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“Hi! I’m Elody James, but people call me Ellie. When I heard you were starting today, I told my mom how excited I was. I have known everyone in this town since I was born and let me tell you, boring doesn’t even fully describe it. So a new person joining our town has got me giddy. Oh my gosh, I think we will be the best of friends. I mean look at us, don’t we just look like best friends already?” This girl with blond hair and deep blue eyes, resembling a Skipper doll, was waving her hands all over as she spoke and seemed to possess more energy than my brother after he consumed cake. She looked just like a girl that would fit perfectly in that California sun, watching the cute guys surf in Malibu.
I just wave and introduce myself, “Hi, I’m Rebecca. Rebecca Stanley. People call me Becca.” My shyness is coming out, and I tuck a bit of my wild hair behind my ears. Right then, Elody, I mean Ellie, gasps and giggles. “Oh my gosh. I love your double piercing on your ears. My mom will not let me get my ears pierced again, and I keep telling her she needs to get with the times. Maybe your mom can call mine! Wouldn’t that be amazing? We become best friends and then our parents are best friends?” She’s vibrating at this point, and she doesn’t stop talking so I can’t interject and tell her that I only have one parent to contribute to this best friend's group she’s formulating in her head.
The grandmotherly woman behind the counter, Mrs. Jessup from the little sign on the desk, tells her, “Elody James, take a minute and let this poor girl catch a breath. You’re nonstop and it’s not even eight a.m. yet!” Mrs. Jessup turns to me and once again fills me with warmth with just a smile. “Now here’s your schedule Ms. Stanley. Elody will be your student ambassador, and she will get you settled. I’m not sure if I should say you’re lucky or apologize. Ms. James is simply very excited you’re here, as you can see. Please come find me if you need anything.” With that, she smiles one last time and turns her attention to a kid who just walked in with a note from his parents, I assume.
I turn around to see Ellie shifting from one foot to the other, excitement coming off her like she just can’t contain it. I can’t help but chuckle because I really think Ellie might be my newest best friend. I know I don’t know anyone else, but something about her simply feels genuine. We start walking out of the office and Ellie grabs my schedule. She sees the locker Mrs. Jessup wrote down and the code, then grabs my hand and begins to pull me toward a row of lockers. Unlike my California schools, where everything was primarily outside, this entire school seems to be enclosed. Lockers line the hallways on both sides, and kids are still scattered all over.
Once we reach what I assume is my locker, I see her tap the highest locker, indicating it was mine. Ugh. The top locker. Why do I always have things at the highest level? I did not take after my father in the height department. I’m short, only five-three, and these are the moments I’m reminded I will not be growing anymore. Luckily the combination lock is reachable, so I go ahead and slowly get my locker open. I see Ellie doing the same with the locker to my left, and I realize we are locker neighbors. At least there’s that, even though Ellie has at least three inches on me. We begin chatting about what classes we share, which seems to be all of them from the sounds of it, and I can’t help but feel relief wash over me. At least I have a friend I can hang out with, and this first day in not only a new school, but a whole new state, won’t feel as overwhelming. I’m putting the last of my books that I don’t need until after lunch period into my locker when I feel a presence beside me on the right.
I look over and I can’t help but let my jaw hang open. Yep, I’m gaping, but what in the Greek gods am I staring at? The greenest eyes stare back at me, sandy blond hair, and this sly smile that must win over anyone with a heartbeat. I stand there, just looking at this specimen I know the heavens above spent extra time on. Ellie snaps me out of this haze when she begins talking to said god in front of me.
“Shane, how wonderful of you to bless us with your presence. It seems your radar sensed a new student has joined us this year. Rebecca, this is Shane Philips. Shane, this is Rebecca Stanley.”
Shane is chewing gum, his tongue popping out and swiping along his bottom lip. I can’t help but stare and he knows it. It seems his smile only grows, and I see the arrogance seeping off him. Yeah, he might be hotter than anything I’ve ever seen, but I’m not into guys like him that only see girls as a conquest. No thanks. But it’s not a crime to admire him and admire him I do. He’s got that boy-next-door look going for him. Those perfectly straight teeth, white like a Colgate commercial, along with a smirk that would make panties melt. Yeah, he’s got it alright. I just need to make sure I contain my admiration because I doubt he won’t sniff it out of me if I give in.
“Hey, Becs, nice to meet you. I think I should warn you about something though.”
“It’s Rebecca or Becca, not Becs.” I will not admit to him how much I love this new nickname he’s bestowing on me because it will only add to his cockiness. “And what warning do you need to give me?”
