While practicing one of our cheers, I glanced over at the crowd of guys standing around Senior Pole. A tall guy with really nice dark hair caught my eye. His back was turned toward me. From the back, he looked absolutely gorgeous. I was sure I didn’t know him. I knew all the guys in school by their backs. He had a wide back, broad shoulders, and looked really good in his jeans. A pair of jeans that fit so great they were causing my heart to jump. “Who’s that?” I asked Sally with enthusiasm. “He sure looks good.”
“Who?” Sally said, stopping mid cheer. She positioned herself for the view I was seeing. Sally was my height, very cute with short blonde curly hair.
“That one, right there.” I pointed to the guy with the nice butt. I physically took her head and pointed it in the right direction, when no matter where I pointed she still couldn’t find him.
The rest of the cheerleaders stopped cheering to see who I was so curious about. We were all staring at him. I hoped that he didn’t turn around right at this moment. “That’s Julian.” Grace chuckled hysterically. The rest of the girls burst into laughter with her. Grace was taller than Sally and me. She had more curves too. The guys were always turning their heads when she walked by. She was a really pretty girl aside from being stacked. Blonde hair that hit her shoulders. She actually straightened her hair. Odd. I would have loved to have her curly hair. I had mine permed every six months. Maybe it’s true: no one is happy with what God gave them.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, embarrassed, but more curious than ever.
“That’s Julian.” Grace said again slower, as if I should know who she meant if she said it slower. “You know… the guy with the birthmark all over his face.”
“Birthmark?” I asked, shaking my head. I couldn’t recall anyone with a birthmark in school. “I guess I’ve never seen him before. He sure looks good from the back.”
“Wait until you see the front.” Sally laughed too. She was always full of joy. She had one of those bubbly buoyant personalities that really pissed you off if you were depressed. I’d never seen Sally down in all the years I’d known her. She’d always been nice to me. She’d always been nice to everyone.
The way she said it told me that she thought if I saw the front, I’d run and hide from the guy. I couldn’t imagine that. I’d never known Sally to talk down about anyone, so this guy must look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame or something.
“Well, I’ve got to see now. I’m not waiting.” I walked over to join the guys’ conversation with four of the cheerleaders following behind me. I had to see for myself. I braced myself for the worst.
“Hi, Taylor.” Stormy said to me, putting his arm around my shoulder. Stormy had been a best friend since the second grade. No matter what, we’d always be friends. We tried dating for a few weeks, but it didn’t work out for us. We both realized that we were better off as friends immediately. It just didn’t feel right kissing him. He was standing next to Julian. I could use him as an excuse to get closer to Julian.
“Hi.” I said to each of the guys. I looked right at Julian as I said hi to him. He had light brown eyes that were gorgeous. And, yes, he did have a large purplish birthmark completely covering one of his cheeks. So, he had a birthmark. It wasn’t like a scar or a deformity. My mom had always told me that birthmarks were kisses from angels. Corny, but it helped me when I was little and kept complaining about the heart shaped one on my butt. Of course I didn’t know why an angel would kiss my butt.
“Are you new?” I asked him, being as nice as I possibly could. I was sure by the way he fidgeted that he felt self conscious about his face. I could just feel it. I checked him out from head to toe discreetly. I loved how his jeans fit in the front as well as the back.
His bicep flexed as he ran his hand through his thick dark hair nervously. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but nothing came out.
“No. He’s not new. He started in the middle of last year.” Stormy answered for him when Julian didn’t answer me right away.
Damn. He was so shy that he didn’t even answer me. My heart went out to him. I automatically wanted to get to know him better.
“Hey, I’ve got to run back to the locker room for a second. I’ll meet you at the car.” Julian said to Stormy, as he walked away, never turning his face toward me again.
I had the distinct feeling that he was leaving because of me. “Bye. Nice meeting you.” I called after him, taking one last look at his jeans. I looked at Sally and Grace and mouthed the word, “Wow!” “Nice guy.” I said to Arturo and Stormy.
“Yeah, he’s really nice.” Stormy chastised me harshly, as if he thought I was being sarcastic, or somehow mean, with my comment.
“I mean it. He’s really nice.” I did mean it. There was something about his personality that was so genuine and so sweet. Shy guys always got to me. I knew it was going to be hard to get to know this guy, but I somehow knew it would be worth everything that I put into it.
