"For she thinks I'm a maid, and she has fallen in love with me."The girl whispered as she paced back and forth. The lines in her script were illuminated in bright yellow which is starting to give her a head ache. The stage light practically burned her pale skin, making the stage a thousand degrees. The girl laid down on the wooden apron, hanging upside down; she was thankful for the bobby pins holding her pink beanie in place. She closed her eyes and just relaxed. Then she sensed someone. Opening her eyes, the girl saw him. His script was abandoned on a auditorium chair along with his belongings. The boy raised an eyebrow at her strange position but knew not to ask questions. He leaned down and kissed the upside down girl. The girl smiled and sat up, hugging her knees.
        "Nice try Viola, but I don't think hot pink beanies were invented in Shakespeare's time." The boy commented. The girl rolled her eyes.
        "I'm not performing yet. My hat is beautiful." The girl argued.
        "Just like you." He said with a smile.

So many math problems. Clock's ticking. His pencil flies across the paper, while hers taps against the table. One hand plays with the chain of her cherry charm necklace.The boy jumps out of his seat and runs up to the teacher. Words are exchanged. Then he runs back. The girl breathes a sigh of relief. Staring back at the problem a thought starts to form. And then her pencil sprinted. She grabbed her paper and walked up to the half asleep teacher. After what felt like two hours the teacher looked up.
"We have a winner." She said lazily. The classroom groaned and the girl grinned. A sticker proclaiming '100%' was at the top of her paper. She skipped back to her desk next to the boy. He rolled his eyes.
"You got lucky."
"Oh really?" The girl pulled out her binder and added the sticker to the back with nineteen others just like it. "That's twenty. Guess who has to buy dinner tonight?"
The boy sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"Red Robin?"
"Yep."
"Seven?"
"Right again."
"Are you going to wear a dress and expect me to me fancy too?"
"Yes I am."
The boy leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"See you tonight nerd."
"See you tonight loser."

The blue converses squeak down the hallway. Her fingers tap out a beat against her book in her hand. The ear-buds blast a mix from rock to classic jazz to her ears. She was in such a trance, she didn't even notice him. He came up behind her and stole one ear-bud.
"What are we listening to?" He asked plopping the ear-bud into his ear.
"Beatles, Ob La Di." She replied tapping her fingers to the melody. He nodded and took her music theory book from her.
"What are you-"
"Hang on. I didn't study." He flipped through the pages and landed on the right chapter.
"Minor the-"
"Sixth." She replied automatically.
"Okay smarty pants. What notes are-"
"1, 4, 5." The boy sighed and shut the book.
"I'm screwed." He said handing her the book.
"Yes you are." She smirked, leaning against the door frame of the classroom.
He put on hand above her shoulder and looked at her for a while.
"I can't convince you to give me the answers, can I?" He whispered. She smiled and shook her head.
"Sugar we're going down swinging." She sang quietly. He laughed and kissed her nose before disappearing into the band room. The girl waited a minute. Her fingers brushed her lips; she never got over the butterflies. Then she turned the corner to take the test.

"Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do." The girl sang, cringing as the last note squeaked. The choir teacher grimaced.

     "Sorry Hun, you're gonna have to keep working on that scale." The girl nodded and watched as the choir teacher started to leave. That's when the boy entered. He smiled seeing Beanie Girl; then he noticed her frown.

    "What's wrong?" The boy asked as he made his way to the piano bench. The girl was about to answer but the choir teacher spoke first.

     "She needs help with her scales. Maybe you can help her." And with that the choir teacher left, an all-knowing smirk on her face. The girl in the pink beanie sighed and leaned her head on the piano.

"I'm hopeless." She said, grimacing as her forehead pressed against the keys. The boy sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"You're not helpless. But you're going to have the piano in-printed into your forehead unless you stop." The girl in the pink beanie sat up and looked at the boy next to her. The boy smiled and placed one hand on the ivory keys. "Repeat after me." And then he sang the scale. It was beautiful. The girl tried to sound like him, but her voice cracked. She bit her lip and the boy ran a hand through his hair. "I have an idea."
"Lip sync?"
"No." The boy placed both hands on the piano and began to play. It was slow, smooth, and familiar.
"Is that-"
"Yep." The boy began to sing the girl's favorite song. The girl smiled and listened to the sweet melody. She joined in, having memorized every word. The two sang in harmony, their voices painting the scene; a girl who was broken and a hero who saved her from the rest of the world. As the song finished, the two slowly came out of their trance. The boy grinned at the girl in the pink beanie. "Told ya so." He stated as he got up from the piano. The boy kissed her on the cheek and left the choir room. The girl sat there in awe, lightly touching where the boy's lips brushed her cheek. Her fingers moved from her cheek to the piano once again. She positioned her hand to mimic the boy's. The girl slowly hit the keys, note by note, until she formed the melody line for the chorus. Then she sang. It was soft and faint but more beautiful than anything she'd sang before. Outside the choir door, the boy smiled from his hiding spot.

"That's my girl." He muttered under his breath. The boy remained there for as long as the girl sang.

"Math test." Those two words struck fear into millions of high school students. One test can make or break one's grade. They are the reason for caffeine sales, tissue purchases, and therapy sessions. And that's just normal teens. For a nerd, math tests are the Olympics. You get an A or you die trying. The two mathletes sat in the front of the room. The girl with the cherry charm necklace sat atop the desk whilst the boy sat in the chair next to her.

"Pythagorean theorem. Go." She said, happily swinging her legs back and forth. The boy rolled his eyes, looking up from the study guide on his lap.

"A squared plus B squared equals C squared. What do I look like, a fourth grader? Give me a difficult question. "

"Okay. Law of Sines."

"Uhhh..." The boy frowned and look down at his feet in thought. He bit his lip, a bad habit, and finally gave up. "I don't know."

