Him

I will be assigning partners,” Mr. Parker says as he pulls out a clipboard and calls out names.

A couple of names got out before he was cut off by the door to the classroom swinging open. The worst student you will ever meet in this school walks in, James. He always shows up late to class and comes in wearing the same black leather jacket with ripped skinny jeans that reveal his knees.

“James, I’m glad you decided to grace us with your presence,” Mr. Parker says.

“It’s always a pleasure Mr. P,” James says as he takes his seat in the back of the room by the rescue window.

“Ok next up is Hayley and James,” Mr. Parker says, finishing off the names on the clipboard.

“Ok that’s everyone, pair up with your partners and discuss what your project will be. This project is due at the end of the semester. I look forward to seeing what you all come up with,” Mr. Parker says, taking a seat at his desk. Just my luck to be paired up with the worst student in this class.

“Hey, I’m Hayley,” I say, extending my hand towards him. “James,” he says, looking up at me, not taking my hand.

A week later, we were still working on the project. You can say my hatred for him has dulled a little. He still is unfocused and lazy, but he is not as rude as he was when we first met.

“So, I think we should,” I started to say before I was rudely cut off by James. “I’m having a party tonight, you should come.”

“No, let’s focus.”

“Do you have something against having fun?”

“No, I just don’t want to have fun with you.”

“Come on. Take the stick out of your butt.”

“If I say yes, will you focus on our project?”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at 8,” he says smiling as if he accomplished something big.

...

So, it’s almost time for James to pick me up and right now I’m trying to figure out what to wear. This is my first time ever going to a party and I have no idea what to wear. After 10 minutes of agonizing what I should wear, I tell myself I’m being stupid and should wear what I usually wear. So, I threw a normal light purple T-shirt on with some nice blue jeans. I grab my phone and purse and head downstairs. It’s almost time for James to pick me up, so I decide to wait outside for him. Couple minutes flew by, and I was feeling like I was waiting out here for a while, so I checked my phone, 8:20. Of course he is late. What did I expect? And as if he could read my mind, I see him driving up to my house on a very loud motorcycle. He parks right in front of me and takes off his helmet.

“Here,” he says as he hands me his helmet. I look at him like he’s crazy as if he thinks I'm getting on the back of that death trap.

“You're joking right.”

“What?”

“You think I’m going to get on the back of that.” “Just get on.”

“No thank you, I’m going to just head inside.” I turn to go back inside but I'm stopped by James grabbing my arm.

“I’ll drive slow.”

“I only see one helmet.”

“I’ll be fine without one.”

“It’s against the law.”

“We’re not skipping town. We’re just going to my house.”

“I know but still.”

“I told you I will drive slow.”

“Why am I doing this,” I say as I take the helmet and put it on. My butt vibrated as he started the

engine. As we drove off, he drove slowly and was careful while turning. I did get the feeling he was trying to make me feel safe and it worked. I actually enjoyed the ride. I knew we were coming close to his place because you could hear music from down the street. We finally pull in and you can see kids piling out the house and you could see lights. He helps me off the bike and takes the helmet and buckles it to his bike.

“Ready,” he says, holding out his hand in hopes of me taking it.

“No,” I say as I take his hand anyway. He leads me inside and I already regret my decision to come tonight. The music was blasting, and the place was crowded with people. As we were walking, he instantly stopped in his tracks, making me bump into his back. The reason for his immediate stop was

because he ran into his friend. They started talking and all I could think about is how much I don’t want to be here.

“Hayley, this is my friend, Chad.”

“Hey,” Chad says as he extends his hand to me.

“Sorry, I can’t do this,” I say to James as I head for the exit. I’m halfway to the exit until James

grabs my arm.

“Wait,” he says, still holding my arm. I just pull my arm free and head out the front door. As I got

outside, I had to stop to catch my breath.

“Hayley,” James says as his hand is on my shoulder. I swipe his hand away and turn towards him. “Just take me home.”

“What's wrong?”

“This just isn’t my scene.”

“Give it a chance. Just have a drink and relax.”

“I don’t want a drink. I want to go home.”

“We just got here.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just walk.” I turn to leave but am once again stopped by James,

grabbing my arm.

“Calm down. I’ll take you home.” Before I could respond, Chad wrapped his arm around James. “Yo, what are you doing? The party is inside,” Chad says, slurring his words.

“Dude, not right now,” James says, swiping away his arm.

“You need to chill. Look what I brought,” Chad says, pulling out a plastic bag filled with joints. “Dude, go. I’ll meet you inside.”

“Are you ditching me for this chick,” Chad says looking at me. I just started walking down the

street without another word.

“Dude, not cool,” James says as he starts to run after me.

“Hayley!”

“Just leave me alone.”

“Just wait,” as he grabs my arm again.

“Why!?” He doesn’t say anything and as he lightens on his grip. I just walk away.

The next morning, I awoke to my alarm clock. I got up and got ready for school. My mom left early for work, so that means I have to take the bus. I hate taking the bus, it's always so loud. But, I sucked it up and took the bus anyway. A 10-minute bus ride later and I made it to school. I went straight to my locker and got my stuff for class. I head into Mr. Parker's class, dreading to see James. We still have things left to do on our project. I hope last night doesn’t make things too awkward. I don’t know what I was thinking. I should have never agreed to go. School is my main focus. I take my seat and there’s no sight of James. Everyone's already paired up working on their projects. I waited, thinking he was going to show up late like he usually does. But he never showed. A couple days passed like that, and I had to work on the project alone. Until one day he finally showed up.

“Where have you been,” I say, taking a seat right next to his desk.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Really, that's all you got to say. I had to do this project by myself.”

“I'm here now.”

“I can’t believe you.”

“I don’t need this,” he says, getting up from his seat and walking out of the classroom.

The school day flew by so fast and by the time I knew it I was at my locker getting my bag to leave. I was about to leave when I realized I was missing a book. I went back to Mr. Parker's classroom to look for it. Instead, I found James’s friend, Chad.

“Hey, uh, Hayley, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Mr. Parker had to step out. He’ll be back any minute.”

“Ok,” I say, walking to my desk, looking for my book.

“Looking for something?”

“Yeah. Doesn’t seem to be here,” I say, walking to the classroom door.

“Hey, wait a minute,” he says, standing up from his desk. I stop at the door and turn to look at

him.

“What?”

“I want to apologize about that night at James’s party.”

“Ok.”

“I don’t usually act that way. I’ve been told I become an asshole when I drink.” “Ok. Well, I’m going to go. Bye,” I say as I head out the classroom door.

The weekend is finally here, and I should start my SAT prep. I know I’m a sophomore and I have tons of time to prepare. But let's face it. Three years can fly by, and you can never be too prepared. I go to my desk by my window and start to work. But I’m instantly stopped by a bang on my window. I looked out and was not expecting James to be there, throwing rocks at my window. I opened the window and loudly whispered to him because it’s late and I don’t want to wake my mom.

“What are you doing?”

“Can we talk?”

“Right now?”

“Take a walk with me.”

“Give me five minutes.” I shut the window and got dressed out of my pajamas. I grabbed my

sweater and quietly headed outside. “It’s late. What do you want?”

“Come on,” he says, gesturing for me to follow him. So, I did. I trailed behind him, waiting for him to say something.

“Are you going to tell me why we're out here?”

“I just wanted to talk.”

“Talk about what?”

“Anything.”

“I don’t understand.”

“What do you mean?”

“You disappear with no explanation and now you just want to talk like we're friends.” “Are we not friends?”

“No, we're not.” He didn’t say anything. We just kept walking. “If that's all, I'm going to go home.”

“Hey, do you have a cell phone?”

“I do.”

“Can I have your number?”

“Why would I give you, my number?”

“For the project.”

“Oh. You want to help with the project?”

“If that's ok with you.”

“Now you're interested in helping.” He pulls out his phone and hands it to me. “Just type in your number.”

“Fine.”

“Cool, I’ll walk you back.”

“Ok.” When I got back to my house, I was too tired to do any work. So, I just went to bed. The next morning, I woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. I went downstairs to my mom making breakfast.

“Good morning, I made extra if you want some,” she says, handing me a plate. “Thanks.”

“I’m going to be working late tonight. I’ll leave you some money to order pizza.” “Ok. Thanks, mom.”

“Ok I’m going to head out,” she says, grabbing her keys and purse. She put some cash on the counter before heading out. After breakfast, I took a shower and got ready for the day. I went to my room to start my SAT prep, when my phone buzzed. It was a text from James.

“Hey.”

“I’m busy.”

“Doing?”

“SAT Prep.”

“Boring.”

“Is there something you need?”

“Chad told me he apologized to you.”

“Yeah. He did.”

“Good. That dude needs to lay off the drinks.” “I’m leaving now.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m getting back to my studies.” “What’s your rush?”

“Can’t you text someone else?” “I could.”

“You should.”

“You want to come over later?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Didn’t I make it clear we weren’t friends.” “You did.”

“Then why are we talking?”

“I’ll pick you up later.”

“No.”

“Cool, how does 8 sound?”

“Can you not read? I said no.”

“Catch you later.”

Why did I give him my number? Is he really going to come here later? Whatever. I’m going to get back to work. After a couple hours of studying, it was dark outside. I looked at my clock and it read 8:30.

I guess he isn’t coming. Why do I care if he comes or not? As that thought crossed my mind, my phone started to buzz. I looked at my phone to see a text from James.

“I’m outside.”

I looked out my bedroom window and there he was standing by his motorcycle. He looked up and saw me. He started typing on his phone.

“I’m waiting.”

“Why are you here?”

“I told you I was coming.”

“And I said don’t.”

“I’m not leaving. I will stand here throwing rocks at your window all night if I have to.” “You’re annoying. Fine, I'll be out in 5.”

5 minutes later, I was heading down my driveway to his motorcycle. He handed me his helmet. “So, what’s your deal,” I say with a sense of curiosity in my voice.

“Nothing.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Why not,” he says as he gets on the bike and pats the seat next to him. I put on the helmet and

got on behind him.

“You're not taking me to another party are you?” “No.”

“Good,” I say as I wrap my arms around his waist. He started the engine and I felt my body start to vibrate. We’ve been driving for like 20 minutes and he still hasn’t told me where we're going.

“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going,” I say, yelling over the motorcycle engine.

“You will see when we get there,” he says, yelling back to me. Then, we come to a clearing by a lake. He starts to slow down to a complete stop on the side of the road by the open grass field.

“Why are we here,” I say, getting off his bike, handing him his helmet.

“Thought this would be a good hang out spot for us,” he says, walking towards the lake. I follow behind him until he comes to a stop and sits down on the grass. He pats the spot next to him, urging me to sit next to him. I look around before taking my seat next to him. He didn’t say anything but looked up at the sky. We just sat there for a minute until he finally broke the silence.

“Lots of stars out tonight.”

“I'm confused.”

“What you confused about,” he says, looking at me.

“Why are we here? Why do you even want to hang with me when I constantly assure you we are

not friends. I just don’t get you.”

“Why don’t you want to be friends?”

“I just don’t. I have more important things to worry about.” “School?”

“Exactly.”

“Being my friend won’t keep you from your goals.”

“Why are you trying so hard to be my friend?”

“Why are you trying so hard not to be?”

“Ugh. You are really irritating,” I say, looking away from him to look at the star's reflection in the

water.

“Be my friend anyways,” he says, smiling at me.

“Why,” I say, looking back at him.

“Is it wrong for me to want to be your friend.”

“We are just too different from each other. How can we be friends?”

“Stop over analyzing everything and say yes.”

“Didn’t think analyzing was a word in your vocabulary,” I say, smirking at him.

“Hey, im not completely dumb,” he says, smiling at me.

“Fine. Whatever.”

“Cool.” we sat there in silence, looking at the sky. The silence between us wasn’t awkward or

tense. It was calm and peaceful. We were fine sitting there in silence for a little while. He eventually took me home. The rest of the weekend went by fast. James and I talked all weekend on the phone.

