“Cincinnati.”He replied.“You been here all your life?”
“Not all my life, but I’ve been here for a long time.”
He walked me to my next class; it was Spanish class.I wasn’t looking forward to going in there.
“Hey, can I call you after school?”he asked.
“Sure.”I pulled out a pen from my backpack and wrote my phone number on his hand.“See you later.”I said and walked into my classroom.
I was surprised when he actually called me that night.We talked for two hours and he made me smile a lot with his jokes.
The next couple days, Lucas walked me to all my classes and to my bus in the bus line.On Friday, before I got on the bus, he pulled me back to face him.
“Will you be my girlfriend?”He asked.
I smiled with a big cheesy grin.“Yes!”
“Good.I’ll call you later.”
“Kay.”I said as he walked away to find his bus.
Lucas and I were boyfriend and girlfriend for a few weeks before he tried to kiss me.I was still nervous about kissing.I guess I was weird for being fourteen and not having had my first kiss yet.Maybe some people would consider that little peck I left Lee with as my first kiss, but I didn’t count it.Every time he tried, I kept playing it off and rushed off to class, telling him I couldn’t be late again.
Then, one night on the phone, we were listening to music together, taking turns playing songs for each other and he told me he loved me.I didn’t know what to say to that, it was weird, you don’t love someone you’ve only been dating for a month.I hadn’t even told Lee I loved him, and I was pretty sure I felt more for him than I did for Lucas.I pretended I didn’t hear him and started singing the song that was playing in the background.
“Have you ever seen that movieFear?”He asked.
“Yeah.”I told him.
“You know how that guy; he was so in love with the girl, and he carved her name into his chest?”
“Yeah?”This kind of made me nervous.
“Well, that’s what I did.I carved your name on my chest.”
Long pause of silence.
“What?No, you didn’t.”I say to him.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you.You should put my name on you too.”He says.He’s serious and it’s strange.And I’m so wrapped up in how this guy is showing me so much attention – I think I liked being liked so much that I said “Okay.”
The next day, I skipped Spanish class to be with Lucas during his lunch shift.I was already failing that class so, I thought, no biggie, I’ll skip a few classes and it won’t make a difference.We were sitting outside after he finished his lunch, and he handed me a safety pin.
“What’s this for?”I asked him.
“To carve my name on you.”He said it so nonchalantly, as if the words were lyrics he had memorized and could repeat with ease.I hesitated but then grabbed the safety pin and rolled up my pant leg.It should have been a red flag, but I blew it off.I carved his initials lightly into my ankle, deciding to live in the moment.It was stupid and I figured it wouldn’t scar; it would likely fade away in a few weeks.He kissed me on the cheek, and we talked until the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch period.
“I’ll walk you to class.”He said and he held my hand while we walked into the building and through the halls to my next class.
“You’re so pretty.”He told me when we stopped just before the door to my history room.He held onto my hand tightly and looked into my eyes like he wanted to stare straight into my soul.It made me nervous.
“Thanks.See you after class.”I said, ready to let go of his hand to walk away.Instead, he pulled me back to him and leaned in for a kiss.I turned my face, and he ended up kissing my chin.That made him angry, and he huffed when he threw my hand down.
“Fine.”he said and stalked away, slamming through the door that led to the next hallway.
