Courtney was a fairly normal girl living in a fairly normal world. It was the first day of second semester gym, and in walked a boy, 15 minutes late. Normally she wouldn’t have paid a boy like him any attention. But she saw him-- his shoulder-length hair pulled back into a ponytail, his ripped, baggy jeans, and his aqua blue eyes—and she saw someone beautiful. He intrigued her; she had never seen people like him carry themselves with such confidence. That day they were playing street hockey, and she was chosen to play goalie against his team. She didn’t let a goal in the whole class period. For the first time in a long time she actually felt proud of herself for something she did in gym. As she was laving class to go to the locker room she felt a tap on her shoulder. As she turned around she could smell the sweet, musky of Axe. She looked up, looking into his aqua blue eyes as he started to talk. “You know, you’re the first girl I’ve ever seen whom actually tries in gym,” he said. “You look like you actually play hockey, you’re a really good defender.”

“Thanks,” Courtney said timidly. “I’ve never played hockey before, other than in gym.”

“Really? You look like a pro!”

“Really, I’ve played soccer and softball my entire life, never hockey.”

“Well you sure fooled me! Do you play on the school team?”

“Yea, I was on the JV team in the fall.”

“Cool, well it was nice talking to you Courtney. I’m Mike by the way.”

“Nice talking to you too, Mike.” And with that he walked away, carrying the smell of Axe with him.
The next day he didn’t say a word to her during class, but he did look really sad, and he had a horrible cough. She was walking to her next period, she heard someone talking and laughing behind her. She glanced back and saw Mike with another guy from her gym class. Mike saw her and cracked a joke, causing her to snort, holding back her laughter. Upon her reaction his grin stretched from ear to ear. They reached the main hall, and as he turned to go up the staircase, he looked back over his shoulder, all the while grinning, and said “Bye Courtney, see ya tomorrow.” Those five words made her day. That was the moment she knew that she wouldn’t be able to let this guy go.
That entire weekend she couldn’t stop thinking about Mike. She couldn’t understand why she liked him… She had never liked someone like him before before, and had vowed to herself that she never would. She convinced herself that this guy was different. This guy wasn’t what he appeared; this guy was someone she thought could change.
Monday was the start of a new week, and Courtney was actually excited about the day ahead of her. She went through the first two periods like usual, then, on her way to third period, she saw Mike in the hall. She was shocked to see him, seeing as she had never really paid attention before, and never realized that his class was just down the hall from hers. On her way to fourth period she heard someone say her name. She looked up, unsure of what was happening.

“Hey Court!” said a voice, as the smell of Axe permeated her nose… It was Mike.

“Oh hey!” She responded, unaware of whom was talking to her until she had already walked past. She replayed those four words in her mind through the next three periods. That day in gym they had a free day, during which she and her friend Leigh talked to Mike. He talked about how he had moved here from Pennsylvania, and he talked about his past. When Leigh asked Mike about one of his tattoos (which consisted of the symbol of his favorite band and a rose with the words “Rest in Peace,” a name, and date) Courtney was amazed by Leigh’s boldness. She learned about the band whose music had given him the strength to turn his life around. She learned about the tough past he had. Those all should have been warnings, little bells going off in Courtney’s mind, warning her to beware of Mike. However those bells never went off. After class that day Mike caught up to her.

“Hey Court, you don’t mind if I call you Court do you?”

“Nope, although that’s the first time anyone’s ever called me that,” she responded, smiling and laughing.

“Cool, so you’re, what, sixteen?”

“Oh, no, I’m fourteen! But I’ll turn fifteen on the twenty-second.”

“Wow, you seem older than that!”

“Really? You’re the first person to say that.”

“Well you’re really mature for your age.”

“Thanks, I get that a lot. So how old are you?”

“Sixteen, although I get told I act younger.”

“I actually thought that you were either a sophomore or a junior.”

“Well that makes sense.”
They continued this conversation, discussing how age is just a number, and how people’s actions determine their age more so than any number ever could. He walked her almost all of the way to her class, saying goodbye one stairwell before her next class.

The next day about the same thing happened, except for one difference that meant the world to Courtney. When Mike walked her to her eighth period, he walked her all the way, and just outside of the door he gave her a hug. Although it was simply a one-armed hug it was a world of difference. For once she felt like someone really cared for her, someone other than those who shared her DNA, someone who she had just met. He continued to walk her to class for the next four days.

The fourth day was Valentine’s Day. That day at lunch Courtney went to eat with her friend Lexi. Lexi filled her in on all of the drama (or lack thereof) with her boyfriend, and then asked Courtney about Mike. Courtney was shocked that Lexi knew about Mike, until she learned that Claire, her best friend, had asked Lexi to talk some sense into Courtney. Courtney couldn’t believe that her friends would do that; she never imagined that her friends would disapprove of Mike. During lunch Lexi tried to talk Courtney into leaving Mike alone, telling her that he isn’t the person she thinks he is, that he’s a smoker, and a druggie, that she needs to beware of him, and not to get too attached to him. Through her next class Courtney’s mind was turning over Lexi’s words. She didn’t believe what her friends said about Mike being a druggie and a smoker. She refused to believe it. After gym that day, as Mike walked her to class, they discussed Valentine’s Day. Mike told her that his Valentine’s Day experiences usually ended up with him discovering that his girlfriend had cheated on him, so he wasn’t exactly all that big on Valentine’s Day. They talked about how Courtney had never had a good experience either, but for a different reason. If Mike’s problems came from his girlfriends cheating on him with their ex-boyfriends, Courtney’s problem came from her lack of past relationships. That day for the first time, Mike gave her a two-armed hug. That was the last hug Courtney would receive from Mike for almost a week.

Mike was absent that Friday and the following Monday and Tuesday. When he came back on Wednesday Courtney asked him where he had been. He told her that he was suspended because he had cussed out an administrator. Courtney was shell-shocked. She had had no idea that Mike would ever do something like that. She couldn’t believe her ears. That day was her last hug from Mike. On the way to her class he told her that he would change her opinion on drugs. She had voiced her opinion earlier that day during gym, when he coughed and then told her to never smoke. He told her “Weed isn’t bad, but never smoke cigarettes.”
Her facials response to those words was all he needed. He knew that she was appalled by the idea of drugs. Mike would never have the chance to change her mind. The next day he walked her partway to class. That Friday was a half-day, he barely even talked to her during gym, instead talking to Leigh. Courtney walked with the two of them partway to her class, but at the point where Leigh went a different way, Mike continued to walk with Leigh, not even acknowledging that Courtney had stopped walking with them.

Courtney was sad to have lost Mike as her friend, but she didn’t realise just how lucky she was until the following Monday. She overheard Mike talking with two other guys in her gym class, and heard him tell them about a recent pregnancy scare he and a friend of his had had. Courtney was finally about to see the real Mike, the Mike who smoked, the Mike who did drugs, and moreover the Mike who almost got girls pregnant.

Most of her friends figured that she was sad about what had happened, but Courtney was thankful for the friend she had had for a couple weeks in her life. She had been privy to a whole new point of view, she had become aware of a whole new group of people, and she had relised that judging others by their outward appearance could muddy the way a person saw who they actually were. She was happy, because it had taught her to give everyone a chance, an important lesson for anyone to learn.