Shane looks around; two other guys come to join him, and they seem to be his friends. I peek over toward Ellie to see her cheeks blush, and she is focusing on the taller one. Huh, interesting. The one on Shane’s right is one of the tallest guys I’ve ever seen at our age. He must be close to six-four and has a basketball under one arm, while the other friend is built more like a wrestler and about six feet tall. Shane isn’t too bad himself. Probably a little over six feet, he stands there with a muscular build I would peg as a football player more than anything. He’s got the attitude of a quarterback if I had to continue guessing.
Shane leans in and whispers right against my ear, causing shivers to break out along my arms. “You’re going to be my girlfriend by the end of this school year. I have no doubt. If only you knew how good I am at predicting the future.”
As attracted as I am to this guy, he’s high if he thinks it’s that easy to have me fall for him. No fucking way. He can’t declare this and think I’ll fall at his feet. Yeah, he’s pretty, like Brad Pitt pretty, but that’s not everything. “Sorry, Shane, I don’t do so well with commands, especially with someone I just met.”
“Oh, that’s not a command, it’s a fact,” he says, his smile at full watt at this point, his perfectly straight teeth showing for all to admire. His goons, yeah, I’m that annoyed so that’s what they are at this point, begin to chuckle, even though they have no idea what their jock friend just whispered in my ear. I snarl because my dad didn’t raise me to be anyone’s property, and I take a step back.
My back straightens and I look at Shane with more confidence than I feel. “Well, you’ll be waiting a while for this ‘so-called fact’ to become reality then,Shane.” I spit his name out because I hate how much I want what he’s saying to be true.
Ellie gasps by my side and I can’t help but look at her. You can tell she acknowledges Shane’s good looks, but she doesn't seem to think he walks on water, unlike the other girls who walk by and swoon over him. I’ve been here five minutes, and I’ve noticed at least a dozen girls walk by, salivating and gawking at his presence. Shane uses this opportunity while I’m distracted with Ellie to open the top textbook I’m holding in front of me and place a piece of paper inside it. It all happens too quickly, and he simply gives me one last smile and a wink and starts to retreat backward before turning around and sauntering away. I watch him a few beats more before looking at Ellie. Now she’s solely looking at me, her eyes wide.
“What?” I ask her. She looks toward where Shane is still walking away and then back at me.
“I’ve never seen anyone, especially a female, not fall at Shane Philips' feet, especially if he is declaring his love for them.”
I start to laugh, “Oh, he doesn’t love me. He just wants a piece of the new girl.” It stings to say that out loud because having Shane’s eyes on me made me feel like I could soar. I’m not sure what I’m feeling, but it’s fair to say there’s a pull toward Shane after just a few minutes near him.
“Shane has never reacted to anyone the way he just reacted to you. I think I felt a shift in atmospheric pressure at school the moment he walked up to you. I don’t know, Becca, I think you’ve caught the eye of the most popular guy in school.”
I huff out a breath, still looking in the direction Shane was standing, then turning back toward Ellie. “A guy like that would never be someone I would date.” Not that I had any experience in dating at the ripe age of fourteen. “He’s too cocky and that just isn’t appealing.” I hope I sound more confident than I feel inside. Shane is one hundred percent my type, but no one needs to know that, especially Shane himself.
We close our lockers, Ellie watching me a little longer than I deem comfortable. We begin walking in the direction of our first class and right when I go through the classroom door, I’m greeted with those green eyes again. I walk past him, my knees shaking a bit, hoping I don’t look like a newborn calf that is trying to get her bearings while attempting to walk straight. I find my seat next to Ellie and further down the row where Shane is seated. He glances back at me, and then I see his focus shift to the book I just set down. Once he looks away, I find the courage to open the textbook he previously messed with and see it right there.
Future Boyfriend
402-555-6596
Ugh, this is going to be a long first day.
ChapterFour
REBECCA
Present Day
I feel the splatter of the coffee, but I can’t move my gaze from his green eyes. I must be hallucinating right now. I’ve dreamed of those eyes, off and on, for the last twenty-five years. It’s like he’s in my bloodstream; a part of everything I am.
The bell from Betty’s collar pulls me out of my stupor, and I see her coming toward the shards of ceramic from my mug, inspecting if indeed it’s just coffee that spilled and not a ribeye steak. Once she sees there’s nothing that will benefit her from this mess, she looks up at me and I swear she puts her nose up and walks away. I never said my canine BFF wasn’t stuck up; she’s loyal, but she also knows she's the queen, and I bow to her every need.
