Meet+Me+in+the+Middle

Since __Miscommunications__ was such a well-liked story with you guys, I decided to start another poem-format story. Enjoy! 2-24-12 __reminisce__ I walked down the hall, running my fingers down the wall. The memories flooded through me like a river cleansing my soul. The tears flowed down my cheeks as easy as the rain. I don’t like this memory, but it’s hard not to forget.

You can’t forget something like this. It’s impossible. It’s painful, but I still try to forget. I’ve learned that it’s harder to forget, because to forget means that the memory has to come back to you.

I continued all the way to the front door. I turn around and fall to my knees, sobbing. It’s too much to remember. It’s too much for me. It’s too overwhelming, but somehow, this memory makes me smile.

__empty__ You can’t forget something. Something so vital to your life. It’s very difficult, but it’s not impossible.

There’s a hole in my heart, because there’s something... something missing. There’s a huge hole, because something big is missing from my life.

How can you feel so empty? How does a person make you feel that way? How do they change your whole perspective of life?

Anyways, I stared out the window with an empty stare, because that’s all I can give to this world now. My whole life is now just... empty.

__forever__ Thirteen years is a long time. Thirteen years is a long time, when you haven’t seen your best friend. Thirteen years is a long time, when you haven’t made a best friend ever since. Thirteen years is a long time of loneliness. Thirteen years is a long time of no friends/acquaintances. Thirteen years is a long time, if you haven’t social. Thirteen years is forever.

2-25-12 __skeptical__ For the past thirteen years, I’ve been skeptical. My mom tells me that she’ll never reply. My dad tells me that she’ll never call back. My older brother tells me that I shouldn’t be strapped down to one girl. My grandma tells me to never lose faith.

My family has never been understanding about my problems, nor my decisions. I believe that she’ll at least send me a letter. Maybe one call. Maybe anything.

I really don’t care about the fact that she moved away, because I never moved on from her.

I’m not convinced that she doesn’t remember me. I’m not convinced that she hasn’t replied to any of my things. I’m not convinced that she doesn’t love me.

__painful__ It’s painful to know that you’re moving. It’s painful to know especially if you’ve been living in an orphanage since you were ten years old. But now, since I’m eighteen, I have to leave.

It’s painful to leave a place that you’ve spent almost half your life in. It’s painful to leave a place you’ve grown into. It’s painful to leave a place that you began to like. It’s painful to leave those who were there that you loved.

__final__ It’s finally my last year of high school. I think that’s pretty cool. Isn’t it? But then again, I have four more years of it. It seems that I can’t get rid of learning. This is my last year with the same people I’ve been going to school with since I was born. Well... most of them.

Anyways, the first day of school is tomorrow, but it doesn’t feel like it should be tomorrow; I feel like it should be the day after tomorrow. Like it makes a difference.

I sat at my desk, trying to crack the code of this conundrum. The question of the day: Why hasn’t she replied to me?

Well, that’s been the question of the day for about thirteen years now. She knows where I live, so why hasn’t she sent me any mail?

My older brother barged into my room, like he would do it any other way. “Here. Some letter came in the mail, but it has no retuning address.” He tossed the letter at me.

I waited until he left, before I made a grab for it. I opened the envelope gingerly and read the fancy script:

“Hey there, long time, no see. I don’t know why, but I’ve been expecting a letter to come into the mail at any point; it never came. As you can obviously tell, this is your used-to-be best friend: Amethyst. I didn’t expect you to know where I live, so I made the first move. I have this feeling that our parents didn’t want us to have any contact with each other. Actually, I never expected you to know where I lived, because I’ve been moving to and fro a lot. Anyways, I just wanted to know how you’re doing and all those casualties. But the reason I wrote this letter wasn’t for all that fluff. I wrote because I want to tell you where exactly I was going to move. It’s not a surprise that I’d be picking this location, but I’m moving back to my favorite town and where my favorite friend lives. Hope to stay in contact this time, Amethyst.”

At the bottom of the letter, she left her phone number and her e-mail address. I added her to my contacts for both.

I reread the letter again because the one thing that perturbed me the most was the fact that she called herself my “used-to-be best friend.” I don’t think I replaced her.

The one thing that excited me was the fact that she was moving back here. That’s something to look forward to.

Finally. She finally replied.

__wonderful__ Wonderful. Just wonderful. I just realized that if I were to move, I need a mode of transportation.

Problem 1: I need to get from here to there.

Problem 2: I don’t know where I’m going to stay.

Problem 3: I don’t have any money to rent a car.

Problem 4: I don’t have any money to ride a bus.

Problem 5: Going along with 3 and 4, I’m flat broke.

Problem 6: I have no friends to hitch a ride with.

This is wonderful. Just wonderful.

I walked into the old building known as the orphanage. The peeling walls and somber looking paint colors were bringing back memories. The creaking floorboards caved under my weight as I walked. The musty curtains brought out dust as the sun shone through the windows. I found my luggage near the kitchen.

All the other kids have been adopted, except for me. It was just me and Mrs. Greenwald. She was getting older, and so was I. Nobody wanted to deal with a teenager, so they just ignored me. They wanted someone that they could mold into their image.

I picked up my luggage and slowly walked to the living room. When I stepped into the room, I noticed Mrs. Greenwald curled up on the couch, sobbing. She clutched a picture in her hands. I came up to her quietly. I gave her a big hug. “What’s wrong Mrs. Greenwald?”

“The only person that I’ve seen grow up into a remarkable young woman is going to leave. The only person that I’ve ever treated like my own daughter is going to leave. You’re going to leave and fulfill your dreams. You’re going to leave and show everybody what a wonderful person you are.”

“Mrs. Greenwald, I’ve always treated you like the mom I haven’t had for the past eight years. I love you as much as a daughter would to her mom.”

“I love you as well.”

An idea came to me. “Hey, why don’t you close the orphanage, become my legal guardian, and come with me? Don’t you think that’d be a win-win situation?”

She smiled through tears. “I guess it would be. I never thought of it that way, but what if there are other children to come?”

“I’ve been the only child here since I was thirteen. Do you think that there’s going to be more?”

“I guess not.”

“Then it’s settled.”

2-28-12 __seeing double__ First week of school has passed already. Still no new girl. Everyone has heard rumors, but no one is definite.

I walked up to Ryan, a friend of mine, and asked, “Hey, do you have any news on this new girl?”

“Well since the principal favors me,” he pointed to himself, “he told me that it’s not one girl, but two.”

“Two?”

He nodded. “The funny thing is that they’re both named Amethyst.”

“Both?”

He nodded yet again. “Yeah. Freaky huh? I think Fate is trying to tell us something. I think that they’re an omen, a sign, indicating that there’s gonna be some trouble with one Amethyst or the other.”

