Dylan & Bee Elena H. 21

Dylan & Bee Elena H. ’21

It was a normal, bland day in the state of Indiana, but Dylan Hedge and Bee (that’s all she went by; no one knew her last name) would meet each other for the first time and change each other’s lives. It was the first day of Junior Year. Dylan had zero nerves and felt fine. He knew this year couldn’t be THAT hard. Bee on the other hand, was shaking with fear. She was the youngest in the class, and for some reason, always got picked on because of it. It never really made sense to her. She just skipped freshman year and went straight to sophomore. Dylan was the oldest in the class. He didn’t skip or repeat; he just had an early birthday.

Bee walks in the door and quickly makes her way to her locker. She’s wearing loosely fitted vans, and somehow, one of them comes off.

As she stands at her locker aimlessly, a random boy comes up to her and says, “I think you’re missing something.” She smiles back at him and notices he is holding her shoe. She quickly grabs the shoe, and places it on her foot.

She softly mutters to the boy, “Thank you.” He is just standing there, looking at her.

When he asks, “What’s your name? Mine is Dylan. Dylan Hedge.” Bee is confused as to why this boy, a rather cute one at that, is talking to her. In her nervousness, she sprints away from him. Dylan, rather confused, makes his way to his first period class.

The day went by quickly for the both of them. But Dylan wasn’t finished talking to this mysterious girl, whose name he didn’t even know. He left last period early to wait outside to try to find her. It worked. She was the first to walk out of the building. Bee immediately noticed him and blushed heavily. Dylan noticed and waved right at her.

Dylan went over and started talking to her. Just trying to even find out what her name was. Surprisingly, Bee tells him her name.

Dylan replies with, “Woah that is the coolest name I’ve ever heard.”

Bee knows what game Dylan is trying to play. He is one of THOSE boys, and Bee doesn’t like THOSE types of boys, so she answers shortly and dismisses him.

Dylan eventually catches on and says, “I know what you’re thinking, and honestly I can see why.” Bee is shocked by this answer.

She responds boldly, “Yes you seem like the player type and I don’t stand for that!” Dylan’s face changes. It is almost a solemn look. He is thinking about Bee and what she had just said. Is that really what people thought about him? He decides to say goodbye and head home. Bee doing the same.

Once Dylan got home, he had a feeling in his chest. It was a good feeling, but also bad. The good feeling was that he liked the girl, but the downside was that he knew he had no chance. He knew he had to change, but he didn’t know how. He was stuck. Once Bee got home, she honestly didn’t even think of Dylan. She just sat down and did her homework straight away. She then gets an unusual notification on her phone. She never really uses her phone, except to take pictures when she is on the go. She glances over at her phone and sees the name Dylan written across it. He was trying to follow her. She rolled her eyes and continued on with her homework. But at the same time, she was blushing. She knew that he was a player and would just mess with her the whole time. Dylan, on the other side of the phone, was frustrated. He wanted this girl to like him. He had no problem with it in the past. I mean look at his jewelry dish. Rings upon rings, from girls who had gone in and out of his bedroom. Bee was determined to not be one of those girls.

A couple of weeks go by, and Dylan is still trying, and nothing is working. Finally on the day before Thanksgiving break, he says to her, “What do I have to do to get your attention?”

At first, Bee doesn’t even know what to say. She is shocked that he has been trying this long. She realizes he wants to change so she replies, “Let’s go on a small little road trip and I will help you realize how bad this player phase is. Deal?”

He smirks, and replies back, “Deal.”

Bee loves to travel. She has had her license since the day she was able to get it. The day after Thanksgiving, she and her family usually went somewhere together. But this year was different. Bee had decided to take Dylan to one of the state parks in one of the towns over from them. Bee picked him up early in the morning. Dylan was unhappy about this; he fell asleep in the car. Or at least tried to because Bee was wide awake. Once they got to the park, Bee took Dylan’s phone. Dylan got upset about this; he needed his phone. But Bee wasn’t going to stand for it. He had to enjoy today and prove himself. Dylan obliged.

They hiked up the trail, and when they arrived at the top of the peak, Dylan asked, “Why did we do this?” Bee didn’t reply at all, ever. She wanted him to figure out for himself.

They left that day thinking different things. Both happy things, just different. Bee knew he was changing for the better, but it was going to take time. And Dylan thought this girl was so amazing. He couldn’t stop thinking about her light pink sweater. He had never seen one like it before. It was just a plain pink sweater but he thought she looked stunning in it. He knew Bee was a simple girl, and he liked that. He felt good knowing that Bee was giving him a chance. He didn’t want to ruin it. Bee and Dylan continued to go to different places Bee loved. Dylan was just happy to be along for the ride. Dylan realized he had changed, and so had Bee. Dylan was proud of himself.

The leaves changed from brown to green, and exams had been given and completed. The day before summer break, he asked Bee to go somewhere. She was stunned by this, but it made her happy. She had always liked the boy, he just needed to see how his actions were hurtful in the past. Now he had finally realized. He had a plan to ask her to be his girlfriend. He had never had

one of those before. They got to the park and hiked up the trail. The same one as the first time (Dylan had remembered), and Dylan pulled out a ring. A ring he bought, not a ring from the dish. He asked Bee to be his girlfriend. He had come so far, and Bee made Dylan realize his actions had consequences. Bee was shocked by this question. Evidently happy, she blushed.

“Yes!” she shouted. “I am so proud of how far you have come, and I want to be there for the rest of it.”

Dylan smiled uncontrollably and was shaking putting on her new ring. It was a simple ring. Because Bee was a simple girl. Dylan and Bee held hands on the way back to Dylan’s car. Bee thought to herself. She knew people could change and for the better, it just takes time. She glanced at her ring the whole car ride home. Dylan noticed and also smiled. They were just two happy souls, happy to help one another and care about each other.

Natalie W. ’23