A bit of Courage

A Chapter by Pookie Bear

getting started...

Chapter 1

“Miss Hartley?...”

“Miss Hartley!”

Finally, I come to. Man! Why can’t teachers just let you daydream?

“Yes?” I answer.

“Can you answer the question? Or are you too busy staring out the windows?” Mrs. Sidebottom asks.

Shoot! What was the question? I glance around the room and look into the eyes of every student looking at me. Gosh, that makes me uncomfortable.

“Umm…Uhh…” I mutter.

“Umm is not the answer, Miss Hartley.”

Jeez! I can’t even think? At least she could give me a moment to think of an answer, I mean, I didn’t even raise my hand!

I look over at my best friend, Lindsay. She’s looking at the teacher with the same thoughts running through her head.

“I don’t know.” I say eventually.

“Well the trees outside aren’t going to give you a proper education, Miss Hartley. So I suggest you stop looking at them and pay attention! Can you do that?”

Wow, she didn’t have to add that last part. She must think I’m incapable.

“Yes”, I say as politely as possible. I don’t need to get into any more trouble. Sure, it would have felt good to smart off or talk back, but I just got ungrounded, so I don’t want to get punished again.

Mrs. Sidebottom goes back to teaching us about the American Revolution while I pull out my notebook. I start to write a note to Lindsay.

Did you see the way she acted? I write.

I pass it to her and look back towards the front of the class, trying not to make it obvious that I have no idea what’s going on right now. Suddenly the note is on my desk with fresh words from Lindsay.

Man! She must be PMSing or something, she totally flipped out on you! She replies.

I look up to make sure I can reply right away instead of stuffing the note away in secrecy. Mrs. Sidebottom is pointing to a place on the world map. So I begin writing.

I know! So I daydreamed! Big woop! It’s not like I’m hurting myself or anything! Doesn’t she realize that the best ideas come from a dream? I write.

With one quick motion I whip the note over onto her desk. She jumps but no one else seems to notice it. I look back up at the front of the room and it’s almost time to go. I swear, history is not, nor will it every be, exciting. Now science, that’s exciting. We can do experiments and labs. In history, all we do is take notes and do worksheets while our over active heater is working over time, even when its 90 degrees out! Yah, we have that kind of school. I’m suddenly aware that I didn’t write down the homework assignment that was just erased off the board. I quickly look over at Lindsay, who’s forgotten about passing the note back to me, and ask her for the assignment number. I write it down and look back up at the clock. Five minutes until the bell rings. Don’t you just hate the last five minutes of class? They seem to pass the slowest. Like the clock is mocking you. It’s mocking you that it doesn’t have to put up with this torture. So it draws it out. Then your last 5 minutes turn into another 20. Minute later, the bell rings and I pack up my stuff. I’m about to walk out the door when Mrs. Sidebottom stops me in my tracks and tells me she wants to speak with me. Great! Just what I want to do when it’s lunchtime.

She goes over to her desk and sits down. She sees that I’m still standing in the doorway and waves me over. I trudge over with my shoulders slumped.

“Are you OK, Mel? You seemed very out of it today.”

“Actually I read this book the other day-“

Mrs. Sidebottom interrupts me, “Oh! Well, I know how you are with books. If that was all it was, why didn’t you say so?”

See, I have this thing with books. They make me daydream a lot. Movies are alright but they don’t give you any room for imagination. I’m kind of infatuated with using my imagination.

“Yah, that was it. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t think you would care. I thought you would say it was just an excuse.” I say.

“Well, technically it is. But I know you too well. So I let it slide. Anyway, hurry along to lunch. I don’t think Lindsay can wait any longer, she looks like she’s starving.”

I look over at the door and Lindsay is standing there, gripping her stomach like she hasn’t eaten in days. Typical. Lindsay has a really high metabolism, which means she gets hungry a lot more than other people due to the rate she digests food. So right now she’s probably in serious pain. I say goodbye to my teacher and hurry to my locker with Lindsay at my side.

