Leah (Part 1)

I first noticed her on a late October day. I was in school at the time, fifth period to be exact and she was sitting four rows away in a desk identical to mine. I didn’t think anything of it, only that she was pretty.

She had long chestnut brown hair and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a blue t-shirt that hung to her body in just the right places and tight jeans with blue flip flops to go with it. A purse was sitting next to her chair with a small notebook poking out the side.

She didn’t know my name. She probably wouldn’t ever care either. But I knew hers. Leah. It sounded sweet in my ear, even though that confused me.

“Stephanie Lillian!” Mr. Onnotro called out my name loudly. I hadn’t noticed that I was staring until he did. I quickly turned away just as she looked at me and blinked up at him with a confused expression.

“Yes?” I whispered; the whole class was looking at me now and I could hear at least half of them giggling. I hoped they hadn’t realized what exactly I was looking at, but it didn’t sound like they did. I heard Mr. Onnotro go on about some geology question, but I shrugged and, though he was angry, he moved on.

The only question that came to mind that day was, “Will she be my friend?” If I’d have known then what I know now I would have ignored her completely, but of course, I didn’t and so after class I decided I would talk to her.

I was always a shy person so this was hard for me. I nervously walked over to her desk. She was leaning casually against it and talking to a friend of hers, from the looks of it, it could have been her best friend and I was instantly jealous.

“Leah?” I said in a small voice. She turned towards me and smiled. It was a perfect smile, her lips wrapped gently around the rows of gleaming white straight teeth. I suddenly felt ashamed of the braces that clung ungracefully to my teeth.

“Hey Stephanie!” She said in a happy and enthusiastic voice that calmed me down slightly. “What’s up?” My mind went blank. What was I supposed to say? Hadn’t I planned a reason to come over here?

“I was wondering if you would help me with the homework.” I said quietly to Leah. It seemed like a good idea; Leah always seemed smarter than the rest of the class. Or maybe that was just me.

“Sure, what do you need help with?” She sounded excited, which surprised me, and waved her friend off. I pulled out my book for geology and turned to the page we were on.

“This,” I pointed to a question that I hadn’t figured out the night before. “I can’t figure it out.”

And of course Leah knew the answer. I produced some awkward small-talk before she left, but it wasn’t much more than ‘how are you? And what’s up?’

I left the room about ten to fifteen minutes later feeling awkward and yet happy at the same time.

The ring of the school bell brought me back to present time to tell me lunch was over. It had been a little over a year since I had first met Leah and my life had changed drastically.

I got out of the seat I had been pretending to eat lunch in and walked over to throw my things in the garbage can. My ex-best friend, Jenaka, was standing there.

“Hey.” I said quietly, leaving my face the emotionless mask it had stayed the past two months.

“Stephanie.” Jenaka replied curtly and nodded her head to show she recognized my existence for that fraction of a second. She turned on her heel and quickly walked away. I sighed before I walked away as well and went straight to my next class.

I mostly day dreamed in school now, not speaking unless the teacher forced me to. No one really noticed, there was no one to notice.

I sank into my chair and readied myself for another eighty minutes of nothing. I thought back to when times were simpler, happier, and the first thing that came to mind was Leah. So, I decided to think about the second time we had talked.

It was about two weeks after the first. Leah was hanging out after class again with her best friend whom I had come to know as Brooke.

“Hey.” I said quietly, but with more courage this time because I knew what I was going to ask. I had planned it all out. Still, my stomach was filled with thousands of butterflies that all took flight as soon as she gave me that smile of her s and spoke my name.

“Hey Stephanie!” Her enthusiasm made me smile back.

“I was wondering…” I paused nervously and she waited, smiling. “Would you like to go to the mall with me?” I finally managed to force the words out and stared at my shoes, nervously awaiting her answer.

“When?” She asked casually and I smiled.

“This weekend I was thinking. But honestly any day will work.” She smiled again.

“Saturday it is then. Are you driving or am I?” She smiled and I hung my head again in shame.

“Well… I don’t get my license for another four months.” I blushed and heard Leah giggle quietly.

“That’s fine. I can drive.” I smiled again and she waved a goodbye to me as we both left the room.

Again I was brought back to the present by the bell ringing loudly. I sighed, I’d much rather stay at school and daydream about Leah than go home and face my parents yet again.

 Artists note: I just had this idea and I thought it would be a good story, it won't be very long, i'm almost done already and it's only about 6-8 parts so... don't worry.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a lesbian nor am I bi. This story is NOT about me. Thank you :)