“What makes you say that?”

Ryan shrugged. “It’s some gut feeling.”

“Are you sure it’s not your stomach telling you to feed it?”

“That’s partially it, but I think that these two girls are gonna be trouble for us and fore everyone.” He paused and looked at me shrewdly. “Wait. Why are you so frantic about the new girls?”

I sighed. “One of those Amethysts is my friend. She’s coming back here. She left when she was five, and now she’s coming back.”

“Oh wait. You mean legit Amethyst? The one with purple in her hair and eyes?”

I smiled. “That’s the one.”

“Oh, well, then I’m no help to you at all.”

“Actually, you were. To some extent that is.” I looked around at homeroom. The rumors were that both of them were going to be here. In this particular homeroom. I scanned the room for anybody I didn’t recognize. The bell rang. Still nothing.

“All right class. We have two new students attending this school. Make them feel welcomed.” Mr. Strun motioned to someone at the door. “You can come in Amethyst, and you too Amethyst.”

I leaned forward with everyone else. Two girls entered. Both had black hair. Both had blue eyes. Both dressed relatively the same. It’s either this is a coincidence, or I’m seeing double.

Mr. Strun motioned to the one on the left. “This is Amethyst Saunders.” She looked like my Amethyst, but she wasn’t her. So I guessed that... “And this,” he gestured to the other one, “is Amethyst Wakefield.”

Many whispers spread throughout the classroom, as they recognized the name.

“Is there a problem here?”

Amethyst 2 raised her hand. “Umm... I think I can answer that one. As many of you know already, I’m Amethyst Wakefield. Many of you may not know me. Many of you may not have remembered me. Many of you may recognize me. If you’re the last option, then you remember me from kindergarten.” She smiled sweetly. “I moved away, but now I moved back. Simple as that.”

After class, I tried to reach Amethyst, not Amethyst Saunders, but Amethyst Wakefield. I successfully reached her. “Hey Amethyst. Do you remember me?”

Her brows furrowed. “Umm... hold on.” Her eyes widen with realization. “You’re... you’re Blake Henderson,” she stated awestruck. “You were my best friend.”

“Yeah.” I smiled. Then, my smile dimmed. “Past tense?”

She smiled sheepishly. “Well yeah. I haven’t seen you for thirteen years. We haven’t had any form of contact for thirteen years. So you can assume that I would use the past term because we haven’t seen each other for a long time, not because I don’t like you.”

My shoulders relaxed, but tensed up again. “Wait. We did have contact. Last week. You sent me a letter,” I stated in clipped sentences.

Amethyst looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

My eyes widened. Uh-oh.

__mistaken__ I looked at Blake questioningly. “What are you talking about? I never sent you a letter. I couldn’t have. Mrs. Greenwald didn’t let me. She thought that it was traumatizing for me to bring up my past life.”

“Mrs. Greenwald? Wait. That wasn’t you?”

“Nope. You probably had me mistaken with...” I trailed off as Saunders walked over here. “Amethyst!” I exclaimed with plastic excitement.

“Hey Amethyst.” She didn’t so much as glance at me, because she was too busy checking out... Blake. “Long time, no see huh?”

“It was you?” The shock in his voice prominent.

“Yeah.” She started going on and on about how she... Blah. Blah. Blah.

I left the two of them, and headed to my next class. Hoping that life was still good, because right now, it sucked.

__gentleman__ I didn’t want to be rude, so I continued conversing with Amethyst Saunders. (I really need to come up with nicknames for them. This is too complicated for my simplemindedness.)

I discovered that I actually knew two Amethysts. Saunders, that’s what I’ll call her, was here for a year. The year after Am, that’s what I’ll call her, left.

After fourth period, as I was walking to lunch, I spotted Am shuffling to the cafeteria door. I rushed towards it and opened it for her. See? I’m a gentleman.

She smiled shyly at me. “Thanks,” she mumbled.

I followed after her. “So how do you like it here? Again?”

“I like it... Again.” She grinned.

We got our food and sat down across from each other. I stared at her for awhile, but I looked down, when she sensed me. I ate slowly.

She clanged her fork to the tray. “This is really awkward. Sitting here, with silence wrapping around us. Can we talk about something?”

“Like what?”

She rolled her eyes, like she used to do. “Um... I don’t know,” she said sardonically. “Why did I move here? Um... I don’t know, because I haven’t seen you for, like, thirteen years.”

“Don’t be grumpy with me.”

She laughed. “We haven’t seen each other, so it’s only logical that we fill each other in about what’s happened to us.”

I joined in her laughter. “Yeah.” When our laughs died down, I started. “So you remember Ryan?”

“Wasn’t he...,” she attempted to stifle a laugh, “wasn’t he the one who dressed up like...”

I nodded my head. “Yep. Well, now he and I are friends.”

“No way.” She began giggling. “I’m sorry. It’s just I can’t picture you and him being friends. More like I can’t picture him now.”

“Well, you can discover what he looks like in three... two... one.” I started to chuckle when I saw her eyes go wide. “Hey, man, what’s up?” I gave Ryan a hi-five as he sat down. “Am, as you obviously know, this is Ryan; Ryan, this is Am. Oh yeah, ‘Am’ is what I’m going to call you from now on.”

She scrunched her face up. “That’s what you’ve already been calling me, like since forever.”

“Really?”

“Uh... yeah.” She turned her head to Ryan. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Ryan... again.” Am smiled warmly.

Ryan reached across the table to touch her hair. “Whoa. It’s so soft. Is this seriously your hair or is it dyed or something? It looks so fake that it’s real.”

Am pulled away quickly. “You’re weird, and they are real. One rule to being with a girl is to NEVER touch their hair.” She began stroking her hair gingerly. “So are my eyes. There’s purple in that too.”

‘Hence her name: Amethyst,” I concluded.

“That would make sense.” Ryan ate a fry.

She looked at him incredulously. “No duh!”

I ignored Ryan. “So who’s Mrs. Greenwald?”

Am began twiddling her fingers. “She’s my matron,” she muttered.

“I’m sorry I didn’t hear that.”

“She’s my matron. My parents left me when I was ten. I don’t mean they left the Earth, but I literally mean, they left me. When taking care of me was too much to handle, they left me. I haven’t seen them ever since.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh don’t be. Mrs. Greenwald is now my guardian. She’s super cool.”

“Oh that’s... cool.”

Am stood up. “Well I’m going to leave now. Bye guys.”

I grabbed her wrist. “Wait. See you later?”

She smiled awkwardly. “Of course you are. We... have the same schedule.”

“Oh. That’s right.”

She winked and left.

