Love Awaits
It was the first day of the second semester of junior year as Addison Jackson prepared and calmed her mind. She focused and kept her nerves under control, taking deep breaths as she cleared her mind. She got out of her cousin, Emma’s car--an ugly plum purple PT Cruiser--and closed the passenger door behind her, book bag in her free hand.
Addy slung her vibrant pink bag over her shoulders and rubbed her hands up and down her arms, warming them--a mechanism Addy used to keep herself safe from the emotions of others around her. Breathing out, she could see puffy white clouds of her breath freezing in the cold air before her. All around her, large piles of snow were scattered across the Junior Parking Lot.
“So, I hear we’ve got a new history teacher,” Emma said, getting out of the warm car. She was all muscle and curves with short-styled hair and big puppy-dog brown eyes. Addy nodded, a small nose coming from her throat.
“Bye,” a voice called behind Addy. Turning, she saw her one-year younger brother, Knox. He waved his hand, walking away from the girls, fast. His ear-length dirty blonde hair getting taken by the wind. Addy figured he didn’t want to be seen walking with his eighteen year old cousin, Emma, and sixteen year old sister, Addison, at the beginning of his sophomore year.
“Really?” Addy asked, turning her attention back to Emma. Addy hoped the new teacher wasn’t as horrid as old Ms. Greene. Ms. Greene used to give her students unfeasible homework on the weekends over random sections no one had learned yet; and she graded long, unreasonable, tests over assignments they hadn’t learned. Addy had always figured it was because she was mostly blind and half deaf.
Addy whirled around, her shoulder-blade length hair swirling behind her, to face Emma, who was taller than she--mostly everyone was taller than Addy. “Yeah,” her cousin answered, giving Addy a considerable look before turning to look back in their direction. “I swear,” she muttered. Addy returned her considerable look, smiling, “if I fall on my ass, I’m ditching and blaming the school for a broken butt. Though, if I fall down, I’m definitely not coming back up, I’m gonna’ need a crane,” Addy laughed at her cousin’s dry sense of humor, almost slipping on ice, herself.
As the girls walked through the snowy parking lot, large beads of white plummeting downwards on them, Addy pondered on the news of the new history teacher. She gave a thought to if they were male or female; if they were nice--“Addy, watch out!” A familiar voice brought her out of her thoughts.
Everything moved so fast: She looked over to see her older cousin grabbing onto her arm, pulling her away from the road. A big red pickup truck came plowing through the parking lot, sliding on some ice and almost hitting Addy.
“Thanks. Sorry,” was all Addy could manage, her hands shaking. She felt the coldness surround her body and was suddenly hyper-aware of everything around her. At that instant, she decided to keep her mind on her surroundings instead of the new teacher.
“Are you okay?” Emma asked, glancing to Addy, all the while flipping off the hectic driver.
“Yeah,” Addy breathed, blinking. “Just glad I’m not dead.” Emma grunted at that.
Walking inside the luke-warm school’s building, Addy could feel the cold sting on her cheeks. “See ya!” She called after her retreating cousin.
“Yeah,” Emma replied, parting ways as she walked straight, going to the senior hallway. Addy, however, turned left, making her way down to the junior hallway lockers to find hers.
Addy walked through the fluorescent-lit, wide corridor. All of her Addy’s friends and the people she’d grown up with were walking past her, chatting in large groups, laughing amongst themselves. She could hear the talk of what happened over the four-day weekend, thanks to the snow.
Addy recalled watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer over her break, waking at seven every morning, to re-read The Secret Diamond Sisters by Michelle Madow. She loved school, but wished, at that moment, to be at home, to curl up with a good book, and a nice, warm, cup of coffee to warm her near-frozen throat.
Running a finger through her natural, buttery blonde wavy hair, Addy looked down at the shiny white tiles for a just second--something she always did, only to bump into a solid figure. She knew the halls well enough to know it wasn’t a wall she had bumped into. “Sorry,” Addy sputtered, almost losing her balance--that was something else Addy was working on: Not tripping over her own feet all of the time.
“It’s okay,” the strange boy replied. He was tall and muscular with deep brown eyes and light brown hair styled back, his blush pink lips shaped into a concerned line on his gorgeous face. One of the strands of hair had come loose from his geld hair and fallen into his eye. Addy, breathless, longed to reach up and move it out of his eyes. She loved looking into those beautiful eyes. They held warmth and comfort and everything Addy had longed for. Everything she wanted to do suddenly faded away into nothingness. The world around them melted into blackness as she lost herself in his eyes. She could feel the way he adored her in that moment; the way he was stunned by her beauty. Addy smiled at the feeling. She loved the way his lips curled upwards into a crooked smile, matching her energy.
Blushing, Addy looked away, breaking the loving connection between them. Every noise she’d gone prone to suddenly rushed back all at once. Addy wanted the moment back, but the person had already left.
Addy stood still, unsure of what to do. She looked around, wondering if anyone else had seen the boy, too, before she began walking again. Keeping her head up this time, she drifted off into thought, playing the moment over and over in her head again: The way he had looked at her, with kindness and compassion; the way he had smirked at her smile. She yearned for the way the boy had made her feel complete, how he had made her feel happy. But at that instant, she knew something was coming her way, something unsettling.
She wrapped her arms around herself, shaking off the memory, as if shielding herself from everyone around her, as if the boy had made her vulnerable. Addy wondered who he was? If he was a new student; if he was a senior--or junior, like she--or even a sophomore, like her little brother, Knox, was.
Thinking of Knox, Addy wondered how he was doing? If he’d met up with his friends, yet? She supposed he had, or else he would have found her to stalk her like a prowling wolf until one of his friends showed up. Addy absentmindedly smiled at the thought.