“Ding! Ding!” I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock going off. Time for school. I get up and get ready, when I hear my phone buzz on the nightstand. I go over to see who it is. James, of course.

“Look out your window.” I go to my window and there he is at the end of my driveway, waving to me. I grab my coat and bag and meet him outside.

“Hey, didn’t know this friendship came with rides to school,” I say, taking the helmet he was extending towards me.

“The perks of being my friend,” he says, smiling at me. He gets on his bike and pats the spot next to him.

“You ready.” I just smile and get on the back of his bike and wrap my arms around his waist. When we got to school, everyone in the parking lot was staring at us. He helped me off the bike and I gave him his helmet.

“Everyone is staring,” I say, looking around.

“Let them stare,” he says, walking through the front doors. I catch up with him and walk inside with him. As we were walking down the hallway, the stares didn’t subside. Then, Chad came up behind us and put his arm around us.

“Look at you two. Are you guys like a thing now.”

“Really. Dude. Back up,” he says, nudging him back.

“Chill, dude. I’m just kidding.” Before they could say another word, I cut in.

“I’m going to go now,” I say, walking away.

“Hayley, wai-,” he starts to say, before I'm already half down the hall. He turns to Chad. “Nice,” he says, sarcastically.

“What. Are you into her?”

“We’re just friends.”

“Yeah. Sure. You, being friends with a girl.”

“I’m walking away now,” he says, walking away without another word.

The day flew by and before I knew it, it was lunch time. I always sit in the same spot by myself and no one ever bothered me until today. I was eating, when this girl with long wavy blonde hair walked up to my table. She stopped right across the table where I was eating.

“Hey, Hayley, right,” she says, looking down at me.

“Um, yeah,” I say, finishing chewing what's in my mouth.

“I’m Bella and I saw you this morning with James?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you two like a thing?”

“No. we’re just friends.”

“Oh ok. I’ll catch you later,” she said walking away without another word and with that the bell

rang, signaling lunch is over. That was weird. The rest of the day went by smoothly and the final bell rang and I started heading to my locker. I stopped half way when I saw James standing there. He saw me and just smiled. I took that as a cue and headed to my locker.

“Hey.”

“You're at my locker,” I say as I'm opening my locker. “When one greets someone, it’s polite to greet them back.” “Hi. Now what's with this surprise locker visit?”

“Just wanted to say hi to my friend.”

“That’s all,” I say as I get my bag and shut my locker.

“And if you want a ride home?”

“If you're offering.” I got my stuff from my locker and followed James out the front doors of the school.

“Here,” he says, handing me his helmet. I put on the helmet and hop on the back of his bike. He started the engine and he waited a second. I tapped him on the shoulder as a signal, telling him I'm ready to go. He pulled out of the school and took the usual route back to my house. Minutes later, he is stopped in front of my house.

“Thanks for the ride,” I say, handing him back his helmet.

“Sure thing,” he says, putting on the helmet.

“Ok bye.”

“Bye,” he says, driving off. I head inside to see my mom standing by the front door as I walk in. “Hi mom, you’re home early?”

“I forgot some paperwork. Who was that?”

“Oh, a friend from school.”

“Who drives a motorcycle,” she says, not looking too happy.

“Mom, it’s not that big of a deal.” Her phone starts ringing.

“Yes, ok, I'm on my way,” she says, hanging up the phone.

“That was work. I got to go, but we will revisit this conversation later,” she says, heading out the

door without another word. I go upstairs and jump on my bed. Time for homework. I open up my bag and get out my homework. It took me a couple hours to finish because I had a lot of work and I always made

sure to double check my answers to make sure they were correct. As I finish my last question, my stomach growls. I take that as my work is done and go downstairs to make something to eat. I reheated leftovers from dinner last night. Lasagna.

After I was done eating, I decided to get ready for bed. Brushed my teeth and slipped on my pajamas. Then, my phone buzzes on my nightstand. I look to see a text message from James. I opened it up to see a photo of him kissing some girl. Looking closer, the girl in the photo looked kind of familiar. Then it hit me, that’s the girl from lunch who asked if James and I were a thing. What’s her name again? Oh, Bella. Why would he send me this? I didn’t think too hard about it and headed to bed.

I awoke to the buzzing of my phone. Instead of it being my alarm, it turned out to be a text from James.

“Hey, I didn’t send that. Must have been Bella. We’re not together anymore. That picture was from awhile back. She must have taken my phone at the party.”

“Ok,” I replied.

“What are you doing?”

“Well I was sleeping.”

“My bad. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, goodnight.”

“Night.”

The next morning, I met my mom downstairs for breakfast. She made me a ham and cheese omelet.

“Thanks mom,” I say, taking a seat at the table.

“Are you seeing that boy again today,” she says, taking the seat across from me.

“He will be here any minute to take me to school.”

“So, is this going to be a regular thing now?”

“I don’t know,” taking a bite of my omelet.

“I don’t like you on the back of that death trap.”

“It’s fine mom. He is careful.” My phone buzzes against the table.

“That must be him,” I say, getting up from the table and heading out the door. He smiles at me

and hands me his helmet. I put it on and hop on the back. He started the bike and we were off to school. We got to school just in time. James and I went our separate ways because his locker was on the other side from me. As I was walking toward my locker. I saw someone leaning against my locker. As I got closer, I realized who it was, Bella.

“Hi, you’re in front of my locker.”

“So, you came to school again with James,” she says, not moving an inch. “Uh, yeah, can I get to my locker please.”

“Why are you hanging out with James? Do you like him?”

“We’re friends. Can you move.”

“Good. He’s taken by me.”

“Ok, class is about to start and I need to get to my locker.”

“Whatever. Bye,” she says, getting off my locker. I get my stuff and head to class before the bell rings. I am usually focused in class but today my mind seemed to wander. I don’t understand why this girl won’t leave me alone? I told her James and I are just friends. Before I knew it class was over. The rest of the day went by as usual. I had no trouble focusing on my other classes. The day is finally over and I’m ready to go home. As I get to my locker, I see James standing there.

“Hey,” he says, smiling at me.

“Hey,” I say as I’m opening my locker.

“So, there’s this party and before you say no, you should know it’s my birthday today.”

“Oh, happy birthday.”

“Thanks and I would like you to come to this party with me. Think of it as your birthday present

to me.”

“I will have to pass.” I shut my locker and start to walk away. He walks after me, trying to catch

up.

“Just come with me. I really want you to come with me.” I was ready to stick to my guns and say

no. But, once again I agreed to go and I am outside waiting for James, who is late again. I was waiting for what seemed like a long time and was about to go inside. Then, I hear the engine of a bike heading down my street. There he was stopped in front of my house, extending his helmet to me. I took it and we headed off to the party. When we got to the party, there were tons of people and the music was blasting.

“I’ll get you a drink,” He says, walking off before I could respond. I just stood there, feeling very overwhelmed. Someone bumps into me as I am waiting for James.

“Hey, sorry about that,” she says, giggling. “It’s fine.”

“I’m Stephanie.”

“Hayley.”

“Are you okay? You seem lost?”

“Waiting for a friend.” Then, some idiots wrestling in the crowd bumped into some people, causing them to spill beer over me.

“Zack, really take that outside,” Stephanie says, breaking up the fight.

“My bad, we were just messing around,” he says, walking away.

“Come with me,” Stephanie says, grabbing my arm and pulling me through the crowd. She takes

me to the bathroom.

“I swear this school is full of neanderthals,” She says, handing me a towel.

“Thanks,” I say, taking the towel.

“So, is this your first time at a party?”

“Yeah.”

“Figured. You looked scared down there.”

“My friend dragged me here. I think I'm just going to go home. Thanks for the help,” I say,

turning to leave.

“Do you need a ride? I'm the designated driver, so I haven’t been drinking.”

“Ok.” I follow Stephanie outside to her car. I gave her my address and she took me home. “Thanks for the ride,” I say, getting out of the car.

“Sure, see you around.”

“Ok,” I say, shutting the door and heading inside. I walk into the house to find my mom sitting on

the bottom step.

“Where have you been?”

“James took me to a party.”

“A party. On a school night.”

“Sorry mom, I wasn’t thinking.”

“No you weren’t. I don’t think James is a good influence.”

“Sorry, won’t happen again.”

“Good. Don’t jeopardize your future over some boy.”

“I won’t. Can I be excused.”

“Yes, you may. Goodnight.” I went upstairs and got ready for bed. Took a shower, put on

pajamas, and brushed my teeth. Right when I was about to go to bed my phone buzzed. A text from James.

“Hey, where did you go?” Oh, right James, I didn’t tell him I was leaving, did I?

“Sorry, someone took me home. I got beer spilled all over me, so I went home to take a shower.” “Oh ok. Then, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, goodnight.” I sent him my last text and went right to bed.

Next morning, James took me to school as usual. The day went by as usual, except James couldn’t take me home at the end of the day. He texted me saying he had to stay after for detention. This didn’t really surprise me because of how he is always slacking in school and how he is always late to class. As I got my stuff from my locker and turned to leave, I bumped into someone and dropped my bag on the floor. Some papers fell out.

“I’m sorry, let me help,” she said, bending down to help me pick up the papers. We both got off the floor and she handed me the papers.

“Thanks.” When I took the papers, I realized who it was. It was Stephanie. “Oh, hey. Hayley, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Nice bumping into you again.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you walking home?”

“Yeah.”

“Want a ride?”

“I’m fine walking home.”

“It’s on my way.”

“Ok, thanks.” So, I followed her out to her car in the parking lot. Before getting in the car, we

both stopped when someone called my name.

“Hayley!” She came speed walking up to the car. When she got closer to the car, I realized who it was. It was Bella.

“Yeah?”

“I thought I was very clear. James is mine.”

“Yeah.”

“Then, why did I see you with him at the party last night?”

“He asked me to come.”

“Hayley, everything ok,” Stephanie says, looking at me.

“I think so,” I say, confused by what’s going on. Bella looks at Stephanie like she just realized she

was there. Then, she looked back at me.

“Just stay away from James,” Bella says, walking away. I get in the car and shut the door.

Stephanie does the same. She doesn’t start the car and I look at her and find her staring at me. “What?”

“What was all that about?”

“I don’t know.”

“Sorry, I’m being nosy.” She starts up the car and pulls out of the school. The whole ride to my

house was silent. She didn’t bring up what happened in the parking lot again.

“Here we are. That will be five dollars.” I go in my bag to find my wallet and pull out five

dollars.

“Oh no, I was kidding,” she says with a little chuckle.

“Ok. thanks for the ride.”

“Want my number,” she says as I’m about to leave.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I thought we could be friends.”

“Ok.”

“Give me your phone.” I handed her my phone and she punched in her number.

“Text me anytime you need a ride,” She says, handing me back my phone.

“Ok, bye,” I say as I head out the car and go into my house. The rest of the week went by as

usual. I didn’t get any more surprises from Bella. I’m still hanging out with James. I hope that doesn’t cause any problems. I really don’t want her showing up and bothering me. I haven’t texted Stephanie either. I had no reason to. I’m just glad the weekend is here and I get to relax. This week has been eventful.

The next day, I happened to sleep in. Which is rare for me to do. I guess this week tired me out more than I thought. I never really associated myself with other people at school. I usually focus on my studies and keeping my grades up, so I can get into a good college. James and I got partnered for this project and ended up becoming friends. Then, this girl Stephanie wants to be friends. This is all new to me and is actually draining. I’m becoming comfortable talking to James and then there's this whole thing with Bella.

When I went downstairs, I found a note on the counter. It’s from my mom. It says she's going to be out of town for a couple days. Figures. I crumple the note and throw it in the trash. Then, I jumped at

the sound of my phone vibrating on the counter. I walked over to my phone to see who it was. It’s a text from Stephanie.

“Since you haven’t texted me. I decided to text you.” “Hi?”

“What’s up?”

“Nothing.”

“I was going to see this movie with a friend. She ended up canceling. Do you want to come with me?” Should I go? I barely know her. She did say she wants to be friends. She seems nice.