3-4-12 __not too shabby__ The first day of school... again, was not too shabby. Everybody looked so different, but she looked almost like me. By she, I meant Amethyst Saunders. That’s creepy.

Ryan actually looked kind of cute now. His hair got better. That’s for sure. This time... he wasn’t dressed up like a hot dog. He had a cute smile. He has this curiosity in his eyes that says he won’t drop a subject until he gets the answers he wants. Overall, he was pretty cute. That was a surprise.

Actually, the real surprise was Blake. When he was younger, he wasn’t that cute. Now... Now I really don’t know how to describe him. He’s so... so different. Blake, so far, is still the same little boy I knew thirteen years ago: indecisive, hyper, and still drooling over girls. Most things changed about him. So far, most of those things were physical changes.

His hair used to be spiked up at the front; now he let his bangs grow, and they covered most of this forehead. Speaking of his hair, it used to be light brown, but now it’s a deep shade of brown. His eyes used to have a playful light to them; now they had a flirty tone to them. Especially when he looked at me. He used to have a gap between his front teeth, but now he got that fixed, and it’s almost blinding. Something that’s not fair is that he went through a growth spurt. I used to be taller than him, but now he’s taller than me by a foot. Remember: I’m 5’6”. Anyways, he got smarter. I say “he got” because he wasn’t the brightest when he was five.

For a first day... again, it wasn’t too shabby. The people weren’t too shabby The school wasn’t as shabby as I thought. Other Amethyst may be shabby. Ryan wasn’t too shabby either. Blake... Blake was way more than not too shabby. Definitely not too shabby.

3-7-12 __sprinting__ I hate being late for soccer practice. It’s stupid to be late. Then again, it was my fault. I was talking to Am. That’s what you get for talking to a girl.

Anyways, now I’m stuck sprinting, back and forth, for fifteen laps. One lap being from point A to point B and back again. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s the length of the soccer field I’m running. The problem is that the field is really big, so I’ll be practically dying, when I finally finish. That stinks because: I’m going to be really tired tonight, and I’m going to miss most of the scrimmage.

So I’m sprinting... still. I’m probably on... maybe... lap number eleven. I don’t know. As long as I know that if I ran thirty point A to B laps, then I reached my requirement of fifteen laps.

I was on lap fourteen, when the scrimmage took a halftime break. We get only five minutes, but that’s good enough for me.

I plopped down next to Ryan and grabbed a water bottle. I chugged down the delicious, cold water.

“And exactly why were you late?” Ryan questioned.

I held up a finger to signal him to wait. I crushed the empty bottle, snatched the unopened one in Ryan’s hands, and splashed half of it on my head. “Talking to Am,” I grumbled.

“Aha! And he strikes again today!” Ryan exclaimed. His voice projected so loud that all the guys gathered around.

“What are you talking about?”

“Dude, what else do you think I’m talking about? I’m talking about Amethyst... and Amethyst! You’ve already got both of them under your charm,” Ryan explained. The guys whooped in agreement.

My face was too flushed red for anyone to notice me blushing. “What kind of spell? I’ve only known Am for five years, and Saunders for one year. How could they find me attractive already? It’s only been six hours. Last time they saw me, I was only five or six. What’s the turn on?”

“I don’t know what it is, but I’d like to have some of that magic,” Adam chimed in. All the guys murmured their agreement.

“Which one are you going after? Whichever one you turn down, I’m going to snatch her right up,” Ryan said. Hi-fives went all around.

“Can you even tell them apart?” I countered.

“Now, you see, that’s the freaky part. They were both your best friends. They’re both Amethyst. They both have similar features. They both moved here the same day. They both come to school on the same day. They both have the same schedule. They both like you. I told you already last week. Something about the new girls is going to bring about trouble. Something about them is going to bring trouble to this school, trouble to the seniors, and trouble to you.” Ryan pointed at me, for emphasis.

“What are you? Some psychic?” I retorted.

“No, but I do know what fate is trying to tell us. She’s telling us that there’s a storm brewing.”

The guys muttered their “yeahs”.

“Oh come on. Are you guys just going to agree with everything that Ryan says?”

The guys shook their heads.

“Well now we have that out of the way...” Ryan placed his hands on his head. “What exactly was your purpose of talking to ‘Am?’” He placed air quotes around Am.

I tried to look nonchalant. “Nothing...” I extended the last syllable of the word. “Just your casualties. You know the ‘how you doing?’, ‘do you like the school?’, ‘are you doing fine?’” I shrugged. “You know... the normal person questions.”

“Not buying it!” Jesse yelled.

“I agree with Jesse. Tell us the real reason, while we still have a few minutes.” Ryan motioned for all the guys to sit. “I’m guessing you’re going to take a long time to explain these past events, so we all need to be comfortable.”

I sighed. “Whatever. You’re not going to get that much.”

“Oh please. If it’s coming from you, the story should be interesting,” Tristan stated.

I raised my hands in surrender. “Okay, but to get it from me, you’re going to have to get me.” I stood up and sprinted around the soccer field. Thank goodness Coach blew the whistle to continue the scrimmage.

3-11-12 __i love you?__ I’ve read enough of the lovey-dovey, romance teen novels to know what the definition of “love” means. It’s a strong feeling. So strong that you can only say it to the right person. The only form of love that hurts the most is when you use it in past tense. That hurts real deep.

Obviously, I love Mrs. Greenwald. Obviously, I loved my parents. (I have to use past tense, because I haven’t seen them in about eight years. Don’t get me wrong. I still love them. I just wish that they found a different solution instead of giving me away.)

I used to love Blake. I really don’t know why, but I did. We used to play around and say that we were married. Even outside of the game, I still loved him. I don’t know about now. I’ve already established what I found “attractive” about him. I still don’t know the turn on. It’s only been six hours that I’ve spent with him, after thirteen years, but I felt tingly in my stomach. So do I love him?

I’m definitely not going to do that stupid thing girls do when they’re indecisive. I’m not going to take a flower and pull off it’s petals, while reciting, “He loves me; he loves me not.” Like that has any kind of power to prove emotions. It’s just a way to avoid the choice of what your heart really wants.

Anyways, with that off my chest, I began walking home. I’ve been procrastinating. I didn’t want to go home yet, because ironically, it’s the same house I lived in thirteen years ago. I took a detour at Rita’s. Better get my favorite Italian ice before it closes for the season.

I sat on the bench, eating my ice, while I watched cars go by. I got up to throw my empty cup in the trash, when someone stepped in front of me.

“Funny seeing you here.”

I glanced up to see the familiar face. I squinted my eyes. “Is it illegal for me to be a normal teen?”

Blake sat down on the bench and sighed. “For you it is.”

