, I snuck in through the front door and slid upstairs into my bedroom, closing the door behind me and just lying on my bed, head buried in my pillow.

 Everything was so dramatic. I was sick of drama. I wanted to be normal. I wanted to careless about girls. I wanted to date with freedom. I wanted to be able to have a break-up and just laugh about it like all my other friends could. But that just wasn’t me. And I didn’t even want to be like them. But I wouldn’t mind just knowing what it’s like.

A knock on my door caused me to throw my head into the air. “Yes?” I snapped, shoving my face back into my pillow.

“Dude…”

I lifted and turned my head. That didn’t sound like my mom or dad. And it wasn’t. It was Josh. “Josh? What are you doing here?”

He smiled at me. “You ditched us.”

My cheeks flared. “I’m sorry… ugh, I completely... umm…” I gave a timid smile. “Forgive me?”

Josh laughed. “It’s no big deal Cole, I was just checking in, making sure you were alright. Did you talk to that girl?”

“Yes.” I sat up, feeling better. “Her name’s Briar, she’s from Maine.” I blushed when I thought about her.

Josh grinned. “Awesome, man! Hey, we should see if she’s in any of the same classes as you.”

I agreed. Although, I hadn’t seen her in any classes, but that didn’t mean anything. “That’d be pretty damn sweet. But…I don’t even know if she likes me. We’ve only known each other since this afternoon. She probably doesn’t want to be dating.” I felt my heart drop a little. Negative me.

“Damn it, Cole, cut it out!” Josh was glaring at me. “You need to stop. You just met her; give it time, work up to it. You’ll see, it’ll be worth it. Give her a friend, and she’ll return that favor.” He punched me in the shoulder. “I promise.”

I sighed. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

“I’ve just been thinking. And I feel stupid.”

“You’re not stupid Cole.”

“I already like another girl… I just... people are gunna think.”

“Who cares what people think? Honestly, why should you care? So you like a new girl; Good for you!”

I smiled. “Yeah, okay, I get it. I guess I shouldn’t care.” And I wasn’t going to anymore.

Josh sighed. “Well, anyways, me and the guys are gunna go hang out, wanna come?”

I shook my head. “Nah, I’m just gunna hang out here… go on my computer or something.” I smiled once more. “But thank you.”

“No problem, dude. We’ll see ya tomorrow, okay?”

“Yup, later Josh.” I waved to him, and he waved back and then left, shutting my door behind him.

I fell back against my bed, and stared up at my ceiling. And then I just felt tired, and my eyes fell heavy and I began to dream…

 

“I love you, Cole.” Her hands were resting on top of mine. She leaned in closer to me, pressing her lips to my neck. I shut my eyes. I was so content.

“I love you, too.” My voice was anything but steady. I brought my arms around her waist, and pulled her against my chest, holding her there before gently falling onto my bed. She rolled over on top of me, lips touching all the right places. Mt fingers were sliding up her bare back, grabbing her hair, kissing her with a stronger force than before. And then everything started to blur…

 

My eyes snapped open. I looked around the room. I looked to each side of me. My heart was racing in my chest. I looked out my window next to my bed. The sun was falling. It must have been close to seven o’clock. I sat up straight, and took a moment to think.

I hadn’t dream like that in weeks.

I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “God damn it,” I mumbled, making my way downstairs.

My mom and dad were sitting at the kitchen table. When they heard me, they both turned their heads and looked at me, grinning. “Hello, sleeping beauty,” my mom joked.

I grumbled. I plopped myself down on the table. “Is dinner ready?”

My dad looked to the clock. “Umm, about ten more minutes.”

                I nodded. I didn’t really have anything to say.

                “So, how was school today?” My mom was looking at me, smiling, happy.

                “Fine,” I said softly. “Call me when supper’s ready.” I stood up and walked into the living room. I couldn’t stop thinking about that dream. I couldn’t stop thinking about Briar. And then I didn’t want to think, because I didn’t dream about Sophie.

I had dreamt about Briar.

 

“Seriously dude?”

“Yeah… it was so weird. There’s just something about her… I'm hooked." I sighed, and looked at Keagen. I then looked up at the clock. We had five minutes until the eight o’clock bell went off. And I hadn’t even stopped at my locker. “I shouldn’t feel that way yet. I know it’s wrong.”

Keagen laughed. “It’s not wrong! So you like a chick? Big deal.”

I narrowed my eyes. “It is a big deal.”

Keagen laughed again. “No way dude, speak of the devil.” He was pointing the office.

My stomach twisted, and then I spotted her.  She had on a tight shirt with pale yellow stripes that accented her torso in the most positive of ways. I couldn’t help but blush, and then she saw me and waved.

“Hi... you’re Cole…. Right?” She was beaming at me.

“Yes, and you are… Briar, correct?”

She grinned, her pretty pink lips shimmering. “Yes, I am. Um, do you know where room 205 is? I have it first period…”

My heart flipped in my chest. If she was in room 205 for first period, then we had algebra together. I couldn’t believe it. “Yes, actually, I have algebra first period, too, so I can walk you up there.”

“Great, thanks Cole. You have no idea how thankful I am.”

I was smiling, but then I felt sick when I remembered I needed to get my books from my locker. I had two minutes. And I wouldn’t have time if I showed Briar to class. I weighed my options. I made up my mind. “Come on, it’s right up here.”

Keagen was left behind, chuckling, and I was processing what just happened. My teacher wasn’t gunna be happy.

 

“I really am sorry, but, I needed to show Briar to class…” I wasn’t good at trying to explain things.

