FicWad

It took approximately four minutes after arriving through the doors of Belleville High for someone, a short chubby girl, to ask me about my little crush on Gerard.

"So, I heard you like someone," she said.

"Yeah," I answered flatly.

"Is it true?" She asked me, eyes wide.

Nodding, I pushed her aside and continued walking. I should have known that if Amanda Matthews is this popular girl on campus, that news would travel fast. I honestly didn't care, because Casey Stone wasn't the most popular girl in school, and the attention scared me a bit. It was annoying that my crush was such big gossip.

A few minutes into walking through the halls on my way to my locker, the football jock from the cafeteria a few days before approached me, said, "Um, Amanda? We should talk."

I turned and looked him in the eye, placing a hand on my hip. "Okay, talk."

"Maybe, uh, we should... take a break," he sputtered out the words one by one. I didn't care, but I'm sure that when the real Amanda was placed back in her body, she'd be heart broken. So I felt sort of bad... I guess.

Not really. I'm no good at empathy.

I nodded, looking out the window behind him at the budding leaves on the trees. "Alright then." We stood there awkwardly.

He began to explain himself, "It's just... you're so different. And," he paused, "I heard you sort of liked someone else." He looked off to his right in a meaningful way, so I looked in the same direction. There sat Gerard in an empty hallway, a thick hardcover book in hand. I hadn't even noticed.

I looked back at the guy in front of me and shrugged. I didn't really know what else to do. This guy was just so awkward. How could Amanda like him?

I looked back at Gerard, who quickly looked away from me. Had he heard about my crush? I can't even begin to imagine what he's thinking... He looked back at me and I smiled. He blushed and turned back to his book. "I should go," I said, but the jock was already gone.

The hallway was emptying and homeroom would be starting very soon. I walked toward where Gerard was now standing and said, "Hi," doing a nervous swallow.

That's when he gave me this look... it was a closed-mouth half smile, his eyes warm and inviting. "Hi." And that's when I freaked. If I thought I'd liked him then, what was this? My heart was racing and my hands became clammy. I couldn't breathe or even think straight.

"There's something I've been wanting to tell you," he said, looking down at his feet.

My mind flew into overdrive--- it was the over analysis that girls were so good at. Was this sentance good news or bad news? Maybe he's going to say something bad about the crush... maybe he's going to tell me he likes me, too... or maybe he's totally wierded out.

He gulped and quickly said, "Do you uh... do you want to be partners for the chemistry project?" I could see he was mentally smacking himself... or maybe I'd imagined it.

Feeling disappointed, I said, "Uh, yeah. Of course." The time was ticking and I was going to be late for class. "We should get to class," I said. I could tell he was thinking the same thing, but there was something unsaid lingering in the air. I gave it a few more seconds before beginning to walk in the direction of my first class.

"Wait!" Gerard said loudly. I bit my lip and rotated around to him.

Slowly, he walked toward me. "There's something else."

I looked at him. "Close your eyes," he said in a shy voice.

Doing so, I breathed in, unsure of what would come next. Was he going to ditch me or something? Or---

That's when I felt it. My lips were met with warmth that remained after our lips parted. I opened my eyes and took a breath, grasping both his hands in mine. We made eye contact, our lips met again.

As the bell rang, we gave eachother one last look and began to walk in seperate direction, holding eachother's hand as we left, until we were forced to let go of eachother.

"See you at lunch," he said. I smiled at him, wishing this moment could just last forever.