"Alex sweetheart! Wake up for school! Luke is here!", my mom said.

I wake up at the sound of his name and quickly get ready. I run down the stairs and jump on Luke like always. We giggle and laugh until my mom calls me to breakfast. I quickly eat, eager to go to school and give Luke something at lunch. I'm in 6th grade and so is Luke.

"So are you guys excited for today?", my mom asks as she cleans up the cooking mess.

"What do you mean Mrs. Cortez?", Luke asks

"Why it's Valentine's Day why wouldn't you be excited?", my mom asks in disbelief

"I know, but who would like somebody like me? Somebody as weird as me? Nobody likes me, so I definitely know that I won't be getting any Valentine's Day gifts.", Luke sighs in sadness. If only he knew that there is someone who likes him..... and that person... is me...

No one talks after what he said. The room is filled with silence for a couple of minutes. "Alright boys,", my mom says as she dries her hands from washing their dishes, "you two need to leave for school before your late. Now get going.".

We nod our heads and walk to the stairs I grab my backpack and open to make sure my Valentines present for Luke is in there. I really like him. And not as a best friend. I like him as more than a best friend. And I think that today is the perfect day to tell him since it's Valentine's Day.

We walk to school side by side. I smile and blush when he gets close to my body. We get to school and walk inside. We have almost every class together and it's amazing! We only have three periods where we aren't in the same class, which sucks. But at least I have him with me.

Time passes by in school and it quickly becomes lunchtime. I only have afternoon classes with Luke, but I have lunchtime with him. And so far, three classes have passed, which means four more to go. I have my confession in a bag. It's his favorite type of chocolate: milk chocolate. It's a milk chocolate Heart with a note. That note is my confession. That note tells him how I feel and it says my name. I see his class walk into the cafeteria and wait at our usual spot at lunch. My smile turns in a frown. He isn't here, but where is he? I walk up to one of the people in his class and say, "Where's Luke?". She looks at me and says, "He had an early dismissal. He ain't at school.". She looks down at the bag and smirks. I hid the bag behind me and walk out of the cafeteria. I run to the main office to see if I can catch him, but by the time I get there, it's too late. He left already. I smile to myself and think, I can just walk to his house and give it to him after school.

School ends and I run home. I open the door and say, "Mom are you here?".

"Yes, I'm in the kitchen."

I run to the kitchen and drop my book bag at the stairs. "Can I run to Luke's house really quick? I have to give him something and tell him something too.", I say with a smile on my face. My mom's face turns from a smile to a frown. Her eyes are full of pity.

"What's wrong mom?", I ask.

"Sweetheart,", she says, "Luke isn't at home.".

"If he isn't at home then where is he? I can just go to him.", I say.

I see her face and it confuses me. He had an early dismissal, That's all....right?

She sighs and says, "Sweetie, Luke moved away. He isn't in Smithfield anymore. I'm sorry Alex.".

She puts her hand on my shoulder. I feel broken and sad. He never told me he was moving. And I never got to tell him how I felt.... Will I ever see him again? I walk to my room and lay in bed. I lay and soon, I fall asleep. Will I ever see Luke's beautiful green eyes again, I think to myself as drift into slumber.

*beep, beep, beep, be-*

I press the snooze button on my alarm and roll around in my covers. "Ugh!", I say as I get up from my bed and walk to my closet. It's the first day of school, it's my senior year, I don't feel good, and I just had to have that dream today. Whenever I have that dream, I think about him all day. I sigh and pick up a black shirt that says: "Everyday Is my lazy day" and my Adidas sweat pants. I put them on and then put on my black socks and Black and blue Jordan's. I walk downstairs and turn right into the kitchen.

"Hey Alex, did you sleep well?", my mom says from island counter fixing me my plate of breakfast. "Yeah, I did. Where's dad?", I say as I look up to look at her. At the mention of my dad, my mom dropped the plate of food and the glass plate shattered. I run to help her and I see that she's shaking. "Mom, what's wrong? Did something happen between you and dad?", I ask with worry.

She stops cleaning the mess and looks at me. "Sweetheart, I have to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Well, your father came in late last night with a hickey on his neck. He came into our room last night and stood at the foot of the bed, while I was sitting up reading a book. He cleared his throat and said,' I want a divorce!', I asked him why and he said that he fell in love with another woman and that she is pregnant with his baby.".

