Like a Magnet

‘Okay… You can do this. First day of school. It’s not like this is the first day of high school ever. It’s just the first day of junior year. You’re going to be fine. Look, there’s Alex!’ Trevor clutched his backpack with nervous knuckles and pushed his way through the crowd to his locker. Thankfully, it was right next to his best friend.

“Hey, good to see you, man! What’ve you been doin’ this last summer?” Alex and Trevor high-fived both high and low, fist bumped and finished with a manly handshake.

“I think we need a new finishing move, dude,” Trevor admitted.

“Yeah, I’ll think on it in history. Speaking of, what you got first?”

“I think I have math. Let me put my stuff away so I can check.”

Trevor put in his combination and started taking things out of his bag. He liked to keep his locker as organized as possible so he didn’t have to waste time trying to find his books, and so he didn’t lose any important assignments. His schedule was kept in his pocket, as it had his locker combination on it and that was the most convenient place for it. After putting everything in his locker, he pulled out his schedule and checked it one more time.

“Yep, I have trigonomatry first.”

Alex scoffed and shook his head. “I should’ve known you’d be in trig. Hey, save me your notes so I can use them next year, yeah?”

“Just as long as you actually make it that far!” Trevor laughed. Alex playfully punched him in the shoulder and Trevor went back to looking over his schedule.

“Hey, Trev, remember Alice Huntz?”

“Yeah, why?” asked Trevor, refusing to look up from his paper.

“Uh, because she’s coming this way.”

“What!?” Trevor finally peeled his eyes away from his schedule and looked up and down the hallway. Then he spotted her.

Alice Huntz. Easily one of the most popular ladies thanks to her athletic ability, beauty, and kindness. Even as she walked down the hallway, the crowd parted like the Red Sea to let her and her girlfriends walk by. As she comes closer, Trevor slowly brings his schedule to his face and continues reading.

“Yeah, Alice. Cool. Why should she matter to me?"

“Dude, seriously? Get your head out of your books and look at her! She’s freaking hot! And I know a couple of ways she could use those athletically toned legs of hers…” Alex stares at Alice, stroking his chin and checking her out. Trevor looks from Alice to Alex and gives him a small shove.

“You could never, you stupid virgin. She’s way out of your league.”

“Out of our league, Mister Other Virgin. And you never know! She might be into nerdy guys.”

“That would mean she’s more into me, buddy.”

“Who’s into who now?” Trevor and Alex pause their conversation to acknowledge the presence of Alice Huntz herself.

“No one. Just a friend we’re talking about. You wouldn’t know them,” Trevor replied. He frowned. Trevor didn’t like the eyes that followed Miss Popular and just wanted her to leave. Even if the rumors about her being a nice person were true, Trevor wasn’t going to risk it. Not this time.

“I think you’ll find that I know quite a lot of people in this school. But if you don’t want to share, I guess it’s none of my business.” Alice wasn’t thrown off by his dismissal. She didn’t know him and he certainly didn’t know her. Hardly anyone knew the true Alice Huntz. She shrugged and continued her sauntering. Alex and Trevor looked at each other in disbelief.

“Yo… did that just happen?” asked Alex.

“Yes it did, casanova. Now come on, we’re gonna be late.” Trevor grabbed his first hour’s books and shut his locker with a little more force than was necessary. Alex grabbed his own and followed suit. They split off at the T, Alex going right and Trevor going left. As soon as he entered his math class, Trevor found his assigned seat and sat down.

‘Man, there’s so many seniors in here. Is there anyone from my grade?’ Trevor thought. He took a quick glance around and noticed only two people were from the same year as him.

A slam on his desk brought Trevor back to the scene in front of him. A tall, blonde-haired guy wearing a varsity jacket had just “set” his book down where Trevor was sitting.

“Hey kiddo, I think you’re sitting in my seat,” he drawled.

“Oh, is this your assigned seat? I didn’t see your name on it. Not that I know you anyways,” Trevor replied.

“Look, just beat it, loser! I get this seat every year, so you need to move it!”

“You mean-” Trevor stopped his witty comment and looked around. Everyone was staring at them. Better to just cut his losses and get out of there.

“Apologies, King-of-the-Seats, I shall take my leave of your throne.” Trevor gathered his things and promptly moved to an empty desk at the front. He cast another glance around the room and was relieved to see that everyone had gone back to chatting. When he looked over at the jocks, they were sharing high-fives and fist bumps over their victory.

‘Literally just a seat… whatever I guess. It’s just the first day. Should be smooth sailing after today, as long as I live that long.’ Trevor peeked over at the group one more time, against his better judgment, and found the blonde boy staring at him intently. Trevor immediately turned away and opened his book.

