Craig carried his heavy backpack on his shoulders all the way to his locker; it felt like it weighed a ton. Why did they have to have so much stuff for school? It was killing his shoulders, even his back. Just going up the stairs with it became a big job. He was happy when he finally seen his locker. He slowly put his bag on the ground in front of him, as he put in his combination to his locker.

Kelsie strolled down the hall towards her locker thinking of her boyfriend back home, when she spotted Craig trying to open up his locker. He was in a tight black shirt, and jeans. It seemed like he had styled his hair today, making it a little less puffy. Dam he looked hot!!! No, she couldn’t think that way, she had Chris back home.

When he finally got his locker open, he unloaded his stuff onto the shelf. He looked to his right, to see Kelsie in a pair of hip hugger jeans and a grey and yellow striped tube-top, and her hair up in a ponytail with her bangs bunched forward at the front. She was at her locker on her knees doing the exact same thing as him. Oh, she looked so gorgeous today!

Once he had finished, he walked over to her, leaning on the locker next to hers, “Hey Kelsie, how are you today?”

Kelsie looked up and smiled, “I’m doing good Craig. “

“So what’s your schedule like?” Hoping that it would be similar to his, so that they would see more of each other.

She stood up, and closed her locker, “Well it seems like I have all my hard subjects this semester.”

“What do you have?”

“English, math, biology and social studies.”

“Sounds like a challenging semester, almost like mine except I don’t have English. What block is your math and biology in?”

“Math’s in D block and Biology is in B.”

“Well it looks like we have those together, so at least you’ll have a friendly face,” she blushed at that comment. In a way he reminded her of her boyfriend back home.

Thinking of how well yesterday went, “Yeah, I did meet these two guys in my English class though, they seem nice.”

“Did their names happen to be Jimmy and Spinner?” knowing that he was right, since he had already talked to the boys last night.

Surprised that he was right, “Yeah, how did you know?”

“They told me at band practice last night,” he smiled. “They’re dear friends of mine.”

“You were talking about me?” she asked, a little curious to what they had said. I mean she had to have made some impression on them if they talked about her after only knowing her for a few hours. Maybe this place wouldn’t be too bad.

“Nothing bad of course,” he sweetly said. He wasn’t about to tell her they all thought that she was a looker.

The morning bell went, and some kids began to rush to their lockers, others took their time.  Most people didn’t care whether they were late or not, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was only the first full day of school.

“Why don’t you meet me here after first block and we’ll walk to our class together,” Craig suggested.

“Okay, I’d like that,” she smiled at him, biting on her lip slightly. Oh no she thought, she was flirting with him, she couldn’t do that.

****** 

Craig and Kelsie sat on stools behind their table in the science lab. They decided that they would be partners for the class. They didn’t want to be stuck with anyone they didn’t know. However, Craig wanted to be close to her, and get to know her more. He didn’t know that she had a boyfriend back home.

“So how was English?” Craig asked looking at her instead of at the front where the teacher was talking non-stop, boring the class to death. It wasn’t like he cared about what he had to say, the first week wasn’t that important.

“Boring, she just went over things that I learned last year. I just doodled in my book. How was your class?”

“Good, thank God that this year is all about our history without the geography.” He didn’t really care about what was the capital of what country, and stuff like that.

“Ms. Fitzgerald & Mr. Manning quit the chatting, now isn’t the time for it. You’re going to need to know what we’re doing this year,” Mrs. Siemplekemp said with a stern voice.

“Sorry,” they both said, laughing quietly. They decided to send notes to each other, so they wouldn’t get in any more trouble. Why start listening to the rest of it if they hadn’t heard the first part. Anyways Kelsie hadn’t ever been one to listen to the instructions; she was one to do things on her own.

The Lunch bell rang, and it didn’t take long for the students to exit the classroom, leaving Craig and Kelsie the last out. They were taking their time; they weren’t in any rush.

******

Craig and Kelsie walked over to the table the gang was sitting at, and joined them. “Hey you guys, I would like you to meet Kelsie.”

“Hey,” they all said.

“Kelsie this is Marco sitting beside me, his boyfriend Dylan beside him. Then there’s Hazel, and Terri. You know Jimmy, and that’s his girlfriend Ashley, and Spinner and his girlfriend Paige.”

“So where are you from?” Paige asked a little curious since she had to know stuff about everyone. This was her group, and if she was going to make sure, she wasn’t the type of girl who would turn her back on them, or backstab them. If that were the case then she would make sure she regretted messing with them.