“Ok.”

“Awesome, I’ll pick you up at 8.” So, I spent my day doing work for school until Stephanie came to pick me up. I heard a honk outside my house and I saw Stephanie’s car and headed out to meet her.

“Hey,” she says, waving at me in the car.

“Hey.”

“So, I hope you're a fan of scary movies,” she says, starting up the car and pulling out of my

driveway. “Maybe.”

“Have you seen a scary movie before?” “Not really.”

“Really?”

“I don’t really watch movies.”

“Don’t like them?”

“I don’t have time with school.”

“Oh.” We finally got to the movies and saw Dead Man walking. The movie was about zombies. I

closed my eyes through most of the movie. I didn’t like all the gore and the jump scares.

“So, what did you think,” Stephanie asked me when we got back in the car after the movie was

over.

“It was good.”

“Your eyes were closed through most of the movie.”

“Yeah. I didn’t like all the gore.”

“Next time you can pick the movie.”

“Ok.” She started up the car and drove me home. She pulled in my driveway and cut the engine. “Are you home alone?”

“Yeah.”

“Where are your parents?”

“My mom is out of town.”

“Want some company?”

“I’m ok.”

“You sure? I could tell that movie had scared you.” “If you want to.”

“I’ll text my mom and tell her I’m spending the night at your house.” With that Stephanie ended up coming in. I gave her a pair of my pajamas to sleep in. She ended up sleeping in the bed with me. I’m actually glad she decided to stay because I was creeped out by that movie. The next morning, I awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs downstairs. I look to the empty spot where Stephanie should be. I got out of bed and went downstairs to find her cooking breakfast.

“Good morning, I hope you don’t mind me using the kitchen. I was starving.”

“It’s fine,” I say, taking a seat at the table. She then puts a plate in front of me filled with scrambled eggs and bacon.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. I love to cook. Especially for other people,” she says, taking the seat across from me. I started eating what she had made me. I stopped when I caught her staring at me.

“What?”

“Waiting for you to tell me what you think?”

“It’s good.”

“I’m glad,” she says, smiling at me. The rest of the meal we eat in silence. Until she broke the

silence.

“You’re not a big talker are you?”

“Guess not.”

“That’s cool. At least I know you won’t talk my ear off.” “Yeah.”

“You can relax. You just seem tense.”

“I’m not used to other people besides my mom.”

“Oh. What about that guy James?”

“We got partnered for a semester project and ended up becoming friends.”

“What’s he like?”

“Annoying mostly and always late. He is lazy and unfocused. He can really get on my nerves

sometimes.” Stephanie didn’t say anything, she just sat there smiling at me. “What?”

“You just seem less tense when you talk about him.”

“Oh.”

“This was fun. I should get going. See you Monday.”

“Yeah.” With that she left my house. My day went by just as any typical day would. I did SAT

prep all day, ate dinner and headed to bed. The next morning, I met James outside. Him taking me to school became a regular thing. We have been getting along better and I feel we have become closer as friends. He walks me to my locker and we talk before the bell rings every morning.

“How was your weekend,” James says, leaning against the locker that’s right beside mine. “Good.”

“Let me guess you studied all week.”

“Not all weekend. I met up with a friend and we saw a movie.”

“This is new. Who did you go with?”

“Stephanie. I met her at that party. She is the one who took me home.” “What movie did you guys see?”

“Dead man walking.”

“Didn’t think you would be into movies like that.”

“Eh. Wasn’t bad.” Then the bell rang, signaling that our first block class was starting. So, we went our separate ways until lunch. James usually sat with Chad and the other guys. Today, he happened to be sitting next to me instead of his usual table.

“Hey, how did I get the pleasure of sitting with you today,” I say, sarcastically. “I thought it’d be more fun sitting with you.”

“Ok,” I say, taking a swig of my milk.

“Hey, Hayley,” Stephanie says, taking a seat across from us.

“Hey.” We sat there for a minute. When I looked at James, he was staring at me like he was waiting for something.

“What?”

“Waiting for you to introduce me to your friend.”

“This is Stephanie.”

“Hey, I’m James,” He says, taking a bite of his sandwich. I get up to leave.

“Where are you going,” James says, finishing the bite he took of his sandwich.

“Bathroom,” I say, throwing out my trash and heading to the bathroom. After I did my business, I

went to wash my hands and I saw Bella standing there like she was waiting for me. I just ignored her and

washed my hands like I normally would. I went to leave but she stood right in front of me, blocking the exit.

“Excuse me,” I say, trying to walk around her, but she wouldn’t let me pass.

“I have asked you nicely to stay away from James. It seems that didn’t have any effect. So, I guess I will have to take a more drastic approach,” she says, shoving me back.

“I don’t want any trouble.”

“You say that but still ignore what I told you to do,” she says, shoving me again, causing me to hit the bathroom wall.

“I’m only going to say this once,” she starts to say before being cut off by Stephanie walking in. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. We were just talking,” Bella says, walking out of the bathroom.

“You ok,” Stephanie says, walking closer to me.

“I’m fine.”

“Now you have to tell me what that was about?”

“She has been telling me to stay away from James.”

“Why?”

“Apparently they used to date and I think she thinks James and I are a thing.” “Are you guys?”

“No. We’re just friends.”

“You should tell James.”

“I don’t know.”

“He probably can talk some sense into her and she will leave you alone.”

“I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you want to tell him?”

“I don’t know.”

“You can talk to me.”

“We just became friends and I feel if I come to him with this problem he won’t want to be friends

anymore.”

“That’s crazy. This isn’t even your fault. I bet he will understand and I don’t think this will ruin

your guy’s friendship.” “Thanks.”

“No problem. You can talk to me about anything,” she says, hugging me. We both left the bathroom and met James at the table. As we sat down Stephanie gave me the look of “go on tell him”. I was about to tell him when the bell rang, signaling lunch is over. I just left them without saying anything.

“What was that all about,” James says, watching me speed walk out of the cafeteria.

“Listen,” Stephanie says, looking at James. So, She told him about the incident in the bathroom and why I was so hesitant to tell him.

“Thank you for telling me,” James says, walking out of the cafeteria. After class, I went to my locker and saw James waiting for me.

“Hey Hayley.”

“Hey.”

“So, Stephanie told me about Bella and what she has been doing to you.”

“Oh, Yeah.”

“I’m sorry, I’m going to speak to her about it.”

“Thanks.”

“You know you can come to me when you have a problem.”

“Ok.”

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah. I’m just not used to this.”

“What?”

“Relationships.”

“Well, this is what friends do for each other. They listen to each other’s problems and have their

backs.”

“Noted. Thanks.”

“No problem. Ready to go.”

“Yeah.” As I got home, I saw my mom’s car in the driveway. She must have seen James drop me off because she had some things to say when I got in the house.

“Welcome home, mom.”

“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to associate with that boy,” She says, appearing in the entrance way of the dining room.

“He’s my friend.”

“Not a good friend to be driving you on that bike or taking you to parties on school nights.” “He’s careful and I said it won’t happen again.”

“I don’t see why you would want to spend your time with someone like that.”

“Mom, you don’t even know him.”

“His appearance speaks volumes, dear.”

“Sorry mom, he is my friend and I’m not going to stop seeing him.”

“This is how you speak to your flesh and blood. Someone who has kept a roof over your head.” “Sorry, mom. I wasn’t trying to disrespect you. I just,” I start to say, but am cut off by my mom. “I don’t want to hear any more excuses. You are to stop seeing that boy,” she says, walking away

before I could respond. I let it go for now and went upstairs to my room. I had never spoken to my mom like that before. I usually go along with whatever she says. Something in me has changed and I didn’t want to give up my friendship with James. Moments later I get a text from James.

“I talked to Bella and she said she won’t bother you anymore and that she is sorry.”

“Ok thanks.”

“No problem. What are friends for?” His text made me smile and whatever my mom says, I don’t

want to let him go. I don’t care about his appearance and how different he is from me. I just know that talking to him makes me happy and he is my first friend I have had in a long time. Friends in the past used me and pretended to be my friend. They just liked me for my brain and how it could help them pass. They only wanted to copy off my work and have me do their homework. He doesn’t use me to get ahead. He’s

there because he actually considers me a friend. I decided to get my mind off it and do some work. As I was doing work my eyes got so heavy I couldn’t keep them open. I decided that was enough work for today and went to bed. That night I had a nightmare about James and Stephanie. That they were conspiring and using me. That they will eventually leave me once they get what they need. As much as I wanted to believe they wouldn’t do something like that, I still have these doubts that I couldn’t shake. Next morning I didn’t feel like going to school. So, I texted James telling him I'm not feeling well and that I’m staying home from school. In reality, I was fine. I just didn’t want to see James or Stephanie. I just don’t know how I should feel. I want to believe there is no motive to them being friends with me, but I just don’t know. Moments later, I got a text back from James saying, “ok, I hope you feel better.”

While I was at home, James and Stephanie met up at lunch. “Hey James, where is Hayley?”

“Home sick.”

“That sucks. We should visit her after school.”

“Sure. I’m down.”

“Great,” she says, getting up to throw her trash away. As the day was coming to an end, I got a knock on my door. I went downstairs to open the door to see James and Stephanie standing there.

“Hey?” I say, surprised to see them here.

“Hey, James told me you were sick and I just wanted to check in.” “Thanks. I’m feeling better.”

“Good. Sorry I wish I could stay but, my dad needs me home. See you tomorrow,” James says, smiling at me.

“Yeah, my mom is going to be home soon anyways,” I say, waving them off.

“Bye,” They both say in unison, waving back at me. The rest of the week went by as usual. James taking me to school and taking me home after school. James, Stephanie and I have been eating lunch all week together. We have become a little group. We talked about all sorts of things, our hobbies and our favorite foods. Stephanie even brought up the time we went to the movies and how I was terrified throughout the whole movie. Which I didn’t really appreciate. I didn’t really want James to know about that. It didn’t bother me that much. I’m just happy to be talking with them like this.

Weeks passed and it started getting colder outside and snow started falling to the ground. I look out my bedroom window when I hear a car engine pull up. It was a red pick-up truck. I had no idea who it was, I had never seen that car before. Then, my phone buzzed on my nightstand. I look to see a text from James.

“Here.” I guess that red pick-up truck is his. I grab my bag and coat and go out to meet him. I cautiously speed walk to the car so as not to slip on ice and to get out of the cold.

“I didn’t know you had a car. I’d rather ride in this than your motorcycle,” I say, blowing in my hands to warm them up.

“It’s my dad's car. I don’t usually take it because it’s unregistered, but it’s too cold for my bike.” “WHAT! UNREGISTERED! You really like to break the law.”

“Calm down. If I follow the rules of the road and stick to the speed limit. We will be fine.”

“I really need to find a new ride to school. I’m not trying to get anything on my record because of you.” He pulls out and starts to drive off.

“Relax. I won’t get you into trouble.”

“You better not,” I say, looking out the window, sighing. We made it to school with minutes to spare. James followed me to my locker and that’s where we saw Stephanie, waving our way. James and I walk over arguing about his car being unregistered.

“You guys are arguing again,” Stephanie says, looking back and forth between us.

“We wouldn’t be if he just followed rules,” I say, opening my locker.

“All I am hearing is complaining instead of “thank you James for taking me to school every

morning,” he says, walking away without another word.

“Ugh. He is so irritating,” I say as I slam my locker door shut. Stephanie was just staring at me,

smiling. “What!?”

“Nothing. You two are arguing like a couple.”

“No, we are far from that!”

“If you say so,” she says, smirking.

“I do. Can you drive me to school from now on?” “Are you sure your boyfriend will be ok with that?” “Yes or no?”

“Yeah, I’ll drive you.” We both went our separate ways when the bell rang. My anger towards James dulled throughout the day. During my last block class, the principal was speaking over the PA system.