I resisted the urge to slap Blake and plopped myself down next to him. “I take that as a compliment, actually, because I’m not a normal teen; you know that.”

Blake sat in wonder. “I don’t know. If I knew you, I’d know your favorite flavor of ice.”

“Which is...?” I goaded.

“Root beer.”

My eyes widened, but I realized something. “That proves nothing. You could’ve been watching me for a while. What’s my favorite color?”

“Blue. Light blue, to be exact.”

“Anyone could’ve guessed that. When did I break my arm?”

“Trick question. You never did.”

“Either you’ve been stalking me...” When I noticed his embarrassed smile, the truth smacked me on the face. “I live near Rita’s... So you... But how did you...? Why did she...? What?”

Blake smiled slyly. “Didn’t think I’d remember, huh?”

I was almost rendered speechless. “But how did you...”? I stuttered.

His face was beaming. “It’s something called a brain.” Blake tapped the side of his head. “You should use it sometimes, because it seems that you’ve lost your common sense.”

I was infuriated by him. I clenched my fists, still resisting the urge to punch this guy in the face. I finally found my voice to complete the questions. “Why would Mrs. Greenwald let you inside of my house? How do you still remember where I lived? Why were you asking Mrs. Greenwald stuff about me? Why do you need to know this kind of information? And especially, why do you―”

Blake interrupted. “I can answer all of that in one sentence. You said it yourself: we haven’t seen each other for thirteen years; so what better way than to ask the person who knows you best?”

I exhaled a deep breath. “She doesn’t even know you! For all she knew, you could’ve been a stalker.”

“But I told her we were best friends.”

“So! Anyone could’ve said that. She was taking a gamble by doing that.”

“Calm down. She knew I was telling the truth, because I looked at one of the pictures on the mantle, and I showed her the exact same one. The same one where you and I wrote our names on the back. The same one where you and I stood next to each other, hand in hand. That’s my favorite picture.”

“That was my favorite too,” I whispered. I slowly looked up from my hands to Blake’s face. I saw the surprise in his eyes, but he acted like I said nothing. He stood up, waved to me, and left.

I decided that maybe I love him. I also decided that maybe I hate him. Not the real hate, but that banter you have with a guy. I also decided that, maybe, I just want to be his friend. I wouldn’t say it’s a love/hate relationship. I wouldn’t say we’re on benevolent grounds. I wouldn’t say really anything, but that I’m confused... so... I love you?

__inconspicuous__ When rumors spread around you school about you, you try to act like nothing happened. I always act like nothing happened. Especially when nothing really happened. I act inconspicuous. It’s the only way to survive HHS. That’s Hallaway High School.

I walked down the hallways, with my hand in my pockets, and plastered a smile on my face. If you act timid, or shy, people will certainly notice. If you act like your normal self, nothing will really happen. Most cases.

Ryan being the big mouth he is, told all the guy’s on the soccer team my little encounter with Am. It was nothing special. Just some comments, a banter back and forth, an inquiry, and your everyday teenage stuff.

What’s so gossip worthy? What’s the hoopla? What’s so special about me talking to Am?

Don’t take it the wrong way. I love talking to Am. In fact, I wish she’d stop avoiding me today.

I know this is weird for her too. I know this is not what she encounters with everyday. I know this is all new. To her and me.

I almost made it through the day without being pointed out, but Ryan started hooting at lunch. So did my whole table. So did all the guys on: the soccer team, track team, football team, swim team, lacrosse team... You get the point. Basically, all the guys.

I waved sheepishly, but had my usual grin, as I walked in. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Am ducking her head. I felt real bad for her.

I got my lunch and sat with her. She was alone. Again. I sat across from her and said, “Hey. Mind if I sit here?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“How’s it going?”

“Good.”

“What’d you think of the test?”

She shrugged. “Fine.”

“Can you answer me in more than monosyllabic answers?”

“Yeah.” She smiled shyly. “Sorry. It’s just that... I haven’t had this much attention pointed toward me before.”

“Same. Actually, that was a lie, but I won’t get into that. Sorry ‘bout yesterday. Sorry ‘bout Ryan spreading the news. Sorry ‘bout Ryan in general.”

Am stifled a laugh, but I saw the happiness in her eyes. “I’m sorry for snapping at you yesterday.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “Girls getting angry at me doesn’t surprise me. It’s a way for me to know that they like me.” I shrugged like it was no big deal.

She gave me a look. “Really?”

I noticed the sarcasm in her voice. “Do you have to be so judgmental?”

“It’s my job.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that package came with you.”

“You know very well that that’s not true.”

I raised my hands in surrender. “I’m sorry. Anyways, I’m sorry about Ryan and the guys. Don’t know what got into them.”

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes at me.

Halfway through lunch, she got up and left.

Only then did I realize that Am never snapped at me yesterday.

3-12-12 __identical__ I sat in the far back of the cafeteria. I watched Saunders and Blake talk to each other while they ate. It sort of pained me to watch them. They looked cute together, but then again, Saunders looks just like me. We’re not even related.

When Saunders left, more like stormed off, I was mentally pleased. Then I noticed Blake walking towards me, smiling.

“You guys look almost identical that I couldn’t tell the difference.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not dying my purplish black hair. It’s a unique trait of mine. Why don’t I just wear a t-shirt with my name on it? Oh wait. That’d make me look stupid.”

Blake began laughing. “You guys even act alike. Are you sure you’re not related?”

“Do we look related?” I realized what I just said contradicted my point. “Wrong question. No. We’re not related. I’m an only child. So is she. It’s not possible.”

“But the resemblance is uncanny.”

“I don’t care. As long as I know who I am, and so does she, then we’ll have no problem.” I wasn’t technically yelling at him, but my voice became bitter.

“Okay.” Blake stared off into the distance. “Do you want to hang out with me this Friday?” He asked abruptly.

“That’s if I don’t leave this place first.” I said cynically.

“Oh come on. You wouldn’t leave.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because you know you love me.”

“What?” I was taken aback.

“You know as much as I do that you had a purpose of coming back here. That’s because of me.”

“Are you implying something?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes. Yes I am. I think you love me,” Blake stated matter-of-factly and leaned back in his chair, satisfied.

I just sat there, in a daze. The smug look on his face said it all. He knew it. My cover was blown. I couldn’t think of anything to say for a comeback, so I settled for the truth. “Yes,” I whispered.

Blake’s smile wiped off his face the instant he heard a noise come out of me. “What’d you say?”

“I said ‘Yes.’ It’s my response.” I began blushing.

“You’re going to hang out with me on Friday?”

“That wasn’t what I was answering, but yeah.”

His face conjured to a look of confusion, but when the thought struck him, his face broke into a smile. “So you do love me?”

I wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Yeah,” I muttered.