“Jeez! You think you could move any slower?” she asks.

I tease and move slower. She laughs and gives me a play hit in the shoulder. I shut my locker and practically have to run to keep up with Lindsay. Wow, she is majorly hungry. I buy a ham sandwich with American cheese, lettuce, and ranch dressing, a raspberry flavored water, and a rice crispy treat. Lindsay buys a giant slice of greasy pizza, a sports drink I’ve never heard of, and a double chocolate chip brownie. Gosh, I wish I could eat like her. But, I would gain fifteen pounds just looking at it.

We join Katie, Sydney, Kaylin, and Sarah at a table by the wall. Our table is on the right side of the cafeteria, so we have to walk right past all the snooty, stuck up, popular girls. You know those girls that are always sitting in the back of the classroom, talking about the latest gossip, guys they made out with over the weekend, and the ugliest outfits they saw in the hallway? Well, yah. Those girls practically run our school. You can already tell they’re judging you before you even get close to their table. It’s kind of like a sixth sense. But we ignore them. Lunch is all about friends and laughter. It’s not a time for worrying about your looks. Today our lunchroom smells like some kind of ketchup. The windows are open though, so there’s a nice breeze to blow away the stench. The seniors have left their trash on the tables again. That always makes me angry. For some odd reason I look around the room and notice all the juniors and sophomores in their own little groups. They’re talking and laughing, and some kid has a couple of straws up his nose while the whole table is laughing at him. But I look around the rest of the room and then I see a table with only one guy at it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before.

“Hey is that guy new?” I ask. By the looks of the guy, I can’t understand why he’d be by himself. He’s quite good looking. In fact, I think he’s pretty hot. Those other girls are probably talking about him. That’s just not normal. He would have been gobbled up by now. They would have pulled him into their little world of gossip, popularity, and fancy clothes. But instead they’re ignoring him. Weird.

Katie answers my question when she sees who I’m looking at. “Yah, that’s the new kid. I think his name is Daniel.”

“Why’s he sitting all by himself?” I ask.

“Beats me.” Katie shrugs. “But he’s cute.” She says smiling.

“Yah, he is.” I say, still staring at him.

“You should go over and talk to him, Mel.” She teases. I look up at her with a puzzled face.

“Why would I do that?” I ask.

“Because obviously he could use your ‘go-happy’ attitude.” She jokes. “ That, and he’s looking at you.” She laughs. I look back and sure enough he’s staring at our table. We lock eyes and I quickly look away. I wait a few seconds and look back. He’s got his attention on a different table now. I can see by the way he’s sitting, that he’s lonely.

You should go over there, my conscience tells me.

No I shouldn’t, I think back. I’m not going to go over there.

Just look at him, though, my mind says.

I look and instantly feel a wave of guilt. I would have wanted someone to sit with me if it was my first day.

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to go over and say hi. He is cute. You know what? I’m gonna make myself go over there. That’s the polite thing to do, and nobody else seems to be taking an interest in him. I glance over at Katie and Lindsay and they’re talking to themselves. They see me get up and immediately start giggling and whispering. I pass by the popular table and instantly my appearance is the subject of their gossip. Man! I wish I could punch one of them. But, again, I don’t need the trouble.

I reach the table and take a quick look at him while he’s looking somewhere else. He’s got tan skin and dark chocolate colored hair in the same style as the Zac Efron kid. His eyes are a light, yellowish brown, and he’s wearing a white shirt with lightwashed Levi’s jeans. His shirt makes his biceps look larger than their actual size and his nose is slightly big for his face. But somehow it works for him. Perfectly. I watch as he faces towards me.

“Hi! Can I sit here?” I ask.

He smiles and says, “Sure!”

“Are you new?” I ask while I sit down in a chair across from him.

“Yep. I just got here about ten minutes ago.” He says.

I move my chair closer to his and ask, “What classes do you have?” We probably don’t have any classes together, but it’s nice to ask.