The bell eventually rang signaling the end of class. Trevor sighed a breath of relief, thankful that his first period was done with. ‘Just five more to go…’ He piled his items together and walked back to his locker to get his books for English.

“Hey! How’d Trig go? I heard from one of my buddies that her syllabus is boring to get through. Most people fall asleep!” Alex commented. Trevor had to chuckle at that, as he did notice a few people in his class were getting sleepy.

“Yeah, I managed to stay awake. And I also think I may have made an enemy.”

“What? Oh, come on, dude! It’s the first day! What happened?”

Trevor explained the whole seat scenario to his best friend as they picked up their books and walked to their classes.

“Bro, that’s messed up, you should’ve held your ground!” Alex said, shaking his head.

“I know I was in the right, but you know that I hate being the center of attention. I figured that the best thing to do was to just hightail it outta there.” The one-minute warning bell sounded and the boys said their goodbyes, heading to their classes.

When Trevor walked into his English class, he tried to find a seat near the front. Thankfully, there were a couple since people don’t usually try to be where the teacher can see them. He took one near the front left and sat down just as the last bell rang. The teacher was still missing, so students took this opportunity to continue their conversations.

“Hey, you’re the guy from this morning, right?” Trevor felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Alice sitting behind him.

‘Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap-’ “Yeah, that’s me. Am I in your way, do you want me to move?” He started to grab his things, but Alice stopped him.

“No no! I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself! I’m Alice, nice to meet you!” She extended a hand and Trevor just stared at it.

‘No, no, no. I’m not getting involved with the popular crowd again. She can find someone else to use.’ “My name is Trevor, good to meet you.” He shook her hand politely.

‘NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? Let good enough be!’

“Awesome! Now we’re friends!” Alice grinned. Her smile was as bright as the sun, and Trevor had to look away.

“No, we’re not friends. We’re acquaintances at best.” He saw her face fall and added “sorry” to the end of his statement to soften the blow.

Alice was so thrown off! No one has ever declined her friendship before.

“Psst, Alice! Don’t get involved with him! I heard, freshman year, he was friends with a guy on the soccer team and falsely accused him of bullying and stealing! The poor guy lost his scholarship and had to transfer schools because of him,” Tania whispered. Alice took this information in and looked again at the boy in front of her.

‘How terrible. Why would anyone do something like that? Maybe I shouldn’t associate myself with him after all.’

“Yeah, maybe you’re right…” Alice agreed. She made a promise to herself last year to no longer associate herself with “bad boys”. She’s been burned enough times to learn her lesson.

“So, should we go shopping after school?” asked Kaitlyn.

“Ugh, I wish I could. My parents are keeping my allowance this week because they caught me sneaking out. Egh, they’re so lame!” Tania said.

Alice turned towards her friends but tuned them out, mostly. Her attention was focused on the strange boy in front of her. What was it about him that made her so interested in him? He was quiet, rude, and admittedly kinda cute, but with that rumor, she had to stay away from him.

The rest of the first day of school went by without too many incidents. In the following months, Trevor stayed by his buddy Alex and avoided almost everyone else. Alice lived a carefree life, shopping with her besties and demolishing her competition at cheerleading meets. But whenever the two passed each other in the halls or were forced to interact in English, a strange energy sparked between them. A week before homecoming, Trevor couldn’t take it anymore.

“That’s it!” Trevor slammed his locker shut, backpack in hand.

“You good bro? What’s got your boxers in a twist? Is it that A minus you got in science? Because trust me, I didn’t do too hot either-”

“No, it’s… it’s a girl,” he confessed.

“WHAT!? No way! Which lovely señorita has captivated my best bud’s heart?” Alex slapped Trevor on the back in congratulations as they walked down the hallway.

“No, I can’t tell you, you’ll make fun of me.”

“Dude. I am literally your best friend. It’s my job to make fun of you. So if you don’t spill, I am just going to guess every girl we go by until I get it right. Now let’s see, who’s that over there?” Alex made a show of making binoculars with his hands and searching around until Trevor finally pulled his arms down and told him to knock it off.

“Look, as long as you don’t freak out… It’s… It’s Alice Huntz,” Trevor whispered.

“Whaaaaaaaat!? There is no way on this earth that you could ever be with someone as high up as her. She’s practically a goddess! Besides, you wrote her off so harshly at the beginning of the year, what’s changed?” Alex and Trevor stopped at the exit, moving to the side to finish their conversation.