“Attention all students. This is a reminder about the winter formal dance approaching us. Tickets go on sale tomorrow and are $5. The dance will be on Friday at 7. A dress code will be in place. Anyone who doesn’t follow the code will not be welcome at the dance. Thank you and have a good rest of your day.” That’s when the bell rang and everyone started to file out of the classroom. I met Stephanie at my locker and by the look she was giving I had a feeling what she was going to ask me.

“Before you say anything, my answer is no,” I say, grabbing my coat out of my locker. “You don’t even know what I was going to ask?”

“Something about the dance,” I say, walking towards the exit.

“Come on. I will even pay for your ticket,” she says, catching up with me.

“Not the point.” We both get into the car and she starts the engine.

“I don’t want to go alone and everyone else has dates.”

“We can both stay home and study for the tests coming up.”

“You're the only person who would rather study than go to a dance,” she says, pulling out of the

school.

“Or see a movie, anything other than going to that dance.”

“I’m saying please,” she says, pulling up to my house.

“No. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say, getting out and heading inside.

“This conversation isn’t over,” Stephanie says, yelling at me as I walk up to my front door. I go inside to find my mom at the kitchen table with a pile of papers.

“Hey, mom,” I say, walking past her and going straight upstairs. I didn’t wait for a response because when she is in work mode, she loses sight of everything else around her. I went straight to doing my homework. Checking and double checking my work. Couple hours later, my stomach made a noise, signaling it’s time to eat. I went downstairs to find something to eat. I flipped on the light to the kitchen and made myself a ham and cheese sandwich. I was about to take a bite when I was stopped by a buzzing in my pocket. I open my phone and see a text from James.

“Hey, I’m sorry. You're right, I shouldn’t be driving with an unregistered car.” “Thank you and I do appreciate the rides.”

“Still want me to pick you up tomorrow?”

“Stephanie is going to be taking me to school from now on.”

“Why? I said I’m sorry.”

“Not the point. The car is still unregistered.”

“Fine. Whatever. I don’t want to fight.”

“If that’s all I’m going to go.”

“Wait. I was wondering if you want to go to the dance with me?” “No.”

“Are you going with someone else?”

“No, I’m just not going.”

“You want to do something else that night.”

“I don’t know. I think Stephanie wants to do something.”

“Let me know when it’s a good time for us to go out?”

“Ok.” I finished my sandwich and got ready for bed. Next morning, Stephanie picked me up for

school like she said she would. The whole ride to school she tried convincing me to go to the dance. “Can we just do something else,” I say, getting out of the car, heading inside with Stephanie

trailing behind me.

“Come on. We go and if you really don’t like it we can leave,” Stephanie says as we get to my

locker.

“Fine and I know I’m not going to hear the end of it if I don’t go. But if I hate it, we're leaving.” “Yes, of course,” she says, smiling. James comes up from behind us.

“Hey.”

“Hi James, you're not going to believe this, I got Hayley to agree to go to the dance.”

“I thought you didn’t want to go,” he says, looking at me.

“I didn’t but she won’t shut up about it,” I say, shutting my locker.

“Well have fun,” he says with a hardness in his voice and storming off.

“What was that about,” Stephanie says, confused as I was.

“I have no Idea?”

“Did you guys get into another fight?”

“I thought we were good. He apologized to me last night.”

“What else did he say?”

“He asked me to go to the dance?”

“Oh, now I see what’s happening.”

“What?”

“Honestly, you're the smartest person I know. I don’t understand how you can be so oblivious.”

Before I could respond the bell rang and Stephanie started walking away.

“Wait,” I start to say but Stephanie has already disappeared down the hall. The day went by as

usual except I couldn’t focus on class. What Stephanie said kept running through my mind. How am I oblivious and what’s wrong with James?” And before I knew it, it was lunchtime. James didn’t eat with us. I saw him with Chad and the other guys, a couple tables down from us.

“No, James? I had a feeling he wouldn’t join us,” Stephanie says, stabbing her fork into her salad. “Why do you say that?”

“You really don’t know why he is upset?”

“Please, enlighten me.”

“He wanted to go to the dance with you.”

“He can still come with us,” I say, taking a bite of my fries.

“He was asking you to be his date to the dance.” I was shocked at what she said, I almost choked

on my fries.

“You're joking right,” I say, clearing my throat.

“Why else would he be mad?” Then, the bell rang and everyone filed out of the cafeteria to their last block classes. As I was about to respond to Stephanie, she was already gone. Great. Now, a bigger question was swarming around in my brain. Did James really ask me out? No way. Stephanie was probably just messing with me. I tried not to think about it and focused on class. After class I met Stephanie at my locker.

“So, what are you going to do about James,” she says as I grab my stuff from my locker.

“Nothing. Oh shoot! I forgot my history textbook,” I say, running towards my history class to search for it. Oh good. The door is open. I see my book chilling on my desk. I walk over to get it and turn to leave. But I am stopped in my tracks by Bella.

“What? I told you James and I are just friends,” I say, trying to walk around her, but am stopped by her raising her hand in my face.

“You had to go and tell James. Now he is mad at me and won’t talk to me.”

“Someone is waiting for me,” I say, trying to leave. But Bella kept blocking me from leaving. “Let me guess. Stephanie is waiting for you.”

“Yeah?”

“I have seen you hanging out with her a lot lately. You two sure have gotten close.”

“Ok?”

“Here. Take a look at this,” she says, handing me her phone. It was a picture of Stephanie in her

underwear.

“How do you have that?” She quickly snatches the phone away.

“Doesn’t matter. If you don’t want this picture being printed out and taped on every locker in school. You will keep your distance from James.”

“Why? Stephanie didn’t do anything to you?”

“That's true but she is your friend and I know you don’t want her to become the laughing stock of the school.”

“You're crazy,” I say, running towards the classroom door.

“Before you go. You should know that if you try to turn me in or tell anyone about this. A friend of mine has a copy and will leak the photo.” This piece of information stopped me in the entrance way of the door. I turn to look back at her.

“Don’t leak the photo. I’ll stay away from James,”

“Good choice,” she says, walking out of the classroom. Then, I met Stephanie back at my locker. “Finally, what took you so long?”

“Sorry, but I found it. You ready,” I say, shutting my locker. She nodded her head in agreement

and we made our way to her car. The whole way to my house was quiet. Until Stephanie was stopped in front of my house.”

“Is everything ok,” she says, cutting the engine.

“Yeah. See you tomorrow,” I say, getting out.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow. Bye.”

“Bye,” I say, waving her off as she drives away. And just like that it was the next day. Stephanie

picked me up for school as usual. She walked me to my locker.

“Have you talked to James,” She says with such curiosity in her voice.

“No.”

“Are you going to?”

“No. Can you drop it,” I say as I get to my locker and see James waiting there for me. “Hayley, can we talk?”

“No,” I say, speed walking away from him.

“Is she mad at me or something,” he says, turning to Stephanie.

“No. I think she just has a lot on her mind.”

“Oh. Well. See you guys at the dance then?”

“Yeah.” James goes to class without another word. I went to the bathroom because I couldn’t

think of another place to go. As I looked in a mirror, Bella appeared. “Are you spying on me?”

“I had to make sure you're keeping your end of the deal.”

“I am. Don’t worry.”

“Good,” she says, walking out of the bathroom. Before I knew it the day was finally over. I can’t

wait to go home. I wonder if it's too late to change my mind about the dance. I’m really not in the mood. When I finally brought it up to Stephanie. She basically slammed on the brakes in front of my house.

“What!?”

“Easy on the brake.”

“It’s too late to change your mind. I’ll drag you there myself.”

“Fine. 10 minutes tops is all you get.”

“We will see when we get there. I’ll pick you up around 6:30. You better be ready.”

“Ok fine. See you later.” The house was empty as usual. Mom must be working late again. Guess

I should get my work done before I have to go. Time passed and then I heard my phone buzz on my desk. “Here” A text from Stephanie says.

“Oh shoot. Totally lost track of time. Give me like 10 minutes,” I sent back to her. I quickly put on

my dress and slid into some flats. I checked my hair and stroked it a couple times with my hair brush. I grab my phone and purse and head out to Stephanie's car. When I got in the car, she looked at me up and down.

“What?”

“You're going to the dance, like that.”

“What is wrong with what I'm wearing?”

“Nothing. The dress is beautiful and makes me proud that you put it on. I thought I'd see you in

sweats. But, no make up, and what’s with your hair?”

“Ok you're surprised I'm wearing a dress. Why would you think I would put makeup on?”

“Good point. I don’t care. I’m just glad you agreed to come,” she says, driving off.

“Don’t get mad if we don’t stay long.”

“Well, I am driving. So, without me you won’t have a ride home,” She says with an evil smirk on

her face.

“Hey, you said if I didn’t have fun we could leave.”

“I know. I know. I was just kidding,” she says, pulling into the school. The parking lot was packed. I have never seen the school parking lot packed like this. I see a line leading from the front door of kids getting checked into the dance. I hate big crowds and it looks like there are a lot of people here tonight. Stephanie looked at me and I guess she noticed the panic on my face.

“Just breathe. Relax. You will be fine.”

“You know parties are not my scene and I hate big crowds.”

“You never stay at them long enough to enjoy them. Come on,” she says, waving me out of the

car.

“Why do you hate me,” I say, sarcastically, following her to the line. The line was actually

moving pretty fast. We got to the front in no time. The dance was held in the gymnasium. There were lights and loud music.

“Want some punch,” Stephanie says, yelling over the loud music.

“Uh, sure,” I say, yelling back to her.

“Ok. Stay here. I’ll be back,” she says as she disappears into the crowd. Great. She abandoned

me. Then, I turned when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“I can’t believe my eyes. You are wearing a dress,” James says, smirking.

“Such a shock. I thought I’d get a lot of stares if I wore what I wanted to. Don’t really need the

attention.”

“I’m messing with you. You look great,” he says, smiling at me. “I see the stare’s don’t bother you.”

“You probably wouldn’t catch me wearing a suit at my own funeral.”

“You know, I can see that happening.” We both laugh as I catch Bella staring at us from across the room.

“So, where is Stephanie,” he says, looking around.

“Um, at the punch bowl. I should see if she needs help, I say, quickly walking away. “Hey, can we go,” I say, yelling over the music.

“We just got here. Here,” she says, handing me a drink. I took the drink and took a big sip.

Seconds later I was coughing from how strong it was. “What is this?”

“Vodka mixed with punch.”

“What!? Why,” I say, putting the drink down.

“You need to loosen up. Hence the vodka.”

“I don’t drink.”

“I know it shows,” she says as she gulps her drink down. Before I could reply, Chad came up

from behind us and wrapped his arms around us.

“Evening, ladies,” he says, leaning on us. I can smell the alcohol on his breath. I just shrug him

off.

“Hi Chad,” Stephanie says, unenthusiastically.

“Hello beautiful, can I have this dance,” he says, extending his hand. “Not if you were the last person alive.”

“Stephanie, you really break my heart,” he says, sarcastically with his hand on his heart. Then he looks at me.

“Hayley, what about you?” Stephanie cuts in before I could say anything.

“Why don’t you go bother someone else.”

“I would but I just can’t imagine being anywhere other than by your side,” he says, sarcastically. “Let’s go, Hayley,” she says, grabbing my arm and leading me through the crowd. We finally

came to a stop and Stephanie was making sure he wasn’t trailing behind us.

“You really don’t like Chad,” I say, trying to catch my breath.

“Yeah, he just gets on my nerves.” Then, a slow song starts playing and everyone stops jumping

up and down. Everyone starts coupling up and starts swaying back and forth together. “Hey, do you wanna dance?” I turn to see James smiling at me.

“No. I’m good,” I say, walking away but am stopped by James grabbing my arm. “Are you mad at me or something?”

“No, I just don’t feel like dancing.”

“You sure that’s it. Seems like you're avoiding me.”

“Thanks for waiting up guys,” Stephanie says, catching up to us. James and I didn’t respond to

Stephanie. We just stood there.

“Is everything ok,” she says, looking back and forth between us. “I don’t know. Ask her,” he says, looking at me.

“Hayley,” Stephanie says, looking at me.

“What!? Nothing is wrong.”

