Josh exited the classroom, quietly, ignoring Ryan's sarcastic remarks from his seat near the door, shutting the door softly behind him.
He quickly strode down the hallway in the direction of his locker, mentally scolding himself for being so distracted and forgetting his book.
Wait, what am I rushing for? he thought, easing up on his legs into a mild walk. He casually stuffed his hands in his pockets and observed the empty halls surrounding him. The only sound he could hear was his own sneakers as they slapped the tiled floor sending a hollow echo bouncing down the hallway. Out of thought, he began to hum to himself, one of his favorites, it was always stuck in his head.
Jimmy Eat World was what got Josh into music and he was ever so grateful for that.
Josh wasn't all that into sports. He could play like a daredevil, but his heart wasn't into the game. It was all good fun for him. Tell that to someone like Ryan who lives and breathes the game and you'll end up head first in a dumpster.
He wasn't very theatrical either.
Or artsy.
But music....
Music just seemed to sorta fit for him.
He turned the next corner sharp, his eyes landing on his locker at the second to last door at the very end of the hall. He sighed, thoughtfully, not really wanting to walk the length of the hall but reminded himself he was missing class for this. Right about now, he was thankful his locker was so far away.
He swung around to face his locker and yanked the door open, his eyes roaming the extent of the storage space for the familiar book. He lightly tapped his fingers against the rusty old door holding down a beat to that very song that had him humming a few minutes before. The dark green binding of the thick textbook caught his eye and he pursed his lips to the side, getting on his toes to reach the book that sat in the very back of his locker, sitting underneath a mess of binders and notecards.
He grasped the book firmly in his hands and shut the locker with a heavy clap that filled the quiet hall for a moment.
And then he headed back to class.
He flipped idly through the book, hoping that something from last year was hidden between the pages, saving him from writing something off the top of his head just like the rest of the class.
He loved to write...just...not when he was required to write. Things didn't come easy to him. He had to feel it, his heart had to be in what he was writing to get anything decent. Otherwise, it was crap. Well, it was still an amazing piece of writing but it didn't have the same WOW feeling most of his papers, poems, or songs did.
He was so distracted in his book that he didn't hear the footsteps of another person heading his way. He was about to round the corner and looked up briefly just in time to find emerald green eyes staring at him, widened before his chest collided into her.
He grunted and she yelped; starting to fall, but she ended up falling into Josh and the heavy textbook fell out of Josh's hands dropping to the floor loudly.
Both of their breaths were labored as they stood there, as if frozen in that position.
Josh slowly looked down at the bright auburn hair that falling gracefully around her face before he was met by those sparkling, deep green eyes.
Neither of them said a word; their eyes simply remained locked as though they were in a trance.
After what seemed like hours, Josh figured it'd be best to speak, since they hadn't moved since.
"Um..."
"I have to go now," she whispered quickly, Josh felt a weird jolt run through him as her hands pushed off his arms as she regained her balance stepping away from him. Josh watched her noticing her eyes were glued to something on the floor. She bent down and picked up his textbook. As she stood back up, she shook her hair lightly out of her face and lifted her eyes up slowly only to fall back into a gaze with Josh. "Here," was all she said, holding out his book in her hands.
Josh slowly reached out, taking the book gently from her hands, noticing her tense up as their fingers brushed lightly, not breaking their gaze, and neither did she. "Thanks."
"Bye," she blurted out, rushing by Josh and disappearing down the hall before Josh could get another word in.
Josh stared the spot she once stood in a daze. After a few moments, he shook his head pulling his head out of the clouds and back into reality.
As he began his walk back to his class; where he would surely get a lecture for taking so long; he couldn't help but smile.
She was so nervous...and kind.
But why?
She was a CHEERLEADER...