“Yes! I knew it!”

His response startled me. “What?”

“I knew it. Ever since we were little. You’ve loved me then. You still love me now.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No.” Blake’s smile widened. “In fact, that ‘let’s hang out Friday’ plan was supposed to be an inconspicuous date. Actually, I was going to tell you Thursday night... Or on the actual date. Whatever. I love you too.” He smiled boyishly.

“Well at least we’re identical on one thing,” I murmured, but I put on a smile and said, “Well that saved a lot of time for me to try and get you to love me.”

3-16-12 __T.G.I.F.__ I usually don’t use acronyms, but T.G.I.F. Enough said. That’s all I can say. T.G.I.F.

The excruciating pain of waiting almost killed me. Almost. Talking to Saunders, Ryan, the soccer team, and...Am made it all better. At least I think.

Saunders was almost... flirting with me. Ryan and the team were giving me advice... advice on how to make a good impression on Am. Like I can’t do that by myself? Am was the only one being herself. That’s what I like about her. She’s not afraid to be herself.

I wasn’t looking as I was thinking. So like the klutz I am off the field, I bumped into Am.

3-22-12 __hilarious__ “Ouch! What was that for?” I said.

“Well if you knew I wasn’t looking, then you should’ve moved,” Blake countered.

I opened my mouth, but I closed it again. “Fine. I wasn’t looking either. So whatever.”

Blake grabbed my wrist as if I was about to leave. “Wait. I was actually looking for you.”

“Well I’m here now. So what’s up?”

“I was thinking about...”

I cut him off. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to blow tonight.” My voice sounded hurt.

He smiled. “No. I just want to alter it a bit.”

I squinted my eyes. “How much is ‘a bit’?”

“Not much. A little detour and then off to the park.”

“What’s the detour?”

Blake smiled slyly. “Now that’s a surprise.” He tapped my nose and turned on his heel.

“Are you seriously going to leave me hanging like that?”

Blake turned around and slowed his walking. “That’s the fun part of asking you on a date,” he hollered and turned around again but he bumped into a girl holding a whole stack of books. He caused the girl to drop all her books and papers to fly all over the hallway.

I laughed and jogged over to help. “Watch where you’re going next time Blake.”

“I’m so sorry Tina.”

I looked at her sympathetically. “You should be sorry for knowing him.”

Tina’s eyes held laughter and so did her mouth. She began to giggle.

“Hey! Don’t spread rumors about me like that.” Blake rose from the ground, but banged his head on an open locker door and dropped the books all over again.

Tina and I laughed. I nodded at him, which made my ponytail flop around. “Oh real gentleman like. You didn’t want Tina and me to hit our heads on the locker, so you took the blow instead. That’s the nicest thing a guy has ever done for me. Would you agree Tina?”

“I beg to differ,” Tina chimed in.

I noticed Blake softened to Tina’s words.

“It was the funniest thing a guy has ever done for me.”

I began laughing again. “I agree.” I extended my hand to Blake. “Get up.”

He didn’t take it.

I sighed. “Oh come on.” I grabbed him and pulled him up. I bumped his shoulder. “Blake, it wasn’t funny. It was hilarious.”

3-29-12 __advice__ Not only was that moment in the hallway excruciatingly painful, but it was embarrassing. Not in front of Tina. I’m glad she’s finally opening up. It was embarrassing in front of Am.

This may sound weird, but she makes me feel... she makes me feel... ...insecure...

It sounds ridiculous. Especially because I’ve only known her for about... a week...?

Anyways, I still have to explain the total humiliation of my life. Where was I? Oh yeah, she makes me feel insecure because... because she’s so perfect, and she’s so out of my league. She makes me feel like I don’t deserve her, which I don’t. That’s the problem.

Saunders looks exactly like her, but she doesn’t make me feel the same way.

I was walking down the hallway, after my encounter with Am and Tina, when I realized that I didn’t have anything to wear for tonight. I needed to go to an expert on this.

Ryan would be no help. Adam... Adam is too busy. Plus, he hasn’t had a date yet, technically. Jesse is too busy with trying to get Raina to notice him. It’s sort of sad because she is completely in love with Zac. No shot dude. Tristan... well I don’t want to bother him, because he’s incognito at the current moment. (Promised I wouldn’t tell, so sorry.) That’s four guys already. Xavier... yeah... He’ll help me for sure. He’s got no problems at the current moment. The best thing is that he has free period with me.

I walked briskly down the hallway to our favorite place to hang out: the courtyard. I found him sitting, desperately searching for someone.

“Hey Xavier.”

He looked up towards me. “Hey dude,” he grimaced.

“Whoa. If I didn’t know any better, I wouldn’t know that Rachel was on your mind.”

Xavier lowered his gaze.

“I’m messing with you. You’ll get her sooner or later.”

He smiled. “Thanks. So what’s up?”

I laughed nervously. “You see... You know Amethyst Wakefield?” I waited for a nod of recognition. “Well...you see... I asked her on a date?”

“I don’t see the problem here.” Xavier had a look of confusion.

“I was so excited that I forgot something important.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know what to wear.”

Xavier laughed. “Chill. That’s pretty simple. Wear something comfortable, something nicer than what you usually wear, and most importantly, something that screams out you.”

I nodded. “Okay. Cool. Thanks.” I noticed his worried face. “Dude. Calm down. The excruciating pain is over. It’s okay. You know Rachel. She’ll come back to you. No matter how much you screwed up.” I paused. “Scratch the last part. That was mean. Anyways, if you really love her, she’ll come back to you. Besides, I’ve heard that she still loves you. So keep waiting. Sooner or later, you guys will meet in the middle.”

__first date__ Calm down, Am. It’s just Blake and you hanging out at the park... just the two of you... It’s okay. Stop having such a freak out.

I stared at myself in the mirror, the ones you can see your whole entire body in. I’ve been sitting on my bed, excessively brushing my hair. I was so nervous. This was my very first date. No lie. I’m a senior and I haven’t had my first date yet. Until now. How sad is that?

My hands were shaking. My throat began to constrict. My heart was beating faster. I felt cold all over. Is this what a guy can do to you?

Mrs. Greenwald knocked on my door and entered with a huge smile on her face. “He’s here.”

3-31-12 __freaking out__ I was in my car, giving myself a good pep talk that my dad could never give me. “You can do this Blake. One date. You’ve done this seven times already. You can do it an eighth... But it’s Am... She’s just so... So...” I shook my head vigorously and punched the steering wheel. “Get it together man!”

Just then, my phone vibrated. Then vibrated again... and again... and again... and again... It was shaking for a good two minutes. Twenty new text messages.

