She despised being smart. She watched as the clock ticked slowly, unconcentrated on the lesson, thinking about her future. Her future was her destiny and there she was graduating, or receiving a diploma for law school, or reading to her two kids. The teacher, who had been asking the same question for a few minutes, decided she wanted to continue with the lesson, so she called on Jenna Rae. Jenna looked back at her notes absentmindedly and answered correctly. She couldn’t help, but feel a little amused that even though she had been paying no attention, she answered the question correctly, but her eagerness faded as she looked to her side. There she saw a few students rolling their eyes and others making fun of her. She slid down into her chair and waited for the bell to ring. She packed her backpack with her notebooks and labs, when she realized he had been waiting for her in the doorway. Dylan stood at the door trying to make conversation with other students as he waited for her. Mrs. Kywater said goodbye to Dylan and they were off. Jenna Rae stepped into the rainy weather of Tampa, Florida and laughed as Dylan made some excuse for not having to play lacrosse. Jenna Rae had noticed that most people didn’t care if you answered their questions, as long as she smiled and laughed. Dylan was differnet though, he sensed that she was having a problem about something and  began to ask, “Jen, what’s going on?”
She studied his blue eyes, looking for a mirage to wisp away and unveil that he was secretly laughing at her too, but that didn’t happen. It never did. She sighed, knowing the only way to get around this would be to answer it, “Some kids were laughing at me again in class, but it doesn’t matter. Trust me.”
He looked at her again, but this time there was something differet in his eyes, anger. He spoke softly holding onto the straps of his backpack, “Hey look, I know that if it didn’t matter you wouldn’t have told me, but look on the bright side. There are only two weeks left of school and then you get to leave for a summer course in New York and I get to work at Universal for my uncle, if he’s convinced Im a good person.”
Jenna Rae laughed, for the first time, she thought, in weeks. She laughed because Dylan was known for being a good kid.
He looked at her mockingly and in a voice he added, “Well Jenna Rae, don’t laugh at me.” Then in a much more strained voice he continued, “My uncle wants me to work in customer service.”
She nodded because she understood. Even though he was a good kid, Dylan had never been an outgoing guy. It had taken her a fair amount of walking and miscellaneous chatter to finally get him to talk to her. She tried to boost his confidence by laughing and continuing the conversation, “I bet people will be so mesmerized by the blue in your eyes, that they would actually care less about what you actually have to say.”
She saw his face light up again before he retorted, “Jen, it’s not just my blue eyes people will fall for. I mean, it’s me. Even you fell for me.”
She rolled her eyes, mocking him, “I’m sure you are the one who fell for me. Remember, we were on the staircase when you finally decided to answer one of my questions and you tripped on that senior’s shoe and fell down the stairs.”
He looked at her, “I liked listening to you ramble on by yourself, it was kind of cute.”
Then, like that, they kissed. The bell had already rung, so there were very few students still roaming the halls and they were on the football field, where no one ever went unless there were games or practices. They were kissing under the sun and the rain and the clouds. When they broke apart, Dylan was running his hand through his hair, so his blond hair was standing up in weird directions. He whispered something into her ear, “Jenna Rae, can I tell you a secret?”
She laughed and nodded her head.
“That was my first kiss,” he said while grinning sheepishly. She couldn’t help, but notice the two dimples that were forming on the outsides of his cheeks.
She laughed and kissed him again. It was only until after the second time that she whispered back into his ear, “And that was my second.”
Chapter 2
That was the last memory she had of him, except for the burial the following weekend and the service, which she spoke in, barely making out phrases and sentences. She had just started to feel the impact of losing him. Jenna Rae thought back to that day and relived it again and again, until she would cry herself to sleep. It had been barely two weeks ago. Two days after they had shared their first and second kisses, Dylan had gotten in a car crash. He had been driving with his mom and sister in the car, when a DUI swerved onto the expressway and hit the front of the car. His mom had survived with major concussions and his sister had gotten out with a scar across her forehead. Dylan had not been as lucky. This had been his first year driving and it had only been his second time on the expressway. His mom didn’t attend the service or the funeral because she was trying to tell herself it wasn’t her fault, but clearly that was quite hard. Jenna Rae heard the car accident had been a hit and run and that the police were never able to find the person. He had been using a stolen car from Atlanta, GE and the only address the car had led to was a wealthy family’s summer home. The anger inside of her towards this man was extinguished by the fact that her only friend and her only boyfriend ever, had been murdered within two days of them sharing their first kiss. She was scrolling through pictures of herself and him when she came across one the day that everything could’ve been considered normal. They had taken photos while the rain was still pouring of them together. She burst out into tears again looking at the pictures because nothing was truer than the smiles they both had on their faces. Jenna Rae knew that she would never see herself smile like that again. She was supposed to be leaving for her internship at Elle Magazine in a week. She knew that if  Dylan had wanted something from her, it would’ve been for her to not stop her own life because his did, but she still couldn’t bring herself to leave him. The next day she asked her mom to drive her to the cementary where Dylan was buried. She felt her heart beat faster and faster until she reached the grave and then she felt all other life just stop. She examined the headstone, thinking it suited him well. It said, “Dylan Sanders, to someone who kept dreaming to reach the moon, now you definitely can.” There was definitely some dark humor that his family had been able to pull off, knowing this is thte kind of tombstone he would’ve wanted. Jenna sat down next to the tombstone and laid the flowers she had brought down. They were orange and yellow, his two favorite colors and they smelled from a mile away, something she knew he would’ve laughed at her for.