“I don’t believe you,” he says, not taking his eyes off me. Before I could respond, Bella came up to us.

“Hey, James,” Bella says, acting like Stephanie and I are not here.

“Hi. Do you need something?” I just walked away with Stephanie following behind me. James tries to go after me but is stopped by Bella.

“Let’s dance.”

“What. No.”

“Come on. It will be fun,” she says, trying to pull his arm to the dance floor.

“Bella. Stop,” he says, breaking away from her grip and walking away. I walked all the way

outside.

“Hayley,” Stephanie says, following me outside.

“I’m ready to go.”

“Will you tell me what that was all about?”

“Nothing. Now can we go.”

“Not until you tell me what's wrong.”

“He wanted to dance and I said no. It's not my fault he can’t take no for an answer.” “You sure that was all it was?”

“Yes. Now let’s go,” I say, walking to the car. She gets in with me and starts the engine.

“Ok, my mom isn’t home tonight. Want to spend the night,” Stephanie says, pulling out of the school.

“Sure,” I say, looking out the window. The whole ride to her house was quiet. We decided to watch a movie. We were still quiet until the movie ended.

“Ok. Seriously what is going on with you and James,” Stephanie says, breaking the silence. “Nothing. Can you just drop it.”

“You have been acting weird all night.”

“It’s nothing. I’m tired. I’m going to bed,” I say, turning away from her on the bed. She didn’t

push me. She just turned out the light and went to bed. I woke up to the sound of my phone vibrating. I got up to see who it was. It was James calling me. I took my phone and walked as quietly as I could to the bathroom.

“What? It is the middle of the night.” “Hayley I-I really need to-to talk to you.” “Are you drunk?”

“Do-do you hate me?”

“James, you should go home and sleep it off. Where are you? I will send you an uber.”

“No, I,” the phone cuts off. Crap. I tried to call him. The phone did pick up but it wasn’t him. “James phone.” I recognized her voice. Bella.

“Bella?”

“Hayley. Don’t worry about James, I'm taking real good care of him.” I didn’t respond to her and just hung up the phone. I went back to the room and Stephanie was still sound asleep. I quietly slipped under the covers so as not to wake her. My head was full and I had trouble getting back to sleep. But as the night went on. I found myself falling asleep. The next morning, I woke up to the smell of bacon. I sat up in bed, yawning and stretching. I looked over to find an empty spot where Stephanie should be. I got out of bed and met her downstairs in the kitchen.

“Good morning. Breakfast is served,” she says, placing a plate on the table in front of me.

“Good morning. Thanks,” I say, taking a forkful of eggs and shoving them into my mouth. I caught Stephanie staring at me.

“You know it’s rude to stare at people.”

“Sorry, you're just different from how you were when we first met.”

“Oh. what’s different?”

“You don’t seem on edge around me and seem more comfortable talking to me,” she says,

smiling.

“Well, we do know each other better now. Isn’t it natural that I would be more comfortable.” “You're right,” she says, taking a bite of her food. I finished my plate and gulped down the orange

juice she gave me.

“Thanks for breakfast. It was delicious.”

“I'm glad you liked it.”

“You know you don’t always have to cook for me.”

“I know. I want to. I like cooking. My dream is to be a chef one day and open my own restaurant.”

“Oh yeah. You're a good cook. I bet you will.” “I hope so.”

“So, where are your parents?”

“Probably at work.”

“Oh. what do they do?”

“They both work at a grocery store. My mom is a cashier and my dad is the manager,” she says, taking care of the dishes.

“You need help?”

“It's ok. I got it. I am a little surprised.”

“What are you surprised about?”

“You never asked personal questions before. You always seemed off in your own little world.

Seemed like you didn’t want to make connections.”

“Oh. really? I guess so. I never really had to before and it's not like people were lining up to make

connections with me. School was my main focus and nothing else mattered.”

“I’m happy to see you're more open with me. It wasn’t easy, that's for sure. I pretty much needed

a crowbar to break that shield you built around yourself.” “Shut up,” I say, holding back a smile.”

“What’s going on with you and James?”

“Nothing.”

“Damn. I thought we were getting somewhere.”

“Just drop it.”

“I will for now.”

“Good.”

“So, do you need to get home? I'll give you a ride.”

“Yeah, I probably should go home.” I went upstairs and got dressed. Stephanie was still

downstairs, cleaning the kitchen. She finally finished and she got dressed herself. Then, we both headed to her car and she drove me home. She stopped right in front of my house. I got out and thanked her for the ride.

“Ok. Bye. See you Monday, first thing in the morning,” she says before driving off. I went into the house to find my mom sitting on the bottom step of the stairs.

“Hi mom,” I say, hanging up my coat and taking off my shoes. “Who was that you were with? I hope it wasn’t that boy.” “No. it was Stephanie.”

“A new friend of yours?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I'm glad you aren’t hanging around with that boy.”

“Yes, mom. Can I be excused?”

“You may. I will be home late again. There is money on the counter.”

“Thanks, mom. Have a good day at work,``I say as I'm heading upstairs. The rest of the day, I spent studying. The day just flew past me. By the time I knew it, it was dark outside. I had trouble going to sleep that night. My mind was full. I kept thinking about how I can’t be friends with James because it will cause problems for Stephanie. I don’t understand how she got that picture and why she keeps bothering me. I keep reassuring her that James and I are just friends. How did things end up like this? My head kept spinning until I finally drifted to sleep. I woke up to the sound of a horn honking outside my window. Crap! I overslept. I went to the window and threw up my hand to say I'll be down in 5 minutes. I quickly threw on some clothes and ran downstairs. I slipped on my shoes and put on my coat and went outside to meet Stephanie.

“Finally,” she says as she starts up the engine.

“Sorry, I slept through my alarm.”

“It’s fine. I’ll get us there in time. Buckle up,” she says with a serious expression, holding the

wheel and punching on the gas causing me to hit my head against the back of the seat.

“Hey! Easy on the gas. I want to make it to my senior year.”

“Relax. I got this,” she says, smiling and focusing real hard on the road. She took a sharp turn

causing us to drift a little bit.

“Slow down,” I say, gripping the handle above the window. She whipped around into the school

parking lot and slowed down into a parking spot. She cut off the engine and let out a sigh.

“I always wanted to do that.” I didn’t say anything because I was in shock of what just happened.

“Hayley,” she said, turning in her seat. She saw the shocked look on my face and started apologizing.

“Wow! Were you a race car driver in a past life,” I say, looking back at her and smiling.

“So, you're not mad.”

“Actually, it was a rush.” We both let out a sigh and started laughing. We stopped when we heard

the bell. We quickly got out of the car and went to our lockers to get our stuff for our first class. We had to split up because her locker was on the other side from mine. As I was getting closer to my locker, I saw James.

“Hey.”

“Excuse me,” I say, entering my combination.

“Why are you ignoring me?”

“I’m not.”

“Bullshit!” I spot Bella staring at us from across the hall.

“Sorry, I have to get to class,” I say, speed walking away. He slammed my locker shut in

frustration. He looked across the hall and spotted Bella staring. He walked over to her. “Hey James, the,” Bella starts to say before being cut off by James.

“What did you say to her?”

“Nothing.”

“Right.”

“Why do you even care about her? What about me?”

“This is why we broke up in the first place because you're a manipulating cunt,” he says, hitting the locker causing her to flinch.

“That’s a detention, today after school,” a teacher says, cutting in. When lunch rolled around, a lot of people were staring at me and whispering. I met Stephanie at our usual table.

“Hey,” she said, waving at me.

“Hey, is it me or is everyone staring at me,” I say, taking the seat across from her.

“You haven’t heard about what happened to James.”

“What happened?”

“Apparently, he got detention. I don’t know exactly why, but there are some crazy rumors flying

around.”

“What did he do?”

“Some people are saying he hit Bella.” “What. Why?”

“People are saying it was because of you.” “Me?”

“He was defending his girlfriend's honor,” she says, laughing. “This isn’t funny.”

“I know. I know. Tell me what is going on with you guys.” “Nothing.” Then, the bell started ringing.

“Saved by the bell,” Stephanie says, getting up to throw away her trash. The rest of the day felt slow. Everyone kept staring at me. It felt like a target was on my back. I spent my last class, looking at the clock waiting for the final bell to ring. When the bell rang, I met Stephanie at my locker.

“Hey,” I start to say before being pushed up against the locker.

“What did you say to him,” Bella says with mascara running down her face.

“Nothing.”

“Get off of her,” Stephanie says, pushing her off of me.

“You stay out of this,” Bella says, trying to push Stephanie off of her. Stephanie didn’t let up and

kept holding her back.

“Get off of me or you will regret it.”

“Stephanie. It's ok. Let her go.” Stephanie let her go.

“You didn’t keep up your end of the deal. I’m leaking the photo,” she says, walking away. “Bella, wait, please don’t.” She just walked away.

“What was that all about and don’t say it was nothing,” Stephanie says, picking up her bag.

“I’m sorry Stephanie.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Bella is going to hurt me by hurting you.”

“How is she going to hurt me?”

“I don’t know how but she has a picture of you in your underwear. She’s planning on spreading it

around school.”

“What! Why is she doing all this?”

“She wanted me to stay away from James.”

“That’s why you have been avoiding him.”

“Yeah.”

“Get your things, you're coming over to my house.”

“Ok.” I got my coat and bag and followed Stephanie to her car. When we got to her place, it was

empty.

“Where are your parents?”

“My dad has an out of town business meeting and my mom is working the graveyard shift.”

“Oh.” She went upstairs and I followed behind her. She flashed on the lights to her room and plopped on her bed. I just stood in the doorway, confused about why I’m here. I wonder if she’s mad?

“Are you a vampire? Do you need an invitation,” she says, sitting up, urging me to come sit next to her on the bed.

“Are you ok,” I say, taking a seat next to her.

“Just tell me everything. Don’t leave anything out.” So, I told her about Bella and the deal I made with her.

“That bitch.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why she is doing this? I did what she asked of me.” “Stop,” she says, hugging me.

“You're not mad?”

“Yes I am,” she says, lighting up on the hug.

“I’m sorry.”

“You misunderstand. I'm not mad at you. Well, I am. Only because you didn’t tell me what was

going on. You're so headstrong. You don’t have to take on everything on your own. I’m your friend. You can rely on me.”

“Ok. I will remember that.”

“Good and thank you.”

“Why are you thanking me? Because of me, she is going to leak the photo.”

“You stayed away from James, just so I wouldn’t get hurt. I know that must have been hard since

he was the first person you became friends with.”

“It's fine. What are you going to do?”

“Nothing.”

“You don’t care about the school seeing the photo.”

“Not really. I don’t care what people around school think. Which is kind of funny. I used to be

that way. I think meeting you has changed my outlook on things. I only care about what you think.” “What about your friends?”

“They always felt superficial. We talk but we don’t really talk about anything. If that makes sense. If they stick around then I know our friendship wasn’t fake.”

“Um, you don’t have to answer. But how did Bella get a photo of you like that?”

“Let’s see, I went to this party and got drunk and things escalated from there. I can’t really remember exactly what happened. I think I blacked out.”

“Oh.”

“Does that change your image of me?”

“No.”

“Good. Now you need to make up with James. I’ll be fine.”

“If you're sure. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

“Good. It looks like it’s dark outside. Want to spend the night,” Stephanie says, looking out the

window.

“Yeah.” That night I ended up spending the night at her house. We spent the night watching a

movie. We talked and laughed until we fell asleep. The next morning, I woke up to Srephanie’s arm around me.

“Hey, Stephanie, wake up,” I say, shaking her.

“Good morning,” she says, sitting up, yawning.

“We should get ready before we're late.”

“Yeah,” she says, heading to the bathroom. We both got ready for the day and headed to school.

When we got to school, James was waiting at my locker.

“Good luck,” Stephanie says as she winks and nudges me. She walked off, leaving me there. I

took a deep breath and met James at my locker. “Hey.”

“Now you want to talk to me,” he says with a little hardness in his voice.

