Suffocating

Friends

Sophie.

I ran a hand through my hair and tried calming my nerves. Calvin had texted saying he was on his way which only gave me five minutes to finish getting ready.

"Sophie, Calvin's here." Mom called from the top of the steps.

I took a deep breath and grabbed my backpack. I wanted Calvin to think I was calm, cool, and collected even though I was anything but. I wanted him to think this wasn't my first relationship.

I ran up the steps and went out the front door before mom or Lexie could say anything. Calvin's car was parked by the curb and Calvin was standing outside the car. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and his shoulders were nearly touching his ears.

Was he nervous?

"You look really pretty." He said, opening the door to the backseat.

I smiled, struggling hard to hide the blush in my cheeks. "Thanks, Cal. You do too."

When Cal got in the car, Ashley raised her eyebrows at him.

Calvin was quiet during the car ride. If it weren't for Ashley, I would have been too.

Thankfully, the ride was short and we didn't have to stay confined in the car. Ashley headed off into the school, leaving Calvin and I alone. Yes, there were other people around but no one paid any attention to us.

"Did you make any friends this week?" Calvin asked.

I looked over at him, my lips curving into a smile. "I've been with you all week."

"We don't have the same classes, you know. I thought maybe you had someone to talk to there."

I shrugged. "Some girl talked to me on my first day but I didn't like her."

He nodded and lowered his eyes to the ground.

"I didn't come here looking for friends, you know. So if you're the only person that talks to me and is nice to me then that's perfectly okay with me."

He stopped me just before the doors to the school. He turned me to face him, his hands on my shoulders. "I do know that, Sophie. But I don't want you to not make friends because of me."

"Because of you?"

"People didn't like me before and they definitely don't like me now."

"Well I like you now and that's all that matters."

"I just... I don't want you to not make any friends because they think you're a freak like me."

"Who cares if they do?"

"Sophie-"

"Why would I want to be friends with people that think of me like that?"

He sighed. "You don't have to do this for me."

"I want to. But I'm doing this for me, too." I kissed him, my hands taking his. Several people around us stopped and stared. I guess they didn't expect Calvin to have a girlfriend or even a friend at all.

He smiled and anything he had been planning on saying disappeared. "I'm really glad I met you."

The bell rang and my eyes widened. The last thing I wanted was to be called out in front of the class for being late. As if being new wasn't hard enough on me.

I pulled back and ran a hand through my hair. "I have to get to class. I'll see you at lunch."

"Have fun in class."