I fill up with anger and say, "What?!" I stand up from crouching on the floor and picking the mess up and grab my backpack from beside the dining room chair.

"Alex honey, please don't do anything rash.", she said in a pleading voice. A minute of silence passes and she then says, "By the way, your father said he will be coming to dinner here with the woman. Please be nice to tonight Alex.".

" I'm not promising anything, but I'll try... for you mom. I have to start walking to school before I'm late. Bye, mom, I love you.".

"Bye sweetie, I love you too.".

I grab my phone, headphones, and keys off the counter and walk out the door. I walk to the driveway and unlock my car. I lock it back and decide that I'm going to walk to school today so I can try and cool off before I get there.

I plug my headphones in my phone and start walking. A few minutes of walking, I run into someone. "Oof!", says the person I ran into.

"Sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going.", I say as I hold out my hand, "Here, let me help you up.".

When our hand's touch, I feel a spark. Our eyes meet and lock. He has the most beautiful and familiar, bright green eyes, and dark brown hair that has blond streaks. His hair on the right side of his hair is shaved off and the other side has his bangs go down to his chin and the rest don't go past his ear. His hair goes with his olive tan skin.

"It's okay, I wasn't paying attention either. It's my fault.". His voice breaks me out of the trance and I pull him up.

"No, it's not your fault.", I say, "Wait, I've never seen you in this neighborhood before. Are you new?".

"No, I lived here in my childhood but moved. Now I'm back and I'm uh- looking for Smithfield High School. You don't happen to know where it is, do you?".

" Actually, I'm currently on my way there right now. If you want you can walk with me.".

"Yeah, thanks. That'd be great. I'm Luke, by the way, Luke Ralston.".

"Nice to meet you. I'm Alexander Cortez, but everyone calls me Alex.", I say as I smile.

"So Alex, do you play any sports?" Luke asks. When he said my name, I felt a feeling I've never felt before. I felt ecstatic! I shake my head and say, "I don't play any school sports but I do play basketball in my free time. Why? Did you play a sport at your old school?".

" I was just asking since your very se- I mean muscular. Hehe..", he said in a nervous voice. I saw that his cheeks had turned red of embarrassment. Cute, I thought. Wait- did I just call a guy cute?! I mentally shake my head to get those thoughts out and say, "Thanks, do you know anyone here in Smithfield?".

"No one except my family. Why do you ask?".

"Just wondering and guess what?", I ask. Luke said in a curious voice, " What?".

"You just made your first friend here in Smithfield and that friend is me.", I say and smile as I see his face light up with joy, but that smile didn't last long. He turns his head to me and says, "There is something you have to know about me before you make your final decision about being my friend or not.".

"What's that?"

"I'm gay."

"You like boys?", I say as I see the scared look on his face.

"Y-yeah... I like boys. Is that okay?", he says with nervousness in his voice.

"Yeah, that's okay. Why wouldn't it be? It's your preference.", I say. Luke exhales and says, "Good. I was worried.".

"Where are almost to school. Well, basically, we are here.".

"Huh?", Luke says, "What do you mean 'we are here'?". I point across the street and he looks. "Oh..", he says while he flushed in embarrassment, "I didn't see the building...hehe.." I start to chuckle and smile. I was about to say something when my best friend, Nikki, runs across the street while waving at me.

"Hey Alex!", she says. She stops running and stands in front of us. She looks at Luke and says, "Who's this?".

"This," I say, "is Luke Ralston. He's new and I ran into him this morning while I was on my way here.". Nikki smiles and holds out her hand, "Hey, my name is Nikole, my friends call me Nikki.". He shakes her hand and says, "Nice to meet you, Nikki. Wait.. is it okay for me to call you that?".

"Yeah,", she says, "it's okay.".

We start to walk across the street again when Nikki crouches and holds her stomach. "I have to puke.", she says. She pukes and starts to shake. I pick her up and carry her to the clinic with Luke following me. The nurse tells us to go to class and that Nikki will be fine.

"So, what time does school start?", Luke says.

"Well, it's currently 8:50 am and school starts in ten minutes.", I say and I look from my phone to him.

"So what are we going to do for ten minutes?", Luke asks.

"I can show you around if you want?"

"That'd be great!", Luke says with a smile. We walk around and I show him where the cafeteria is and the office, the bathroom, and the clinic, and a little hangout spot that only I know about if he ever wants to time to himself at school.