“Well, first hour I have English with Mr. Higgins. Second hour I have Chemistry with Mrs. Boyle. Third hour I have Advanced World History with Mrs. Sidebottom. Fourth hour I have Trigonometry with Mr. Hayden. Fifth hour I have Advanced Science with Mrs. Rift. Sixth hour I have Gym with Coach Dood. And my homeroom is room 201.” He says.

Wow. I have all of those classes except Advanced Science, I’ve got a different teacher. Well, now I can have an all around study buddy.

“That’s funny.” I say.

He looks at me as though I’m weird and says, “Why is that?”

“Because that’s basically my schedule, except I have a different Science class than you.” I laugh.

“That’s cool. At least now I know someone. Wait…What’s your name?” he asks.

“Oh. I’m Melinda Hartley. And you’re…” I say.

“Jacob Anderson, but you can call me Danny.”

“Danny? Why Danny?” I ask.

“That’s my middle name. I know too many Jacobs and not enough Dannys. That and I like that name better.” He says with a smile.

“That’s cool. I honestly like the name Jacob, better.” I say casually.

“You can call me Jacob if you want. I don’t mind.” He says.

“Ok. But if you want to be called Danny, then I’ll call you that.” I say with a smile.

An awkward silence goes by and without any warning I say, “You’re really cute.”

I clamp my hand over my mouth. Did I really just say that? Where the heck did that come from? I look up at Danny to find him laughing at me. Great first impression.

“Thank you. I try to be.” He laughs. I laugh with him nervously.

“Heh heh…yah…” I say awkwardly.

“You’re really cute, too.” He says with confidence. I look up surprised.

“Me?” I ask.

“Yes, you. Who else did you think I was talking about?” He says with a chuckle. I look over my shoulder at the popular table and say in my head, “Them.”

He sees who I’m looking at and says, “Hey you’re better than them. Trust me. They’re probably wasting their lives looking in a mirror.”

I look into his eyes and smile. He really knows how to make someone feel better. Not even thinking, I say, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

I cover my mouth after I realize what I’ve said. I put my forehead down on the table so I don’t have to look at Danny. I sigh.

What is wrong with me?!? I yell at myself.

You like this guy, my head replies.

I look up to find Danny laughing at me. You can tell he’s trying to be polite, he’s covering his mouth. Oh well. That’s not the worst I could have said. Danny stops laughing and says, “No, I don’t. I don’t really have time for one.”

He sees my puzzled expression and says, “I move a lot. In fact I just moved up here from California.”

Oh! So that’s why he’s so tan. I get distracted and look at his biceps. For a short second I wonder what they feel like. Man, I’m really weak. I force myself to look at his face and it works, his face is just as hot as his biceps. I’m still dumbfounded as to why the popular girls have eaten him up yet. He’s obviously their kind of material.

I look up at the clock and its ten minutes before the bell. Normally around this time I go sit outside of my classroom and relax. So I ask Danny if he wants to come with me. He agrees and we get up to leave. Linz and the rest of the gang walk by us and giggle. Linz winks at me and joins in on the giggling. If only they had walked closer, I would have thumped them in the back of the head. But it doesn’t matter right now because I get to walk with Danny. We stroll out and start chatting about the places he’s lived before this. He names off cities I’ve never heard of that are in the Midwest. He’s even lived out of the country! That’s a big deal for me because I’ve never even left Wisconsin. Then we reach the door and sit down on the cold tile. This is my favorite part of lunch. I sit here and wind down. Sometimes I will look over my homework to check if I missed any problems, but mostly I just daydream. Today is a little different. Today I have someone to sit with.

“So…” I say.

“So…” Danny mimics. I smile back at him.

“I like you.” He says. I think about it for a minute and say, “I like you, too.” Which is true. I’m really starting to like him.

