1 Finnegan! My mysterious, unrequited love

I, Elise, am a normal girl, I think. I like to read. I have a best friend. I am a sophomore in high school. Everything is so average. Even the small town I live in is average. It's not the smallest town in the tri-county area, but it certainly couldn't be called a big town. Which means, even if you don't know everybody, you'll at least see several people you do know wherever you go, and they will likely know other people you know. But one great thing about living in Arkansas is that there is nature all around. There are streams, rivers, lakes, forests, forest parks, fields, and ponds. To someone who needs a constant stream of entertainment from some kind of electronic device, this probably sounds like a nightmare. But I love to find a peaceful or secluded spot and just sit and daydream about Finnegan. Finnegan is my crush. He's the most interesting boy I've ever laid eyes upon. He's always reading too, just like me, but I don't think we read the same books. He wears black a lot, and, on his left pointer finger, he wears a ring with a five-pointed star closed in a circle. His hair is thick and brown, and even though it's shaggy, somehow it never looks unkempt. He is so handsome and tall and smart. I don't think he has a girlfriend, but there are some goth girls that hang around in his circle. His best friend is a short, blonde boy named Weston. Weston is a skateboarder and wears eyeliner and listens to heavy metal. Finn spends a lot of time with Weston and the goth girls. They stand by the flagpole in the morning, sit together at lunch, and hang out under the oak tree by the fence at recess, but after school on the weekdays, Finn goes straight home.

My best friend, Cheyanne, has many crushes. I spend a lot of my time with her, but my eyes tend to wander until I find my handsome Finnegan, with his group of black crows amongst an aviary of dull and brilliantly colored birds. Cheyanne is kind of goofy. She likes to make faces when she is retelling a story, and she talks with her hands. I've gotten pretty good at dodging her gesticulations, but sometimes I'm busy scanning the crowd and get smacked in the face. If it weren't for my reflexes, I would have already lost an eye.

"Did you hear what I said?" Cheyanne said, waving both hands in front of my face. I jerked my head back and pulled my mind back to our conversation.

"Sorry, no. What did you say?"

"Hello! Earth to Elise! The results of the Cheerleading tryouts are gonna be posted at 3 o'clock. Will you go with me and look for me. I'm too nervous to see for myself."

"Oh," I say, finally remembering what she was saying before I started scanning the crowd, "of course I'll go with you. You probably don't need to worry though. You worked so hard, and you did the dance routine flawlessly. They'll totally put you on the team."

"Thanks for saying that, but I won't feel better until I know for sure. Remember, 3 o'clock. I'll meet you at your locker after my last class, then we can walk over to the gym, okay?" Cheyanne half-turned to start walking away, but still waiting for me to answer.

"Sounds good. See you later!" I called after her. Just then the end-of-recess bell rang. Two more classes and then the school day would be over. My next class was Physical Science. It isn't my favorite subject, but Finnegan is in this class, so it's kind of great. And the last class for today is Library Aide.

The bell rang for class to start just as I sat in my assigned seat and put my bag on the desk. The teacher passed out some worksheets stapled together and explained that we would be starting a new unit.

"We'll be covering chapters 4 and 5. This packet will be due at the end of the unit in two weeks. You may work with a partner on the experiments, but you must complete your own packet and write your own short essay. The essay must be a minimum of 500 words and can be on any topic that is relevant to the unit or experiments. I'll give you ten minutes to choose your partners and discuss."

I looked around the room for anyone who I could choose as my partner. I wanted to ask Finn, of course, but I have never been able to approach him. I should wait until everyone had already paired up and end up with whoever was left. Then I could suggest we sit somewhere close to where Finn and his partner were sitting so I could feel close to him. Finn is normally not a shy guy, but his best friend ,Weston, wasn't in this class and the other students were either preppy girls who popped bubblegum and hated reading, football players who paid their tutors and nerdy underclassmen to complete their assignments, or other smart kids that kept to themselves.

I tried to approach one of the smart girls who I didn't know very well to see if she would be my partner, but she was already moving her desk closer to the other smart girl in the class. I didn't want to pair with one of the football players because they tended to be jerks, but if I had to pick between a football jerk or a bubblegum girl, I'd pick the jerk every time. As luck would have it, the bubblegum girls and football jerks didn't want to pair with me either, and the only person left was my sweet Finn. I glanced over to him and saw he also just realized we were the only people left unpaired. My heart started pounding as he picked up his bookbag and started in my direction.

"Hey, it looks like we're the only ones left. Do you mind if we sit over here?" He was so casual about it. His smile was a slight curve and his dimples appeared. I realized he was just trying to cover up the awkward silence since I still hadn't said anything. I was wide-eyed in shock that he was standing before me and his beautiful face was looking at me and smiling.

I snapped back to reality suddenly and tried to shake away the shock. " Um, hi. Yeah that's ok. Sorry, I, uh, zoned out for a second there, he he." I awkwardly tried to laugh it off and moved my bag so we could push two desks together. "My name is Elise, by the way."

"I'm Finnegan, but just call me Finn if it's easier." He smelled so good. My heart floated. " So, it says we have to put together two experiments on Matter and Chemical Reactions. Do you mind if we get together on Saturday to work on these. That way we can come up with ideas for the experiments and get the materials together. Besides, I have stuff that I have to do on weeknights." He was so beautiful when he talked. I was trying not to stare at him adoringly, and I felt my eyes drift downward to rest on my book splayed out on my desk.

"Um, yeah. Saturday works for me. Can I come to your place? My house is pretty small, and we wouldn't be able to set up anywhere without being in the way."

Truthfully, my mom and I lived in a tiny 2 bedroom, 1 bath house. The house was old, and even though my mom furiously cleaned it almost everyday, it still looked dingy and smelled musty. It was probably not a healthy environment to live in, but it was all we had. After my parents divorce, my mom kept the house and me, but my dad legally terminated his parental rights to me so he wouldn't have to pay child support. My mom's small income from the factory where she worked was all we had. I didn't want Finn to see how I lived before he had a chance to know me.

"Uh, well actually, I was hoping we could meet at your place. My parents are having guests over on Saturday. So they'll be spending the whole morning and afternoon preparing." That's understandable, but unfortunate. I was really hoping to finally see where my Finn lived and maybe discover more of the mystery that is my dark Love.

"Well, what if I pack us a picnic and we can go out to the cattle pond in a field behind our property? I live a little out in the sticks. You might have to bring some bug spray and wear proper shoes for trekking through tall grass and stuff." I was so nervous even suggesting this alternative. What if he thought I was such a loser? Oh man, I can't take it back now. He seems to be thinking about it. If he doesn't like the idea, maybe he'll suggest something else and I'll be off the hook. Or maybe I could suggest something else before he has a chance...

"You know what? That's perfect! It is a science experiment after all. What better place to work that in nature. Great, text me your address and I'll meet you at your place at 12:15 on Saturday." I was speechless. He actually seems...excited! He likes nature. I made a mental note and a smile started spreading across my face.

"Ok, Saturday at 12:15. Don't forget the bug spray, and the right shoes." I pulled out my phone and had him put in his contact information. When he handed my phone back, his fingers grazed my palm. I can't believe this is happening. And his number is in my phone! And I'm texting him my address! I can't wait to tell Cheyanne. One more hour after this class to go. I hoped he couldn't hear how loud my heart was pounding as we looked over the rest of the science packet for the remainder of class.