“You are in front of my locker.”

“Stop playing games. I don’t know why you have been ignoring me?”

“I have been avoiding you,” I started to say before I was cut off by a group of students down the

hall laughing.

“Wonder what that’s about,” he says, walking down the hall to see what the commotion was about

with me trailing behind him. There was Stephanie in the middle of the group of students. There was a photo of Stephanie in her underwear taped on the wall. Stephanie just ripped off the photo and walked away without saying anything. I ran after her and James followed behind me.

“Stephanie, are you ok,” I say, grabbing her arm.

“I’m fine. More importantly, did you and James kiss and make up?”

“Not yet.”

“What are you waiting for? He’s here.”

“Yeah. but.”

“I'm fine. I told you I don’t care what they think.”

“Can someone explain to me what’s going on,” James says, looking back and forth between us. “Hayley can. I have to use the ladies room,” she says, walking away.

“So,” he says, waiting for me to explain.

“I’ll explain later,” I say, running to the bathroom. I could hear Stephanie sniffling in the

bathroom stall.

“Stephanie,” I say, knocking on the stall door.

“I said I was fine. Why did you follow me,” She says, coming out of the stall, wiping her eyes. “I just had a feeling you weren’t.”

“That’s perceptive, even for you.”

“Apparently, I’m not the only one that’s headstrong.”

“Seems like it.” We hugged it out and went on with our day. I’m surprised she didn’t go home.

She said if she went home, it would be like saying Bella won. I didn’t push her and the day went by as usual. At lunch, James sat with us and I explained to him why I was avoiding him. He was furious but more at Bella than at me. He didn’t let me off the hook. Like Stephanie he was mad I didn’t tell him what was going on. James wanted to tell Bella off but I told him that it might just make it worse. So, he didn’t do anything. I think she gave up from what James said to her in that hallway. She hasn’t bothered me or Stephanie the rest of the week. She has been keeping her distance from James too. James, Stephanie and I were good. Everything was back to normal and I was happy. It's halfway through the semester and the snow on the ground has finally melted. The project James and I got at the beginning of the semester is pretty much finished. The project James and I got was to do a lecture for the class. For a whole class period we get to be the teachers with powerpoints and worksheets. It’s like a review session for the class about what we learned throughout the whole year. The class we have to do the project for is history. This project is like a final for us, it is half our grade.

“Thank you,” James says, snatching a fry from my lunch tray. “Keep your hands off my fries,” I say, guarding my tray from him.

“Hey,” Stephanie says, coming up to us, grabbing a seat next to me.

“Hey,” I say, taking a sip of my milk.

“Sup ladies,” Chad says, putting his arms around us. Almost causing me to spill my milk. “Get lost Chad,” Stephanie says, pushing Chad’s arm off her.

“I love a girl who plays hard to get,” Chad says, taking a seat.

“Dude, what’s up,” James says, laughing.

“My dad got these amusement park tickets and gave them to me. So, do you guys want to join

me.”

“I’ll pass,” Stephanie says, taking a bite of her sandwich.

“Oh come on. It will be fun,” Chad says, elbowing Stephanie.

“What about you, Hayley, do you want to go,” Stephanie says, looking at me.

“Didn’t know I was invited.”

“Of course you are invited. It wouldn’t be a double date without you,” Chad says, smiling. “And who do you think is going on this double date,” Stephanie says sarcastically.

“James and Hayley and of course you and me baby,” Chad says, winking.

“Gross,” Stephanie says, rolling her eyes.

“Let’s just go. It will be a fun break from school,” James says, cutting in.

“Fine but this is not a date. Got that Chad,” Stephanie says, looking at Chad, waiting for him to

agree.

“As you wish my lady. I will take what I can get,” Chad says, handing James and Stephanie their tickets.

“Here,” Stephanie says, holding out my ticket.

“Fine. If you're going,” I say, taking the ticket. With that the bell rang. This weekend I guess we are all going to the amusement park. The whole week passed with no surprises and the weekend was finally here. I should do my homework before Stephanie gets here and I still have to pack.

“Where are you going,” my mom says, standing in the entrance of the kitchen. “Some friends and I are going to the amusement park,” I say, putting on my shoes. “Why is this the first I'm hearing about it,” she says with a stern voice.

“Sorry. You've been working late, lately. I didn’t think you would mind.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“All weekend. There is a hotel close by. We were thinking about getting rooms.” “Who will you be going with?”

“Stephanie, Chad, and James.”

“James? Is that the boy with the motorcycle?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you were done hanging around with that boy.”

“We are partnered for a project.”

“You all won’t be sharing a room, correct?”

“Yes, we will be separated.”

“Very well. You've been spending more time with your classmates. I hope this doesn’t affect your academics.”

“It won’t.”

“Have fun. Here is some cash,” she says, handing me a 20 dollar bill.

“Thanks mom,” I say, meeting Stephanie outside.

“Hey,” I say, throwing my bag in the back of the car.

“Hey. James and Chad will meet us there,” she says, pulling out of the driveway.

“Cool,” I say, getting in the passenger’s seat. Stephanie turned on the radio and started singing

along. I just smiled and looked out the window. 20 minutes later, Stephanie was pulling into the hotel we were staying for the weekend.

“Looks like the boys aren’t here yet,” Stephanie says, cutting the engine.

“I’m not surprised. James is never on time.” We just sat in the car, waiting for them.

“So,” Stephanie says, looking at me.

“What?”

“How are things with you and James?”

“Fine,” I say, confused as to why she is asking.

“Based on the confused look you have on your face. I’m guessing you don’t know what I mean.” “I mean we're still friends.”

“Nevermind. James has his work cut out for him.”

“What do you mean?” Before she could answer, a car pulled up beside us. It’s the guys.

“Took you guy’s long enough,” Stephanie says, getting out of the car.

“Awww, did you miss me baby,” Chad says, smirking at Stephanie.

“You ready to check in Hayley,” Stephanie says, peeking through the driver's window.

“Yeah. Let me grab my bag,” I say, getting out and grabbing my bag.

“You're ignoring me now. Baby, that really hurts me,” Chad says, holding his heart.

“Hey, Hayley,” James says, walking with us into the building.

“Hey! Wait up,” Chad says, catching up with us. We all met a lady at the front desk. We told her

how long we were staying and she hooked us up with two rooms. Staphanie and I are sharing a room and James and Chad are sharing the other. Stephanie dropped her bags on the floor and ran to the bed. She flopped on the bed with her arms and legs spread out, like she was going to make a snow angel.

“This is going to be a fun weekend,” she says, letting out a sigh.

“Yeah.” We all unpacked our stuff and got settled into our rooms. Few minutes later, Stephanie and I heard a knock at our door.

“Hey, you guys ready to hit the park,” James says, yelling through the door.

“Be out in a minute,” Stephanie yells back.

“You need some help. I am a big helper and you won’t be disappointed with my work,” Chad says

through the door.

“Why did we even bring him? We should have just taken the tickets and left him home,”

Stephanie says, touching up her makeup.

“Well, he was the one that gave them to us and he is James’s friend,” I say, putting my clothes into drawers.

“Whatever, you being here makes up for it.”

“I'm finished. Are you ready?”

“Yeah. let’s go.” We met the boys in the hotel lobby and we all walked across the street to the

amusement park. We went on a whole bunch of rides. We ate a lot of food and some ate too much and ended up tossing up the food. We were there until nightfall.

“Idiot. I told you not to eat so much,” Stephanie says, handing him some water.

“Couldn’t help it. The food here is so good. I think I’ll be fine if we sit down for a minute.” We all found some benches to sit down for Chad to rest his stomach. We couldn’t all fit on one bench. So, Chad and Stephanie sat together and James and I sat at another. The two benches were separated by a bush.

“Having fun,” James says, looking at me.

“Yeah. It's been awhile since I’ve been to an amusement park.” “How long has it been?”

“Not since I was a kid.”

“Wow, that is awhile.”

“Yeah. I’m glad I came out with you guys.”

“So, you must have gone with your family.”

“Yeah. I went with my mom and,” I say, trailing off.

“Your mom and dad?”

“Right.”

“What does your mom and dad do?”

“Should we see if Chad is ok?”

“Besides being a complete moron. I’m pretty sure he’s ok,” James says, smiling at me.

“That is why you guys make a good pair.”

“Damn. I thought I was going to go through the whole day without you insulting me.”

“Not a chance,” I say, smiling back at him. We didn’t say anything and started laughing.

“It warms my heart to see you take care of me like this,” Chad says, picking up his head from

being hunched over holding his stomach to look at Stephanie. But, Stephanie was looking at James and Hayley.

“Earth to Stephanie,” Chad says, waving his hand in Stephanies face. “What,” she says, snapping back to reality.

“You were spacing out watching James and Hayley.”

“Maybe I just got tired of looking at your ugly mug.”

“Ouch. I could never get tired looking at your beautiful face.” “Please. Stop. Just give it up already,” She says, rolling her eyes. “Is the reason you're not into me because you're into James?” “Eww. no.”

“Then explain why your eyes have been on them the whole time we've been talking.”

“You're imagining it. I'm admiring the lights of the ferris wheel behind them.” “Right. If it's not James. Then is it Hayley you can’t take your eyes off?” “No. Of course not,” she says, looking at Chad.

“I don’t know. That reaction says something different.”

“You really have a perverted mind.”

“Is that blushing I see,” Chad says, smiling at Stephanie.

“No,” she says, looking away.

“Don’t worry. Your secret's safe with me,” he says, whispering to her. Before she could say

anything he walked over to James and I.

“I’m feeling better. Are you guys good to keep going?”

“Yeah, man. What do you have in mind,” James says, getting up.

“Since it's dark. We should do a haunted house.”

“Sounds good. Hayley, you ok with that,” James says, looking at me.

“Uh. I don’t know.”

“Come on. Unless you're scared,” Chad says, smirking.

“No. We can go.”

“Good. Stephanie, you coming,” Chad says, looking at Stephanie still sitting at the other bench. “Yeah,” she says, walking over to us. So, we all walked over to the haunted houses. When we got

there, there was a sign that said only two can go at a time.

“Ok, I guess I’ll go with my beautiful Stephanie and James can go with Hayley,” Chad says, after reading the sign.

“No. I’d rather go with anyone but you,” Stephanie says, cutting in.

“Don’t be so harsh. I was going to be nice and let you hold my hand so you wouldn’t be scared,” Chad says, smiling at Stephanie.

“Gross. You can go with James.”

“Fine. James you can hold my hand if you get scared,” Chad says, looking at James.

“Really, dude. I am not doing that, James says, looking at Hayley.

“Since we can’t decide, we will draw straws to see who goes with who.”

“Ok, how are we gonna do that,” James says, looking at Chad.

“Hold that thought,” Chad says as he walks to a hotdog stand not that far from us. He came back

with straws.

“Ok, so, they had scissors and I cut them. The pair with the same size straw will go in together,”

Chad says, mixing them up.

“Lots of work, just to see who goes in together,” James says, watching Chad mix the straws. “Shut up. Stephanie you first,” Chad says, holding the straws up to where both of them can’t tell

the size of the straws. She picked one of the straws, which was cut in half. Then, he went to me and I picked one that was also half cut.

“Fate has spoken. I will be going with James and Hayley will be going with Stephanie,” Chad says, revealing the last straws that are full length.

“I guess so,” James says, walking towards the line.

“Sorry, baby. Don’t miss me too much,” Chad says, looking at Stephanie, smiling.

“Go away,” Stephanie says, waving at him to get lost.

“Good luck,” Chad says, whispering in Stephanie's ear before following James to the line.

“He is so annoying. You ready,” She says, looking at me.

“Yeah,” I say, walking with her to the line. The line was moving pretty fast and before we knew

it, Stephanie and I were next to go in. I went right in with Stephanie without a hesitation. I didn’t want her to think I was scared. But, I think she could see through my act. It was dark with dim flashing lights. It looked small from the outside. Once you get in, you can’t believe how big and spacious it is.

