🙅🏾

It was freshman year of high school when he had first seen her. She had long dark tresses and big brown eyes. Her face was chubby and she had a cute crooked smile that he thought was to die for. They were in homeroom awaiting their schedules when he had first laid eyes upon her pretty face. She may not of known it yet, but she was beautiful.

He fell for her before he ever knew her. She was not what everyone else considered to be pretty but he would beg to differ. She was pretty and more. She made him feel excited just to catch a glimpse of her during the school day. He was not shy, but he was not as nearly as bold as he had hoped to be at this time. So he waited. And he waited for days, weeks.

Three months is did nothing but watch her when no one was looking, stealing glances her way every so often when they were in one another's proximity. He would dream of her at home. Dream of what it would be like to talk to the beautiful girl he found himself crushing on. Yes, she was his crush. His biggest crush to date.

She made his palms sweaty and his heartbeat pick up. He would get flustered and tongue tied. She was one hell of a crush and he felt good. He felt good that his heart had chosen her. He was not the best looking guy neither. He had blemishes and his voice was kind of on the light side. His skin was pale and he was lanky.

Yet, he had hope that the beautiful girl would like him too. It took time, but he mustered up the courage to talk to her. It had been third period and she was sat with her friend listening to the girl talk about whatever. He had introduced himself to the two girls shyly and dropped a few lines to the girl making her laugh. However, that was just merely a plan. What had happened in all actuality was that he had tripped on someone's backpack falling right beside her desk embarrassing himself before he could even utter a word to the girl.

There classmates along with her friend cackled laughing at him. Mocking him causing him to turn beet red before quickly returning to his desk and burying his face into the palms of his hands in humiliation. He was extremely embarrassed, but little did he know that she found it cute. It was cute to her that he mustered up the courage to finally talk to her. She was not not blind nor oblivious to the boy. She saw the stares he would give her because the boy seemed to literally not know what subtlety was.

His stares were long and hard. She could feel the heat from his gaze across the room. She thought he was cute. He was a bit lanky but she thought that he was perfect the way he was. He was not dorky or wore glasses often besides the occasional shades or when he needs to read something small. His smile was so goofy looking and childlike.

Girls talked about him often with their fast asses. It was never the way that she thought of him that they spoke on him. It was always something sexual. What they would do with his lips and his hands. 'I bet he has a big dick and i'm gon' get some', said Dominique Archer. That girl irked Naomi. She walked around as if she was entitled to everything.

"-mi? Naomi!?", Lelita yelled in her face startling her from her reveries.

"What? Geez", Naomi responded sitting up strainer in her seat.

LaLa rolled her eyes, "You spaced out while I was talking to you", said her friend.

"Okay", Naomi retorted dismissively.

LaLa scoffed, "You was thinking about that boy wasn't cha?", she questioned.

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Wasn't nobody thinking about Nathaniel", she denied.

"I said boy, not a specific one. So you like 'em clumsy? I can see it", she retorted.

Naomi raised an eyebrow at her friend. "See what?", she asked.

LaLa being her ever bold self waved her hand in Nathaniel's direction. "Don't play. You know that you like him. He's cute or whatever, but he is so lanky. Like boy look like one of them life saver dispenser things with the cartoon character heads. He need to eat a cow or something, damn", she commented.

Naomi rolled her eyes. "We'd be an eleven together", she commented adding her two cents then jumping in her seat.

LaLa had pinched her butt. "Nah, y'all would be a ten, mama. You getting thick, bitch", she said.

Naomi giggled. "Really? You know that's why Eve are the apple off the tree", she said matter-a-factly.

LaLa tilted her head eyeing her friend curiously. "Really?", she asked playing along.

"Yes, girl. The snake was like, 'Eve, bitch, don't you wanna be thicker than a snickers' ?' and she ate the got damn apple. God was like 'Bitch. You rea-you ate the apple? Why?'", Naomi gossiped.

LaLa snickered tapping her nails on the desktop.

"Girl, yes. And what did Adam's ass say? 'Bitch, why'd you eat the got damn apple? It was on the syllabus. Don't eat the motherfucking apple.' Eve fucked it up for everybody, fam", LaLa gossiped back adding her two cents.

The two girls fell out laughing in pure goofiness.

"Hey! You two cows, stop mooin'! I can't even hear myself think over your annoying ass voices", Dominique Archer called from the back of the classroom causing some of their classmates to laugh.

"Bitch, who you callin' a cow with your stank ass breath!? I don't know how people can stand to be around you with your breath smelling like that! It smells like you ate compost and spoiled milk for breakfast, ass for lunch, and old man nut for dinner. Your friends are fake as fuck for not telling you the truth about your breath!", LaLa leered.

