Story Nine: First Love

Mrs. Boren’s lecture wasn’t enough to keep me entertained. I doodled on my notebook as she droned on about stress and how to deal with it. Health was the dullest class of the day, which was why people called Boren Mrs. Boring instead.

I looked behind me and caught someone’s gaze. A lock of golden brown hair flopped into his green eyes, and he grinned, rolling his eyes. I smiled back. When I turned back around, I caught the eye of my friend, Ariana. She gave a knowing smirk, her shiny brown hair shining in the light. I saw Garrett staring at her and purposely looked his way. She shook her head at me. When I looked to the right, I caught the glare of Kayla Landis, one of the least popular girls of the school. All this led me to glance back at the boy behind me.

The bell rang, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Have a good weekend, and remember not to let stress get to you!” reminded Mrs. Boren. Everyone mumbled a quick, “Yes, Mrs. Boren,” and fled. I was immediately cornered by three people.

“That was boring,” he stated.

“Yeah, Cody. Because we all know you’re the most interesting thing there is,” Ariana commented dryly. “At least to Lexie here.” I glared at her.

“Uh, excuse me, but I’d like to talk to Cody.” Kayla pushed me aside, her bushy brown ponytail slapping me in the face. She looked at Cody and batted her eyelashes. I gagged, and Cody laughed.

“Why do you need to talk to me?” he questioned, his eyes sparkling. Kayla’s cheeks tinged red, making her chubby face look like an apple.

“It’s about the homework.” She smiled, her braces glinting in the light. I was so glad that I had gotten mine off in seventh grade.

“Go ahead, Cody.” I smiled. “I have Spanish next, anyway. It’s convenient since you have a class with Kayla.”

“Adiós,” he said, grinning. I blushed at nothing in particular. He gave me a hug, his curly hair rubbing against my face.

“Bye,” I said, and we parted, Kayla clinging to him, asking tons of questions.

“Why don’t you guys just start dating?” Ariana rolled her eyes as we walked into the dark Spanish classroom. I ignored her.

“Hola mija,” Señora Martinez greeted. We both said hello too and walked to our seats. Señora Martinez had been generous and allowed us to have seats next to each other.

“Why don’t you and Garrett date? I’m tired of him making goo-goo eyes at you.”

“You know why, and ew! Remember what he did? And to whom?” Ariana was suddenly preoccupied with taking out her composition notebook and pen.

“Matt Hastings? Come on, Ariana! He’s gone!” I threw up my hands. It was always Matt. But my patience in him had dwindled when he got expelled. Only an idiot would bring a knife to school when rules were so readily enforced. But Matt would have gotten away, except for the fact that Garrett had ratted him out.

“Okay, Ariana. Maybe Garrett is to blame. But come on! He was just doing the right thing.” I tried to look attentive as Señora Martinez told us about the new Spanish posters we had to make in class.

“Don’t take that jerk’s side.” She snorted, flipping her brown hair.

“Argh, stop being so difficult. It’s very easy to understand that you’ll never see Matt again-”

“Omigosh, did you hear?” Hannah Anderson squealed as she plopped down in a seat near us. “Matt Hastings is back! Guess he didn’t get expelled after all.”

“Nice timing, Hannah,” I hissed.

“Really?” Ariana exclaimed. Señora Martinez shot us an amused look as she passed out the markers and poster paper. I immediately grabbed a blue marker and started writing.

“Muchas gracias, Hannah,” I said sarcastically.

“Why do you hate Matt so much?” Ariana asked, joining me with a pink marker. Hannah kneeled down, obviously keen for the answer.

“Sometimes I don’t think he’s the brightest light bulb in the basket.” Hannah chortled at my metaphorical term.

“Just because he isn’t as smart as you doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of a relationship.”

“Yeah, well, don’t take my advice then. Hey, you’ll have a partner for the swing dance competition.” I picked the fact that would cheer her up the most.

Ariana perked up. “Yes! Now I don’t have to go with Garrett!”

“Aw, great. He’s going to be heartbroken when you dump him,” I complained.

“It’s not dumping. And dancing with him felt like an invasion of my personal space.” There was a huge smile stretching across her face. “How about you? Have you asked Cody yet?”

