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I live with my dad, who hardly comes home except by nightfall. Most times he comes in when I'm already fast asleep, but to compensate for that, he makes sure he makes breakfast the next day and drops me off in his 2004 Toyota.
Even at that, I still felt lonely most of the time; my new school wasn't as good as I thought. It's been a month here, and I'm yet to make a friend, but something prickled my fantasy. Tony is the hottest guy in school; if there is nothing I don't admire about him, it's his curly hair and sparkling blue eyes. He is so confident in his speech, and that makes girls flocking around him; let me not leave the best part: he is handsome, like God made a special day to create him. I guess I wasn't going to have a chance getting his attention with my round, big glasses; I might get in trouble trying to with one of the hottest chicks in school who calls him her boyfriend.
I don't believe that either, because Tony barely looked at her, but she paraded herself as one scaring other girls from even coming closer to him. For me, I barely get noticed, but one terrible day I got noticed by Nancy, the chick who parades herself as the hottest girl in school. She called me a nerd in front of everyone.
I couldn't defend myself; rather, I went to the back of the school building away from the student, where I stayed for some minutes to catch my breath. I thought nobody was around, so I quickly made myself comfortable by sitting on one of the fallen branches.
“Is that all you do, run? Those girls will always taunt your life if you don't stand up for yourself”. I thought my ears were playing tricks on me till I turned to see Tony standing two feet away from me. The air in my lungs felt like it was snuffed away, leaving me breathless with my half-open mouth. What could he be doing here? Did he follow me to this place? I never expected anyone to be here talking more of Tony.
I felt more embarrassed when I realized that he watched what happened between I and Nancy. His so-called bitchy girlfriend. I swallowed hard, finding my voice. Opening my mouth to say something but wouldn't make up any word. I was angry at myself.
“No need to explain, to make you feel better. I'm inviting you to the party by tomorrow night. He handed me a card before walking away, and I just stood there watching his back disperse. When he was out of sight, I checked the paper he handed me, sniffing it; even the paper smelled like him.
So silly of me.
I wished I had a friend to help me pick a dress; even my dad couldn't be of help. My best friend from London was so excited when I informed her about the party, and she was my only savior in picking up a dress, reminding me to drop my glasses and use contact lenses instead. I adhere to her instructions, though using contact lenses I wasn't so comfortable with that.
I don't even know how to act when I got to the party with blasting music. I saw my seatmate, who I am close to, and we got into a conversation. She gave me the gist of how Tony looked, though I haven't seen him yet. She too was crushing on. She left pretty soon, leaving me all alone, standing by myself with a cup of juice in my hand. I slip watching everyone enjoying themselves before I felt a hand behind me.
I flared up, turning around to blast whoever had the nerve to do that, only to see Tony. My hand hung in the air, and I couldn't know how to act as I kept blinking my lashes multiple times in a second.
“Oh, I'm scared,” Tony joked, demonstrating with his hand like he was scared of me.
“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have crossed the line, but there's something I would like to tell you.”
My heart jumped for a second wondering what Tony would like to tell me; my whole senses heightened in an instant with high expectations. He leaned in closer to my ears and whispered gently into them. His closeness made my stomach twist in a painful knot coupled with the glaring eyes of other students. I'm in trouble. I knew of that already as Nancy stomped towards us, anger evident in her expression.
“Would you be my girlfriend?” Tony whispered those words. I'm blown away with my wide eyes, pinching myself severally to come back to reality. If this was a dream, I don't want to wake up from it.
By the time Tony pulled away, his gaze pierced through me for an answer. Nancy was already by my side.
“What is going on here?” Her pitched voice resonated, making us the center of attention for others as they closed in.
My heart beat accelerated; I couldn't tell if this was a sort of prank to humiliate me the more, but I felt a bit of confidence when Tony put Nancy in her place. Announcing to everyone he wasn't in any romantic relationship with her. I could feel the struggle in Nancy's eyes as I felt pity for her.
“Monica, for me, you're the most beautiful girl here, and I don't mind if you would be my girlfriend.”
Gasps and whispers filled the air as Tony declared not just to me but in public. I was short of an answer because I can't tell if I'm lucky or not, but one thing is sure: being the girlfriend of the hottest guy in school isn't a bad idea.
“Yes,” I announced confidently.