If you thought Naomi had a strong dislike for the obnoxious girl then you you will be amazed by how much LaLa does. LaLa downright hates the girl and will tell you if you ask her about it.

"Hoe, who you think you talking to? I will drop your big ass like you need to drop weight!", Dominique spat jumping to her feet angrily.

"If you feeling froggy, ho, leap!", LaLa leered as she rose to her feet putting her hair up into a messy bun.

"Ooh!", chorused the class along with a loud snort followed by loud laughter.

"WHO THE FUCK LAUGHING!?", Dominique screeched angrily.

The entire class turned towards the back of the classroom where Nathaniel sat still laughing carefree.

"Shut your ugly ass up, Nathaniel!", she yelled.

His laughter instantly ceased. His happy face falling into that of a frown.

"Heifer, leave him alone. You are always trying to bully someone. He can laugh if he wants to. Your whole personality is laughable anyway", Naomi snapped in the boy's defense.

The entire class was stunned to silence. Naomi was not a loud person nor was she an angry one typically. However, she hated bullying of any kind and that was a known fact about her.

"Oh. OH! This you, huh? He kinda cute. He ain't my usual type but I know I can take him from you", Dominique gloated.

Naomi, Nathaniel, and LaLa all scoffed in unison. "As if", the three chorused.

"I don't want you", Nathaniel denied.

"He don't want you", at the same time Naomi denied.

"But I want you to leap, frog face ass lil' bitch", LaLa declared adding her input with a hand clap.

"Y'all ain't gon' jump my best friend like that! Y'all hoes got us fucked up!", Aniya chimed jumping to her feet putting on a show.

Everyone knew that Aniya's fighting skills were weak and the only time she ever jumped bad was when she had friends around her. The girl was a coward at best, but she loved to run her mouth for an audience.

"Jump? Who? It only takes one of us to beat the both of y'all asses and that's with our eyes closed", LaLa denied smoothly.

"Bet then, fat bitch! I bet your fat ass hungry right now!", Aniya taunted.

"Bet!", LaLa agreed.

We are not going to go into too many details. Let's just say that a book was thrown and so were fists, feet, and weave. The four girls and Nathaniel sat outside the principal's office awaiting their parents. They were all given in-school suspension for the remainder of the week. Nathaniel was siting with his head resting against the wall with his eyes closed across the room from the girls. Naomi let out a sigh as she eyed the boy quietly humming to the music blaring through his headphones.

Nathaniel's cheek was bruised and he had a small scratch on the corner of his eyes. He had tried to break up the fight only to get caught in the crossfire. Aniya not being able to fight that well had picked up a book and attempted to hit Naomi with it after Nathaniel had finally pried Naomi off of her. Not only did Aniya have poor fighting skills, but also she had poor hand coordination in general. The girl had swung the book with all of her might stumbling with it as she swung and hit Nathaniel instead of Naomi who was being restrained by the boy. She ran her fingers through her hair letting out a huff.

"Damn, will you stop breathing so damn hard over there", Aniyah hissed from across the room.

Naomi rolled her eyes. "I could punch you in the face again", she retorted snidely silencing the girl once again.

With an eye roll Naomi flopped backwards in her seat redirecting her attention back towards Nathaniel who was now staring at her. Their eyes met and soon both found themselves in a heated staring contest.

She sneezed letting out a cute little 'achu'. She lost. "Dammit", she grumbled making the boy smile.

"That was so cute", he gushed.

She pouted not even realizing that she had. "Boy bye", she dismissed playfully.

"I'm Nathaniel", he introduced himself.

"I know who you are, boy. You do not know what subtle is", she retorted teasingly.

He had the decency to still feel slightly embarrassed although he felt no shame for his actions.

"I never meant to be. I think that you're beautiful so I admire your beauty", he admits.

She blushes, ignoring the two scoffs heard from across the room.

"Thank you. You are cute yourself, Nathaniel", she compliments.

"I think I am going to barf", Dominique muttered in annoyance.

"Same. Your breath is making me feel the same from way over here", Nathaniel comments snidely.

Naomi and LaLa snickered while Aniyah turned her head the opposite direction letting out a deep breath.

"Excuse me?", Dominique called loudly.

"Excuse your breath from the room. No one will miss it", Nathaniel leered nonchalantly.

The girls burst out laughing leaning on one another 'hehe-ing' it up. They had also noticed what Aniyah had done, was still doing.

"Man, whatever with yo' ugly ass", Dominique grumbled folding her arms across her chest.

LaLa was on the floor she was laughing so hard.

"Lelita, get your big behind up off that floor", a familiar voice ordered.