I read all of them and they were all the same. Each one came from a different person, but the message was the same. It was odd. The guys were wishing me luck. They’ve never said that to any girl I’ve dated. None of them.

I pulled down the visor and flipped open to the mirror. I checked my hair out. I usually never bothered, but I wanted to make sure it looked good. Or nice at least. I did my pretty good version of a Bieber hair flip and walked out of the car.

I slowly walked up the steps. Step. By. Step. One. At. A. Time. Deep. Breaths. Inhale. Exhale. I inched my finger towards the doorbell, but I decided to use the knocker. Ha ha. I can’t believe these things still exist.

Mrs. Greenwald opened the door with a huge grin on her face. “Come in Blake. It’ll only be a minute. I’ll get Amethyst. Take a seat.”

I sat down on the couch and twiddled my thumbs. I sat there for about... five minutes. I just sat there until I heard footsteps.

__ditto__ I walked down the stairs to see a very nervous Blake. Compared to me, he was actually playing it cool.

I was at the brink of sweating. I was excessively blinking at this point. I was biting my lip. I couldn’t meet Blake’s eyes directly. I was scratching my leg with my ankle on the other leg. I was gripping my hands so tight my knuckles turned white. I was freaking out.

Blake glanced up, noticed me, and stood up abruptly. He blushed. “Um... hey.” Awkward silence. “You look great.”

I continued to bite my lip. “Er... thanks.” I shrugged. “You look amazing yourself.”

He looked down. He didn’t expect to earn a better compliment.

Darn. I’m so stupid. “You wanna go now?”

“What? Oh. Yeah. Sure.”

Blake opened the door for me. “Have a good evening Mrs. Greenwald. I promise to bring her back by ten o’clock.”

She winked at Blake and walked into the kitchen.

What was up with that? I stepped out of the door and sauntered down the sidewalk. I was about to be splashed by a puddle, but Blake steered us away from being too close to the road. “Thanks,” I mumbled.

We strolled down the sidewalk in a silence that blanketed us in darkness and shrouded us from the sounds of the night.

He sighed. “You know, you could talk.”

“I know,” I muttered. “It’s just that... Never mind. Forget it.”

“No I won’t forget it. I don’t like it when people say ‘Never mind’ and try to avoid the subject. There’s something on your mind.”

“It’s just that... I was... nervous. So nervous it was like I was meeting my death. I’ve only known you for a week, not counting the first five years of my life, and I’m already self-conscious.”

“I make you nervous?” he asked incredulously.

I punched him on the shoulder lightly. “You know what I mean.”

“But me? You’re the one that makes me nervous. You saw me earlier. I’ve become a klutz, because of you.”

“And that’s supposed to be a good thing?” A tint of pain in my voice spurted out.

“What? No!” Blake exhaled deeply. “What I mean is that every time I see you, I get nervous. When I get nervous, I can’t think straight. When I can’t think straight, I become a klutz.” He scratched his head, but it just made his hair more perfect. “I hope I didn’t just scare you.”

I stopped walking. I didn’t know what to say. My response would sound stupid compared to that.

“Oh no! I did scare you.” Blake kicked the bench in the park, while he said, “Stupid, stupid, stupid!” He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

I rushed towards him and pulled his arms down. “Whoa. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.” To calm him down, I wrapped my arms around him, in a hug, behind him. I didn’t feel awkward at all. “You didn’t scare me. Not one bit. I didn’t answer because I didn’t know how to. I would sound really stupid and I’d ruin the moment. So stop beating yourself up and turn around to face me.”

Blake turned instantaneously. I wasn’t expecting it to be that quick, so we ended up just a hairsbreadth away from each other’s face. “Hey,” he whispered.

“Hey,” I breathed. I locked eyes with him.

We just stood there. None of us making a move. None of us moving apart. Just in the moment. Staring at each other. Holding each other. Doing nothing, but treasuring this moment.

I got tired of waiting. I stood on the tips of my toes, laced my arm behind his neck, and pulled him into a kiss. What felt like hours was only minutes.

Both of us didn’t want to pull away, so we both did, at the same time.

I couldn’t believe I just did that. I stared at the ground. “Whoa.” That was all I said.

“You’ve got that right.”

__gossip__ If you think that girls can talk up a storm, stay awhile with a group of guys. You wouldn’t believe how much we talk.

So it’s Saturday. I’m hanging out with the guys. At the park. The same exact spot where I had my first kiss. With Am. (Senior already, and still haven’t had my first kiss. Upsetting? Yes. Worth the wait? Heck yeah!)

The guys wanted a play by play on the whole entire date. It was crazy, but I needed to tell someone about my date. I wondered how Am was coping with this. For some odd reason, I was enjoying this.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me get this straight,” Ryan paused. “She made the first move?”

I blushed. “Um... yeah. Is that a problem?”

“Heck no!” Austin exclaimed. “It means that the girl has guts.”

The guys whooped their agreement.

“I can’t believe you guys barely talked though,” Ryan stated, after the yelling died down.

“Who said you had to talk on a date?” Adam pointed out.

“I do!” Ryan exclaimed.

“No wonder you don’t get dates,” I replied.

“Hey! I’m like you. I’m waiting for the right girl.”

“Right...”

“Don’t make fun of me.” Ryan decided to change the subject. “So what’d you do when you dropped her off?”

“Nothing. I said ‘Hi’ to Mrs. Greenwald, told Am I had a wonderful time, hugged her, and then left.”

“Booo-riiinngg,” Ryan extended the word. “Be interesting. Don’t be like other guys.”

“I want to be a gentleman when I’m with Am. I want to be a gentleman in front of Mrs. Greenwald as well.”

“Pretenses!”

“No pretense, just my personality. You should find yours too Ryan.”

The guy all yelled out “Ohh!”

“Did you follow my advice?” Xavier asked.

“Yeah. Yeah I did.”

“You got advice from him?” Ryan said incredulously. “From Xavier? And not me?”

“Hmm... Let’s think about the question for a minute. He’s been on a few dates with Rachel, and you haven’t even danced with a girl yet. Weigh out who would be better on the topic. Oh yeah, Xavier won.”

“I feel hurt.”

“Should be. Nailed you right in the stomach with the soccer ball.” I smiled.

4-1-12 __talk of the town__ Monday was terrible. I mean, Monday was already terrible, but this takes the cake.

Somehow... the news about my date spread throughout the entire school. Attention shifted gears from Xavier and Amanda to Blake and me. Not much to talk about at this school then.

It was stupid! I was getting all this weird glances. It freaked me out. I don’t like all this attention. It creeps me out.

Oh... but wait... here’s where everything starts to go downhill.

I was so freaked out that I bumped into someone. Amethyst.

4-10-12 __complicated__ “Well our relationship is complicated,” I said.

