The Songs in Our Hearts: A Young Adult Romance

by Chantal Gadoury

  “I just don’t want to ride the bus,” I explained as I tried to hide the irritation in my voice. I wasn’t about to have this discussion with him again. “Micah isn’t my problem, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

  “If you say so,” Josh said, lifting his hands in surrender.

  “Whatever,” I mumbled and dug for another pretzel from the bag. I didn’t care how un-ladylike I appeared. Mom wasn’t there to tell me to sit up and stop chewing so loudly.

  “So what’s the issue, then?” Josh pulled out of the driveway. “If Micah isn’t your problem, then what is? I still don’t buy this whole ‘I’m too old for the bus’ bull. It sounds like you’re running away from something.”

  “I’m not running away,” I replied sharply. “I’m just trying to avoid more problems, that’s all. Problems with Samantha Walters.”

  “Same thing much?” Josh snorted.

  “It’s not the same thing,” I said.

  “The kid has a crush on you, so what? I’m sure that has to be nice in some way, for a boy to finally pay attention to you.” I ignored the dig. Josh was one to talk, fixated on stupid Jackie O, who pretended he didn’t exist.

  “He doesn’t like me,” I explained softly. “Samantha Walters told him that I liked him, and now it’s this whole thing.”

  “Ohhh.” I watched a smile stretch across his mouth. “So this isn’t just about a stupid project. This has to do with your feelings.”

  He wasn’t getting it. Maybe boys were just designed to be this stupid. Or maybe it was just Josh.

  “Josh, I really don’t want to talk about this.”

  “So, you have a crush on Micah Jacobs. Samantha Walters told him, and now you’re trying to avoid him, but you just so happen to have an English project with him.” When I didn’t reply, Josh tapped his fingers against the steering wheel and whistled. “Sounds dramatic,” he said with a bored voice.

  “Shut up!” I groaned. Josh chuckled as I leaned forward to turn up the radio. I was done talking about Micah Jacobs and the stupid project. Josh pulled into David’s driveway first, beeping his horn until David emerged from his bi-level home. He climbed into the back seat.

  “Hey, I see you’re joining us today,” David said as he buckled his seatbelt. I shrugged and stuck another pretzel in my mouth. Maybe if I didn’t talk for the rest of the car ride, and only stuffed my face, Josh and his friends would leave me alone.

  “Micah Jacobs thinks she likes him,” Josh informed David, watching him in the rearview mirror.

  I whacked his shoulder. “You’re impossible.”

  “What’s wrong with liking Micah?” David asked.

  “Charlie just doesn’t know how to handle a crush. I’m pretty sure she secretly likes him and doesn’t want to admit it.”

  I crumpled my now empty bag of pretzels. “I don’t like him, but Samantha went around telling everyone that I do. Now I have to do this movie with him and I might have to kiss him.” Wow, that just blurted out.

  Josh stopped, his grin diminishing. “Is that what you’re worried about?”

  My cheeks started to burn. “You should get going. We still have to go get J and Ben. We don’t want to be late for school.”

  Josh eyed me a few more seconds and then nodded. He backed out of David’s driveway. The ride to the next neighborhood was pretty quiet, except for the light melodies of Imagine Dragons on the radio, until we got to Ben’s house where he and J were waiting outside. They hopped into the back with David. David was quick to start a conversation about homework to avoid any more questions regarding my presence. What an awkward morning this had been. I should have just braved the bus.

  My phone vibrated in my pocket. As I pulled it out, Micah’s name flashed on the screen.

  MICAH: Where are u?

  MICAH: R u not coming to school 2day?

  I shoved my phone back into my pocket and tried to listen to my brother’s conversation with his friends. There was a major football game scheduled for the upcoming weekend. The team had been informed that some important coaches from top universities would be out scouting. I knew Josh, J, and Ben really wanted to play college football, and were counting on any sort of recommendations the high school coaches could give them. While Josh was good at a few subjects in school, football was going to be his winning ticket to a good college scholarship.