We talk until the bell rings and a flood of kids come around the corner. Time to stand up. Danny gets up first and holds out a hand while balancing his book. I take it and he helps me up. A couple of boys pass us and make rude noises, but we ignore them. We walk into the classroom and sit down together. I always sit at the same table in Trigonometry. It’s in the front over by the windows. The breeze keeps me cool because the heater is constantly on full blast. Kaylin normally sits next to me, but today she walks in and passes right by the table. I look back and she mouths, “It’s ok, I understand.” She’s a good friend.

With Danny here, it’s difficult to pay attention. I keep catching him looking over at me and it’s distracting. My god, I am a girl. I wish he would stop, but in a way I like it. I’ve never felt like this before. Usually, I ignore all the boys at our school. None of them are boyfriend material. But Danny is. Maybe he wouldn’t be so bad. No. I can tell right now that it would be better if we were just friends.

The rest of class passes so quickly. I literally wanted to scream at the clock, “SLOW DOWN!” But that would have drawn unnecessary attention to myself. I pack up my stuff and realize I don’t have fifth hour with Danny. I think he saw my disappointment because he says, “Well, I’ll see you in an hour.” Good. I can wait an hour. Just one hour. I’ll daydream to make the time pass. I walk to my next class and sink down into my seat. I let my imagination roam across everything that happened in fourth hour. Something in the back of my mind keeps telling me that he likes me, but I ignore it. A hot, sweet, honest guy like him could never like someone like me. Oh well. At least he can be my friend. Class starts and my eyes glaze over. I am totally in my own little world.

An hour later the bell rings and I snap out of my trance. Wow, that was quick. I hurry to my locker and I can’t shove my books in fast enough. They end up on the floor. I get myself ready for class and take off with my gym clothes in my hand. I change and hurry into the gym. Danny isn’t out here yet, but Katie is sitting on the bleachers, putting her long blonde hair into a ponytail. I walk over and sit down next to her. She starts asking the most embarrassing questions about lunch, and I barely pay attention. I’ve got my eyes on the incredibly, amazing guy coming out of the guys locker room. Danny is wear basketball shorts and a black t-shirt that frames his body perfectly. His outfit puts mine to shame. I’m wearing the same kind of baggy shorts and a fitted, black, spaghetti strap. He spots me and walks over.

“I’ll leave you two alone.” Katie says with a laugh. God, I could punch her. Danny laughs and looks at me.

“What?” I ask.

“You’re friends make me laugh.” He replies.

“Yah, they’re a little goofy.” I say.

“So do you wanna be my partner today?” he asks.

“Sure!” I say, a little too cheerfully.

While his attention is else where, I quickly take a whiff under my arm to make sure I don’t smell, and to make sure I remembered to put deodorant on. I know it wasn’t necessary because I don’t sweat, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. We walk over and take a spot on the mats. We’re doing a sit-up test, today. I’m never really good at sit-ups. After we both take our turns, we roll over and start our pushup test. I go first as Danny watches me. Then we switch places and he begins his test. I’m so distracted by his biceps that I forget to count. The test ends and Danny looks up at me.

“How many did I do?” he asks.

Shoot! Why didn’t I pay attention? “Umm…I’m not sure. I couldn’t keep up. You did so many.” I say. God, he’s gorgeous.

“I stopped counting after seventy-five.” He says.

Whoa! Seventy-five?!? I can barely do thirty! He must workout. There’s no other way he could have those glorious muscles.

The coach records our scores and we head to the locker rooms to change. After I change and walk back into the gym, I see Danny standing by the doors. He’s waiting for me.

“Wow, you change fast.” I say.

“Wow, you change slow.” He teases.

“Well, I’m a girl so I have an excuse.” I say with a laugh.

“So can I have your number in case I need to ask a question about the schedule?” He asks.

“Sure.” I say. “But you have to give me yours.” I say with a smile.

He smiles back at me and we exchange digits. I walk to my locker and grab my backpack. As I’m walking out the doors, I realize, I’ve had a really good day today. I smile as I notice this. Danny brightened my day.