“I don’t know, it’s so weird. She’s in my English class and she sits right behind me. Ever since we introduced ourselves that first day, I haven’t been able to get her off my mind. Mrs. June has us buddy up with the people behind us rather than next to us, so whenever we peer edit each other’s papers, I’m paired with her. She’s so different from me, literally in almost every way. She’s popular, I’m on the outside. I’m book smart, she’s athletically smart. She’s outgoing, always positive, and loves being the center of attention. I’m the complete opposite of all of that. So you’re right, essentially. I have no hope of being with her. But I feel like… like we’re magnets. No matter how far you want to pull us apart, some kind of force is trying to keep us together. And who knows? Even if I did happen to miraculously win her heart, who’s to say we’d be compatible?” Trevor looked down and played with the strap on his backpack, clearly nervous about his friend’s reaction.

Alex wrapped his arm around his friend and they kept walking toward the parking lot. “Don’t sweat it, dude. I’m glad you told me, alright? We can work on a plan together to see about setting you two up on a date, okay?” Alex grinned, as if to tell his friend that he’ll always be on his side and support him no matter what he chooses. Trevor smiled back, accepting his support.

“Cool, I’ll call you later if I need help with my Algebra homework, okay?” Alex took off towards his car, waving at his friend before climbing in. Trevor waved back and started to head towards his bus, but was stopped by a strong hand gripping his jacket.

“Girl problems, eh? I can help you out with that…”

“Hey, let go of me!” Trevor tried to push the guy away, but his grip was too firm. He started dragging him to a remote part of the school, Trevor fighting the whole way.

“Hey hey hey! I brought some fun to our little party!” The jock dragging Trevor threw him on the ground and joined his friends.

“ ‘Sup, kiddo. Thought you’d seen the last of me, hunh? Well, I never forgot how you disrespected me that first day. Now here we are.” The blonde jock from the first day of school was sitting on top of a dumpster, finishing a cigarette.

“Actually, I see you every day in Trig, so no. I did not think I had seen the last of you. Now, will you let me go? I’ve got a bus to catch.” Trevor stood back up and had just started to dust off his jeans before a well-placed kick to his knees sent him back to the hard cement.

“Yeaaaah, you’re not making it to the bus today. I’ve got unfinished business with you.” He looked left and right at his friends, and with just a nod, the bullies started in on Trevor.

Now Trevor isn’t the strongest guy in high school, but he really put up a fight. He stayed on the defensive, blocking and kicking at legs to try and get them to stay away, but the crowd was just too big and he was soon cornered against one of the dumpsters.

“Hold him, lads. Scott wants to get a couple in before we let him go.” Scott finally jumped down from his perch and slowly meandered over to Trevor while his gang grabbed his arms and legs. Trevor was bleeding from his lip and a bruise was forming on his left jaw, but that wasn’t enough for Scott.

BAM! All of a sudden, Scott was sent flying to the left by a pair of high-top shoes. Alice grabbed the guy that was next to him and threw a punch so hard, it sent him spinning into a couple of trash bags that were left on the ground. Another guy on the opposite side went to take a swing and she kicked him hard in the stomach. The guys who were left dropped Trevor, who collapsed against the side of the dumpster, thankful his queen was the one to rescue him.

After a few minutes of fighting, the jocks were either laid out on the ground, unconscious, or they had fled. Trevor just watched all of this unfold in amazement. When Alice turned to Trevor, he looked away, embarrassed. She slowly walked over and offered her hand, which Trevor took. This was the wrong choice to make, as poor Alice was exhausted from beating up meat-heads, and so she collapsed next to him on the ground instead.

“Oh man, I haven’t fought with anyone in ages! I mean, I’ve done matches, but I haven’t had a real street brawl since my freshman year, ha ha!” Alice grinned, showing off her split lip. Even with her bumps and bruises, she was beautiful to Trevor.

“Why… did you do this? For me? Someone who’s usually so mean to you?” Trevor asked, curious. Alice shrugged in response.

“I wouldn’t say mean, at least. I’d probably say more like rude, but… I can’t place it. You do something to me that I can’t explain. Like all that stuff they talk about in science class with magnetic forces and stuff. I want to protect you. I want to hang out outside of school with you. But we’re soooo different! I like being around people whereas you’d rather be by yourself and study parabolas. I like going to my karate lessons whereas you would probably rather-”

“Wait, is that why you know how to fight? You take martial arts lessons?” Trevor was totally thrown off by her casual statement.

“Yeah, that’s how I knew I was able to mess them up. But that’s not the point. The point is-”

“I want to go out with you.” Alice had enough energy to look shocked at Trevor’s statement. She’s been asked out by a lot of guys, including Scott, who was now face-first in yesterday’s chicken and dumplings, but never saw herself making it very far with them. But this one…

“I accept.”

Maybe this one will be different.