There he was, walking down the hallway of Roosevelt High School with his girlfriend Lacey on his right side. Aiden is the star of the basketball team and Lacey practically ran the entire school. All the girls wanted to be Lacey and to be with Aiden. I was no exception. He was coming my way and all I could do was smile like a complete idiot while my heart was drumming out of my chest. Being newly single made my heart long for him invariably. Just when I thought that he would look through me just like every other day, he looked into my eyes and smiled. My head was spinning, my knees were shaking; did he just notice me?!
For the rest of the day, all I could focus on was Aiden. What did it mean? Am I reading too far into this? Was he even smiling at me? Ginger, my best friend in the entire world, wants me to text him but I have never been one to make the first move. Plus, I have to think about Lacey. His girlfriend! I cannot be that girl but on the other hand, I do have his phone number from a group project we had last semester. No! I can’t my intentions aren’t unclouded. I am going to forget all of this because a guy like Aiden would never want a girl like me in his life.
There I was, sitting in my bed staring at my phone. The message said “Hey.” That was it! Why can’t I move my finger just one inch to the send button? What felt like an eternity had passed, when in reality it was only a few measly minutes, and I hit send. It only took nanoseconds for the regret and anxiety to set in! What did I just do? He doesn’t even know who you are? He’s going to think you’re crazy!
The following morning, I felt like I had woke up from an unusual dream. Like clockwork I reached for my phone to open the black hole of social media that I am addicted to and I saw it. There it was. Aiden had sent me a text message back. “Hey there.” Only two words but it said so much. A faint smile spread across my face and a warm feeling was spreading from my head to my toes. School started to become a more inviting place for me to spend my time. Anywhere with Aiden was a happy place for me.
Winter passed and Spring began to bloom with an unmistakable beauty that I had never really noticed before. We would talk for hours every day. I would tell him how alone I felt in this big world and he would confide in me how miserable he was with Lacey. Life seemed so entirely perfect. Somebody cared for me, somebody wanted to know what I had to say, somebody loved me and I loved him. He had left Lacey sometime in February but here it was April and I still hadn’t told him how I really felt.
Spring time also means that Aiden is spending every waking moment playing baseball and I am in the standing cheering him on, wearing his jacket that might as well be a dress on me. It is the 9th inning of the biggest game of the year and the entire crowd is on the edge of their seats. Just like that, the opposing team slammed a ball to right field; the runner on second rounds third and is heading home. Aiden flies off of the pitcher’s mound and is hurdling towards home plate with the ball. He tosses it to the catcher. The dust clears and the booming voice of the umpire roars, “OUT!” That was it they won!
All of a sudden Aiden goes running off of the field. Where is he going? What is he doing? The I realized that he was running toward me! He looks me in the eyes, runs his hands through my hair, and just like that, he kisses me. In that moment I felt the world stop turning and my soul come alive.
