Listening to: 

This Feeling - Alabama Shakes

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January 5th, 2015

JOSIE

          Bay Port was a quaint town on the coast of California. Josie had loved the area all her life, taking the breeze on her cheek and letting the sun envelope her with out-stretched arms. She could spend countless hours in her jeep just looking at the sandy beach, all the way until the dusk settled and she would have to retire to a friend's house.

          She knew the streets like the back of her hand, and the streets knew her as well. Neighbours would wave her over when she biked pass, genuinely wondering how she'd been and if her step-dad was having that BBQ later.

          Her high school was no different. The teachers liked her personally, though they had quite the distaste for her actions and work ethic. The student body welcomed her infectious charm, though there were always the few that couldn't help but hate her.

          It was no wonder when Josie arrived late to her creative writing class that first day of the second semester that Mr. Becken only glanced her way and shook his head. The class shifted their eyes to her as she stood at the door.

         She had her coffee mug snuggled between her arm and side, a notebook barely in the clutch of her hand. She looked around for an empty seat, taking in the faces around as she did. None of her friends were in this class, to her disappointment. Josie supposed that this was her punishment for picking a credit that she thought would amount in an easy A for her graduating year.

          There were no seats except beside a boy with curly brown hair who sat at the front, and another on the other side of the classroom with a girl who Josie thought was weird. She sighed inwardly and opted for the front.

          She recognised Timothy Matthews as she slid into the spot next to him. "Hi," she said, smiling at him.

          His head was turned completely in the direction of the teacher, and he had a pen clutched tightly in his left hand. If there was a contest on who could write the fastest in the next minute, he would hands down win.

          It took a second, but Tim finally figured out that she was talking to him. His glasses were round and almost falling off of his face when he turned.

          He pushed them up with an index finger. "Hi," he sputtered, taken aback.

         "Is it okay to sit here?" Josie asked.

         She had never talked to Tim before, and she had seriously never noticed how cute he was. There was never a reason to know him really, and anyway, they ran in completely opposite circles. His group of friends and her group didn't even eat lunch on the same floor, let alone speak to one another.

         Tim appeared flustered but he blinked himself back to earth. "Uhm, well," he couldn't think straight it seemed.

         "He was actually saving that seat for me," Josie heard someone behind her say.

         She turned to see another boy she had never actually spoken to before either, barely recalling that his name was Greg.

         "Oh, sorry," she said, collecting her stuff.

          Tim shook his head frantically and placed his hand on her notebook. "Stay! I mean, uh -he can find somewhere else to sit." He soon grasped that his hand was somewhere it didn't belong and he retracted it almost instantly.

          Josie blushed slightly and Greg stared incredulously at the curly haired boy.

          "Are you serious?"

          Mr. Becken cleared his throat loudly; his eyes were zeroed in on the three of them. "Please find a new seat, Mr. Lieber," he instructed.

TIM

          Greg groaned loudly and took his leave, having to sit next to Kayla Paul across the room. Tim felt bad for sending his friend into the arms of the girl that had a helpless, and creepy, crush on him, but it wasn't every day that Josie McCall chose to sit next to him.

          Josie smelled like some products he probably had never heard of and something like a hint of coconuts. It threw his mind through a loop trying to place the smells, but all he knew for sure was that it was exquisite.

          He tried his hardest to not glance over at her, the urges to just sneak one were tempting, but he couldn't scare her off with his weird boy crush.

          Why was she in this class, anyway? Tim never took her as having an interest in writing or an interest in creating. Of course, though, that was a purely judgmental impression of her. Maybe she loved English; she must have had layers that he never could see from just looking at her in the cafeteria.

          "William Shakespeare's Anne Hathaway....ugh! I absolutely loved her in The Princess Diaries!" Tim was dumbfounded as he caved in and looked at her. Her eyes were innocent and so hypnotizingly brown that he almost could forgive her for that comment.

          Class went by quickly and the whole time Mr. Becken was assigning them their first creative story of the semester, Tim couldn't help but steal a few more looks at Josie while she watched longingly out the window.

          What was she thinking about?

          Probably how creepy I am.

          "Bye Tim," Josie said after the bell dismissed them, waving to him as she turned her back, her skirt shifting with every movement.

          Tim's heart fluttered, betraying his wish to keep himself calm. "Wait, Josie!" he called before she got too far. To him, she turned in slow motion, 'Blood' by The Middle East playing in his head. That grin she did, he noticed, was so inviting that it made him more confident. "If you need help with any of the homework, I'd be happy to."

          Josie looked appreciative, the kindness on her face sincere. "Thanks, Tim. I might actually take you up on that." She was going to leave it at that, but she didn't. "Maybe I could get your number?"

          Greg caught his arm before he could reply, and Tim cursed his absolute hellish luck.

          "What the hell, Tim, way to just throw me to The Witch! Look at what she did!" He held his arm up to show a doodle of a smiley face.

          "Just a sec." He shrugged Greg off to turn back to Josie, but she had disappeared into the flow of students.