  Josh parked the Jeep at school and his friends tumbled out, heading to the soda machines. Josh stopped me before I could head off, too.

  “Hey, if Micah or Sam give you any issues, you just let me know, okay?”

  “I’ll be fine. Thank you for giving me a ride.”

  “I’ll see you after school. Just meet me in front of the Jeep.” Josh left the invitation at that. I pulled my backpack strap up over my shoulder and got out. Rachel and Jennifer were waiting for me on the sidewalk.

  “Did you miss the bus?” Rachel asked, concerned. Jennifer was smiling.

  “I saw Micah get off the bus. He looked a little disappointed. Didn’t even head off to the football field with his friends. He must have really missed you,” Jennifer giggled.

  “Why would I care?” I muttered.

  “I can’t believe Josh gave you a ride to school,” Jennifer continued. “Did you ask him for a ride or something?”

  “Maybe,” I said. “Maybe I just wanted to avoid this whole—” I paused as my eyes jumped to Rachel’s face. I almost let it slip; I hadn’t told Jennifer about my English project with Micah.

  “I don’t like Micah Jacobs, all right?” I walked to the side entrance, dismissing the rest of the conversation. As I approached the glass doors, I saw Micah just on the other side, glancing down at his phone. Was he still waiting for me to reply? He must have seen my read receipts. As I stood there, a surge of guilt pulsed through me.

  “Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that,” Jennifer grinned. “We’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.” Jennifer grabbed Rachel’s elbow and walked past me into the building. Rachel cast me an apologetic glance. Taking a deep breath, I went over to Micah.

  “Hey.”

  He looked up. “Oh, there you are. You missed the bus.”

  “Yeah, Josh had to give me a ride,” I lied. I was going to hell for this.

  “I figured. I saw you guys pull in.” He pushed his phone into his pocket and adjusted his backpack to grab something out of it. He pulled out a notebook and thrust it at me. “So, after you stopped texting me, I was so inspired that I decided to write us the best kissing scene ever.”

  “Are you joking?” I asked, afraid to open the notebook.

  Micah laughed. “Christ, Charlie, I’m just kidding. I finished outlining the first few scenes. I figured we couldn’t make a full-length movie, so I did my best to summarize the beginning. It starts with Victor and his relationship with his family and Elizabeth. Then it kinda delves into his schooling where he studies to be a doctor and decides he wants to create a man. Personally, I think it’s more of a god-complex. Basically, Victor tries to prove to everyone that he can bring back a man from the dead, and results in a monster!” He leaned over my arm and opened the notebook for me, revealing his scratchy handwriting.

  “See? I even tried to give Elizabeth more of a role. But mostly, I have everything coming from a Mary Shelley narrative. So, you can just narrate the movie if you want. Or you could be Elizabeth, too. If not, I guess I could ask one of my friends.”

  “You have girlfriends already?” I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Of course Micah Jacobs had girlfriends. He was a handsome guy. I was sure with those dark brown eyes and devilish smile, girls found it hard to resist him. Without question, Micah probably left a strand of broken hearts behind in Georgia. I caught myself gawking at him and quickly looked back down to the notebook. “I mean, that’s cool…that you have friends who’d be willing.”

  “Willing to kiss me?” Micah
teased, and I glared at him. “Kidding.”

  “Let’s head to class,” I sighed and handed him back the notebook.

  Micah bobbed his chin. “Ladies first.”

  “Demons”

  Jasmine Thompson

  I SAT QUIETLY AT THE lunch table, listening to the conversation about a new Chinese restaurant floating between Daan and Jake. Rachel and Jennifer hadn’t yet arrived to the cafeteria, which left me a clear view of the “Bro-Table”…of Micah. I did my best to keep my eyes locked on my food and the nearby paperback of Frankenstein. I was almost finished reading through it and had begun an outline of scenes that I felt were important to include in the screenplay. I lifted a French fry from my tray as I opened the book, skipping to the creased edge where I’d marked my page, and not one second later, my phone vibrated in my pocket. As I lifted my gaze from the book, I looked in Micah’s direction and caught him smirking at me from across the room. I tugged out my phone from my jeans and saw his message:

  MICAH: I see ur nose deep again.

