No Such Thing

The Heart of the Matter

After gym class Cayden just wanted to die. He didn’t know why that class came up in his senior year. His last school didn’t require it. It was an elective, optional. He does wish he had taken it anyway. This guy was no joke! After a quick rinse and dress into his school clothes, Cayden headed for the hallway his locker resided on. Fortunately his last class was close to his locker and the exit!

“Cay! Hold up!” Cayden slowed and turned to see Chris striding towards him and Mac trying to keep up. The size difference between his two new friends was hilarious. He couldn’t help but giggle. “Hey bro, what's up? You were out of there way too fast, man!” Mac finally caught up to us. Turning to walk in the direction he had already been headed while his friends join him.

“Just headed to my locker and getting out of here.” Cayden told his large friend and smacked him on his back. Chris laughed and nodded his head.

“Cool. I hear ya. You got something to do this afternoon? Mac and I was wondering if you wanted to go to the mall with us?” Chris smiles all the time. He was just innately genuine.

“Dude, that would be great but I have a thing. About an hour. Can you swing by my house and pick me up in a bit? Long enough for me to get cleaned up?” Cayden answered, kind of excited about having friends so soon and ones he actually likes.

“Yeah sure. I’m driving my Dad’s car.” Mac said trying really hard to keep up without complaint. “Another of our friends is going too. You haven’t met him yet, Cay. He’s cool though.” Added Mac.

“Sounds good.” Cayden said as he opened his locker. Chris and Macs lockers weren’t far from Cayden’s. They were all in the senior hall. Cayden shoved his books in his locker and grabbed his backpack. Slammed the door and headed out. “See you guys in a few.” He waved and was out the exit and down to the bottom of the stairs in a flash.

He slowed as she smiled at him. ‘That smile.’ He thought to himself. ‘Those lips.’ He smiled back at her.

“Hey there.” He said in his coolest voice. “Have a good day?”

Her smile widened as he got closer and she looked up at him. He stood almost a foot taller than her. “It was, surprisingly. Nothing could bother me today.” She took his hand and they started to walk up the road.

Small conversations built larger ones and before they got to her driveway he felt like he knew everything about her. Her favorite color, her favorite music. Where she was born, how many siblings she had. What her parents did for a living, her favorite place to go. This list goes on and he was enamored. When they were at the end of her drive, they slowed and were both not very happy the walk was already over. “Here I am.” Natasia said looking up her driveway from the road not wanting to let go of Cayden’s hand. It didn’t seem like he wanted to let her go. “Will you be back through in the morning?”

“Oh yeah.” He couldn’t keep the look of excitement from his face. He let go of her hand and took her phone from her back pocket. He entered his number into her phone and put it back into her pocket. She couldn’t help but be excited by the act. “My number.” He said, suddenly realizing what he just did. His face turned red and he smiled at her.

“Awesome.” Was all she could say with a huge smile. “I’d better go.”

“Yeah. Me too.” He waved at her as she slowly started up her drive. “I”m going to the mall later. With Mac and Chris.” He yelled up at her. She turned and waved. His phone buzzed. He smiled at her and turned in the direction of home and began to walk. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he noticed a new number and opened the message. ‘My number’ and a heart emoji. He smiled and felt like he was walking on air.