Then There Was You by Melanie Dawn Page A

me?” Juvie had a way of making the act of balling my fists up become a natural reaction to almost everything.
    “Not you,” he grumbled and stormed off.
    I knew that punk better watch himself. I stared after him while he stomped toward the field house near the football field.
    I walked to the front of the gymnasium where some dudes were skateboarding. Hanging with skateboarders wasn’t really my thing, but I saw some kid beating the pavement with some drumsticks. Another guy was sitting on the base of the bulldog statue, picking out a few notes on his guitar. I knew immediately that I was amongst friends.
    I sat down on the retaining wall near the kid with the guitar and started to strum. Together, we all got a melody and a beat going. Before long, several of us broke out into song. Chicks dig that shit. The skateboarders even seemed to enjoy our performance.
    I was lost in the music when I saw her. The epitome of female beauty. It wasn’t even her nice rack or that tight ass that I noticed first. It was her smile… that wide grin with the cute dimple on the side of her cheek.
    “I will. See you later, Allen,” she called to one of the skateboarders as she walked past.
    I stopped strumming and looked her in the eyes, catching her gaze. Damn, she was so fucking beautiful. Dark brown doe eyes that looked back at me. I can’t explain what occurred in that moment, but I think she felt it too. A feeling of calmness washed over me. I couldn’t tear myself away from her stare, and I wondered who that chick was who had me melting into a sappy puddle on the pavement? That didn’t happen to me. Ever. At least not until that very moment.
    I felt it—a connection that I couldn’t explain. I knew in an instant that this was a girl I wanted to get to know. I didn’t know why or how, but I knew it would happen. Some crazy force of nature or some shit.
    She was down the stairs and out of my sight when I finally got my wits about me to start strumming again.

    “So, the guy… that was the one you pulled a knife on later?” Mrs. Honeycutt asked.
    “Huh?” Her voice jarred me from my thoughts and I shook my head a little to come to my senses.
    She nodded. “The guy… the one that bumped into you. That was him? The one you got into a fight with?”
    “Oh, uh… yeah,” I said, furrowing my eyebrows. “Turns out that was him.”
    Mrs. Honeycutt frowned, but quickly recovered, “And so when did you actually get to talk to Kaitlyn?”
    I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “The next day. We had class together. I could tell I made her nervous.” A wide smile crept up on my face, remembering her stammering and blushing.
    “Good memory?” Mrs. Honeycutt asked, grinning ear to ear.
    “Yep,” I said, pleasantly surprised by my sudden happy mood.
    She nodded, glancing down at the floor. “It helps to think back on happy times.”
    For a moment I wondered if she was directing that comment to me… or herself.

    Group counseling was by far my favorite thing about Thursdays. The boys always grumbled about it, but by the end of the session they all felt a little more relaxed and restored.
    “Would anyone like to share a childhood memory with us today?” I asked, glancing around.
    The guys liked to talk about their life outside of juvie, so starting the session by sharing memories usually got them to open up a little more for the session.
    Greg raised his hand. “I’ve got one, Mrs. H!” he blurted.
    “Okay, Greg. Whatcha got for us today?” Leave it to Greg to be the first one to share.
    Greg rubbed his hands together excitedly. “Alright, this one time…”
    “At band camp,” DeAndre interrupted. The room erupted with laughter while I chuckled inwardly. DeAndre unmistakably held the title of Class Clown.
    “Shut up, douchebag,” Greg barked.
    “Now, now boys. Let Greg finish,” I chided nicely. The boys stifled their laughter and Greg continued.
    “Anyway, like I was saying, this one time my dad