Chapter 2
TWO
ANNIKA
Three years later
“It’s the first day of the rest of our lives,” Chloe says as I slide into the back of her dad’s car.
I am a bundle of nerves. I changed my outfit four times and begged my mom to put on some of her lip gloss.
Chloe’s dad is taking us to school before he goes to work since we go to middle school now.
I’m sure my little brothers are going to miss me.
I won’t miss them bothering me, but I told them they need to tell me if anyone is mean to them now that I can’t keep an eye on them.
Chloe’s dad pulls up to the front of the campus, and we shuffle out.
We make our way to the middle of the school, which is a huge amphitheater.
It feels so much bigger than it did on our orientation day now that all the students are here.
It has two stories of classrooms, not like elementary school.
Plus, there is even a track and an entire soccer field to the side.
We even have to change into gym uniforms for PE class.
Chloe is right. This feels different from everything we’ve been used to doing.
Chloe is on her tiptoes, scanning the crowd. I’m sure she’s looking for our other friends so we can secure our meeting spot for lunch.
“Hey, I’m going to head to the music room and see if Desiree is there. Save me a seat next to you in first period!” Chloe skips off, and I’m left to wander and try to find our first class. We only have three together, and one is the first class of the day.
I make my way over to the second floor, where the seventh graders have their classes.
I enjoy being early and picking the best seat.
I turn the corner to head up the stairs.
At the same time, someone comes barreling down and knocks into my shoulder, nearly toppling me over, but not before they grab my arm to keep me steady on my feet.
“Whoa, whoa, my bad, didn’t see you there.” My heart skips a beat as I recognize that soothing scratchy voice. I look up, and a pair of twinkly green eyes meet mine, and the corners turn up as a smile hits his face. “Oh hey, Annika, aren’t I always there to catch you when you fall.”
“Only because you’re the one to knock me over.”
I try to regain my balance and pull away from him, still not comfortable with the tingling feeling he gives me.
He’s grown at least two inches over the summer, and his face looks more grown up somehow.
I was hoping I’d run into him but didn’t think it would be the first day, heck, within the first minutes of stepping onto campus.
“That is so not true, and you know it!” he says, giving me a soft pat on my shoulder and then flipping the end of my hair. “Hey, did you get a haircut? It’s really straight along the bottom.”
I’m speechless as he drags his finger along the bottom of my shoulder-length hair. My mom took me to her hairstylist last week to get a fresh trim.
He scrunches his eyebrows up and chuckles at my inability to speak. “You’re so silly. I’ll see you around.”
He walks off but pivots back around me to give me a fist bump.
I return his fist bump and stand there in awe, still mute, nodding my head, a goofy smile on my face, and my fist hovering in the air.
He runs his fingers through his hair, flings his backpack around one shoulder, and bounces off to class.
I replay the incident about five times in my head as I walk up to my classroom.
Gosh, Chloe is right. I might be in love with that boy.
By the time the fourth period comes around, I find out Reid has gym class at the same time as I do.
I see him across the gym, stretching with his class.
There are four different classes in the gym.
His class is across from mine, and we are facing each other.
He looks so cute in his gym outfit, even though it is the same one I am wearing.
He just makes it look so sporty. When he lifts his arms during shoulder stretches, the sleeves of his shirt fall, and I notice some arm muscles on his tan arms. Reid is turning into a man.
Who am I kidding? I have such a crush on him.
I should work up the courage to just ask him out already.
I don’t know where we will go, but that’s what everyone says when they get a boyfriend or girlfriend.
Last period of the day is History class, and luckily for me, my best friend is in it.
Chloe and I try to make a mad dash for the back row, but our teacher clears his throat, and we look over to the whiteboard, where a seating chart is displayed.
We grunt and wander over to see where we sit.
We are still in the back row but not sitting next to one another. No, instead, Reid sits in between us.
Chloe turns to me, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Will you stop it!” I say in a shouting whisper.
She sticks out her tongue and finds her seat. I find my own seat and turn to Chloe, putting my hands on either side of my head with my tongue sticking out to her. She returns the gesture by crossing her eyes and puffing her cheeks out.