  CHARLIE: Can’t a girl eat her lunch in peace?

  MICAH: Of course - my bad. LOL!

  CHARLIE: I want to get this done so we can focus on the assignment.

  MICAH: Gotcha. 10-4

  I hadn’t realized I was smiling until I glanced up again, our eyes meeting. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as a growing warmth came to my cheeks. I was pretty sure I was as red as a cherry. Jennifer and Rachel approached the table with their lunches. Rachel took a seat beside me with her perfectly packed lunch, while Jennifer sat across from me. She grinned at me with this all-knowing look.

  “Were you two just ogling each other?” She picked up chicken nugget from her plate and lifted it to her lips. “Come on, Charlie. You guys are killing me!” Jennifer laughed.

  I rolled my eyes. “Just leave it alone.”

  Jennifer took a bite of the almost-too-crispy chicken nugget.

  “I just don’t want you to hold back because of Samantha Walters.”

  And yet, honestly, Sam was the main reason I was trying so hard to resist Micah Jacobs and his charm. I didn’t want to be humiliated again.

  “I’m not, Jen,” I mumbled. “I don’t even know him all that well.” It was probably best if it stayed that way.

  “I’m just saying,” Jennifer said with a raised brow. “I have a feeling you’d jump on that if you had the opportunity.”

  My stomach started to churn, and it suddenly became hard to swallow. I was going to be sick. But why? Why did I feel this way? I was over-reacting over nothing—over a stupid boy and a stupid rumor.

  “I don’t have a crush on Micah Jacobs. How many times do I have to say that?”

  “Fine, fine!” Jennifer lifted her hands in surrender. “I give up.”

  “Thank you,” I said, exasperated. I felt bad for being harsh with my friend, but I just didn’t want it getting out of hand. Looking over at Micah, I took notice of the way he laughed with his buddies. His smile so genuine and contagious, I found myself smiling in turn. With his dark brown gaze, he studied the person he was talking to, giving them his undivided attention. My hands became clammy as I remembered the way he concentrated those eyes on me the day before. My phone buzzed again, which snapped me back to reality.

  MICAH: Like what u see? ;)

  I made sure I didn’t look at him again for the rest of the lunch period.

  Screenplay Project - Frankenstein

  Micah Jacobs & Caroline Blake

  EXT. FRANKENSTEIN MANSION

  Victor Frankenstein sits in the parlor room, hand against his forehead, grieving the loss of his mother.

  Elizabeth enters the room, also distraught, and sits down beside Victor. She grabs his hand.

  Elizabeth:

  Victor, please don’t push me away from you.

  Victor looks up.

  Victor:

  I wish I had the ability to bring her back. I wish I had God’s power in creating life.

  Elizabeth:

  (horrified) You can’t mean that!

  Victor looks to Elizabeth.

  Victor:

  (serious) I do mean that, Elizabeth. If you were to die, I would do whatever I could to bring you back to me. No matter the cost. I will do what I can to prove that a man can create life from the dead.

  Elizabeth:

  You’re speaking madness!

  Victor:

  The only madness I feel is my love for you!

  Victor grabs Elizabeth and kisses her.

  Micah and I sat together at a long, oak desk in the corner of the school library. We were surrounded by shelves of old yearbooks that seemed to go back all the way to the thirties. Thankfully, the desk was out of view of the librarians working at the main desk. Mostly all the other students at the library during their free period flocked to the computer section. We both had a study hall, and decided to meet up to go over the outline of the screenplay he had written. Scanning over his notebook, I quickly realized Micah was well aware of what he was doing.

