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David smoothed his shirt and patted his unruly hair. Clutching his gift in one hand, his palms already sweating from nerves, he inhaled deeply and stepped into the classroom. Today was the day.
Mindy stood by the opposite wall, near the bookshelf of the teacher’s used paperbacks. It was where David usually hung out himself. The smell of old books was enticing to him. One of the few students who actually borrowed Mrs. Ringley’s books, the boy knew exactly which titles Mindy was lazily trailing her fingers over. He hoped she would pick one. She liked to read, too, but she wasn’t very open about the fact. Being a bookworm wasn’t “cool” in their class.
Heart fluttering, David moved closer, waving his free hand at his few buddies lounging around chatting, waiting for the teacher to show. Despite his shy nature, he had many friends, but his two closest buddies were in his class this year. Lucky.
He was just a few steps away from her now. This was it. Glancing down at the candy cane in his hand to ensure that the red satin bow hadn’t come undone, David swallowed hard and went over what he would say for the twentieth time. The worst part was, even in his head, he was stuttering as he confessed his feelings.
Mindy was so pretty and so very kind to everyone. Her chocolate brown hair was shiny and perfectly curled. Her green eyes had lovely gold flecks near the pupils. She was gorgeous and smart. She was the girl who shared her lunch with people and put up posters for various charity events around school. The one who was everyone’s friend and no one’s enemy. The girl David couldn’t stop thinking about. There was something special about the way her lips quirked when she smiled. He often found his gaze lingering on her mouth for far too long.
He just knew she would reject him. But he wasn’t about to turn away now. He’d had a crush on her for forever and this Christmas, this holiday season where everyone was full of love and good cheer, was when he was finally going to suck it up and put his heart on the line.
Brushing off the front of his shirt, a nervous habit he picked up from being overweight when he was younger and constantly having food on himself, he opened his mouth to get her attention as he came up behind her. Before he could speak, his friend Ann stepped in front of him.
“Hey, David!”
“Oh, hey, Ann.” He smiled and smothered his disappointment. If a conversation dragged on for too long, class would start and he would miss his chance. Then he might never talk himself up to doing this again.
“Are you ready for the holidays? We were going to try to go skiing in the mountains, but my parents said next year. This year my sister is too stressed from exams or something. Some weird excuse. Oh well! What are your plans?” She twirled her strawberry blonde locks around a finger as she spoke.
“Oh, um, I don’t know. We don’t usually go anywhere for the holidays. My grandparents live close by, so we just hang out and spend time together at home, usually.” David nodded and tried to sidestep Ann, intending to end the conversation, but she eyed his gift and smirked, her hand flying out to his elbow.
“Oh, who is this for?”
He felt his cheeks flush. He hated that. “Umm, no one.” Lame.
Ann’s eyes seemed to sparkle. “You are such a horrible liar! Oh wait, that isn’t for me, is it?” A warm smile of pleasure lit her face. “Oh, David, I’m not bringing my gifts until tomorrow. I got you a chocolate.”
She reached for the candy cane and David knew that was it. He couldn’t possibly tell Ann no. She was a nice girl that he had known forever and he was too much of a softy. He could never be the one to ruin that smile on her freckled face. He handed her the candy and grinned sheepishly.
“Merry Christmas, Ann.”
“You too, David.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek softly.
David blushed harder. Wait a minute, did this mean that Ann liked him? Had she had a thing for him all along? Or was she just being polite? Or did she think he had a thing for her and was just giving him a peck for pity?
His brain swam with questions but his body froze. As Ann’s soft lips pulled away, he saw Mindy watching them. Oh, no. No way! Now Mindy would think they were a couple or something!
As much as David hated the idea of Mindy thinking him unavailable or in love with someone else, he still didn’t have it in him to correct Ann. They had been good friends for years and now he had this mess of figuring out if she really liked him as more than a friend or not.
Why did the holidays have to complicate things? Or maybe he was just too much of a pushover. Either way, his chance with Mindy was blown. For now.
* * *
The next time he decided to make his move was Valentine’s Day. He tried to save money from his job for a big box of chocolates and a teddy bear for Mindy, but he ended up having to buy a part for his car that his parents couldn’t afford to buy themselves. So when the big day rolled around, David again took a deep breath and stepped into Mrs. Ringley’s classroom. Holding just a small, cheap box of chocolates, he nevertheless held his head high.
He’d dressed nicely today, wanting to make a good impression. Not that it really mattered. Mindy had seen him sweaty and bloody, falling flat on his face playing basketball in the gym on numerous occasions. He was athletically inclined but about a foot shorter than the other boys his age, so getting knocked down was pretty common.
But today, oh nothing was going to stop him today! His button-up shirt was ironed, shirt tails tucked in nicely. His tennis shoes were scrubbed clean. His unruly locks were smoothed down with gel. David was ready for anything.
His eyes scanned the classroom, looking for the tell-tale chocolate hair. No sign of her yet. His friends waved at him again today, Ann one of them. He gave her a warm smile in particular, sure to lock eyes for a moment. They’d had a good talk after Christmas break. Ann had been starting to develop feelings for him, but he informed her as gently as he could that he didn’t return them. His friend had taken it surprisingly well. She seemed distant for about a week, but soon things were back to normal. By the end of January, she was already gushing to him about her newest crush in the senior class. David was glad that they could still remain friends.
