How we Met

It's been six months since I met him. In a group chat made by my crackhead friends, we decided to add every single person we could possibly have in our contacts to a single group chat, having at least sixty people as our end results. Somehow in the middle of this group chat he found my snap chat and added me. At first I was confused because I didn't have many friends on snapchat other than the close few that know I don't use the app often. That changed after I met him. He started off the conversation and me, trying to be as cool yet friendly as possible to him, was a nervous wreck and didn't know what to do. We ended up actually having a good conversation about something I don't even remember. We both became quick friends and I really enjoyed talking with him. He seemed really nice and a good person so we frequently talked after that. It was only until a few days after we started talking did I realize he had a girlfriend, and someone kind of close to me as well.

Her name is Jessica. She has beautiful long dark hair that she likes to spruce up with highlights and curls. She's large, bulky but curvy in the extreme and just as pale as me. Her bland brown eyes are hidden behind a pair of black glasses and she cakes her face in heavy, badly blended makeup. She and I used to be friends, close even, that is until I met Tyler. Jessica and Tyler had been dating for two months before I met him, and as soon as this knowledge came to my attention I bombarded Jessica with questions about how they met, does she love him, does he love her, all the questions any good friend would ask. I honestly couldn't care less about her responses, although some of them were questionable, especially when she told me he had promised to marry her and they had picked out baby names already. I was internally laughing my ass off but she seemed dead serious. I mean for crying out loud it's been two months.

Tyler actually lives seven hours away from our city, so what Jessica and Tyler had was a strangely strong distance relationship. I longed to meet him in person one day. I had only gotten to see his visual appearance through the few photos he would send me. He is slender but muscular, on the shorter side but seems to be still much taller than me. He has dark wavy hair he likes to push back. His eyes are a strange sparkling combination of brown that changes to a beautiful blue-grey. His skin is a warm tan and he seems to always be wearing the same sweatpants and hoodie with a long black chain around his neck. I know what you're thinking, he seems like a fuckboy right off the bat with his appearance. I didn't realize that till much later, but I was very very attracted to him, probably still am.

I'm typically a very shy person, I hate taking pictures of myself, seeing pictures of myself, or really anything about looking at my physical appearance. Something Tyler had made me realize is that I'm not all as disgusting as I have always thought I was. He would start playful fights with me until I sent him a selfie and would compliment the hell out of it. I would always get so insanely giddy at the text he would send me. Even though the compliments were very appropriate and not crossing any boundaries when it came to him being in a relationship, I still really appreciated it. It was the first time someone other than a female had given me a compliment. I guess you could say for the first time I felt noticed and special.

There were a few incidents where Tyler would talk to me about problems he would have with Jessica. She was being too needy, she would talk and flirt with a lot of guys, she would get petty for no reason, all kinds of reasons for him to get reasonably upset. Me, being an overly emotional female with too big expectations for a boyfriend did my best to counsel him and help him get through difficult times with her. Eventually Jessica would even ask me for help and my role as a 'couple therapist' soon became known. I'm not even kidding when I say that I was not only helping Tyler and Jessica, but also my other best friends. Anna was dating Aiden and I gave as much advice as I could to benefit them both. Justine and William started dating and I helped her get through tough times together. Sammy and Landon had been dating for a while too and I counseled them. It felt like every single one of my friends were getting into relationships except me and I was stuck helping them.

Eventually Jessica and I had drifted apart and I was becoming even closer to Tyler. During the time period that Jessica had her phone taken away from her I had lent my phone so she could text and call him during school. This didn't give me any bonus points in the friendship department it seemed. Tyler swiftly moved to the top of my best friends list and apparently I was at the top of his. We talked all day long every day. I woke up with a good morning text from him and went to bed with a goodnight text. In the morning at school, during breaks and at lunch, after school, in between sports and homework, even in the bath I would be texting him. This 24/7 talking had taken place in December, five months after I had met him.

It wasn't until I was talking to one of my friends about him that I realized I had feelings for him. Mind blowing explosions kind of feelings. It was even worse because I'm supposed to be helping with their relationship. Eventually Jessica realized what had happened, even though I hadn't changed the way I talk to either of them. I didn't tell anyone about my feelings except my closest friend who doesn't even go to the same school as me. Soon Tyler stopped talking to me. I got less texts, we could barely keep up our streaks sometimes. I felt heartbroken. One of my closest friends has been ignoring me and it hurt so much.