“I’m from a town called Sechelt, a little place on the coast of British Columbia. My parents were transferred so we had to move.” If she had the choice, she would have stayed back in Sechelt where her friends and boyfriend was. It wasn’t as if his family would have cared if she had moved in. However, her parents wouldn’t hear any of it; they didn’t seem to really have any concern about her feelings about moving.

“Well you’re welcome to hang out with us. We would love to get to know you,” Paige said. She seemed to be very sweet, so she might not be so bad after all, she thought.

“Thanks, yesterday I was all worried about finding friends, but now I guess I really shouldn’t have worried.” Yeah it was nice to have some new friends, but it didn’t make this any easier on her.

“Nah, some of us have been the new kids in school so we know how it’s like,” Marco replied, remembering feeling as if he had to be a certain way to fit in.

They all sat in the cafeteria the whole lunch hour getting to know their new friend. Listening to this was making Craig’s feelings grow deeper for her. Was he supposed to fall so fast like this? Was it normal? Makes you wonder if he heard the fact that she had long-term relationship with someone back home.

****** 

Kelsie sat at her computer when she got home from school, and was just signing in when something popped up saying you have a new email from CHayes@hotmail.com when she saw that her heart flipped. Oh, she missed him greatly, it wasn’t that she hated living here so much anymore, but when looking at her picture of him made her feel homesick, made her miss him. She opened the email:

Hey Sweet thing,

The school hasn’t been the same without you. I wanted to phone you up yesterday to see how you were doing, but then the guys dragged me out before I even got the chance. We went up to Wilson Creek and had a bomb fire with the entire grade 12’s. It was a whole lot of fun, but of course would have been better if you were here with us, to share in the moment.

How are things going over there? Have you made any new friends? I bet you have because you’re so loveable! That’s why I fell for you. I know you were worried about this whole long distance thing, but don’t worry I know that we can do it because we love each other.

I miss our long talks on the phone before we went to bed, your sweet kisses, or just lying in each other’s arms at night when your parents were away. Nights here aren’t the same, I lye on my bed wondering what you’re doing, and if you’re thinking of me at this very moment.

I would love to write you more, but I’m in class so I better shut this down before Mr. Elwood catches me.

Love You Lots!!!!!!

Chris

Then she looked to find there was another email this time from Spic16@hotmail.com.

Kelsie,

How are you doing? I hope things are going aright for you. We all miss you over here, especially in Drama class when we would just goof off, and have fun. I mean I’ve known you a long time and I just find it real weird that you’re no longer here.

I think that you need to visit soon; Chris is looking a little down. He really misses you and we think he needs to get some, if you know what I mean. (Just Bugging) We’ll keep an eye on him, making sure he doesn’t get into any trouble.

So how are things over there? Is it different from the West Coast? Is there any hot babe’s there?

Your Friend,

Brennan

Kelsie couldn’t believe he had sent her that; aw, poor Chris isn’t doing well without her. Well she would make sure to cheer him up by telling him that her parents have agreed to pay for a trip down there.

A MSN Messenger popped up.

Overexposed: Hey Kelsie

Heavenly_Kisses: Hey Craig, what are you up to?

Overexposed: Nothing much, just listening to music, you?

Heavenly_Kisses: I’m just finishing checking my email. Would you mind if I came                                              to see your band this weekend?

Overexposed: No. So how’s your writing going?

Heavenly_Kisses: It’s good; I’m almost done my first book.

Overexposed: What’s about?

Heavenly_Kisses: About a young girl who has Leukemia. Her boyfriend decides that it’s too much for him so he runs away. Through it, they both grow as people, only to see each other again. They then  have to see if those feelings they once share are still there or if it's time for them to truly move on.

Overexposed: Wow! Are you going to publish it?

Heavenly_Kisses: Yeah, but I have to send it to my boyfriend Chris to read first. He had been helping me out with is so I want him to be the first to see it.

When Craig heard her mention her boyfriend the smile that was planted on his face was soon replaced by a frown. It hurt to know that a girl he was falling for was already spoken for. He must be cursed when it came to love. He seemed to always like the ones he couldn’t have.

Overexposed: So how are you and Chris doing?

Heavenly_Kisses: We’re good; my parents just told me that they’re going to pay for me to go to visit him whenever I want to, so I think I’m  going to go for my birthday in the beginning of November.

The thought of her going to see her boyfriend made Craig sad because he knew that they probably would get close again after being away from each other for so long. This must be some type of punishment for his bad actions last year.

Overexposed: That’s nice of them.

“Kelsie you have a phone call,” her mother hollered from downstairs

“Okay, just a minute,” she yelled back.

Heavenly_Kisses: I have to go, see you tomorrow at school.

Overexposed: Bye.