Annie Halden has a habit of writing letters to herself every day.
She likes to jot down her thoughts and feelings. It's her way of letting her emotions out, simply for herself, nobody else to see or read. She was embarrassed by it because she thought the idea was pathetic but it helped her.
"You're writing, like usual." Jack, her older brother said. He walked into the library to see her sitting by herself—as always.
Jack and Annie were opposites but they were close. Jack was a year older than her, in his senior year while she was a junior. Jack was popular, had a lot of friends, loved to party, was on the basketball and football team, got a lot of girls. Annie on the other hand was your stereotypical wallflower who had two best friends and that was all.
Annie liked blending in and staying under the radar, living in the shadows. She was shy and a nice girl but didn't like attention and was afraid to get in anyone's way. She swore hardly anyone even knew Jack was her brother.
Annie looked up, stopping writing. "I am."
Jack quirked an eyebrow, "Want to talk about it?"
"Talk about what?" She spoke softly, her voice quiet like it usually always was. She hated being the centre of attention, she hated bringing attention to herself. She worried a lot—about almost everything.
Jack shrugged, looking down at his sister as he stood beside the table. "I don't know. Where are Amari and Jay?"
Annie shrugged, looking down to her neat writing on the paper. "In class, probably."
Jack nodded, "I have to head to practice, I'll catch you later." Annie looked up again and watched as her brother patted her shoulder before walking off, catching up with some guys who were further in the library. She sighed, looking back down to her paper and finishing writing.
Not long later, the bell rang taking Annie by surprise because she hadn't noticed the time go by so quickly. She quickly stood up and scrambled to gather all her things, wanting to get to class early so she didn't have to walk in while everyone was already seated. She was awkward like that.
-
Annie was headed to her and Jack's car at the end of the day to head home. She waited by the car for her brother to show up.
"Are you Annie?"
Annie glanced up to see a familiar face she had seen around the school before. She was stunned, almost shaking in her shoes when she saw Leo Smith standing in front of her with a small grin playing on his face.
Leo Smith was a well-known guy at her school. He was high on the social ladder for his bad-boy reputation. Everyone knew Leo wasn't someone who's way you'd want to get in. He was the type of guy who would flirt with a lot of girls, stand around by his sports car and smoke cigarettes, would show up on his motorbike some days, would skip classes and everything else that was associated with the bad-boy stereotype.
Annie had never even made eye contact with him, let alone speak to him before. She had noticed him many times because she was quiet and would go by unnoticed so it made her a good observer.
"Yes. I—I am." She choked the words out, shifting on her feet and feeling rather uncomfortable.
Her heart felt like it would leap out of her chest. Aside from the fact that Leo was rather easy on the eyes, he was too high on the social ladder for him to ever communicate with Annie so she was rather shocked he was even standing near her right now. If other people saw this, they would take notice to Annie, which was something she did not want.
"I'm sorry—am I in your way? I'd move the car but my brother has the keys." She suddenly was filled with panic, unsure of what she had done wrong. Her eyes were a little wide, fret all over her face.
Leo chuckled, taking in her worried state. He found it cute how panicked she got simply because he was talking to her.
He shook his head. "Nope, you're good." He gave her another look, grinning before walking off.
Annie was confused, her mouth left agape as she watched him walk away. She didn't understand what just happened. She wondered how he knew her name and why he wanted to ask about that.
She was wracked with confusion and many thoughts of what this meant and what she could have done for him to notice her but didn't have time to think of the possibilities when Jack came over.
"Hey, ready to bounce?"
Annie blinked, looking at Jack. She quickly shut her mouth and nodded, getting in the car.