This distance put between us was during one of the most difficult times in my life at home. I was having extremely difficult problems with my family, and usually I would rely on him to cheer me up, which he always did, but now I felt alone. After a few days of realizing how absolutely ridiculous that is I tried to push him from my mind and focused more on my other friends. My problems at home were fixed and I became a much happier and healthier person.

Today is another day of me becoming a much happier person. I am apart of the drama program and today I play one of the main roles in our production of Aladdin. Today is our first performance and in exactly three hours I will be costume ready in maroon Arabian clothing, hair sprayed and gelled into the highest ponytail possible, covered in glitter and sparkly makeup, and ready to sing my heart out. I'm nearly bouncing out of my seat as Dr. Scone laughs at me practically bursting with excitement. He concludes our lesson on World War Two and gives me a thumbs up to pack my bag and leave the classroom. My friends Sophia, Shannon, and Vannessa follow me out the door as the speakers chime that school has ended for the day. I swing my bag to my locker, trying to avoid the large wave of overly hormonal, large, incredibly loud football players who are all in desperate need of a deodorant stick.

I'm practically jumping up and down with glee as I shove in my textbooks and take out my theatre bag, holding my makeup kit, my character shoes, a scrunchie for my character, my leotard, and all of the rest of the supplies I need for tonight's show. I start heading off to the PAC as soon as I get the bag before Shannon stops me in my tracks.

"The show is in three hours, Macy. There's no need to get all dressed up right now." She laughs as she neatly places her textbooks in her locker. I frown and put my theatre bag back, grabbing a hairbrush as I do so.

"I know i'm just so excited. I haven't been in a show since we performed Frozen!" I cringe inward as I remember the huge felt costume I had to wear when I was casted as Olaf. I was practically dying with the added heat in the weather, the stage lighting, the pressure of singing in front of an audience while also dancing. I'm lucky I get to be in a much lighter and breezy costume this time.

"Let's not talk about Frozen, that was such a messy show." Shannon and I both laugh as we remember the memories of us singing offkey, practically missing our cues, and losing stage props five minutes before the show starts.

"Let's go get some coffee before the show!" Sophia jumps up with her bag. We all agree and wave goodbye to Vanessa as she heads to the tech booth to get started on lighting and sound check ups. We drop off our backpacks at the Cafe before heading to Starbucks. On the way over to the Cafe I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the window and see how messy my hair looks. While the girls grab their wallets and get more people to tag along to our coffee adventure, I head to the bathroom to fix the monstrosity that is my hair.

Looking into the mirror, I stare at my glassy blue-green eyes. Something I had never liked until Tyler had mentioned them, telling me he thought they were beautiful. I wear thick dark blue glasses over my eyes and remove them as I brush out my long dark strawberry hair. I have dark roots with red tints here and there and naturally light tips. I've never really came up with a name to describe my hair. All I know is that it's strange and a lot of people frequently ask if I dye it, when in reality I've never done any treatments to my hair. I pull my hair up into a messy ponytail and go back to the Cafe with my friends.

Shannon and Sophia have pulled Isabella, Katherine, and Jules to come along with us. We start the walk downtown, talking about classes, the latest drama going around school, and just relaxing before the show. I start a conversation with Isabella about Junior classes, asking her which ones she recommends.

"I would say don't go for AP US History. Everyone I know has had a super hard time even passing that class. The quizzes are at random and worth a ton of points. The homework takes a lot of time and Mr. Marcus barely even explains what's going on. Especially since you're trying to go for a career in the medical field, I really don't think it's worth your time." She explains,

"Okay I think I'll go for the regular class then. What was your experience like in Honors Chem two?"

"Mrs. Ray is great. There is a lot of material but it's not hard if you go tutoring and study hard for the tests. I would say just don't slack off and you'll do great"

"Would you say that there's a lot of homework? I'm worried because I plan to take a lot of other honors and AP classes next year."

"It really depends on---" She is cut off by a high pitch squeal from Jules and Katherine. I look in the direction they are pointing and I see Jessica. She wears a black blouse with frilly lace drawing attention to her breasts, skinny jeans, and short boots with a slight heel. Around her neck is a familiar black chain, and she holds hands with someone in a black hoodie and dark jeans.

For a solid ten seconds I feel like I can't breathe. In all of his glory he stands three feet in front of me, dark wavy hair pushed back, blue-grey eyes sparkling and looking right at me. He smiles in my direction and I am overwhelmed with the biggest tidal wave of emotions. Glee, anger, excitement, despair, adoration, heartbreak, bewilderment, and jealousy. Jealousy blooms in my chest and immediately embarrassment clouds my cheeks and my vision.

I glance up at his perfect face. I can't believe that Tyler is here.