I've decided that I'm a robot. I'm not one of those scary kill-all-humans-and take-over-the-world ones, but your average my-life-is-terribly-boring robot. I mean seriously, I wake up at 5:45 each morning, I shower, I get dressed, I eat, I go to the bus, I go to school, I come home, I eat, I do my homework, I eat, and I sleep. And the cycle repeats again. But then again I can't complain. I like patterns, stability, and repetition; because when you have these three things nothing goes wrong. I like constants, not variables.

My thoughts were interrupted by my phone, which was playing one of those ringtones that comes programmed in. If you think about it, those ringtones are actually creepy. Even the upbeat ones make you want to look around, make sure no one is going to like oh-I-don't-know stab you in a frenzy of smiles and happiness. I answer the phone.

"Hey Kris." I must interject here to point out that I hate my name. A lot. I guess it's not too bad, but I always fancied myself as a Darren or a Sam.

"Hey Sky. What's up?"

"Life. Hey listen. We are getting together at my house later. Seven. Are you in?"

"I always am. See you then!"

"Yes you will," she laughs. "See you!"

And she hangs up. I must say that out of my 17 years of living, Skylar Preyece was probably the most beautiful person I've ever met – not to mention the coolest, nicest, and most talented person. She has long brown hair with deep chocolaty eyes, and a voice like silk, so smooth, it wraps around you like a ribbon. My best friend Kale introduced us to each other because we, as it turns out, have a lot in common. We love music, play instruments, and write our own stuff. In Kale's mind, we would make a great couple. Kale is that guy that everyone loves, you know the jock-genius-popular-hot-musical-serious-but-also-very-funny-prodigy type guy. This helps me because I am that 'weird' guy, who sings and plays the guitar and saxophone, is in the band, the jazz band, and the marching band. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't bullied every day at school, but it's nice to have the reassurance that I never will be.

Seeing the clock, and realizing that it is already 6:15 and I haven't even showered, I decided I should probably get on that. When I get out of the shower, I have two missed calls from Sky. God. Just the thought of hearing her voice makes me excited. I call her back after I put on some pants. No answer. Thinking nothing of it, I grab a shirt, throw it on and run down the stairs to the kitchen, where my parents are sitting, debating the current question on Are You Smarter Than A Fifth-grader. Apparently, neither of them are, because they both got the question wrong. They look up.

"Can I take the car?"

"Where to?"

"Skylar's."

"Who will be there?"

"My dealer."

"Kris."

"Fine! Me, Kale, Skylar, Henri, Tom, Ashley, maybe Kelsey, if she's feeling better."

"Good. Take your father's car though, I want to run errands." Running errands was my mom's way of socializing. She always sees her friends at the store. I swear to God they plan their trips down to the last second, to maximize socialization time.

"Thanks!" And I'm out the door.

As I back up down the driveway in the car, I realize I forgot my CD's, and sigh as I turn on the radio. I'm not one of those crazy music freaks who hates the radio with every ounce of their existence, I just prefer my music. I tap along to the beat on my steering wheel while I sit at a stoplight, and my phone rings. I make a mental note to change the ringtone and answer.

"Hello?"

"Kris! Have you heard from Kale? He never called me back about tonight." Sky told me, sounding troubled.

"Naw, I haven't. Maybe he is busy?"

"Yeah, I thought so too, but I remember him saying how he had no plans this weekend on Friday in Calc."

"Oh. Do you want me to go by his place?"

"No, just come here. Tom and Ashley just showed up, and I don't know how long I can stand them alone.”

"Alright," I laugh. "I'm on your street now so I'll see you in a couple minutes."

"Thank God." She sighs, and hangs up.

Ashley and Tom are like the poster people for teenage sex. They've been together for about 7 months and they can't seem to keep themselves off each other. It's terrible to be with them alone, but you have to invite them to things because they're also those people that everyone's been friends with their whole life.