Arturo gave me a dirty look. Arturo and I dated for several months last year. It ended badly, although we were on friendly terms now. He wanted more than I was willing to give if you know what I mean. I didn’t put out. Period. He dumped me. That fact had cost me a few boyfriends over the years.
The next morning, I drove to school earlier than usual. I was hoping to see Julian again. The guys usually arrived at school about thirty minutes early to hang out at Senior Pole and talk football. Stormy was there again, along with Julian, Arturo, and Dwayne. Dwayne was another good friend and ex-boyfriend. I had a few ex-boyfriends, too many maybe.
There were no girls at Senior Pole as of yet. I didn’t let that deter me. I walked up to Stormy and punched him playfully in the stomach. We were always doing that to each other.
“Hey dude. Are you ready for the game tomorrow night?” I asked Stormy smiling.
Even though Stormy was my best male friend, he was nice to look at. Longish blond hair and bright blue eyes. Great body, muscular but not bulky. He played wide receiver, and was very competitive. “Absolutely. We’re going to kick some ass tomorrow night.”
“Good to hear. What position do you play Julian?” I asked Julian point blank. I didn’t want him worming his way out of the conversation and leaving this time.
“Halfback.” he answered meekly.
“Second string?” I asked. I wondered why I’d never seen him before. Of course I’d just joined the cheerleading squad. I barely knew what a halfback was. I was way more into basketball than football. At least I knew the rules of that game.
He nodded, and turned his head away. Damn he was really shy. So shy that it almost hurt me to watch him.
“But he’s being moved to first string tomorrow night.” Arturo blurted out. “Brian got hurt.”
“He did?” I asked. “How?”
“He fell off of his truck, trying to climb over it.” Dwayne relayed the news to me. It was a stupid thing that Brian did. He would put his truck in drive and climb over the top of it to the other side of it and get in the other door. Like I said…stupid!
“Ouch!” I laughed. “Is he okay?”
“He sprained his ankle. He’s lucky he didn’t run over himself.” Stormy said laughing about it.
“He’s such a dumb ass sometimes.” Arturo chimed in.
“But I guess that’s good news for you. Huh, Julian?” I asked.
He smiled. He had the nicest smile that I’d seen in a long time. I stared at him for a second. I stared at him too long. He turned his face away from me, and ran his hand through his hair, embarrassed.
“It’s good news for the team too. We all think Julian is better than Brian anyway, but his dad’s the assistant coach…” Stormy said.
I laughed. I wasn’t sure if they were serious or not. I didn’t know enough about football to know the difference. I barely knew which way the ball was supposed to be going when it was in play. I thought Brian was pretty good though. The guys started talking about football plays and totally lost me. I stood there mostly smiling to be polite. I chanced a few glances Julian’s way just to check him out. He caught me several times, and I had to look away quickly.
“I need to get to class.” Julian said to Stormy as he turned to leave.
I watched him walk away. I liked watching him walking away. Stormy turned to leave as well, then waited on me. We had History together first period. We always walked to class together.
“So what’s up with you and Julian?” he asked. “You sure were checking him out.”
“Nothing yet.” I said to him. “But maybe soon.”
“Do you want me to put in a good word for you? Or set you up?” he asked me.
“I can handle my own flesh peddling. Thank you.” I told him, joking with him.
“He needs a nice girl like you. He’s had some girls that weren’t really nice to him here.”
“What? Who?” I asked him. I couldn’t believe anyone would be mean to him on purpose.
“Rhianna, Dwayne’s girlfriend.” Stormy said.
I knew her. She was a total bitch. To everyone almost. She had her select few friends that she was nice to, and that was it. I didn’t see what Dwayne saw in her at all. None of the guys liked her. They hated it that he brought her to all of the parties.
“What did she do?” I asked Stormy.
“She acted all…I don’t even know the right word. She acted like it disgusted her to even look at him. It was more the way she acted when she said Oh.”
“Oh.” I said. I could just imagine it the way Stormy described it. Rhianna was beyond rude. “You said girls. Was someone else rude to him?”
“After Rhianna did that, Dawn and Terri joined in examining his face and making faces at him, laughing at him, until he finally turned around and walked off. I called them all bitches and walked off with him.”
“Holy shit.” I said to Stormy. I hated it that he’d been through that. I knew exactly how he felt. Terri had ridiculed me relentlessly early last year when I’d gotten a bad perm. She actually looked at me in shock, then started laughing hysterically, in front of lots of people. I was mortified. Of course everyone turned around to see what she was laughing at. I wanted to check out of school and go home, but I couldn’t call my mom. She’d given me the perm. Needless to say that was the last home perm I’d ever received.