"I look at the time on my phone and say, "Well, it's 1 minute till 9 am. Where's your schedule so I can show you were your first period is.". He pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to me. "Here you go." He says. I look at his schedule and see that he and I share almost every period together except the 7th and 6th. "We basically share the same schedule, Luke. We don't have the same 6th or 7th, but the classes are right next to each other.", I fold the schedule up and give it to him. "That's..". Before Luke could finish his sentence, he gets ran into by other students and fall on me. We both fall to the ground and he lands on top of me with his knee pressing against my groin. He tries to move his leg but isn't able too. His knee ends up rubbing up against a certain area. I try to quiet myself and not moan, but I'm unsuccessful at it. My moan escapes my mouth and is a little louder than a whisper.

"Ah!", I say. Luke looks at me and sees his leg and my hard groin through my pants. He lifts his leg and says, "I'm sorry Alex! I didn't mean to fall on you and make you get-uh", he whispers and says, "hard.".

"Are you okay Alex?", Luke says

"Y-Yeah, I g-guess.", I say. The halls are empty and our first-period teacher, Mr. Walzack, comes out of the classroom and says, "Are you okay Alex?", he turns to Luke and says, "Who are you? Are you the new student, Luke Ralston?".

"Yes, I am.".

"I'm Mr. Walzack, Luke.", Mr. Walzack holds out his hand and says, "Nice to meet you, Luke.". They shake hands and turn there heads to me who is still crouched to the ground, trying not to moan in front of my teacher. "Can Luke and I get a pass to the bathroom Mr. Walzack?". Our teacher nods his head and he walks into class and comes back out with a pass.

We wall to the bathroom and open the door to find it empty. "Good, it's empty. Do you need help with anything Alex?". "I don't know yet." I walk to the sink and sit on it. "You can leave if you want. I'll just sit here til it calms down", I said turning to Luke. He turns to me and says, "Are you sure?". I nod and then look at my pants. I feel dizzy and hot.

Everything is black, dark, and cold. "Alex!", I hear someone calling my name, it sounds familiar. It sounds close, but so far away. I keep hearing my name, "Alex! Wake up Alex!". Wait.... that voice is... Luke.

My eyes flutter open. I sit up and see that I'm in the clinic. "W-why am I in the clinic?", I say.

"Well, you collapsed in the bathroom. I went into the bathroom to check up on you 15 minutes after I left and saw that you were passed out on the floor. I started to panic so I went outside the bathroom to get help and saw the basketball players in the hall and got the to carry you here since I couldn't carry you myself.".

"Oh, thanks, Luke!" You didn't have to wait here for me to wake up.".

"No, it's okay. It's my pleasure!", Luke said with a smile on his face. That smile of his, it's contagious. I remember I was sad and mad this morning before I met him, but when we ran into each other, he made me happy. He made me forget the problem I'm having at home and how my family is getting torn apart because of my stupid father. Luke is a real blessing, and he's cute when he blushes. His smile is gorgeous. I smile to myself because of the thoughts that are running through my head.

"Why are you smiling?", Luke asks

"Thank you.", I said

The school nurse comes in and says that I have clearance to go back to class, but to come back if I get dizzy or other such symptoms. We walk back to class and knock on the door.

The door opens with Mr. Walzack in the doorway. "Well, how are you feeling Alex? I heard that you collapsed. The nurse called me and told me.". Mr. Walzack is like family to me. He has always been there for me when I've had problems at home or at school. He may be 4 foot, 6 inches with short gray hair, wrinkled Caucasian skin, and small feet, but he is strong as hell and he will always help his students. That's one of the great things about him.

"I'm feeling fine, Mr. Walzack."

"That's good ma boy. Go sit down at your seat Alex.", Mr. Walzack looks from me to Luke, "Ah, Hello Luke. Are you ready for the first period?". Luke nods.

We walk into class, Luke gives his introduction and sits down in the empty seat next to me. The class starts and we work as partners for the new project we have.

School ends and Luke and I are walking back to my house to get the project started. "I just texted my mom and told her that I'm going to your house to do a project. She said ok.", Luke looks up from his phone to me with a smile on his face. We just arrived at my house. I look in the driveway and see my dad's black 2018 Chevy parked. We walk into my house and I say, "Welcome to my house. Make yourself at home.". We take our shoes off at the door. We hear knocking around and people talking in the kitchen. I walk into the kitchen with Luke by my side. I see my mom and dad talking