The Box

It was a beautiful sunny day, and I was missing it…again. I was standing just inside the large, glass doors of my High School wondering if mom would remember to pick me up. Or would she forget me again? It had been a difficult childhood since the divorce of mom and dad. Mom's second marriage proved to be a challenge for all us to say the least. Because of and my severe shyness and because we moved a-lot friends were hard to come by. We moved to Tulip Grove in 7th grade. But when mom said we were moving again, the end of my sophomore year, I refused to change schools again. I'd made wrestler-ette and was finally making a few friends. So, we agreed, I would drive the 30 minutes from the East side of Indoton to the South Side in Tulip Grove to finish out high school. Only to find my car would not cooperate with the drive, I once again was waiting. Waiting and hoping someone would remember I was in Tulip Grove without a car and would need a ride home.
Then it happened. I felt someone looking at me. When I turned to look, he was walking, rounding the corner from the gymnasium toward me, in his singlet with one side hanging off his shoulder. He was tall and lean with beautiful black, curly hair. A thin dark mustache sat at the top of his upper lip. He was solid muscle. He was looking at me! As he approached, I feared he would speak to me, my throat closed, and my mouth became dry. I wondered why this popular high school stud would talk to me. He walked directly up to me and asked what I was doing. After I found my words and pushed the fear and shyness down, I explained my daunting situation. I feared I'd been forgotten again. He asked me my name. Emma, I replied. I already knew who he was. Clark Oden, I'd heard of him through random girls talking about him. Plus, I had listened to my older sister, her senior year, talk of him almost daily. How hot he was. Now, standing before me, up close, I could understand her crush. He was definitely hot! And he was talking to me. I don't recall what else was said but all the sudden he excused himself. He said not to go anywhere. Well, where would I go stranded and in this embarrassing situation? I felt the air suck out of my lungs. He'd left just as quickly as he came to me. It didn't surprise me. After all, I was the ugly duckling in my family. The 3rd daughter of the high school beauty queen and football star, mom and my two older sisters were perfectly beautiful…perfect teeth, perfect complexions, gorgeous hair, and eyes. I felt left out and wondered how I could be so homely & ugly coming from a family of beautiful people. So, he was gone, and I wasn't surprised. Then suddenly he was back. He awakened me from my sulking and self-pity.