Currently, I am a seventeen-year-old girl and a junior in high school. Josiah and I talked all through freshmen and sophomore years, and it has now been almost two years we’ve been together. It just goes to show that we never know just where and how silly middle school crushes will end up in the future.

It was the first day of seventh grade back into the scorching hot hallways that always gave off the stench of body odor. I enjoyed school, though. I always looked forward to inspecting the new kids every school year. Scoping around the room, I didn’t see any new or unfamiliar faces. While standing at my locker talking to one of my friends, I noticed these two boys with the exact face making their way down the hallway. They both possess curly, chocolate brown hair. One had these mesmerizing auburn eyes. His was hair pushed up in the front all swagger looking, and I loved his style of clothes, too. He was like the hot guy “Chad” in the movies. He was the Chad of all Chads. He seemed shy and calm but still pretty cool at the same time. He captured my eye almost instantly. 

Making his way swiftly down the hall closer to me, I had this feeling inside of my stomach that I’ve never felt before. It was that feeling a person gets right when going over the hill–that feeling. That’s what I felt. Some people call them “butterflies” which all thirteen-year-olds get when they finally catch an interest in boys. While he passed by, his spicy cologne floated by me.

Every boy at my school introduced himself to the new guys. Like they were celebrities, all the girls crowded around the new boys. It was annoying. I am more of a laid back kind of girl, and I never draw attention to myself nor do I ever wish to be a part of any attention. My goal at school: as long as I don’t make a total fool out of myself, I will be okay.

As I still stood standing in admiration of these new twins who would be in our grade that year, the ringing of the class bell startled me out of my daze. It turned out I had the same first period class as they did. I found out the new twins names: Josiah and Noah. My regular old classmates assumed themselves to already be best friends with the new twins. In my head I pondered this thought: ‘Would I ever get a chance to associate with Josiah?’
Weeks and months had blown by since the first day of encountering Josiah for the very first time. Within that time I had slight conversations with him here and there. I would say to him, “Hi,” and he would slightly smirk and stare at the floor. Quietly, he would say, “Hi.” He only talked to me if I talked to him. When I spoke to him, I didn’t know if he’s just so shy that he didn’t like to talk to people or if he just didn’t like me at all. One time while strolling the hallway to my class, I noticed him walking behind me. I built up my nerves to leisurely wait for him. At that moment I could only respond, “Hey.” Skittishly, I peered at him. He replied, “Hi.”
I then asked him, “So…how are you liking this school so far?”
Absentmindedly, he remarked, “I’m just tired.”

The class bell, like a firecracker, was sure to ring at any moment. Entering the classroom, I saw Josiah, sitting in his assigned seat. I was talking to Noah, not Josiah! I was flirting with the wrong twin. I realized that I must’ve been too jumpy in the hallway to realize that I was talking to the wrong twin. I felt so stupid. I figured out a way to tell them apart. Josiah always wore these bright, neon yellow Under Armour shoes to school, so if I felt unsure about who was who, I looked down at their shoes.

Every day when school ended, I always tried to meet up with Josiah in the hallway before all the other girls. Standing at my locker all ready to go, I waited for him to start walking down the hallway. I fidgeted with the other books in my locker, trying to look busy, so he wouldn’t realize I was trying to stick around for him. Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I searched the hallway until my gaze met his, and then I quickly looked away. Once he made his way closer to me, I started walking with him. Josiah would occasionally brush pass me and nudge me with his bag “accidentally” just to get my attention. That made me blush like a ripe radish every time because I thought, ‘Maybe he likes me, too.’

It was the last month of summer vacation of 2016. Cross-country and football had commenced. I did see Josiah on occasion during the summer at the school when he left from football practice, and we would sometimes talk to one another. We ended up speaking more and more. It was almost like the first day of seventh grade all over. He still gives me those butterflies just like he used to.