Melaney and I stood outside the entrance of Milltown Senior High on our last first day of school. Melaney wore her new khaki skirt, sandals, and favorite teal shirt accented by her turquoise cross necklace, a fifteenth birthday present from me.  With Melaney's help, I chose to wear a beige, faux-suede blouse over my cream-colored cami, khaki capris, and comfy leather moccasins embroidered with tiny turquoise and gold beads. Melaney loved to dress up, but I missed my t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

Melaney held up her cell phone to take a picture of us together. "Say cheese, Tiger Lily!"

I attempted to smile as the camera flashed.

Melaney had styled my long bangs into two, thin French braids, adorned with slim, gold ribbons and shiny, turquoise beads. I might've resembled a Native American Princess if I looked like Melaney. Her hair was a cascade of chocolate curls. My copper mane was too straight to curl. It always twisted into knots, just like my stomach right now.

I despised school - the huge crowds, the tiny classrooms, and the terrifying claustrophobia from being trapped inside a building for over seven hours a day. I longed to be outside in the fresh air and sunshine. That's why I wanted to go to Cyber School like Dean. He could take his laptop outdoors to do the daily lessons, but I couldn't convince The Rents. So here I stood, trying not to hyperventilate.

"You can do this! Just breathe through your nose, s-l-o-w-l-y." Melaney recited her "Little Jasmine That Could" speech, which she gave me every year on the first day of school. "Just walk one foot in front of the other . . . one step at a time." She took one small step and held up one finger. "One second at a time, one minute, one hour, and then . . ." She rotated her finger in a circle. "One entire day is over. You are Jasmine Jane Austine. You are invincible."

"Stop, Melaney Jane Miller. You are embarrassing me," I hissed as Emily Green walked up to us. 

"Hi," Emily said, looking quite comfortable in a t-shirt and jeans. Her brunette hair was pulled back in its usual pony tail. 

I wanted to go home and change back into my normal clothes. 

Emily and her family attended our church, but she hadn't been to youth group since her cousin, Emma, had died in June. Emily was Melaney's latest rescue mission. Melaney was helping her through the grief process, like she'd helped me when Daddy died.

"Are you ready for senior year?" Melaney asked. 

"No. I would rather be any place other than here," Emily confessed.

"I know exactly what you mean," I agreed with my whole heart.

Melaney squeezed between us, hooked our elbows with hers, and dragged us through the open glass doors. "Come on, you two. We'll have fun. I promise."

Emily and I reluctantly consented to the abduction, and Melaney steered us through the herds of students to the school store in the back of Ms. Keys' classroom. As members of FBLA, the Future Business Leaders of America, we worked at the store in the morning and avoided the archaic alphabetical homerooms organized by students' last names. Otherwise, I would've had the same homeroom as Mimi Holt. I didn't want to start my school day seeing Mimi's evil face, but I did want to see Tyler's.

Tyler was the President of FBLA. Melaney was the Vice President, and Emily was the Secretary. I didn't hold any office. I simply supported Melaney and caught glimpses of Tyler on the few occasions when he worked in the store. Usually, he trained in the gym with the cross country team during homeroom. I hoped he would show up today if only to say hello.

Should I be casual and confident or forward and flirty? My mind sifted through all the different things I could say to Tyler, though I didn't know why I bothered. Once he smiled at me, I would probably lose the ability to speak. All the audacity I had for our date was long gone.

Melaney, Emily, and I greeted Shawn and his best friend, Chad Smith. Chad was tall and skinny. Next to Shawn's broad width, he seemed even thinner. They had gotten there early to check the inventory for the school store.

"Everything's here, except for the snacks. They should be delivered sometime today," Shawn informed us.

"Excellent!" Melaney clapped her hands together. "We'll be able to unpack all the boxes tomorrow during club period. We will officially open on Wednesday."

The bell rang, and most of the members of the FBLA, except for Tyler, sat down at a computer desk. I chose one by the windows and tried to hide my disappointment.

Ms. Keys welcomed us back and took attendance and lunch count. With her short blonde hair, silk buttoned shirt, pencil skirt, and high heels, she looked more like a successful CEO at a Fortune 500 business than a school teacher. She passed out our official schedules, agendas, locker numbers and combinations, and all the tedious first day paperwork, which we filled out and handed in while we listened to the morning announcements.

"What do you have for first period?" I asked Melaney.

She glanced at her schedule. "U.S. History with Mr. Jefferson."

"Me, too."

"Me, three!" Emily replied. "We can study together. I heard his tests are really hard."

The bell rang again, and purgatory began.

"Eight days," Melaney reminded me when she saw the horror on my face.

I had promised her to not skip school for eight days. In order to graduate this year, I could only miss twenty days. So we did the math and determined if I attended school for eight straight days, I could skip the ninth day.

"Only eight days," she repeated, attempting to reassure me like always, as we followed Emily out the door. Of course, our history class was on the second floor in the corner of the building, and we had only three minutes to get there.

The rowdy halls of Milltown High were more dangerous than a New Jersey expressway. No one stayed in the right lane of traffic. The motley mob rushed, bumped, pushed, and shoved their way to their destination. It was a miracle that we made it to our next class in one piece.

We found desks beside each other and next to the windows in the middle rows. The front rows were reserved for The-Students-Who-Want-To-Be-Seen, those in the honor society, the student government, the drama club, and of course, the cheerleaders and the athletes. The back was for The Students-Who-Want-To-Hide, the juvies, the druggies, and the gamers who stayed up all night fighting imaginary battles on their computers and always fell asleep during the teacher's discussions of actual wars in U.S. history.

Tyler and Todd strutted in next. Shawn trailed behind them. Tyler smiled at me and tried to slide into the seat in front of mine. I shook my head in denial.

"This seat is saved for a friend," I said a little too loudly, putting my agenda on top of the desk. "Sorry," I whispered and mouthed the words, "Please be discreet," for only him to see. I didn't want gossip about our seating proximity to get back to Mimi.

"No problem," Tyler said, cool as always and looking so fine in his varsity letter jacket and blue jeans. He sat in front of Melaney and diagonally from me.

He winked and then proceeded to ignore me and talk to Todd.

Shawn handed me my agenda and squeezed his broad body into the small desk.

Mr. Jefferson took attendance. "Here," we politely said when our names were called. Bald, brawny, and built like a linebacker, Mr. Jefferson was the junior varsity football coach. Everyone treated him with respect, even the delinquents. He passed out our history textbooks and syllabi for the course and explained his grading system and our first major project about our favorite person in U.S. History.

I couldn't stop myself from taking an occasional peek at Tyler's handsome profile. The guy was such yummy eye candy. I remembered our first sweet chocolate kiss and felt my cheeks flush. Having Tyler in this class might be detrimental to my grade and my heart. How could I listen to the teacher when my heart pounded so loudly in my ears?

Tyler caught me looking at him, and I immediately examined the graffiti on my desk: I <3 U. So true! Not only my heart, but my whole future, depended on Tyler. He just didn't know it yet.

A/N: Video above is Give Your Heart a Break by Demi Lovato. 

"The world is ours, if we want it, we can take it, if you just take my hand. 

 There's no turning back now. Baby, try to understand.

 Don't want to break your heart. Want to give your heart a break."

 What would you wear on the first day of school? Let me know in the comments. 

Forever Remember to Live, Laugh, and LOVE! - 3L