When I get home, my mom gives me a list of chores. I finish them and head to my room. Ugh! My room is so dull. I only have four pieces of furniture. My queen sized bed with blue polka-dotted covers, my cherry wood dresser, my white TV stand, and my vanity. I rarely ever use my vanity. My mom is the one that convinced me to put one in here. I flop down on my bed and start on my homework, just like another boring afternoon.

About four hours later, my mom yells down the hall, “Come and eat!”

I bookmark where I’m reading and go to the kitchen. Mmmmmm. Mom’s made lasagna. I can’t say I like anything more than my mom’s homemade lasagna. Well, actually it’s a tie between that and her potato soup. That stuff is practically ‘to-die-for’. Her lasagna is pretty delicious, too. Everything is perfectly portioned. None of the spices are too hot, the sauces are just right, and the noodles are moist and tender. The entire kitchen smells like pasta.

“Where’s Charlie?” I ask.

“Oh your stepfather took him to work again.” She says. “I swear he can’t be go a day without that dog.”

Charlie is our German Sheppard. He’s all black with a little white spot behind his ear. He and my stepdad are two peas in a pod. They can stay away from each other for very long. It’s cute and rather annoying. We eat the rest of our dinner in silence.

After my stomach is full, I help my mom wash the dishes. I head back to my room to grab my bath robe. I have no idea why, but taking a shower is the most relaxing thing I can do. I think it has something to do with the temperature of the water. I turn off the water and begin to dry myself. I put my pajamas on and brush my teeth. I pick up the book I was reading and devour the story. I’m reading another really good book. It’s over 500 pages long! But, the amount of pages in never an issue with me. I read until around 9:30 and fall asleep with the book on my stomach.

The next morning I wake up way too early. It’s 4:30 and my alarm won’t be going off for another hour and a half. I try to go back to sleep but I’m already awake. Ugh! It’s no use. I get up and get dressed. I put my books back in my backpack and set it by the front door. I almost fall as I walk into the kitchen, Charlie is sitting right in the way and he’s barely visible. I guess my stepdad got home late last night. I don’t remember him ever coming home. My stomach is starting to growl, so I make myself a couple of scrambled eggs.

When I get to school, I look around for Danny, but he’s nowhere in sight. Lindsay, Kaylin, and Katie, all crowd around my locker and ask me if I have a crush on Danny. I ignore them and walk to English.

As Mr. Higgins takes attendance, I can’t help but notice that a certain chair is empty, and that a certain someone isn’t here. Stop it! I can’t think about him constantly! That’s obsessive! I try to distract myself, but fail to succeed. I can’t get this feeling out of my stomach that something is wrong. I push it to the back of my mind and continue through the rest of the morning in a daze.

While I’m waiting for third hour to begin, Danny walks in and sits down. I hardly notice because I’m still out of it. He walks over and sits in the chair in front of me. He starts waving his hand in front of my face to bring me back to earth.

“Oh! When did you get here?”

“A minute or two ago.”

“Why were you late today?”

“I woke up this morning with a serious headache.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you feel better now?”

“Now that I’m here, I feel much better.”

I feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as I start to blush. He doesn’t seem to notice but I sure do. My face is getting hotter with every second that his eyes are locked on mine.

The teacher is the only thing that breaks us out of this trance. Mr. Higgins tells Danny to go back to his seat. Great. Thanks, Mr. Higgins. Just ruin our moment. I space out for the rest of class and most of the day. As I’m getting ready to leave, Danny asks me if I want to stay after and study with him in the library. I want to say yes, but I have a list of chores waiting for me.

“I wish I could, but I have stuff to do.”

“Maybe some other time. I’ll call you.”

That little promise made my stomach join a gymnastics team. It tumbled uncontrollably. Danny’s going to call me. No! Stop thinking about him like that! You guys are just friends. Now that I’m mad at myself, I walk out the doors without saying goodbye to Danny, and head home.

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