The classroom door opens and interrupts our display of silly faces as I see Reid strolling in and heading to the whiteboard. He turns and scans the room to look for his seat and walks down the row. As he slides onto his chair, he looks over at me and gives me a big smile.
“Heyyy, Anni, I had a feeling I’d see you again today.” He reaches over to give me a fist bump. The sound of my nickname out of his mouth sends a wave of tingles down my back.
“Are you psychic or something?” I return his fist bump.
“Dang, I might be! I also predicted it would be sunny today.”
“You sure are in a good mood for the first day of school.” I look up at our teacher, who is still waiting for a few more kids to file in.
“History is my favorite subject, so I’ve been looking forward to this class all day.” He pulls out his binder and pencils.
“You’re kidding. History is so boring. What do you like about it?” I glance over Reid’s shoulder and see Chloe blowing kisses in my direction, which makes me blush immediately.
Reid flips his head around, and Chloe almost falls out of her chair.
He turns back to me, laughing. “Oh man, it is going to be a trip to be in the middle of you two, isn’t it?”
Our teacher starts talking, introducing himself as Mr. Francisco, and I realize that I still don’t know why Reid likes history class so much.
A month into the school year and we start learning about European history, more specifically, the Vikings. Reid makes a fist-pump gesture as he walks into class, reading the whiteboard. It says, “Viking’s Unit” with a picture of a mean-looking Viking next to it.
“Wow, I’ve never seen anyone so pumped about Vikings before,” I say to Reid as he takes his seat.
“This is why history class is so cool. We get to learn about different time periods. I think it’s fun to learn how people used to live their everyday lives. Imagine living in Sweden or Norway, sailing around in fancy boats and making your own bowls out of rocks.”
“I thought the Vikings weren’t very nice.”
“Yeah, they were big jerks, but still, it’s interesting to learn things were so different from they are now.”
His eyes light up when he talks about the subject.
I could listen to him talk all day about anything, really.
I rest my head on my hand as I continue to listen to him talk about different time periods in history he thinks are cool.
He likes the Renaissance era because of all the new things that were discovered.
Ancient Greece had cool buildings, but his favorite time period was the Roaring Twenties for the way people dressed and when women could vote.
Our teacher starts playing a movie, and I see Chloe scribbling something on a small piece of paper in the corner of my eye. I try to ignore her and keep my eyes pointed toward the projector playing a documentary about the history of Sweden.
“Psst, Anni.” Butterflies start swirling around my stomach as I hear Reid whispering to get my attention.
I look over, and he has a folded piece of paper in his hands.
“From Chloe,” he whispers.
I take the paper making sure the teacher isn’t looking, and open it up.
Do you want to marry Reid?
O - Yes O - No
I bug my eyes out, crumpling the paper on my chest, and look over to Chloe, who has her head lying on her desk tucked in her arms. I can see her chest bouncing up and down, holding in her laughter.
Reid looks over at me and Chloe with an eyebrow raised before shaking his head and turning his attention back to the movie.
I scribble a note back to Chloe.
Do you want to marry Reid?
O - Yes X - No
I do NOT like him like that!
I nudge my foot against Reid’s to get his attention. I slide him the note, and he starts to open it, filling me with panic.
“No!” I say loudly.
Reid stops opening it and turns to me, as well as everyone else in the class. Chloe clasps her hands to her mouth, trying to hold in her laughter again. My teacher looks up from the movie with their head angled to the side and pauses the movie.
“Everything Okay Annika?” The teacher stands. I hope they didn’t notice us passing notes.
I swallow and look at the movie that I haven’t been watching. It’s frozen on a herd of Vikings with swords that look like they are invading a little town. “I’m just so upset that the Vikings hurt villages like that.” Please believe me.
Our teacher lets out a sigh and nods. “It really is upsetting. This part should be over soon.” They sit down and resume the movie. Phew
I look over to Reid, and he passes the note to Chloe and then turns to me, giving me a little smirk. Did he read my note? Did he see his name? I try to focus on the movie for the remainder of class, pushing down the embarrassment bubbling up through me.