The girl grinned as she turned the study guide around. An extra piece of notebook paper was stapled to the back which was covered with her handwriting.

"Law of Sines isn't on this test or even in this unit. I just tried to get ahead." She declared proudly. The boy scanned the paper for a moment before shaking his head.

"You're a dork." He flicked her lightly on the nose before moving to his desk.

"Alright class settle down." The math teacher walked in the room with a stack of intimidating papers. "Study guides away, tests are out." And with that the math test began.

***

The next day the two sat in class side by side. Both anxiously awaited the test results. Other students in the room didn't look as happy as the girl with the cherry charm necklace. She knew she had done well. She always did well. The teacher stood at the front of the room and rambled on about class averages. The girl didn't care. She just wanted her test. As the teacher slowly painstakingly handed out the tests, the other student's facial expressions dropped. The girl leaned forward as her math teacher neared her desk.
"Nice job." He said before dropping a perfect test in to the girls greedy hands. The girl squealed and turned to show the boy. Except the boy didn't look happy. He covered his test up with his arm.
"Hey," the girl started softly. "What did you get?"
"I don't want to talk about it." He replied curtly. The girl leaned over and gently moved his arm. Two sevens were marked in bright red ink at the top of his test. The boy looked away in shame. The girl pursed her lips as she flipped through his mistakes.
"It's okay. You can just retake." She said quietly. The boy shook his head still refusing to look at her. "C'mon. I'll tutor you." That got the boy's attention.
"Really?"
"Yeah!" She smiled and leaned in close to his ear. "And if you're good, I may even reward you with kisses."
The boy blushed slightly and nodded. The girl with the cheery charm necklace giggled and moved back to her seat for a new math lesson.

Fingers beat on the wheel, matching a melody. The stereo was blaring pop tunes. One blue converse heel impatiently tapped against the ground. The girl waited on the driveway for the love of her life to come outside. Normally she would've turned the car off and gone to the door, but she could sense that something was off. The girl stopped abusing her poor steering wheel and let her hands mess with her necklace instead. The red paint was peeling off the cherry charm. She'd have to fix it later. Finally, the boy emerged from his home and sprinted over to the car. He got in the passenger seat and slammed the door.
"Drive." He said quickly leaving no room for argument. The girl threw the car into reverse and sped away from the boy's house. She didn't say a word but she did spare a few cautious glances at him.
"Is everything-" She started.
"No." The boy retorted without looking at her. He stared straight ahead with a pissed expression on his face. "Take a left."
"But that's the way to-"
"I know." The teen driver yanked the wheel to the left gracious that rush hour was long gone. She pulled into a giant parking lot. The girl ignored the lines and parked right in front of the door.
"Why are we here?" She asked him confusion written on her face. For the first time that day, the boy smiled.
"You'll see." The two emerged from the car and walked into a familiar building. The boy took the girl's hand and led her down wide tiled halls. He pulled her into a classroom with equations written on the walls. It was their math classroom, yet it was a Saturday and the school was empty. The boy gently pushed the girl towards her desk. She took the hint and sat down. The teenager raised an eyebrow at her mysterious boyfriend but he simply sat down in his own desk.
"This is where I first noticed you. Right here, first semester of sophomore year." He remembered with a grin. "We both were sitting here working on some fast math worksheet. We both finished at the same time and your hand shot straight in the air. You were so determined to get a sticker." The boy chuckled and looked at the female next to him. She blushed at the memory. "From that moment on, I knew you were incredibly smart and way out of my league."   The boy jumped up  from his desk. Offering his hand to the girl, he whisked her down the hall once more. The two ended up the auditorium. The young thespians automatically leaped onto the stage. The boy took a couple steps away from the girl and spun in a slow circle.
"And this, this is where I first asked you out. Play practice had just ended for the day. You had your nose in a script and it took me five minutes to build up the courage to tap your shoulder." The girl giggled and clasped her hands together.
"I remember that. When I looked at you, I could see the blood leave your face. I thought you were going to pass out." She replied as the boy nodded.
"I almost did. But then I stuttered and managed to ask you to homecoming. Then you turned redder than a tomato." He retorted. Before the female could form a response, the boy grabbed her hand and sprinted off stage.
"Where are we going?!" The girl shouted as she was tugged along.
"To our home away from home."  The boy said over his shoulder. The girl knew the next location immediately. The couple skidded to a stop as they entered the band room. The boy grabbed her wrists and pulled her close.
"I kissed you for the first time right here, in this exact spot." He wrapped his arms around her petite frame and continued. "We had just gotten back from a win with the marching band. Everyone was so excited that no one noticed when I got carried away. I remember you stepping away after a couple seconds with a grin. And without a word you went to go help unload." The girl hooked her fingers through his belt loops. She looked up at him clearly confused.
"But why are you telling me this now? Why today?" She asked standing on her toes. The boy's face fell and he rested his forehead against hers.
"I'm moving. Far away. My dad got transferred so we leave over winter break." Her knees became weak and she fell into the love of her life. The girl buried her face on his chest and sniffled a little. The boy hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head.
"Hey it's okay. Just one semester and then we go to college together." He muttered. The girl shook her head and mumbled gibberish. "I brought you here to remind you of how much I love you. I love the way you wear those same blue shoes everyday and refuse to take crap from no one. I love the way you wear a bright pink beanie even though you're so quiet. I love that you wear the stupid cherry charm necklace that I won for you at the arcade. I love you." The boy confessed as he squeezed her so tight that she almost couldn't breathe. She could hear his heart beat race.
The girl with the cherry charm necklace stood on her toes.
"I love you too." Beanie Girl promised with a smile. The girl in the blue converses kissed the love of her life and knew they would be together for a long time.

The End