“Hayley, are you ok,” Stephanie says, tapping my shoulder.

“What. oh. Yeah. I'm fine,” I say as I jump up grabbing Stephanie.

“What's wrong?”

“I think something touched my ankle.” We both jumped back as a zombie jumped out at us,

groaning.

“I'm ready to go. Let’s hurry to the exit,” I say as I grab Stephanie’s hand and speed walk through

the rest of the haunted house. Couple minutes later, we made it to the exit, huffing and puffing. “Here,” someone says, tapping a water bottle on my head. I catch my breath and look up to see

James.

“Thanks,” I say, taking the bottle.

“That was fast,” Chad says, walking over to us with a corn dog in his hand.

“How are you still hungry,” Stephanie says, looking at Chad.

“I am a growing boy,” Chad says, taking a bite of his corn dog.

“Whatever. Hayley, are you ok,” she says, looking at me.

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“Well, if there is nothing else you guys wanna do. I'm down to head back to the hotel,” Chad says,

throwing his corn dog stick in the trash.

“Yeah, I'm beat. Let’s go back,” James says, stretching his arms. We all decided to go back to the

hotel. We all said our goodnights and went to our separate rooms. Stephanie and I got ready for bed and pretty much passed out when we hit the bed.

“Good morning ladies,” Chad says, knocking on our door the next morning.

“Ugh. why,” Stephanie says, sitting up in bed.

“Morning,” I say, yawning.

“Rise and shine. We have a fun filled day awaiting us,” Chad says, yelling through the door. “I hate morning people. Especially those people who have the name Chad,” Stephanie says,

hopping out of bed.

“We will meet you guys in the lobby,” I say, yelling to Chad through the door. So, we got up and

got ready for the day. When we were all done. We went downstairs to meet the boys. “Took ya long enough,” Chad says, smiling at Stephanie.

“Morning James,” Stephanie says, ignoring Chad.

“Good morning. Did you guys sleep well?”

“Like a rock,” Stephanie says, smiling.

“Hey Hayley,” James says, looking at me.

“Hi.”

“Now that we got our greetings out of the way. Let’s hit the amusement park,” Chad says,

wrapping his arms around Stephanie and James.

“Get off of me,” James and Stephanie say in unison.

“Come on. The day isn’t getting any younger,” Chad says, walking away, not phased in the

slightest. We didn’t protest and followed him.

“So, what do you guys want to do? There’s still tons of rides yet to be discovered,” Chad says,

smiling at us.

“Hmmm. What about that,” James says, pointing to the roller coaster right next to us.

“You read my mind. Are you ladies in?”

“Hayley, I'm in if you are.”

“Sure, let’s go.” We all got in line and waited. The line was not too bad. Not too long but not

small either. We were finally next up in line. James got in and waved for me to sit next to him. I smiled and sat next to him.

“My lady,” Chad says, bowing with his arm extended for Stephanie to take her seat.

“You're such an idiot,” she says, taking her seat. We all got buckled in and the ride started to take off. We started going up slowly.

“Here we go,” James says, smiling at me.

“Yeah,” I say, smiling back at him. He grabs my hand as we make it to the top. He throws our hands up in the air as we start to drop. The whole ride he never let go of my hand. Until we got off that ride.

“That was such a rush,” Chad says, jumping off the stairs of the exit.

“I swear, you're such a kid,” Stephanie says, shaking her head.

“Hey. look. Cotton candy,” Chad says, going over to get some. “Sheesh. Wait for everyone else. Hey you two,” she says, looking at us. “Watch your step,” James says, taking my hand, helping me down. “Thanks.”

“Love birds. Chad has run off. Let's catch up to him.”

“That idiot. We better go get him before he gets lost,” James says, following Stephanie's lead. I trail behind them trying to catch up. We caught up to Chad at the cotton candy stand.

“Nothing beats cotton candy,” Chad says, stuffing cotton candy into his mouth. We all started laughing. Chad looked at us confused.

“What's so funny? Is there cotton candy on my face,” he says, wiping his face. We spent the whole day at the park, eating, going on rides, and more eating. Nightfall finally came upon us.

“Before we go. We should ride the ferris wheel,” Chad says, looking at us to agree with him. “Sure. I'm in.”

“Great. Let’s go my lady,” Chad says, linking arms with Stephanie.

“Who said I was riding with you?”

“Hoping to look at the lights with Hayley,” He says, whispering in her ear.

“Shut up,” Stephanie says, punching him in the arm. We followed them to the ride. We all got in separate carts. I went with James and Stephanie went with Chad. We slowly started to go up and my eyes were peeled to the window. I looked at James and caught him staring at me.

“What?”

“Nothing. You look happy. It's a good look on you.”

“That came out of nowhere. Why wouldn’t I be happy?”

“Can’t you just take a compliment.”

“Ok.”

“This may be sudden but I like you,” he says, turning away to look out the window.

“I like you too. Despite how annoying and dumb you are. I am happy to be your friend.”

“I mean, I like you more than a friend.”

“A best friend?”

“How can you be so smart but so oblivious.”

“Stephanie once told me the same thing,” I say, laughing a little.” He leans and puts his hand on

my cheek.

“What are you,” I start to say but am cut off by him kissing me. I feel my cheeks start to get hot

and my heart starts to race. Wait. What? Why is he doing this all the sudden?

“Does this answer your question,” he says, sitting back in his seat. We didn’t say anything the rest

of the way down. We got off the ride and met up with Chad and Stephanie.

“Took you guys long enough. I was getting bored,” Chad says, yawning.

“It’s a ferris wheel. It’s not supposed to be a fast ride,” James says, walking towards them. “Whatever man. Let’s go, I'm beat.”

“Hayley, you ready,” Stephanie says, nudging me.

“Yeah.”

“Are you ok,” Stephanie says as we enter the hotel room. “Yeah.”

“Did something happen on the ferris wheel with James?” “He kissed me.”

“Oh. really? Did you like it?”

“I don’t know. It was out of nowhere.”

“Hey, Hayley can we talk,” we hear James yell through the door.

“Go. talk to him,” Stephanie says, pushing me towards the door.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Just tell him how you feel.” I stopped right in front of the door, reaching out to twist the door

knob, but stopped mid way. I was standing there for a second, debating on if I should open it. “Hayley,” James says through the door.

“Um, I'm tired. Can we talk tomorrow?”

“Yeah, sure, get some rest.” I let out a sigh and walked over to sit on my bed.

“Are you ok,” Stephanie says, taking a seat right next to me. “Yeah.”

“You wanna talk about it.”

“There’s really nothing to talk about.”

“James kissed you. Did you like it or hate it? Do you have feelings for him?”

“I don’t know how I feel. I’m tired, we should go to bed. We have to get up early and pack.” “Ok goodnight.” I wish I could say I got sleep that night. But I didn’t, my mind was spinning on

what happened on the ferris wheel. I kept replaying the moment he kissed me over and over in my head. Next morning, we got up early and packed our things to leave. I never ended up talking to James. I didn’t know what to say to him. The car ride with Stephanie was quiet. The only thing we said were our goodbyes as she dropped me off. I’m glad she didn’t push me on the matter. The next week at school, I avoided James, ducking behind walls when seeing him down the hallway. Not eating in the cafeteria, so he wouldn’t come up to me. I would catch him at my locker at the end of the day, waiting for me. But I would just wait until he leaves before I go over to get my things.

“You can’t avoid him forever,” Stephanie says, leaning against the locker beside me.

“It’s not forever. Just until I can figure out what to say to him,” I say as I’m shutting my locker. “I could help you, you know.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I say as I walk with Stephanie to her car.

“It's been a week and you still haven’t figured anything out. It can’t hurt to talk to me about it,”

she says, starting up the engine and pulling out of the parking lot.

“It was just a kiss. I don’t know if I liked it or hated it. I just know he is a friend and as annoying as he is I don’t want to lose him.”

“No matter what happens. I don’t think you will,” she says, pulling up to my house.

“Yeah. Bye,” I say as I walk inside. As I enter, I see my mom at the bottom step waiting for me, holding a piece of paper.

“Hi mom.”

“How was school?”

“Good.”

“Your report card came. You have a couple C’s I see.”

“I’ll get them up.”

“Yes you will,” she starts to say but is cut off by a knock at the door. I open the door to see

Stephanie.

“Hey, you forgot your textbook,” she says, handing it to me.

“Thanks,” I say as my mom interjects.

“Hello, I’m Hayley’s mom,” She says, extending her hand.

“Hi, I'm Stephanie. Hayley’s friend,” she says, shaking my mom's hand. “Thank you for dropping off her book.”

“You're welcome.”

“I was about to make dinner. Would you like to stay?”

“Sure. If you wouldn’t mind.”

“Of course not. You girls head upstairs. I’ll call you down when it’s done.” “Thank you,” Stephanie says, walking with me upstairs.

“Your moms nice,” Staephanie says as she sits on my bed.

“Thanks. Now it’s time for you to go,” I say, closing my door.

“Why?”

“It’s not you. It's my mom. Just make up something. Say your mom needs you home.”

“Come on. Your mom seems fine to me.”

“Please.”

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“It’s just.”

“Talk to me.”

“My mom is kind of strict and is set in her ways. She is upset with me because I didn’t do good

on my report card and she is being passive aggressive right now. I think she invited you to dinner to fish out information about me.”

“What did you get on your report card?” “I got a couple C’s.”

“That’s not bad. I get C’s all the time.” “It’s bad for me. I’m a straight A student.” “She didn’t seem mad to me.”

“Dinner is ready,” My mom says, yelling up to us.

“It’s too late now,” Stephanie says, getting up from my bed. We walk down stairs to the table set with plates of spaghetti.

“Smells good,” Stephanie says, taking a seat.

“Thanks mom,” I say, taking a seat next to Stephanie.

“Enjoy.”

“This is delicious,” Stephanie says, taking a bite.”

“Thank you. So Stephanie, how is school going?”

“It’s good. I’m passing everything.”

“That’s good. Passing with what?”

“Um, I have some C’s and B’s I think.”

“Oh yeah. Your mom must be happy.”

“I think so.”

“Passing is good, but I think to get into a good college, you need more than just barely passing.

Don’t you think,” my mom says, taking a sip of her drink.

“Mom. Please. Let’s talk about something else,” I say, interjecting before Stephanie could reply. “We're just talking Hayley. I’m trying to get to know your friend,” my mom says, looking at

Stephanie.

“Uh, Yeah, sure,” Stephanie says, taking a sip of her drink. “Do you not feel the same way?”

“I do. I think you need good grades to get into a good college.”

“So, do you think getting C’s is a good way to get there?”

“Mom. Please.”

“Hayley. What is wrong? Is there something on your mind?”

“No mom. I just think we should talk about something else.”

“Do you have a problem with the conversation?” My mom was giving that cold stare she gives

me when she’s disappointed. That stare that makes me hold my breath. Where everything stops and I feel frozen to where I am.

“Can I be excused?”

“You haven’t finished your plate.”

“I’m not feeling so good.”

“Fine. Take care of your plate.”

“I should get home too. My mom is probably wondering where I am,” Stephanie says, getting up

and following me to the kitchen.

“I’m sorry you had to listen to that,” I say, rinsing our dishes.

“It’s fine, you did warn me. Are you ok? That was a little intense.” “I’m fine.”

“Is she always like that?”

“Yeah.”

“What about your dad?”

“I don’t know him. He left when I was three.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. You should go before my mom starts grilling you again.”

“Ok. Call me if you need to talk.”

“Ok. Bye.” Stephanie left and I said goodnight to my mom and headed up to my room. Stephanie

drove home to an empty house. Their plane must have been delayed. Stephanie just went upstairs and got ready for bed. Stephanie’s mind kept running and she had trouble falling asleep. She pulled out her phone and started to text Hayley.

“You awake,” Stephanie was hovering over the send button deciding if she should send it. Click! Sent. Two minutes later, she got a text back.

“I am now.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine. You ok?”

“Just can’t sleep.”

“Something on your mind?”