I focused on the huge star I was drawing. “No…”

“What do you mean?”

“Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if I danced with him and sucked at it?”

Ariana sighed in annoyance. “Lex, you can’t suck that much. And if you do, it’s the boy’s fault. Cody isn’t a genius at dancing, but you need to ask him before some other girl does. His looks and popularity are very enticing, you know. They’ll come like flies to honey. There’s always Garrett, too.” She snickered.

I grimaced at the comparison and her last words. “I wish he’d ask me.”

“Garrett?” Hannah recoiled at my expression. “Oh! Him! He will. Soon.” There was a devilish grin on Hannah’s face. This was when I remembered that she and Cody were well connected.

“You guys are twins. He tells you everything! What’s he planning?”

“Whoa, whoa. Don’t get in my face like that. I’ve already given too much away. You’ll have to wait and see.” She delicately plucked a green marker from the box and started drawing.

I groaned. “You’re a fat lot of help.”

“I try.”

The bell rang, and we picked up our finished poster to hand in. Senora Martinez grinned at us. “Chicas bailas con guapos, verdad?”

“Sí, señora,” Ariana and Hannah chorused. I sighed.

“Yes, the end of school!” Cody celebrated when he met up with us, along with Peter, the boy that Hannah would be dancing with.

“Chill, buster. There’s still two more weeks left until spring break” Hannah slapped his backpack, being older than him by one minute.

Cody deflated. “You had to remind me,” he joked.

“Hmm, Cody, you remember you had something to do today?” Hannah said, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah! Sorry, Lex, but I’m going to be gone for today with Hannah here.” Cody winked and then turned around, dragging Hannah off to his convertible.

“Way to be subtle,” I heard her say. Cody just laughed.

“Omigosh, I’m dying of curiosity now! Curse Hannah.”

“Ha, have fun ‘dying’ before you even get the surprise.”

“You know too? Are you serious? Why am I the clueless one?” I stomped my foot like a third grader.

“Um, because you’re the one who’s getting the surprise?” Ariana rolled her eyes.

“I hate surprises,” I muttered.

“Trust me, you’ll love this one.” I heard the abstract tone in her voice and saw her gaze on a shaggy blond haired boy walking into one of the buses. “C’mon.” Without another word, she grabbed my arm and started pulling me toward the bus.

“Ariana!” I complained. “I thought we were walking home!”

“The bus is much faster,” she said distractedly. I pulled out two bus passes and slipped them in the slot.

“Thanks,” Ariana said, still not paying attention to her surroundings. She probably would’ve fallen out the window if I wasn’t leading her.

“You so owe me,” I said, but I don’t think she heard me.

We sat down in a seat two away from where Matt sat, talking to Garrett.

“Garrett and Matt? You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I muttered. I didn’t want to be in the middle of a war over pretty, skinny, brunette Ariana. Maybe they wouldn’t notice us until we got off the bus…

“Lexie!” Garrett came over. No such luck. “Ariana! A double surprise!”

“Hey, Ariana.” Now Matt was leaning over both of us, his eyes dark and mysterious. It was impossible to read the emotions behind them.

“I was just talking to Matt about how we’re doing the swing dance together.” Garrett smiled happily. I was kind of annoyed at the smirk on his face. He was very clear about Ariana and Matt’s history.

“A loss,” Matt said. He shrugged. “Garrett’s lucky.”

Ariana’s face was pinched, and she looked like she had just sucked on a lemon. I felt sorry for her, but what could you do? My mind had been changed about Garrett. He was definitely not the suitable match for Ariana.

“Oh, this is our stop. And Garrett? I don’t think I’m going to do the swing dancing competition with you. It’s just too difficult.” Ariana quickly pulled the string at a stop miles away from home. I realized it was where the Andersons lived.

Ariana yanked me to my feet and pulled me out the door.

“I can’t believe this! I hate Garrett!” She shook her head in disgust. “Unbelievable.”

“I think you gave it to him good, though. Did you see his face?” I laughed, but quieted at Ariana’s somber expression.

“Hey, don’t worry. We’ll get through this.” We had reached the Andersons’ door by now. I knocked and listened to the shuffling going on inside.

“Hey, Lex!” Cody smiled at me. He shook his hair, and wet droplets splattered on my face.

