So, do you like me?

"Good Morning guys please take a seat" said our history teacher, Mr. Whitman, a short bald but really nice man. I found a seat and waited for the class to start. Everyone was talking about their weekend, about music and other things.

"Hello!" I heard someone say. It was Karen, my best friend. She was always so happy.
She took a seat next to me and smiled. She always smiled.

"Hey! How was your weekend?" I asked, smiling back. She made a face.

"Well, if what you like is taking care of your 3-year-old cousin who likes to break stuff and then blame you, i guess it was great!" We both laughed. "How was yours?"

I was just about to answer, but suddenly the classroom door opened again. I saw a boy in jeans and a nice shirt of The Ramones come in, apologizing for being late.

"Ah, Harry... You're always late" said Mr. Whitman. Harry apologized and said: "I'm sorry, it's just that my sister isn't a very fast driver".

Mr. Whitman smiled but did not force a laugh. "Take a seat, please. The class is about to start".
I followed him with my eyes and then realized almost every girl was doing the same thing. Suddenly Karen poked me.

"Do you still like him?" she asked playfully.

As if I didn't know who she was talking about, i sad: "Who? Harry?" She gave me a big smile. "Not at all".

"Ok, sure." she said and we both looked at him. Throughout the years I had found out that many girls had liked him before and he probably enjoyed that.

"For real", i answered and suddenly Harry turned his head and looked at me. He made a half smile. I waited until he turned his attention back to our teacher and tried not to get nervous and then said "He wasn't my type".

"But he's everyone's type! He's really cute, he's nice and sings sooo good". I shrugged. Whatever. I really liked him a coulple of years before but to be honest I was not the kind of girl boys like Harry fall in love with, so no matter how much I liked him and how many times his smile had made my knees feel weak, I tried to move on.

Finally my teacher started talking. "So, guys, before we continue learning about the Renaissance, I want you to take one of this sheets and pass them to the rest of your classmates. I need your parents to sign this, because're going to go to a museum!" he said happily. "Aren't you excited?" No one answered. He cleared his throat. "Anyways, the trip will be on Thursday, so i need to have them back signed as soon as possible".

"Do we have to bring anything with us?" asked a girl in the front row.

"Just your brains!" replied Mr. Whitman. "But you do will have to pay attention. You'll have to write a short essay". With that everyone started groaning. "Hey, don't complain. The ones who behave well, will get an Ice-cream!" And now again, everyone started making noises, but this time celebrating. "One more thing" continued Mr. Whitman, "the museum is really, really big, so I'll assign you with two other classmates and the place where you'll have to go to. You're 23, so there will be a group of only two".

A few minutes later, the groups were done. Karen was with two girls while i was in the group of two, with a boy called Gordon. Not to be mean, but i didn't like it. Gordon could be.... dumb sometimes. Most of the times, actually. He was a nice lad, but he tend to make stupid jokes and tried to embarrass people. Also he wasn't really interested in school, so having to write an essay partnered with him wasn't exactly good.

"If you're not comfortable in your group, please raise you hand". I almost raised mine, but then I felt bad for Gordon. Not many people liked him and if I raised my hand there wouldn't be anybody who would like to change places with me. I guess I made a face, cause Karen started laughing (just as always) and some people looked at me.
Suddenly a boy raised his hand.

"Yes, Harry?"

"Ummm", he murmured. "I'd like to change to another group". Everyone kept quiet, thinking it was kind of rude, cause at this age nobody really said anything, we just tried to be mature. But his partners didn't mind, cause they were a couple and they'd rather be alone.

"Uh, okay...So, who would like to change with Harry?" Mr Whitman asked.

"No, actually I was wondering if i could go to the group of two". There was an awkward silence, or at least it was awkward to me.
I held my breath. Harry Styles in MY group? Damn. I wasn't sure I wanted him in my group. Was he as good in school as he was good looking? Or at least better than Gordon? Because to be honest, history wasn't my strength and I needed a good grade on this essay.
Mr. Whitman agreed and he was officially in our group of two, now group of three. Many girls looked at me with envy and Karen passed me a note that said 'Enjoy it!' and i just stuck my tongue out to her.

****

When the class ended, I went to my locker, put some books inside of it and took others out, while Karen waited for me to go to our next class. Next for me was biology and for her was Maths.

"Whoa, 3 o'clock, 3 o'clock!" Karen said, which meant someone was approaching. I tried to be discrete.

"Can I look now? What is it?" I asked curiously.

"Not yet! I think he's coming towards us!"

"BUT WHO---" Just before i could finish that sentence, Harry showed up next to me, with a beautiful smile printed on his lips. Oh my God. Those eyes.

"Hello, Jen!" he said. Whaaaat? How does he know me?

"You know my name?" I asked. He looked confused.

"Uh, well, yeah. I know you since 6th grade and we have 4 classes together". Yeah and I used to like you a lot and I probably was the most obvious girl in this planet.

"Uh, sure. What's up?" by that time, Karen had opened her locker and pretended to be looking for a book and not to be listening.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Starbucks or something. Maybe we can start doing some research on what you can find at the museum..." I got lost in his eyes. They were so beautiful...

Suddeny Karen cleaned her throat and I came back to reality. What are you doing, Jennifer? Remember you don't like him, i thought.

"So what do you think?" he asked again, smiling.

"Umm. No, thank you", I replied and Karen almost drops her books, "I can't. My, uuh... my boyfriend wouldn't like that".
Suddenly his eyes lost their spark and he looked down.

"Right. Sorry for bothering you. See you later then, i guess". I nodded and he walked away.

"Phew", I whispered, closed my locker and waited for Karen to move on.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAAAT?" she yelled and some students looked at us. I shrugged. "Harry Styles just asked you out and you said you were taken! Jennifer, you don't have a boyfriend!".

"I know, thanks for pointing that out" i said. She shook her head and we started walking across the hallway.

"That was so stupid. You should've said yes! I don't care if you say you don't like him anymore, you could've been nice".

"Ok, ok, i get it. But... I don't know. People say he's a player and I just don't wanna fall for someone like that".

We arrived at the Bio classroom, where i had my next class and Karen continued walking. I looked at Harry, who was standing near me, next to the door of the classroom in front. He looked kind of sad. More like disappointed. Did I cause that?, I wondered. But then the bell rang he entered the room, making me lose sight of him and eventually I walked into the classroom.

The whole class I kept thinking about the days I liked him and how much I did back then. I remembered the time a teacher assigned me in a group with him. We were 5 students in the same group and I was so excited to have that opportunity to talk to him without a stupid excuse.
Another day Karen's brother had a party at their house and she invited me to go. To my surprise Harry was there too, because his sister and Karen's brother were friends. I spent the whole night keeping an eye on my appereance and waiting for the right moment to go and talk to him, until Karen yelled at me saying I looked just fine and yelled his name so he would come sit with us. That was a great night, because I actually got to keep a conversation going with someone I liked so much and not sounding like a jerk.
I sighed. Of course I still liked him. Everytime he walked by I looked at him and sometimes I even tried to look pretty hoping he'd notice someday. But he didn't know anything about that and probably didn't remember the night at Karen's when I swore something between us had happened. No, to him I was just another girl in school.

Notes