The Songs in Our Hearts: A Young Adult Romance
Chantal Gadoury
To my mom, my sister, and my dad.
This is from Me, to You.
“Send Me On My Way”
Rusted Root
THIRTY. THAT’S HOW MANY MINUTES eleventh graders had for lunch. Not much, but it was all the time we needed to eat, relax for a moment, and catch our breath until the next class period.
“I can’t believe it’s chicken and waffles again,” Jennifer sighed as she picked up one of the semi-warm waffles from her plate and tossed it back down. All of us at the table noticed the way it bounced as it landed and grimaced.
“Here,” Rachel, my best friend, giggled as she snapped open her lunch box to reveal her ultimate home packed lunch. Tugging a Ziploc bag of potato chips free, she pulled it open and offered some to Jen.
“Thanks,” Jennifer mumbled with a wrinkled nose as she shoved her hand into the bag and pulled out a few chips. Rachel offered me the snack bag next, but I shook my head.
“I’m good. We’d better leave the rest for Jennifer or she might be feisty for the rest of the day.”
Rachel left the bag beside Jennifer’s lunch tray. Jennifer had been a friend of mine since second grade. She was the spunky punk-girl with strawberry blonde hair—which, when I say strawberry-blonde hair, I really mean red and pink with yellow streaks.
“Did you see that anime last night, Charlie?” Jennifer asked me as she crunched down on a potato chip. I shrugged and shook my head. She was passionate about anime, and always had a different one to recommend. She carried around more fan fiction in her book bag than actual textbooks. Last month, the librarian caught her printing over a hundred pages’ worth from a website and banned her printing privileges.
“I missed it, I guess. My brother hogged the remote last night.” I wouldn’t admit that I had forgotten. As I turned my attention back to Rachel, she grinned at me knowingly.
Rachel stood out the most in our small group of friends, with her bright smile, infectious laugh and incredible sense of fashion. She was perfect. I always wanted to be like her, despite my tangled, thick brunette hair, tan skin and dark brown eyes. While we weren’t the most popular girls, Rachel held herself to a standard that demanded respect, and that’s what she got.
I’d met Rachel in fifth grade, in choir. Our music teacher, Mr. Jefferson, partnered us up for a random duet. Oddly enough, our voices were a perfect match. Rachel and I found we had a lot in common, including our tastes of books, sappy romance movies, and Broadway musicals. We spent many recesses drawing our married last names in our notebooks with her fancy gel-pens. She even loved A Knight’s Tale just as much as I did, which, at the time, only helped to solidify our friendship.
I had just bitten into an apple when I saw him, sitting at what Jennifer and I called the “Bro-Table.” It was between the wrestling table and ours in the cafeteria. Most of the guys at the “Bro-Table” were loudmouths and liked to party, and were really annoying. I sat with the artsy-nerdy kids. Most everyone who sat at the “Nerd Table” knew each other from spending their free periods in the art studio.
I knew whoever he was didn’t see me staring; I made sure to keep my eyes moving to make it less obvious. The new guy had short, dark hair and appeared to be taller than the guys he sat with. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his strong jaw, tending and flexing as he ate and laughed. His eyes…from where I was sitting, appeared to be as dark as chocolate.
“Who is that?” I asked, inching closer to Rachel in hopes to not be overhead by the others around us. As I leaned my head toward her, I turned my gaze to Samantha, who sat at the end of the table near my friend—and her current love interest—Daan Scott. Fortunately for me, she was too busy studying the movement of his lips.
Samantha Walters was one of the best artists in the school, next to Daan, and she knew it. She was a little too proud for my liking, and had a huge mouth when it came to secrets and crushes. I’d learned my lesson about Samantha. Before our falling out, I really believed she and I were friends. After all, we’d known each other since elementary school. I used to go over to her house all the time when we were younger and we’d watch movies, played with our dolls, and pretended we lived in a castle—Samantha was always the queen and I…her servant. When we grew out of our childhood games, Samantha turned her attention toward makeup and boys. I started to feel as though I didn’t know her anymore, and maybe it was true. My hobbies changed to painting and reading as many books as I could get my hands on. I stopped going over to Samantha’s house as much as I had before, until her invitations dwindled to none.
It wasn’t until ninth grade, when Samantha saw me talking to a boy I had liked since forever, that I suddenly appealed to her again. Maybe it was his handsome dimples that reminded me of the prince from The Little Mermaid, but I was completely mesmerized by Dane Wesley. That day, Samantha came up to the two of us with a giggle and teased me about ‘obviously liking him.’ Later that night, she called to explain she had spoken to Dane after school.
“He totally wants to go out on a date with you, Charlie!” Samantha practically purred.
I couldn’t stop the growing excitement in my stomach at the idea of actually going on a date with Dane Wesley!
Samantha came over to my house that Friday to help me pick out an outfit and get ready for my date. After lying to my mom about meeting up with friends, and coming up with a convincing reason for the eye shadow, blush, and lipstick painted on my face, she dropped me off at the mall. I waited on the wooden bench near the main entrance for an entire hour. Just as I pushed myself from the seat, feeling defeated and a little stupid, Dane strolled into the mall with his arm wrapped around Samantha’s shoulders. I barely saw through the tears that filled my eyes. All I could do was run outside and call my mom to pick me up.