“Hey!” I squealed and smacked him.

“Come on in.” I pulled Ariana along with me.

“What happened?” Cody asked. I shook my head at him.

“Where’s Hannah?” Ariana asked. She sounded on the verge of tears, and I didn’t want Cody to see.

“She’s outside. You guys can stay in her room, and I’ll call her in.”

“I’ll come with you.” Ariana gave me a thankful look as I walked into the hallway.

“So what’s up with Ariana?”

“Matt Hastings.”

“Him? Huh. I figured he and Ariana had already talked.”

“Why?”

“He kept hinting at why the only reason he came back was for a particular person.” Cody shrugged. “I just assumed, because of his and Ariana’s past, that he came back for her.”

“It’s so sweet,” I said. “But it really sucks when there are manipulative jerks like Garrett thrown into the mix.”

“That’s high school life. And it’s really nice of you to care about a friend. I know I would be lucky to have a friend like you.”

I turned around. “You do.”

“No, I don’t want you as a friend.”

The shock empowered me. Cody didn’t want me as a friend? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

“Turn around.”

I felt him lift my hair and coldness around my neck. I lifted up a shining silver chain with three small crystal hearts dangling from it, their facets striking rainbow colors in the warm afternoon sun.

“Alexis Degrane, will you be my swing dance partner?”

“Yes!” I practically started celebrating. “And you’re going to have to beat this when you propose.”

“It’s right now that matters.” He chuckled. I looked at him, his hair straight and wet and his green eyes shining with the glow of the moment. Perfect and flawless.

“I guess it does.”

“Omigosh!” The squeal made us quickly lean away from each other.

“Hannah!” Cody exclaimed, irritation evident in his voice.

“Huh? What? Oh, is Ariana here?” She brushed dirt from her sleeves. “I guess I should go find her.” She gave me a departing wink.

“Well, the moment’s ruined,” I said, eyeing the floor in order to avoid eye contact with Cody.

“No, it’s not.” I looked up to see what he meant, and immediately felt his lips on mine. The sensation of my first kiss made electricity jolt through my veins.

“I’ll see you tomorrow for sign-ups,” Cody smiled.

“You ready?” Cody whispered in my ear. I fingered my blue skirt nervously. “You look gorgeous,” he reminded me. I smiled at his reassurance.

“As long as we don’t get out the first round, then it’s all good

“Just dance, and nothing else matters.”

We did dance. As I twirled and stepped, I saw Ariana and Matt also dancing. It made me proud to know that Ariana had talked to him. Now they were together and he treated her like a boyfriend should. Kayla and Garrett were also in the competition. Couples were all together. What mattered now was the last dance.

Mrs. Boren read out the results. The number 18 was not among them, but Kayla and Garrett’s was.

“Is it mean of me to be happy?” I wondered aloud. “No, because I am too.” Cody laughed in pure exhilaration. The competition was on again. Numbers and numbers were called. The finalists were announced.

“Number eighteen, twenty, and forty-two!” I squealed along with Ariana. Hannah and her boyfriend, Pete, had also made it.

“Just know that when I win, you guys will still be my friends,” Hannah joked.

“Good luck with that. Now when Matt and I are so perfect together.”

“What is this, a relationship contest?”

“If that were the case, then Cody and Lex will surely take home the trophy.

“Anyway, good luck, and may the best dancer win!” Ariana and I rolled our eyes at Hannah’s last statement. The whistle blew, and the music started.

Cody maintained eye contact with me all the way. “I think this was the best year I ever had.”

“Me, too.” I smiled as we danced, not even thinking about the dives and twists we were executing.

Too soon, the music stopped. The judges came out.

“All of you have done a tremendous job and have once again made this school proud. Now to announce the winner of the 2008 swing dance competition!” Mrs. Boren pulled out a yellow slip of paper emblazoned with the Chrysanthemum High logo. What a waste.

“Number eighteen! Cody Anderson and Alexis Degrane!” Ariana hugged me tightly, and Hannah squeezed my hand.

“This is a memory to top all memories,” I said.

Cody hugged me and kissed my cheek in front of the entire audience. As we accepted the trophy, I knew that one thing was for sure. My connection with Cody Anderson was a feel of first love.