  “This kinda sounds like a soap opera. The whole, ‘the only madness I feel is my love for you,’ is just…a little over the top.” I giggled.

  “Well, you know, they say drama and sex sells.” Micah pulled his notebook away from me and positioned it in front of himself. “Victor is going through a hard time. Anyway, I just wanted to know your opinion.”

  “I think we need to work on this. I mean, using his mother’s death is a great way to show Victor’s motivation, but…” I used my pencil to point to the last bit of dialogue.

  “The kissing thing…? Really, Micah?” I let out a sigh. “I already told you, I’m not kissing anyone for this film.”

  He drew a line through the last stage direction. “Fine. I’ll just rework it.”

  “How about we rework it together,” I suggested. “It is our project.”

  “I realize that,” Micah said, writing down a few words in the corner of his notebook. I noticed he wrote “Kiss on cheek?” He really wasn’t going to give this up, was he? I glared at him while he wasn’t looking, and turned away as he lifted his head.

  “We could meet up tonight if you want,” Micah murmured. “To work on it.”

  “Where? At the library in town, or…?” As I tapped my pencil against the desk, I noticed the time from the clock hanging over the librarian’s desk. We had about twenty more minutes left to our study hall and hadn’t accomplished much.

  “We could meet up there, if you want. Or at your house,” he added. “I wouldn’t really recommend my house. Too much going on there.”

  “Is your family doing renovations?” I asked absentmindedly.

  “Nah, not really,” Micah said, brushing a hand through his hair. “There’s just no room to spread out and work on a project.”

  “Not even your bedroom?” I probably shouldn’t have asked that question. I probably gave him the wrong impression of me... Shut up, Charlie. Just shut up now.

  “Anxious to see my bedroom?” He winked. “I know; I seem to have that effect on a lot of women. Don’t feel embarrassed.”

  “Uh…I’m not interested in your room. I was just asking, that’s all.” I added an ‘Ew’ under my breath, too.

  “Uh-huh.” Micah laughed.

  “Shhh.” I pushed a finger to my lips and scanned the room to make sure the librarians wouldn’t come to yell at us.

  “You need to live a little, Charlie. Really! You’re so scared of what people are going to think of you in every little thing that you do or say.” Micah sat back in his seat, easing his hands behind his head.

  “Who cares if I’m a little rowdy? Everyone is noisy once in their life in a library. Just like having a crush on a guy—who cares? You’re not the first girl in the world to like someone. God help you if you are!” He chuckled. “You’re so afraid of allowing yourself to step out of the b
ox you’ve so securely trapped yourself in, and I don’t get it. What are you so afraid of?”

  I didn’t like being put on the spot, and I certainly didn’t like that Micah thought he had me figured out. He was far from right. I wasn’t afraid of liking him. And I certainly wasn’t afraid of living. It was the vulnerability that scared me to death. It was the possibility of once again being that young girl of my past, sitting in the mall, watching Samantha walk right by me on the arm of the guy she knew I liked. What if Samantha suddenly changed her interest from Daan to Micah? What if something did happen between Micah and me, and Sam took him away, too?

  “I think our definitions of ‘living a little’ are different. And you clearly don’t know anything about me.”

  “Exactly. Because you haven’t given me the chance,” Micah replied. “Thankfully, you’re pretty easy to read. You’re not as complicated as you may hope to be.”

  “You think living a little is going out to the football field and smoking pot with your friends. You probably think drinking is cool, too, and that subjecting a random girl in your English class to an endless amount of teasing about kissing is the way to go.”

  “It’s a joke. You know, when I say something funny and you laugh? Or, let me guess, you don’t know how to do that, either?”

  I wanted to flip him off and storm out of the library, but it wouldn’t help me in the long run. I still had to work with him on the stupid project.

  “I think we have different interpretations of what constitutes a joke,” I retorted. “We have nothing in common.”

  “Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be, Charlie? We’re different people. We have different groups of friends, different hobbies.” He sat up straight, crossing his arms over his chest. “But it doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”