“He didn’t deserve that. He’s a really nice guy.” Stormy said.
“I can tell. Do you know what class he has next?”
“English.” Stormy answered me. “AP English with Mr. Grosbach.”
“Cool. I have shorthand. It’s right next to English.” I said. I was scheming. I could run into him accidentally and chat with him alone. I don’t know why exactly, but I really wanted to get to know Julian.
“I can see the wheels turning.” Stormy teased me as he rubbed the top of my head. It was his way of playing around with me.
I waited for History to be over, then walked toward my shorthand class as fast as I could. It was right next to AP English. I waited by the door, hoping that Julian would come by. I kept walking back and forth, so I could be facing him when he walked toward English. Finally he walked up to the door. He barely looked my way, then dropped his head as if hiding his face again.
I tapped him on the shoulder as I passed him. He looked up immediately to see who had tapped him.
“Hi Julian.” I said to him cheerfully as I continued walking next to him.
He gave me a look, then walked into his classroom.
Okay. That was a little odd. He didn’t even say hi. Was he too shy to even say hi? That made me more determined to become friends with him. I could be stubborn when I had to be.
After my shorthand class was over, I walked out of the classroom and toward English. Julian was headed my way. He looked at me suspiciously, as if I might attack him or something. I had no clue what was up with him. I smiled at him.
“Hi Julian.” I said to him.
He didn’t say anything. He kept on walking the way he was headed. Was he ignoring me? Or was it the shyness? I wasn’t sure.
“Funny that I’ve run into you three times today. I didn’t even know who you were yesterday.” I persevered and turned around to follow him. I sped up until I was walking beside him. I’d get him to talk to me at least.
He nodded. No words.
Okay, this was going to be harder than I thought. But I wasn’t giving up just yet.
“What class do you have next?” I asked, trying to get him to at least speak to me. I mean, he had to answer questions. Didn’t he?
“History.” He answered, but not too enthusiastically.
Great. At least he answered a question. It was a start. “I had that first period. Let me tell you Coach Schneider is in a bad mood. He must have had another fight with his wife. Don’t screw around in class today, or he’ll give you one of his famous pop quizzes. The ones that are really hard to even pass.” I tried to joke with him.
He stopped and turned toward me. His face grew stern. I looked around behind me as I stood facing him, wondering what in the heck or who upset him. No one was behind me. Uh-oh!
“Listen. I don’t know what your game is.” He started, angrily. “But I’m not even remotely interested.”
Damn. That was harsh. I was stunned for a second. “Oh.” I finally managed to spit out. I didn’t think about the possibility that he wasn’t interested in me. I don’t know why I assumed that he would be. Maybe I was an egotistical bitch. I had to save face now. “That’s rude. I was being friendly. If you didn’t want to be friends, you could have just said so.” I said to him as I turned and walked away. I could feel tears warming my eyes. I needed to disappear quickly.
Why was he being so harsh with me? I mean, a simple no thank you would have sufficed. I didn’t even ask him for anything. I just warned him about Coach Schneider’s bad mood. I reviewed everything in my head. I was nice. Wasn’t I? Why was he being mean to me? Just then I walked into Stormy who was walking my way. I looked up at him.
“How did it go with Julian?” he asked me, teasing me.
“He hates me.” I said, then started crying. I bolted for the bathroom. I couldn’t be seen in public crying. I had to hide. I’d never cried at school before. Never. I didn’t want to be branded as one of those girls that cried all the time. I wiped my face, making myself presentable again.
I walked out of the bathroom to run into Stormy again. He’d been waiting for me the entire time. We were both going to be late to class. Chemistry was not the class to be late to, either. Darn it! We’d both get an unexcused tardy for this one.
“What’s going on? Why would you think he hates you?” He asked me as he hugged me close.
“He said he wasn’t interested, even remotely.” I told him as I held my breath to hold the tears in.
“He said that?” He asked in disbelief. “Maybe you misunderstood something.”
“He said exactly that. And, he was mean too. I don’t think any guy has ever been that mean to me before.” I was almost tattling on him like one of my little sisters.
“I’ll talk to him.” he said firmly.
“No. Don’t talk to him. I don’t want you in the middle of it. He doesn’t like me, so it’s not going to do any good.” I said. I didn’t want to look like a baby in front of him.
“No one is going to talk to my best friend like that. He can’t be mean to you.” He said to me.
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