Love is in the Air

“Class is dismissed. On your way out, put your tests on my desk. Read pages 128 through 172 for homework.” Mr. Pyle says blankly. “Finally.” I whisper to Niccarrahh. “Meet me in front of the lunch room. Em wants us to meet her friend.” “Oh, that’s today?” I nod. “Finally! I’ve been waiting since she told us. I’m so excited! Aren’t you?” “Not really. I don’t wanna meet anyone.” “Oh come on” Niccarrahh says as we walk out of AP Government. “Just try to be friends. It’s not that bad.” “No. I can promise you, I will not be talking to him.” “You’re in a bad mood.” She stops in front of the band room. “See you at lunch.” I arrived at the lunch room and stood by the doors, waiting for my best friend to arrive. Emmy popped up beside me. “Oh my gosh! I’m so excited for you to meet Arlo! He’s nervous you guys won’t like him, are you waiting for Niccarrahh?” “Yep” I reply. I was very lost in thought until I saw a cute boy come to Emmy’s side. “Hey Em. Is this Calvin?” “Ye-“ Emmy gets cut off. “Yes I’m Calvin, you must be Arlo! Emmy talks about you a lot!” Emmy looks at me and smirks. She knew what was happening. Emmy walks off. “How are you?” I question the cute boy. “I’m good, thanks for asking!” Arlo looked over. “Who’s that? She’s kind of staring at us.” He says “Oh that’s Niccarrahh, she sits with us at lunch and is my best friend. She’s really nice and is so excited to meet you. We’ve been waiting so impatiently for you to get here. Emmy told us about 2 months ago. Since then, I’ve gotten more impatient.” I signaled Niccarrahh to come over and she starts to walk over while smirking. Was it really that noticeable that I had a crush on Arlo? “Hello! You must be Arlo! I’m Niccarrahh. It’s wonderful to meet you. Why don’t we get some lunch and have a seat?” “Sounds great!” While we were walking, Arlo asks a question. “Do either of you have free period? I kind of need someone to show me around and Emmy said she couldn’t because she has classes all day.” “I do” I quickly respond. “Can I see you schedule? I can see if we have them during the same periods.” And if we have any classes together, I thought. “Great! We both have it during third period! Do you want me to show you around today or tomorrow?” “We have to do it tomorrow, right? I just had Spanish and that’s my third class, and now I have lunch. That means my first free period is tomorrow.” I look at him concerned. “What?” “Arlo, you counted home room as a class.” “That’s why I had 8 periods!” I burst into a fit of laughter. We had finally gotten our lunch and sat down. Emmy asked Arlo a question but I didn’t realize until Niccarrahh nudged me. “Oh, yeah?” I responded flushed red with embarrassment. “Emmy was just thanking you for agreeing to show me around school.” “Right, you’re welcome.” Emmy chuckled knowingly. She knew Calvin had a crush on Arlo. Arlo didn’t know this was different from how Calvin normally acted but he thought it was cute. Arlo was admiring a boy that he barely knew. He’d never been so in love. After a bit of silence, Arlo speaks up, “Do you wanna show me around today since I figured out my schedule?” Emmy snickered into her sleeve. “Um, sure, why not?” Not even five minutes later, the bell rang. Meaning lunch was over. I mouthed to Emmy. I wanted her to meet me by the bathrooms. “I’m gonna use the bathroom before I show you around. You just stay here Arlo. Bye!” Emmy exits about a minute after Calvin. She arrives at the bathrooms. “Em is he gay?” I asked very straightforward. “How could you tell? I mean he only has like 7 pride pins on his jacket.” Emmy smiles. “You have a crush don’t you? I could tell by the way you looked at him.” “Do you think he likes me?” Emmy just stares. “Please tell me! His body language doesn’t make any sense! He hasn’t even hinted at it! He probably thinks I’m a freak!” “I know your dumb but are you that oblivious? He’s in love with you! I have to go though because I have class and your crush is probably wondering where you are.” Emmy walks down the hall to class and I headed off to the cafeteria doors where I saw Arlo talking to another guy.