I've had a crush on Tyler for such a long time that the thought that he could even have a crush on me feels unbelievable.

I mean, I know externally. I look better now. But internally, I'm still the Lauretta that kissed him the first day we got to have an actual conversation.

Yesterday was everything I'd ever dreamed of happening happening. No, like for real, I have had actual dreams of the moment Tyler would tell me he was no longer with Linda and liked me.

Now that it was happening, I didn't know how to feel.

.

.

After we made marshmallows that night, we just lay in the sand and spoke about everything and anything. It was so surreal.

The clouds, the wind, and the weather all seemed to agree with our blooming love story. He made no move that day, though, and truthfully, I was kinda disappointed by that. I was hoping he'd kiss me.

I spent my entire Sunday reminiscing about the events of that night. My mind kept replaying every look, every slight touch, and every comment. I felt so giddy, I thought I would explode before Monday morning when I would get to see him again.

.

.

I walked into school feeling like an infatuated teenager, cos I was. I was looking forward to my chemistry class just so I could see him.

We had texted during the weekend, but it wasn't enough for me, I wanted to see him physically.

I walked to my seat and waited for him to show up to class. I barely listened to anything Mr Corny said because every 5 seconds,  I glanced at the door.

And surely, 10 minutes after the class started, Tyler walked in. He said his usual apologies to Mr Corny, who, as usual, didn't pay any attention and just asked him to go to his seat.

As he walked towards his seat, he smiled at me and waved a little. I smiled back and tried to stop myself from showing any signs of how much I liked him, but I was too late. My cheeks were already burning.

I wasn't just embarrassed because he smiled at me. I was also embarrassed because everybody saw. I was also nervous that Linda's friends in class would tell her about what happened.

"Hey," he said as he sat down.

"Hey," I responded, hoping that my blushing cheeks had calmed down.

"You look beautiful today." He complimented.

If my cheek had calmed before, I was certain it was now redder than a tomato.

"Thank you," I said back, wondering if I should compliment him too or if he'd feel weird.

We made small talk for the rest of the periods, occasionally earning looks from our classmates whenever we tried and failed to control our laughter.

Thankfully,  Mr Corny didn't seem to notice anything.

The period passed faster than I would have preferred because we didn't have our next classes together. The next time we would be seeing each other would be during our break

.

.

Before I knew it, it was lunch. Looking back, I'd have never admitted it, but lunch had slowly begun to be one of my favourite parts of the day.

Linda and Sophia were significantly more tolerable. I got to see Tyler at the table. Overall, talking to others was better than sitting alone at a table enveloped in your own thoughts.

I made my way to my locker first to drop my books and pick up my meal for the day. Despite all that was going on, I was proud to say that I never faltered in my productivity journey.

I had prepped veggies and chicken this week as my main course. I also made baked oats. I found the recipe online. It was basically plain oats, bananas, eggs, and vanilla flavour. It tasted really nice.

Once I got to the cafeteria, however, I immediately sensed that something was wrong.

The entire cafeteria was quiet, save for one voice. Linda's.

"You!" She screeched as she marched towards me.

Before I could process what was going on, she had knocked my meal, which I had struggled so hard to prepare to the ground.

I immediately switched to defensive mode. I was so angry that I was sure I would hit her if she laid her hands on me first.

"Why would you do that?" I responded as calmly as I could, though it did little to hide the ice in my tone.

"You stole Tyler from me, you b****. I thought we were friends! What the f***!" She continued screaming.

I was absolutely taken aback by that accusation. Mostly because I didn't expect her to find out yet and also because it was true. I hoped that I hadn't let the shock slip through the emotional mask I had on right now.

"First of all, tone down your voice. I'm right in front of you. Secondly,  who told you that and why do you believe it?" I shot back, hoping I was looking as cool as I imagined.

"Don't f****** talk to me like I'm a child you c***. People saw you guys at the ice cream place."

Oh, it was just the ice cream place. Whew.

"So? How does that translate to me stealing him?" I asked.

She was already scrambling for answers before I cut in again.

"Besides, you know we were doing a project together, right? We just finished that Friday and decided to get ice cream as a reward for all our hard work. I don't even know why I'm even entertaining this." I said and started to walk past her before Tyler spoke up.

"To start with, Lauretta is right. Second of all, you and I are not together. I don't know what gives you the impression that you're entitled to me even when we're not together. Then, lastly, never speak to me or Lauretta in that manner again. We are not subservient to you. Understood?"

I had never seen Linda look as pale as she did right now before. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. I had to restrain myself from blushing at Tyler's words. He stood up for me. No one had ever done that for me before.

This was why when he mentioned that he wanted me to be his girlfriend right in the middle of the cafeteria, I said Yes against all judgment.

Art by: Ghost-In_aBlaNk3t