“What’s so complicated?” Ryan retorted.

“Well... I don’t know...” I stood there frustrated. “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s...complicated.”

“Oh really?” Ryan placed his hands on his hips. “What’s so ‘complicated’ about taking her on a date everyday, eating lunch with her everyday, talking with her everyday, taking walks everyday, studying together everyday, and basically all that other stuff. How is that relationship complicated if it’s so solid?”

“Ugh! It just is!”

“Well, Mr. Angry Pants, that’s not a very good explanation.”

“What do you want to hear? That I’m madly in love with Am, and she might not feel the same way? That I’m scared if I tell her that, she’ll leave me forever? That I’m afraid of losing her, if that happens? That I wish that she would feel the same way? That my mind is messed up right now with all these conflicting feelings? What is it you wanted to hear?”

“Boy, that is complicated.”

I blew out a long breath and sat down on a bench. “I never knew love was this difficult.”

“It’s a scary ride that we all have to face one point in our lives.”

“Yeah, but couldn’t it be simpler?”

Ryan placed his hand on my shoulder. “If love was easy, I’d be married by now.”

I laughed. “I guess it just has to be that way then, huh?”

“Yep.”

__pen pals__ “I’m so sorry,” Saunders replied. “Can’t get my head out of the clouds.”

“It’s okay. Just heading to lunch. I’m so hungry I wouldn’t care if I rammed a couple of students along the way.”

Saunders smiled. “I wouldn’t either. Could I sit with you at lunch?”

“Sure. That’s if you don’t mind me talking to a bunch of students from around the globe.”

“You have pen pals?”

“Sort of. It started out that way. Then, they became my friends. I talk to them on the computer, on the phone through texts and calls, and I actually meet them. It’s really cool. I’ve been to every continent, except Antarctica.”

“That’s so cool! Who are you talking to today?”

“It’s a girl from Kenya. Her name is Kenya. She’s named that because her family has lived there for generations. Kenya was extremely ill, when she was born, so her parents prayed to their ancestors, and she was very lucky to have survived.”

Saunders eyes brightened up. “Could I meet her?”

“Yeah. I’m sure she would love that. I’m teaching her English, but she’s such a quick learner. She understands basically everything I tell her.”

We walked to the cafeteria, got our lunches, and sat down.

I pulled out my laptop and logged on. “I only get to talk to Kenya around this time, so I asked the principal if I could use my laptop during lunch to talk to her. When he heard I had a pen pal in Africa, he wouldn’t say no.”

“Maybe I should get a pen pal.”

“It’s really sad though. She’s getting her education through me, because her parents can’t afford it. So Kenya is already working at the age of eight.”

“Eight? I was only pretending that I had a job when I was that age.” Saunders had a look of sympathy.

I got the video chat set up and then a screen popped up, with a little girl smiling at me. I smiled and waved. “Hello Kenya. How are you doing?”

“Very well. How are you today?”

“I’m great. I can honestly tell you that your English is almost better than mine.”

Kenya laughed at that.

“I have a friend I want you to meet.” Saunders popped into the screen. “Kenya, this is Amethyst. Amethyst, this is Kenya.”

“Amethyst? Isn’t that your name?”

“Yes it is,” I replied. “Freaky huh? We could be twins.”

Kenya sat there in silence. “How’s that possible? How can you look identical, without being related to each other? That’s like some omen.”

I crinkled my nose. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“It could be good or bad. It depends. You two: with the exact same name, with identical appearances, and attending the same school, is an omen. This is not a coincidence.”

Saunders moaned. “Please don’t tell me that this is one of those weird prophecy thingies.”

“Well it’s not a prophecy, but I have a feeling that something will happen between you two.” A call was coming from the background. “That’s mother. I have to wash the clothes. See you tomorrow Amethyst!”

__how to: ask a girl out__ I know they don’t create tutorials for this kind of thing. Maybe they do, but probably not good ones. I’m not going to even ask a guy of this generation for advice on this. I know I’ve already asked a girl on a date... eight times, but this is majorly different. I’m asking a girl out to prom.

Scary huh? Well that’s my feeling right now except with that little factor of I’m on the brink of soiling my pants. Yeah.

So right now, I’m just pacing. Back and forth. Back...and forth...

This is very difficult. It’s almost impossible to me. I’ve always gone to prom alone. Shocker right? Anyways, this is my first, and last, year that I’m going to ask a girl to prom. It’s going to be Am.

There it goes again. My stomach. It keeps fluttering. Every single time I mention...her. I can’t even say her name without electricity zapping my veins. Weird huh?

Focus! Focus Blake. The real goal is Am. For her to go to prom... with you. But how?

Should I just ask her? No. Too simple. I can hear Ryan laughing now. Should I pull some stunt off? Too time consuming. Should I do something like Xavier? Unoriginal. What to do....what to do?

An idea so brilliant came into my mind that I’m pretty dang sure that a lightbulb was over my head.

I scribbled some stuff down on a piece of paper and got to work.

__riddles__ I came to school the next day with everyone buzzing about the prom next week. Decorations were being made. Posters/flyers were hanging all over school. There’s even this buzz about Rachel... I’m going to ask her about it later.

Anyways, from past experiences, I’ve noticed that guys do spontaneous things each year to ask a girl out. Every year, they get crazier and crazier.

I opened my locker and a note floated to the ground. It was light pink and smelled like sweet pea. My favorite.

The note said: “To find your next clue, you’ll have to look under a stool. That’s not in science nor in art. It’s in the room with a cart.”

Nobody placed their name on it. The writing was difficult to identify. I just shrugged and followed the note. I wandered around the school. (I can do that because it’s still homeroom.)

I got frustrated because many rooms had stools and carts. I reread it again, and then the thought struck me. Where’s the one place I hide when I’m upset? In a closet.

There’s a bunch of janitor’s closets, but if science and art were brought up, then there’s only three on that floor. I rushed towards the one near science and I found nothing. I walked briskly to the one closest to art, and still nothing. I finally went to the last one on this floor, and right under the stool was another light pink slip.

It said: “You Sherlock you, but you’ll have to think harder for the next clue. It’s in the courtyard on an old tree, but not the one filled with bees.”

The bell rang. I sighed. I have to go to class now. I have to wait until I make a commune to P.E., which is period 3. I can make it.

After calculus, which is not fun, I rushed towards the courtyard. I looked on each tree, except the one with the bees. I found it on the one closest to the direction of the gym.

After P.E., I quickly scanned the note.

“You’re getting closer each time. The next note will be the last one you’ll find. I hid this one in a specific book. If you use the easy way, it’s not that hard to look.”

