My life is like a freaking romance novel, I kid you not. But you know what? It's not as pleasant as it sounds.

So, I have NO experience with relationships. No one has even had a crush on me. (At least as far as I know.) Until one fateful day...

(Yes, I am making a cliche first person romance about my life. Deal with it. Muahahaha!)

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(My POV)

I sat on the seat against the far wall as always. All around me screaming high schoolers tackled each other or chattered about memes. Only me and one other girl, who awkwardly sat two chairs away from me, were sitting alone.

To my right, tall mountains of boys played nine square, their jumping bodies blocking the exit from view. To my left groups of girls (and occasional boys) chattered in the small cafe. I was sandwiched in the middle and against the wall, where someone had conveniently placed chairs for awkward introverts like myself.

It felt like I was one of the only people here who was alone.

"Hey, Messily! What's up dude?"

A tall girl in her twenties pushed past the small crowd, her bouncy hair whacking people in the face. I grinned falsely, jumping from my seat to give her a hug.

"Nothing much Ash," I said, trying to force as much bubbly happiness as I could into my tone, "What about you?"

She mumbled a quick reply before jumping back into the crowd and fist bumping with a group of boys. I sighed. Ash was a friend of everyone and a best friend to no one.

It felt like forever since I'd had a friend that would stick by me. But in truth it was only a month ago when my band of friends was over fifteen. We were the popular people, a haven for the quiet ones. But then the glue that held us together, Zoe, moved away and everyone disappeared, leaving me behind.

"Oh!" Ash reappeared, smiling widely, "I forgot to tell you. I'm engaged now! I can't believe I forgot to tell you! I guess I've been thinking about it so much I assume people know about it."

"Congrats!" I squealed, causing a few people to glance my way. I immediately hugged her again before plopping back into my seat. Ash stuck around for a few more minutes before trotting away to her next vict— friends.

Though the noise around me was practically bursting my eardrums, my corner of the world seemed eerily silent. Self pity was welling up beneath my skin, and I battled tears that threatened to spill over onto my cheeks.

I was pitiful. Why couldn't I just go and make friends instead of whining inwardly about how bad I have it? Am I so privileged that me losing a few friends feels like the end of the world?

Suddenly I was snapped out of my lonely haze by someone sitting next to me. I turned, surprised that anyone would be bold enough to sit in the seat next to an almost crying girl.

It was a boy, his wavy black hair cascading around earth colored eyes. His acne covered face was accented by the glasses that threatened to spill off of his nose, and his Star Wars shirt only confirmed the theory in my mind. 

This guy was undoubtably a classic case of the socially awkward nerd.

We sat in silence for about about ten minutes, which felt like ten eternities. My palms were by then getting sweaty and I subconsciously wiped them on my jeans. I wondered if he was alone too. No one had talked to him at all, at least as far as I knew in the ten minutes he had been near me.

I decided I would be a good person and talk to him. Maybe we could become awkward together instead of alone.

"Um," I began, my voice faltering when he glanced my way, "I-I'm Messily, what's your name?"

A beat of silence. Then...

"I'm Luke," he whispered, not looking me in the eyes.

I wanted to say something to continue the conversation, but every option was unbearably awkward and stiff. So instead I allowed silence to fall between us again.

Then, genius struck.

"I mean— um... You mean like Luke Skywalker? That's cool," I said, immediately biting my lip and grimacing at how cringey the conversation starter had been.

"You like Star Wars too?" He asked, suddenly excited and leaning toward me.

"Y- Yep!" I answered, "Who doesn't?"

He grinned before scrunching up his face in concentration. "Hmm, I think.... Well, I've met this one guy who thought it was stupid. And my little brother hates it."

"OoF, that stinks. My little brother really wants to watch them but he's not allowed to watch the PG-13 ones. He is always devastated when we watch them after his bedtime."

And so the conversation went. We were both awkward, but it didn't really matter as long as we talked about fandoms. He seemed to be the movie fanboy while I preferred books, but I decided early on that I would force him to join the Dark Side.

"Sorry," I mumbled after a particularly long rant in our conversation, "I'm really crazy."

Luke smiled shyly. "Everyone is a crazy in their own way."

"Then let's be crazy together."

As soon as I said it, red exploded all over his face. I felt my face burn and I shifted in my seat, suddenly self conscious. Luke tried to continue the conversation, but he fell over his words so many times that we eventually sank into silence.

Well, looks like I gained a friend. A friend that I could be awkward and crazy with. A slow smile spread over my face as I glanced at the melted and red mess of a boy beside me.

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School was boring as always and it was only the first day. I sighed as I readied myself for the boring lecture that was hidden behind the door in front of me.

Gathering strength, I slipped into the classroom with my black and rainbow backpack slung over my shoulder. There was already five people in the room even though I was early. I subconsciously moved to the back and sat beside someone. I was too busy unpacking my writing to pay attention to who was beside me.

That is, until they tapped my shoulder. 

I started and whipped around, ready to hit the intruder of my personal space. The boy who had dared such a feat had headphones around his neck and messy hair. His black shirt with a band logo seemed absurdly cliche as he looked at me through broken glasses.

"I need a pencil," he said, his deep voice and dark attire making me want to laugh at how cliche my life had become.

"Sure," I smiled politely, though inside my head a wave of sarcasm crashed towards him. I pulled the only loose pencil out of my backpack and grinned at the design on it. Pokémon danced around it while a eye-burning rainbow swirl took over the background. And to top it all off the tip was dull and round instead of the preferred sharpness that I loved.

When the boy saw it he grinned as well, before grabbing it a bit more roughly then necessary. "Thanks. I've always loved Pokémon." The words were thick with sarcasm that I could sense a mile away.

I couldn't help but shoot something back. "Yeah, you seem like the type. Cheerful with a hint of colorful naivety."

Not trying to bash Pokémon lovers, I like the game. And some of the designs. I was just trying to get under his skin. Also, the pencil was my little brother's that I stole.

And isn't it weird how much I change depending on who I'm around? I can be awkward and crazy around some people (Luke) and annoying and sarcastic around others (Nate). For someone with social anxiety I am very bold sometimes.

"Looks like you're a Star Wars fan," he said, avoiding my jab. He pointed to my backpack and I nodded before glancing at all of the pins. Quotes like, let the Wookie win, decorated my already eyesore of a backpack.

"Yep," I said, "I'm assuming you are as well?"

"Kriff yeah," he said, grinning.

And with that he put his headphones on before I could continue the conversation. Rude.

Class was boring like I had expected. We were supposed to design and make a board game, which sounds fun in theory, but in reality it prompted an hour of a rant about how to make an exciting game.

As I packed up my things, happy to be done with the long sitting session the boy tapped my shoulder again. I about growled as I whipped around. Thankfully, I held it back and managing a thoughtful smile.

"I'm Nate," he said, holding out his hand.

I hesitantly shook it before shifting uncomfortably in my seat. He seemed almost reluctant to say something. I had a feeling what it was, and I wasn't interested.

"Well, I'm Messily?" I stood up and grabbed my backpack, ready to make a run for it. But before I could, Nate got up and stood between me and the door.

"May I have your number?"

After a moment of consideration, I gave him my Mom's phone number.

As you can see, I got stuck in a love triangle. How, I have no idea. Also, I just realized in both cases we talked about Star Wars. Thank you, Star Wars, you're the ultimate matchmaker.

Who do you think I'm leaning towards? (I'm still single tho sooo)

Nate the cliche Bad Boy

Luke the cliche Cinnamon Roll Nerd

O R

Food the cliche Helper of Singles