Glancing at his watch, David’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. Class was starting soon and Mindy was still nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t like her to be late. He took his seat, placing the chocolate box on his desk, his one hand laying over it, as if protecting it from any other girls who might get the wrong idea.
He recalled his first real conversation with Mindy the other day. They had said hello before and chatted about assignments, but Tuesday she had actually sat down during lunch and talked to him about something other than school. And he’d been a blubbering mess.
“Have you read The Count of Monte Cristo?” She asked, her lovely eyes focusing on him and him alone.
David was afraid he might faint. Did people faint in real life? If his heart didn’t stop racing soon, he might find out. Oh no, was he blushing? Mindy, The Mindy, was talking to him!
“Uh, yeah.” Smooth.
“Oh, good!” Her face brightened and David had to keep himself from gawking at her. Too pretty. Way too pretty for him.
“I’m doing a report on it next week and I wanted to bounce ideas off someone. I was hoping you had read it. I know you love to read, too.”
Though his mind was running a million miles an hour, words were not forming easily. After a few minutes of fumbling around with his backpack strap, his eyes averted, he was finally able to have a real conversation with her. Mindy pretended not to notice how befuddled he was by her sudden approach and they ended up talking about books for almost twenty minutes. The best twenty minutes of his life.
Currently in class, the bell was ringing and still no Mindy. Where was she? Was she out of town today? Did her family have some elaborate vacation planned for Valentine’s Day? That seemed a little far-fetched, but what other reason would she have to miss school? Mindy had perfect attendance every semester.
Maybe she was sick. There was a bad case of the flu going around the school. Well, crap. David shoved the tiny box into his backpack and rubbed his chin. If she didn’t show up tomorrow, he’d give the chocolates to Ann. No use wasting them.
* * *
Mindy hadn’t been sick. Her father had died.
When David found out, he was crushed. That poor girl. How could such a horrible thing happen to someone so nice? She didn’t deserve that kind of pain. It was a damn tragedy. She was out of school for almost three months. Her girlfriends brought her her work and she turned things in through them, so she was never really behind in her studies. But eventually she had to come back. If she missed too many days, she would fail her grade.
Near the end of May, Mindy walked back into class with a weak smile and a backpack full of work. She seemed like her old self, but her eyes didn’t sparkle like they used to. The students and teachers were walking on eggshells around her. No one was quite sure what to say. No one knew how to be normal around her now.
But David knew. He had lost his grandmother just last year. She had raised him like her own when he was young and his mom worked two jobs. Losing her had been the worst agony he had ever felt in his life. He understood what it meant to deal with that soul-crushing pain daily and, more importantly, how to keep going despite it. So when Mindy started sitting away from her friends and near the books with David, he pushed away his nervousness and began talking to her. He didn’t give her pity eyes or sad smiles like the others. He had normal conversations with her. Though hesitant at first, she soon seemed happy for the distraction.
Time passed all too quickly. By the end of the year, they had become friends and the sparkle returned to Mindy’s eyes.
* * *
David smoothed his shirt and patted his unruly hair. Clutching his gift in one hand, his palms already sweating from nerves, he inhaled deeply and stepped into the classroom. Today was the day.
Most of his close friends weren’t in his classes this year. He had some fair-weather friends but no real bosom buddies that he could have serious talks with. Ann’s family had moved away last year, taking her out of his life almost completely, leaving just text messages and Skype calls as their only means of communication. He couldn’t help but to wonder how long his friendship with Ann would last with entire states separating them.
Senior year was kind of sucking so far.
The only light in the dark was Mindy. She was still in one of his classes this year. The summer had done wonders for her outlook on life. She was back to her cheerful, kind self, determined to live her life to the fullest. At least, that’s what she told David when he called her a few times over the summer. They had made several plans to meet and hang out, but circumstances always prevented it from happening. When school started back, Mindy was quick to assure him of her joy that they shared English again. Just seeing the way her face lit up when he walked in the room made his insides melt.
Yes, this was it. There was no going back now. His eyes immediately locked on Mindy’s tall form. Good thing he had grown almost two inches this last year or she would be much taller than him now. He grinned at her “ugly sweater” with the Death Star on the front. Her sense of humor was adorable.
Switching the candy cane to his other hand so it wouldn’t melt from the inferno that was his body right now, David approached her quickly. No way was he letting anything come in the way this time. A year ago, he had been so nervous he was almost unable to find his voice. This year he was more confident. Still nervous as hell, but surer of himself.
Mindy was kind and smart and beautiful. But she was also human, just like him. She was no goddess on a golden pedestal. The worst she could say was no. He hoped, really truly hoped, that if she did deny him, that they could still remain friends the way he and Ann had.
Tapping her shoulder, David cleared his throat to get her attention. Turning away from the blonde headed girl she was laughing with, Mindy’s green eyes found his. She immediately beamed at him. That was a small victory, right there.
“Sorry to interrupt,” David said, his voice clear, “but I wanted to ask you something.” He held the candy cane out with a slightly trembling hand, waiting patiently for her to take it from him.