• I'm walking to the apartment after a long day of school. The only thing on my mind at the moment is the weekend: I get to see Le! I'm so anxious yet I can't get this smile off my face. Hopefully Mom will like him. Hopefully.. Hopefully...

    "Jasmine, since you're paying so much attention to the lesson, why don't you tell us what OTC means?"

    I pause shortly, "Uh... Over the counter..?"

    Ms. Lane looks at me sternly with a raised eyebrow, "Yes, that's correct. Why don't you pay attention so you don't give me a deer-caught-in-headlights look next time?"

    "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry," I mumble embarrassly amid the other students' laughter.

    Ms. Lane is my health teacher, which is my last class of the day. Most of the students call her "Ms. Pain" because she can be a pain in the, well, you know how the phrase goes. One thing is for sure; no one can call her the nickname within her earshot or else they'll have to pay a visit to the dean's office.

    Thankfully, the bell rings sooner than I thought it would. I stand up, grab my backpack, and put one strap over my shoulder in one fluid motion. I put my iPod earbuds in my ears and crank up the volume. As I quickly but carefully walk through the congested hallways to go outside, I see my ex-boyfriend walk by, and we make eye contact for a short time. I look away, feeling my face warm up slightly, and keep walking with a faster pace.

    I get to the meeting place of my friend Nina. As I'm waiting, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I look and see that the message is from Le. I smile as I reply:

    Hey love smile

    Hey. U feelin' better?

    Yea thnx. I got plenty of rest & I'll b coming over 2morrow.

    Great! biggrin I can't wait 2 c u!

    Me either hun <3

    <3 wuv u

    wuv u too ^,..,^

    As I read the last message from Le, I sense someone behind me and feel them hug me from behind. Whe they let me go, I turn around, ready to slap them. I stop though as I see that it was only Nina, and roll my eyes. "Geez. Gimme a warning next time, would you?"

    "Sorry about that," Nina tries to apologize without laughing, "But I had to get you back into the real world, or else you would've had hearts-for-eyes like an anime character." It was Nina's turn to roll her eyes as she saw me smile and giggle.

    As we walk to our buses, I glance at Nina and she had a quizzical expression on her face.

    "Penny for your thoughts?" I smirk as she looks back at me.

    "What are you and Le doing Saturday?" her curious expression turns into a serious one.

    "He's just coming over to the apartment. We were gonna play on my Xbox 360, but we have to stay in the living room so my mom can watch us," I shrug as I reply.

    "Your mom just wants to make sure you two won't do anything.. Well, in appropriate. You and Le have only been dating for a month, Jaz. She just doesn't want you guys to move too fast."

    "Which is EXACTLY why she doesn't trust him," I say sadly as Le crosses my mind for what seemed to be the millionth time today.

    "It'll take time, but don't worry; I know your mom will trust Le," she reassures me with a tight hug, "You better get going. You don't wanna miss your bus."

    "Yeah. I'll text you later," I try to smile as I hug her back, but I can't seem to cheer up. Sometimes I wonder why my mom wants me to be happy, but she doesn't trust my boyfriends. The only one she really trusted was James, but he seemed to take me for granted. I sigh as I walk up the steps to the bus before they leave.