At first glance, I knew I wanted to know him. Not because his shaggy blond hair and strong jaw line perfectly framed his active, ocean-blue eyes. Or even because his faded Levi’s and rusted-red Polo showed off a well-sculpted body. But because he stood up to Josh Martin when he embarrassed Kelly Greenwood in front of the whole cafeteria.

I took a deep breath and walked to my table in Chemistry.

He looked up and smiled. Deep dimples. Straight white teeth.
Don’t drool, just smile, look away, and sit down.

“Hey, I’m Nic. I wanted to thank you for helping out Kelly. Josh is such a creep and always picks on whoever he sees as weak. She gets too embarrassed to say anything, and most people here are just sheep, and they don’t want to ruffle Josh’s feathers, so they just laugh along or walk away. I think it’s pretty awesome that you went right up there and told him to back off. Most people don’t do that.”

My heart raced and my palms started to sweat. I told myself to stop babbling, but when nervous, I babble. “And that’s why I wanted to say hi and introduce myself, because you didn’t think of anyone but yourself, you just jumped up and stopped Josh.”

He laughed, a deep, throaty laugh. “Do you always talk this much?”

I quickly sat down, face hotter than fire, and opened my book. Really stupid, Nic. Can’t you stop talking for, like, five seconds?

A large hand touched my thigh. I looked up and the new guy moved it off and sat it on his lap. “Sorry, didn’t mean to laugh. I’m Bryson. And I noticed that you’d jumped up and started over there too.”

My blush intensified. “You did?”

He’d noticed me? Out of all the people in the school, he’d noticed me?

“Well, yeah…” His dimples deepened. “I mean, you knocked over two chairs and started yelling. You were impossible to miss.”

I pushed my book to the side, letting my hair fall between us and act as a shield. I didn’t need Josh, or anyone else to humiliate me—I did such a great job on my own.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Bryson said.

Shrugging, but not turning back, I said, “No biggie. Nice to meet you.”

His breath caught on my neck. “You inspired me to defend that girl,” he whispered. “I figured if you didn’t care who saw you coming to the rescue, then I shouldn’t either. I did it because of you.”

I bit my bottom lip and turned back. “Really?”

He blushed under his golden tan. “Yeah.”

“Quit talking, people, and open your books to page 103,” Mr. Johnson said, stepping into the classroom.

[Reply]

By Sarah on 05.12.09 11:54 am | Permalink