During lunch, I brought all my books and used the only method I knew. I held both ends of the cover. Then, I flipped the book upside down so that the pages flapped. Thus, creating any loose papers to fall out. I checked all of my textbooks, but why would this person put it there? I checked all my books, but I didn’t find anything. I checked my Nicholas Sparks book, and something finally fell out. The last riddle!

On the paper was written: “Congratulations on finding this note. I bet you’re wondering who’s the one who wrote all these riddles for you to find. To find out who it is, just look behind...”

I turned around slowly, scared of who it might be. In front of me was Blake on his knees, with a bouquet of light pink peonies.

4-13-12 __proposal(not what you think)__ I was smiling at Am, with a bouquet of pink peonies. I knew she was allergic to almost every kind of flower, except peonies. Because of that, she loved the light pink ones. “I’m glad you followed the riddles I left around.”

“You’re the one who did this?” she asked, awestruck.

“Yeah. I know I’m not the most creative, but this is what I thought of.”

“Why would you do this?”

“So I can ask you something.” I took a deep breath. “Amethyst Ingrid Wakefield, will you go to prom with me?”

The first thing that came out of her mouth was “How do you know my middle name?”

I laughed. “That’s your first concern? Who do you think?”

“Mrs. Greenwald is such a traitor!”

“She helped me! I don’t think that’s a felony. Anways, are you going with me or not?”

“Well... you went through all this trouble, just for me. I find that flattering. Plus, you spent time to make little riddles for me. You even brought me my favorite flowers, which was probably Mrs. Greenwald’s doing.”

“Nope. Knew that all by myself.”

Am’s eyes brightened.

“Really? Well, then I can’t say no. I’m going to say yes. Yes, I’ll go to prom with you.”

I got up, placed the flowers on the table, and hugged her. “Yes! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

She laughed. “Darn. I should’ve said no.”

“No! No you shouldn’t have! I would’ve been devastated with the rejection, humiliation, and the fact that you don’t like me.”

Am gave me a look of confusion. “The first two I understand, but I wouldn’t reject you if I didn’t like you. I’ve already stated like... I don’t know a few months ago that I loved you. Why wouldn’t I like you?”

“Because you saw the real me,” I muttered.

Am grinned. “I am seeing the real you, and the real you is what you’ve been the whole time. So basically, that argument is irrelevant. You’ve got ten seconds to come up with a better reason.” She glanced at the clock and said, “And... go!”

“Well I was afraid that you would get to know me better, and when you saw that, you’d leave me. I was afraid that thirteen year gap would change your thoughts about me,” I said all in one rush because I thought my ten seconds would run out if I divulged my true feelings.

“I was kidding with the timer, but you had about half a second to spare. Congrats on that, but there’s nothing to be afraid of.” She tilted her head to the side. “There never was.” Am turned around and sniffed the peonies. “These smell so nice!”

“So do you.”

Am’s brows furrowed. “You know what I smell like? Because what I smell is a weird mixture of soap, sweat, and bizarre chemicals. That’s not so pleasant.”

I inched towards her hair. “I was talking about your hair you smart one. That smells nicer than your body odor.”

Am pushed my shoulder and began fiddling with her hair. “You don’t talk about my hair like that.” She faced me and changed the subject. “So, about prom... Do you want to match or do you just want to wear anything. One thing’s for sure, just be yourself.”

“Well, last year, Xavier and Rachel were wearing matching lavender. We don’t have a signature color, so why don’t we go our separate ways, but pick colors that go together. I don’t want to do blue and pink. What I mean by that is blue and pink together. We can still keep those as color options, but I don’t want them together.”

“Oh... look who’s stepping up to the plate with color coordination.” Am began clapping. “Good job. Kidding aside, I would have to agree with you. It’s just too cliche.”

“I definitely want you to wear purple, because it brings out the violet in your eyes and in your hair.”

Am blushed. “Um...thanks. I want you to wear blue because that’s the color of your eyes and it’s just compatible with you. It’ll make your eyes bluer and it’ll bring out your hair more. I don’t want you to wear a blue tux, but at least a quarter of what you’re wearing should consist of blue.”

“Maybe we should go shopping together this Friday.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Deal?”

Am smiled wryly. “Deal.”

4-22-12 __shopping with a guy__ I’m in a very awkward position, in which I’m shopping for my prom dress with a guy. Shopping with a guy is difficult already, but this is beyond tricky. We decided to shop for his outfit first, because that seemed easier. I mean, there’s like only fifty different shades of blue to pick from.

“I feel ridiculous,” Blake stated.

“Oh come on. You don’t look that bad.” I looked at Blake a little longer, and decided. “Never mind. You’re right. Try something different. Remember: think you.”

Blake sighed and returned to the dressing room.

We sat in the store for about two hours, scouring every shelf for Blake’s outfit for prom.

“Are you even trying?” I asked, exasperated.

“Yeah I am,” Blake answered from behind the door. “This isn’t that easy.” He bursted out of the door and slowly turned around. “Is it okay?”

I gawked at him. I shook my head and replied, “Okay? It’s better than okay. It’s you.”

Blake was rocking the skinny jeans and suspenders look. The jeans were so dark washed that they appeared to be black. The suspenders were in a blue-green stripe pattern. He had a slim-fitting white button down, and he had it tucked into his jeans. Blake even had a tie on and it was blue-green striped as well. He looked so hot that I didn’t even care that he was wearing his converse.

He smiled at me. “Stop doing that.”

I shook my head. “Wait. What am I doing?”

“You’re staring at me.”

I blushed and stared at the ground. “Sorry.” I stood up abruptly. “Well, if you like that outfit, then let’s go buy it. Change back and meet me at the cash register.” I walked out and approached the cashier.

“I’m sorry to be prying, but is he your boyfriend?”

I looked startled, but then I smiled. “Sort of...but not really. Why do you want to know?”

“He’s a keeper. He’s actually letting you dress him up. Plus, he’s very cute. Don’t worry. I’m not taking him from you; I’m already taken.” The cashier girl smiled sweetly.

I squinted as I read her name tag. “Rosa... You sound very familiar. Do you go to Hallaway High?”

“I did. Class of 2010. I was valedictorian for my class. It was pretty cool. Hallaway High was a really great place for memories.”

“I know.”

“Well... it looks like your greatest memories is approaching.”

Blake plopped the stack of clothes onto the counter. “I’m glad I got that nightmare over with.”

Rosa and I both laughed.

Blake’s state of confusion added to the laughter.

After I paid, I grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of the store. “We’re not over yet. We still have five hours until closing. We’ll need all the time to find my dress.”

Blake groaned. “Can’t we do that another day?”

“Nope. If you want it over with, we gotta do it today. Right now. So suck it up and be a man about it.”

“Oh great...”