LaLa still laughing so hard felt weak in the legs. So when she went to get up as her mama told her to she wind up falling back down twice before Nathaniel and Naomi had to help her up because she could not stop laughing. Slowly one by one the kids left with their parents until only Naomi and Nathaniel were left.

They sat side by side watching videos on YouTube making comments about what they were watching while they waited.

"Naomi?"

The duo looked up from the phone to her mama who stood with her hands on her wide hips glaring down at her daughter.

"Get your behind over here now. I ain't raising no fast ass little girl. I don't care how cute he is get your ass over here", her mama called embarrassing her.

With a sigh she rose from her seat beside Nathaniel and trudged over to her mother.

"Is that him?", her mama whispered about who the boy was.

She knew her daughter. She raised her to be a respectable young woman. Therefore she knew that her daughter would not just saddle up to any little boy she has just met. Besides, Naomi and her mother had not just a parent-child bond, but a friendship as well. They talk and Naomi had told her about Nathaniel, the boy with the big blue eyes that has a staring problem.

"Mami, you're embarrassing me", Naomi whined.

"Embarrassing you?", she whispered before glancing at the boy who was eyeing the two cautiously. "How? By talking about Nathaniel and how cute you think he is? Or am I embarrassing you by telling him to make a damn move already instead of staring like a weirdo? Am I still embarrassing you, Naomi?", she questioned loudly causing both teens to blush in embarrassment.

As you can tell, Naomi's mom does not give a fuck about embarrassing her daughter.

"Mama?", Naomi whined coveting her face with her hands.

She chuckled, "Okay. Okay. It's nice being able to put a face to the name, Nathaniel. Take my baby out already so y'all can go ahead and make it happen. Not like that, I would knock the organs out the both of you two systems. Anyways, I have an appointment to make in an hour so c'mon, Nai", her mama said.

"Oh, sorry i'm late. Nathaniel, are you okay?", a frantic woman came rushing into the waiting area causing said boy to groan.

"I'm fine, mama. Sono stato appena colpito nel fuoco incrociato", he whined as his mother scrutinized his appearance checking him over.

"Oh. My poor baby. Che stronzetta ti ha colpito? Forse non puoi combatterli, ma lo voglio. Basta che la punti fuori, mamma ti ha preso", mama Vitro cooed coddling him.

He let out a sigh. "I am fine, mama. It was only a book", he tried to pacify his mama.

She paused staring deep into his eyes. She was searching for something within their depths and once she found it, her reaction was instantaneous. His mother burst out laughing hugging him to her while she laughed.

Naomi and her own mother found themselves snickering.

"Mom", Nathaniel groaned.

"Okay. Okay. I'm done. It just looks like you were hit pretty hard. Anyways, is that Naomi over there. She is really pretty. You should ask her out before she gets snatched up", his mom whispered stealing glancing at mentioned girl.

"MOM", exasperated.

He was embarrassed as well. It became clear to him that mothers had a talent for embarrassing their kids.

"Get her number", she ordered giving him a little push in the girl's direction.

He stumbled forward and a few seconds later so did Naomi from the push she was given towards him from her own mother.

"Parents", both teens mumbled righting themselves.

"So? I have been meaning to ask this for a while now. It has been months since I first saw you and I think you are beautiful. Would you like to go on a date with me?", he said finally asking her out after months of staring.

"About damn time, boy", Naomi muttered before hollering out in pain from the slap upside the head from her mother. "Yes, I will go on a date with you. Take my number and text me the details", she responded correcting herself.

And that is how they began dating. One date turned into two, three turned into four and by the tenth date they made it official. They were boyfriend and girlfriend. They had gone on many dates and quickly became the it couple of their school.

It was not until their three month anniversary did they take that big step in their relationship and teen lives. They admitted their love to one another, both being unsure of the other's response. They fell even more in love with one another and they both felt it was time to express their love with their bodies. They gave the other their virginity.

They were happy and in love. They say happiness does not last forever nor does peace go undisturbed. She was moving. She moved out of state, across the continent. He was heartbroken. So was she.

He cut her out of his life and she lost touch with him. Her first love ended before it ever truly got to flourish. His first love gone and forgotten. They were both heartbroken but they both eventually moved on, but still. The thought of the other always remained in the back of their minds. The thought of their lost young love, their fist love until faces were blurred and the other became but a distant memory.

But as fate would have it, they would meet again and fall even more in love. They got the chance to love deeper than ever before. Their loved flourished, flourishes more and more each day. They joined again as one. This time neither would ever let go nor let anything separate them from the other. This love, their love is true and would always come back.

No more searching for the lost love in empty faces by the boy. No more burying the pain with another meal for the girl. No more sad days because of the thought of the other. No distance between them to keep them separated. They were together again and better than ever. Their story had merely been paused and was now playing once again.