Just Another Teenage Romance Story (short story) part 3

Holly sees Melvin across the quad and runs off towards him without so much as a wave to me. I'm kind of annoyed, but I ignore the feeling and walk toward my locker. This girl with the locker under mine is seriously struggling, coming close to spilling her coffee about five times just in the one minute that I see her spinning the lock this way and that over and over, pounding her fist on the metal every time the door won't budge. I walk up just in time to catch her paper cup as her coffee wobbles the sixth time, and I say to her, "Need some help?" She blushes and pushes her hair behind her ear with the hand now free from her coffee cup, and then she struggles to lift all her binders with her as she stands. I raise my eyebrows at the huge stack and say, "Maybe you should get a backpack." She laughs like I've just cracked the funniest joke since last Saturday's Weekend Update and I raise both my eyebrows and squat down in front of her locker, wanting to get this girl moving as quickly as possible so that I can get my books and get to first period. "What's your combo?" I ask. She doesn't say anything for a moment, and when I look up at her she's blushing again, as if the number I just asked her for was the one you use to reach her cell. "Your combo?" I repeat. She laughs nervously and says, "Oh, um," she lowers her voice as if anyone walking in this hallway really cares what her the combination to her locker is and tells me, "36-21-40." I spin the lock appropriately and pull up on the little handlebar, and the locker swings open. Her face breaks out into a smile and she says thank you to me before ducking down and stuffing two binders from her pile into the metal safe, only to replace them with three more, slam the door with her foot, and grab her coffee from me with a shy smile before scuttling away. I look after her for just a moment before shaking my head and turning back to my own locker, just in time to hear the bell ring, so kindly informing me that I'm late for class. I slam my head against my locker.

***

Sean sits next to me in English first period, but it's not as if he'll pass notes with me. Instead, he stares at the board, focused and copying everything down as quickly as possible as our teacher discusses the much-too-common topic of the loss of innocence. I love this class, but I've hear this speech before, and I space out, staring at the birds jumping around outside the door, waiting around for our lunch period, when we'll leave them all the scraps they've been craving. Sean notices my spacing and nudges my shoulder, "Better copy this down," he whispers, hurriedly as if he's worried he'll get in trouble, "It's important." I smile at him and pick up my pencil to satisfy his nerves, but I only doodle little sketches of birds pecking at a PB&J. I really like Sean, maybe even love him, and I know I love being with him, but at the same time dating him has really opened my eyes to why girls don't date nerds, other than the fact that they're nerdy. Jocks might not have in-depth conversations with you about life and literature and music, (though the conversations Sean and I have about music only go well if we're both talking about classical, the only genre we can agree on, and I think even then he kind of accepts my love of movie scores only because he's glad I'm listening to something without lyrics,) but they will give you back rubs in class and ignore there homework to take you to movies and concerts, and wrap there arm around your shoulders while you walk. Sean on the other hand... we have study dates more than normal dates, he never so much as holds my hand, and if we went to the movies, he'd take me to a documentary. The places he takes me on dates... I mean, on one hand they're kind of fun, the planetariums and space shuttle museums, but I have to draw the line at presidential libraries. I mean, sometimes I wish he'd just take me to a ball game or mini golf or at least bowling or something. As we pack up our bags he hands me a book, a paperback copy of Orwell's 1984, and I smile at him and remember why I love this relationship.

***

© 2011