I get up to the door and knock. Sky comes darting to the door, opening it and dragging me in the house, then leads me to the basement where, sure enough, Ashley and Tom were kissing on the couch. Making a couple jokes about them, Sky and I sit down in the chair and attempt to have a conversation. You'd actually be surprised at how hard that is to do with two people making out 10 feet from you, and the girl of your dreams sitting two inches away. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I take it out, seeing that it's a text from Kale. It read: Hey Kris! Tell Sky I'm sorry I couldn't come - I'm sick. :( I quickly replied and told the others the situation. Tom's phone must have gone off too, because he got up to go to the other room, and Ashley now was talking to us again. A couple minutes passed, and Tom comes back into the room - only to inform us that he has to take off because his parents were coming home early and he had to clean up from the party he had had the night before. Ashley got up too, seeing as the two were inseparable. As they left, I can't say I wasn't relieved - I mean damn. A Saturday night with the great Skylar Preyece? Who wouldn't want that?

To be honest, Skylar and I aren't that close. I mean, we hang out in the same group, and go to the same parties, but we really don't talk much outside of these things. We sat around for a little while, talking about little things here and there, and the night wasn't as awkward as I'd thought it would be. Sadly, my mom interrupted at 9:45, calling me home because I was supposed to get up at like five the next morning for a jazz band thing. I don't really want to go to this performance tomorrow. Like as much as I like saxophone, getting up and playing at 5:45 in the morning is not my idea of a good time. There's not even going to be like free food. If they're forcing me to get up early and play for them, the people running this could at least give me some like waffles. I like waffles, especially Eggo.

"You have to go already," Sky states. I'm no psychologist, but I could've sworn there was a hint of disappointment floating in her voice.

"I do. I have to get up at like four 'cause I have a jazz band competition. Believe me I'd rather be here."

I feel the couch shift, and then she is standing up. Grabbing my hand she helps me up, and walks me to the door, talking about little things here and there and making small talk. The whole time I couldn't help but wonder about her. Looking at her, I make an attempt to say goodnight in a sexy manor, and when we hug I let myself linger for just a second longer. Now explaining this makes it sound actually kind of well you know, sexy. But it probably just made me look stupid and creepy. Mainly creepy. Like ninety-six percent creepy and four percent stupid. It must have got the point across though, because when I pulled away she was smiling.

"What?" I asked, trying to figure out if she was laughing at my stupidity, or if there was something else behind the smile.

"Oh nothing," she said quickly, changing her expression in a panic.

"Please tell me?" I asked, moving a little closer.

In a reaction to that, she lightly kissed me. Not only did she kiss me, but she kissed me on the lips. The great Skylar Preyece, the girl who I have pretty much worshiped for the past half a year. I could barely control myself, all I could do was smile, and kiss her back.

"That was nice," she said a huge smile spread across her face.

"It was very nice."

"I'll see you on Monday Kris."

"How about tomorrow night? Dinner?" I ask, without thinking. Tomorrow is Sunday, which for me means family dinner. Generally Sundays are like a gigantic ‘no’ when it comes to having dinner plans, because my parents begin to freak out about not spending enough time with me. But I’m sure that if I tell them that I have a date, they’ll make an exception. In fact they’d be more than happy to let me off the hook for this one dinner since it’d be the first date I’ve ever been on.

"Yes!" She replied, eagerly.

"Where to? I'll pick you up around seven?"

"Sounds great. Surprise me, Kris. I'll see you tomorrow at seven." She hugs me goodnight, and then gives me a kiss. As I’m walking back to my car, I can’t help but smile. The whole ride home, I sit and I think of Skylar, and when I sleep I dream of her too.

I wake up one week later, and laugh lightly to myself, all the while thinking about how this newly found romance of mine was something like one of those terrible novels they make you read in English class. And then I laugh some more, and decide that I don’t care. Because I’m happy - because now my life isn’t set in stone, it isn’t just wake up, go to school, come home, do homework, sleep, and do it again. I realize now that I like variables, not constants. Because variables make life interesting, and worth living.