Free The Girl in My Dreams by Logan Byrne

and I noticed Trent in the distance, all alone, standing at Belle’s locker. I wasn’t sure if this was better or worse than him with his friends at his own locker, but I knew it was going to be uncomfortable nonetheless.
    “What the hell is this?” he asked, pointing to us holding hands as we approached her locker.
    “Please leave, Trent,” Belle said.
    “No, I want to know what’s going on. Are you cheating on me, and with him ? You couldn’t at least have found a decent guy?” he asked.
    “You and I are not together, and haven’t been for a while now. If you didn’t take that seriously, it’s your own fault, but I suggest you move on. I have, and now I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” Belle said, standing up to him in a way I never could.
    “So you’re throwing away everything we ever had together?” he asked.
    “Trent, we never had anything to begin with. We had no shared interests, nothing to talk about, and all you ever did was talk about yourself while showing no interest in anything I liked. Theo isn’t like that, and never has been for as long as I’ve known him. He actually cares about me, and I care about him,” she said.
    “But he’s a loser,” he exclaimed, as passing students started to focus on us.
    “Just because you aren’t the high school quarterback doesn’t make you a loser, Trent,” she said.
    “You’re right, it doesn’t, but being some dorky shadow kid who doesn’t do anything does. You’ve really lowered your standards, and I hope you realize what you’ve given up,” Trent said.
    “I gave up a man-child who treated me like garbage and instead picked up an amazing guy who makes me feel as special as I make him feel. I’d say that’s a great trade. Hell, I might even go buy a lotto ticket now!” she said, laughing a little.
    Trent slammed his fist into a nearby locker before walking away. A few students snickered and told her good job before walking away.
    “I’m sorry for not saying anything,” I said.
    “It’s fine. It was my battle to fight, anyway,” she said, gathering her books from her locker.
    “No, it’s not just your battle. It’s our battle. You’re my girlfriend, and your battles are my battles too. We fight together now,” I said.
    “What did I ever do to deserve you?” she asked.
    “You accepted me, and realized that being popular is a short-term status, while being happy is one that will last a lifetime,” I said.
    “You know, if you keep talking like that to me, I’m just going to have to keep on kissing you,” she said, shrugging as if it were a bad thing.
    “Then I better come up with some more material because those two times kissing you have been the best experiences of my life.”
    “And here’s the third best,” she said, kissing me quickly before an aide saw.
    Blushing, she turned and walked away to class as I stood at her locker and watched her turn around the corner. That girl, I tell you.

Chapter Eight
    Days turned into weeks, and my relationship with Belle couldn’t have been getting any sweeter. We saw each other daily, she wasn’t shy about giving me affection, and the reaction from other people wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, most of them couldn’t care less about the daily lives of people they barely knew, and the ones who did say something didn’t say anything too bad. They were mostly just shocked that she chose me, but they got over it quickly. Even a couple of her friends were surprised, but I’d gotten to know them enough at the lunch table that I was accepted and it was left at that.
    As I sat in Dr. Grier’s office, waiting for her to come in from talking to my mom, I thought about how far I’d come since I first started seeing her. I was a typical jaded, annoyed teenager who wanted nothing to do with her or therapy. Now I talked more openly, though there were still some subjects I didn’t want to speak about. I wasn’t sure if it was Belle that did this to me, but I liked