Briar looked over to me, pouting, but she wasn’t angry. “Yeah, me too, I just, I’m new here, I don’t know where anything is.” She was now explaining the situation to our cranky algebra teacher, but with a soft, manipulating tone to her voice.

Ms. Holland sighed, and examined the both of us. She waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it, but don’t let it happen again, okay? You need to come prepared to class.”

I nodded my head, and smiled to Briar reassuringly. I hope she didn’t feel bad.

“Okay, let’s talk about PEMDAS, does everyone know what that means?” Ms. Holland was looking at each of us. She seemed just as upset about school starting back up as we all did. The first couple weeks were always the hardest.

The rest of the class dragged on, and by the time 9:06 hit, everyone was more than anxious to get out of the cold room. It was September, and the weather was dropping. And Ms. Holland’s room was always the worst. Briar confronted me at the end of class, a nervous expression on her face. “Hey, you didn’t tell me you hadn’t been to your locker.”

My cheeks burned. “Oh… well it’s okay. I forgot actually, and I didn’t want you to be late for class.” I was such a horrible liar, and I only hoped that Briar couldn’t tell.

She smiled gently. “Okay, well, I don’t want to burden you just … well… you’re a nice person, and it really means a lot that you’re taking the time to help me out.”

I huffed. “It’s fine, no problem, you’re not a burden at all, I promise.” I laid my hand on her shoulder, and shook her gently. “Don’t be silly.”

She laughed, and dropped her head to the side. “Okay, well, thank you. So, you wouldn’t mind just showing me around?”

“Not at all, but, I need to go to my locker now, okay?”

Briar nodded, and shifted her weight to the other side. “Sure, no problem, let’s-“

“Cole?”

I spun around, and spotted Sophie, staring at me with an eyebrow raised. I gritted my teeth. “What?”

“Do you have a minute?”

I looked at Briar; she shrugged, and motioned for me to go. “I’ll only be a minute.” I walked over to her. “What the hell do you want, Sophie?” I hissed.

“Who’s that that you have attached to your hip?”

“Does it matter?”

“No, I was just wondering.”

“She’s new, I’m helping her out around the school.” I glared, and felt angry with Sophie for ruining a perfect moment.

Sophie took a deep breath, and looked over my shoulder at Briar. “Well, okay… I guess I’ll be seeing you.” She spun on her heels, and took off down the flight of stairs leading to the first floor. I flipped off her back, and grumbled.

Briar looked at me. She acted like she wanted to ask me a question, but I could tell she wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to lie, and I decided-spur of the moment- that I wouldn’t. “My ex,” I mumbled.

Briar nodded, staying silent. We walked down the hall and down a set of stairs that brought us to my locker and our next class; French.

I fumbled with my lock, anger still raging through me after Sophie pulled what she did. I was beginning to wonder what I ever saw in her.

“Are you alright, Cole?”

“Huh? Yeah…  I’m fine.” I forced a smile after I slammed my locker shut. “Come on, you have French now, right?”

“Yes,” she said, that pretty smile spreading across her face. “I’m so lucky,” she added with a laugh.

And so am I, I thought to myself.

 

                By the last bell, I had found out I have every class with Briar except for geometry and English, which were the last two classes of the day. She was in college prep classes, and I was in basic geometry and English. They were never my strong subjects. I left Mrs. Sanders classroom, dragging my feet from. I was exhausted.

                When I made it down to my locker, I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. I spun around, and saw Briar smiling at me. “Hi!”

                I grinned. “Hi Briar, what’s up?”

                “Well, I feel bad.” She raised her brows at me. “I followed you around all day.”

                I waved my hand, shaking my head. “Don’t worry about it. I can’t believe that I’m in almost every class with you though… because I’m a junior, isn’t that weird?” I laughed nervously. “I’m stupid when it comes to school.”

                Briar hit me, frowning. “Hey, don’t talk like that. I’m just an overachiever, okay? You’re not stupid. You’re very smart, and you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever meant.”

                I gave returned her smile, and slammed my locker shut. “Okay, fine. And thank you, I don’t hear that often.”

                “I don’t understand why. You really are a truly nice person.”

                “Thanks Briar.” I sighed. “Well, I need to get going, see ya tomorrow.” I waved to her and started to take off down the hall, but she ran after me.

                “Wait, Cole!”

                I stopped, and so did everyone else. I blushed. Wow, this was awkward. All eyes were looking back and forth to us. “Yes?”

                She gave me her remarkable smile, and her crystal blue eyes glittered. “Will you go to lunch with me this Saturday? So I can make up for all the trouble I caused?”

                “I… you…” I was stuttering, I had never been at such a loss for words. “You didn’t cause…”

                She held her hands up. “So it’s a date?”

                I looked at her. I almost didn’t believe her. “Of course, sure, this Saturday.”

                “Perfect! I’ll give you details to my house tomorrow, okay?”

                “Okay,” I agreed, still shocked.

                “Bye Cole.” She flicked her hair behind her shoulder, and smiled at me once more before she took off.

                She took my breath away.

Author's Note

Hey guys! Okay, so here's chapter two! I'll get a description in about the chapter, but I'm too tired right now! Hope you enjoy! Any suggestions? Just let me know! I enjoy reviews!

Reviews

[strghtjcket]

Immediately I was drawn into the character and the story. Being a teenager myself I can just look at some of this and say, "I've been through that too!" I also love how the story's set up and definately the personality that shows from each character.

[Becca*Type2012]

Awesome chapter! I love how the whole story has flowed perfectly from bengining to end. This is going to be an amazing story!