“It’s nothing. Sorry to wake you good night.”

“Ok good night. See you tomorrow.” The next morning, Stephanie picked me up like she usually does and we drove to school. We walked to my locker to find James standing there. I stopped dead in my tracks and ducked behind a corner.

“Hey, it’s been weeks you can’t avoid him forever.” “I know. But.”

“Just go talk to him,” Stephanie says, giving me a little push towards him. He spotted me and I gave Stephanie a look. She gave me a look back saying, “go on.” So, I walked over to him.

“Hey.”

“Sup stranger,” James says, smiling. For a split second my heart jumped.

“Sorry, I have been avoiding you.” “Oh, you have. I haven’t noticed.”

“Funny. I just needed time to think. You caught me by surprise.” “And did you think?”

“Yeah.”

“And have you come to a conclusion?”

“I don’t know.”

“A smarty like you, doesn’t have the answer.” “Shut up.”

“It’s fine. I’m in no rush and I’m not mad you've been avoiding me. I understand why you did.” Stephanie is still by the corner watching the conversation between James and Hayley unfold. Until an arm wraps around her from behind.

“What you looking at,” Chad says, looking in the direction Stephanie is looking. “Get off me,” Stephanie says, shoving Chad off.

“What’s happening over there?”

“They're talking.”

“By the way, you're watching them. I’m guessing you know what they’re talking about.” “Wow, very observant of you.”

“What are they talking about?”

“None of your business.”

“Is it about the kiss?”

“You know about the kiss.”

“Of course. I know. James is my best friend.” Ring! Ring!

“That’s the bell. We shouldn’t be late,” Hayley says, shutting her locker and walking towards

home room.

“Wait for me,” James says, catching up to me.

“We should go too,” Stephanie says to Chad.

“Are you ok?”

“I’m fine. Let’s go before we’re late.” James and I got to class just in time.

“Ok class take your seats. School year is coming to an end and we will be starting presentations soon. I hope you all used class time wisely and managed time outside of class. Everyone has the subject they have to teach. You have the whole class period to fill.” The day threw by. I couldn’t stop thinking about James. I don’t know how I feel about him. Ever since that kiss. I got these butterflies in my stomach and I don't know why? I pretty much spaced out the whole day and was at my locker, heading home.

“Earth to Hayley,” Stephanie says, waving her hand in my face.

“What. Sorry.”

“Are you ok?”

“Sorry, I'm just a little distracted.”

“Is it James?”

“Yeah. We’re good. He said to take my time.” “That’s good. Do you like him in that way?”

“I don’t know. I don't know what liking someone feels like.” “Do you feel happy when you're around him?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to talk about it. Can we just go home?”

“Ok let’s go.” We get in Stephanie’s car and drive off. “Hey, do you want to sleepover at my place?”

“Sure, if your parents are cool with it.”

“They won’t be home. They're out of town on another business trip.” “Your parents travel a lot.”

“Yeah. They have been really busy lately.” We finally got to Stephanie’s house.

“Are you hungry?”

“I could eat.”

“Good. I make a mean lasagna.” I sat at the kitchen counter watching her pull out all the

equipment she needed to make it. 20 minutes later, she put a lasagna dish on the kitchen table. “All done,” she says, running to the kitchen to get plates and silverware.

“Smells good,” I say, grabbing a plate. Stephanie and I sat down and got ready to eat. I was about to take my first bite when I caught Stephanie staring at me.

“What?”

“I'm just waiting for feedback.”

“Delicious as always,” I say, taking another forkful of lasagna.

“Good. It’s always a pleasure serving you,” she says, smiling at me. We ate together for another

20 minutes, talking and trying not to spit out food while laughing. “You finished,” Stephanie says, taking care of her dish.

“Yeah. I can do the dishes you know. You made me this delicious meal, the least I can do is the dishes.”

“Not a chance. I appreciate the offer but you are a guest and I’m the host,” Stephanie says, taking my plate.

“Let’s compromise and do them together. You can wash, while I dry and put them away.” “I like that idea. Let’s do it,” Stephanie says, handing me a towel. She turns on the faucet,

waiting for it to heat up.

“Would you oppose some jams while cleaning?”

“Go for it.”

“Any requests,” Stephanie says, heading over to the stereo.

“Anything you like is good.”

“Alrighty then, the queen herself, Ariana grande,” she says as she walks over to me. We did the dishes together while dancing and singing. Well, Stephanie was doing most of the dancing and singing. I don’t really dance and don’t know the lyrics. But, the song isn’t bad, it’s pretty catchy.

“You really don’t know this song,” Stephanie says as the song finishes playing.

“I don’t really listen to music, but I did like that song.”

“Really,” she says, handing me the last dish.

“Yeah, I don’t know.”

“I couldn’t live without music. I’m going to introduce you to a world you have never seen

before.”

“Ok but not too late. It is a school night.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you're tucked in before 10.” Stephanie introduced me to all her favorite songs and artists. We even listened to random songs Stephanie never heard. It was fun. She even made me get up and dance with her until we were out of breath. We both jumped back on the bed, laughing.

“So, what did you think?”

“It was great. Thanks for introducing me,” I say, turning towards her smiling.

“Of course,” she says, turning towards me, smiling back. Then, we both stop for a second looking at each other. For some reason my heart picked up as we were staring at each other in complete silence.

“We should get ready for bed,” I say, breaking the silence.

“Yeah. You’re right,” she says, sitting up and getting her pajamas and speed walking out of the room to the bathroom. She closed the bathroom door and slid down with her back against the door. Her face was red and her heart racing. I was still laying on her bed, thinking about what just happened. I brushed it off and got ready for bed. Minutes later, Stephanie comes back into the room.

“Hey, you ok,” I say as she shuts the door.

“I’m fine. Just tired is all,” she says, flicking the light switch off and hopping in bed with me.

“Good night Hayley.”

“Good night Stephanie.” Moments later, I started drifting to sleep. I wake up to the sound of

Stephanie’s alarm going off. We both sit up and stretch. “Good morning,” Stephanie says, yawning.

“Morning.” We both get up and start getting ready for the day.

“I’m going to take a quick shower before we go. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen.” “Ok thanks.” I went downstairs to find cereal and made myself a bowl of cereal. I finished

my bowl of cereal and cleaned my bowl. Then I hear Stephanie come downstairs.

“How was your shower,” I say, putting my bowl away.

“It was good. You ready to go,” she says, grabbing her keys.

“Yeah,” I say, following her out the door. The ride to school was quiet. She didn’t say anything

until we got to my locker.

“I’ll catch you later,” she says, before I could get a word out. “Wai-,” I started to say, but she was already halfway down the hall.

“Boo,” James says, tapping me on the shoulder.

“Ahh,” I say, jumping back.

“Oh. hey.”

“Stephine ok. I saw her speed walking away in a hurry.”

“I think so,” I say, shutting my locker as the bell rings for the first period. James and I walk to

class together. We take our seats as Mr. Parker starts taking attendance. We started doing presentations today and the rest of us have to pay attention because we have to give feedback and take a little quiz on what's being presented.

“Ok class the next presentation is James and Hayley. Make sure you come to class tomorrow on time and prepared. That will be all. Class dismissed.” We all file out of class and I find James waiting for me. He walks to my locker so I can get my things for the next period.

“This is half our grade, so don't be late.”

“Scouts honor,” James says, holding up his hand. “Ok. bye.”

“See you at lunch.”

“Ok class. The instructions are on your desks. So, please be careful. I'll be here if you have any questions.”

“Hey Stephanie. Earth to Stephanie,” Chad says, waving his hand in front of her face. “What?”

“It's time for us to work on the experiment.” “Oh right. Sorry.”

“Are you ok?”

“I'm fine. Let's get started.”

“Come on baby. I'm a good listener.”

“It's nothing. Just tired is all,” Stephanie says, reading the instructions.

“If you have trouble sleeping at night, I can always come over to keep you company.”

“I’d rather die from sleep deprivation.”

“Ouch. You can talk to me.”

“Ugh. fine. You're just going to bug me the whole time till I answer.”

“I’m touched. You know me so well.”

“I had a sleepover with Hayley.”

“I like where this is going. Please tell me, someone got naked.”

“No, you perv. I almost kissed her.”

“You should just tell her how you feel.”

“I can’t. She’s still trying to figure out her feelings for James and telling her will just confuse her

even more.”

“What happens if she does and finds she does have feelings for him.” “Then that's that. I’m not going to complicate things for her.”

“I get that. But holding in your feelings isn’t good for your friendship. It’s just going to hurt you. I’m pretty sure Hayley doesn’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t know. Just don’t say anything ok.”

“Don’t worry baby girl, your secret is safe with me.” They spent the rest of the period working on the experiment until the bell rang for lunch.

“Get your grumpy hands off my food. You have your own lunch,” I say, squatting away James hand.

“Hey guys,” Stephanie says, taking a seat next to me.

“Sup man,” Chad says, dapping up James.

“So, I was thinking we could all have a slumber party at my house. My parents are out of town

and I have the whole crib to myself,” Chad says, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“On what planet do you think I'd ever go to your house,” Stephanie says, stabbing her salad. “Come on. I promise to be on my best behavior.”

“Never gonna happen.”

“Pwetty pwease,” Chad says with puppy dog eyes.

“I’m down. What about you Hayley,” James says looking at me.

“Uh. I don’t know.”

“It will just be us. It will be fun.”

“I can leave at any time.”

“If you're not having a good time. I’ll drive you home myself.”

“Fine.”

“Well I guess I'll go too. I'm not leaving Hayley alone with you two,” Stephanie says, sipping her drink.

“Great. I'll have tons of snacks and games for us. Be at my place by 7. I’ll text you guys the address.”

“Want me to pick you up Hayley,” Stephanie says, getting up to throw away her trash.

“Yeah. thank you.” With that lunch was over and everyone was heading to their last block class. Last class went by so fast. I found myself at my locker getting my stuff to leave. Stephanie dropped me off after school. I came home to my mom sitting at the kitchen table with a pile of papers.

“Hey mom.”

“Welcome home dear. How was school?”

“It was good. My science teacher assigned my partner and I a project together for homework. Is it

ok if I stay the night?”

“As long as it's just school work.”

“Yes mom.”

“Then I'm fine with it.”

“Thanks mom. I'm going to head upstairs.”

“One more thing before you go. I have another business trip I can’t avoid.” “When do you leave?”

“I leave tonight. I'll be gone for 4 days. You know the rules. No one is allowed in the house without my knowledge and be here to sign for my packages. I’ll be sure to message you beforehand.”

“Understood.” I go upstairs and pack for tonight. That was the first time I lied to my mom. I don’t know how to feel about it. I decide to study a couple hours before Stephanie comes to get me. Also, did some final touches on our project. Before I knew it I got a text from Stephanie saying she was here. My mom was already gone when I left the house.

“Hey, you ready,” Stephanie says, starting the engine.

“Yeah.” Of course Stephanie and I got there before James.

“Evening ladies. Come on in,” Chad says, gesturing us inside. We enter to the sound of music and

a snack table in the living room.

“Help yourself to anything,” Chad says, shutting the door.

“Here,” Stephanie says, handing me a drink.

“Thanks,” I say, taking the cup and starting to sip. I start coughing really hard.

“Are you ok? What's wrong,” Stephanie says, rubbing my back.

“There's alcohol in this drink,” I say, catching my breath.

“Oops. my bad. I forgot to tell you,” Chad says, giving me a cup of water.

“I’m ok. Thanks,” I say, taking the cup.

“Come sit down,” Stephanie says, guiding me to the couch.

“I'll be right back guys. I need to make a couple calls,” Chad says, heading into the other room. “You good,” Stephanie says, still rubbing my back.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Thanks.” Couple minutes later, Chad walks back into the living room.

“I just got a call from James. He said something came up. But he will try to make it later.” We both said ok in unison.

“On that note. I have to go out real quick. My parents need me to take care of something. I know I'm a bad host. I'll be quick,” Chad says, grabbing his coat and keys and heads out.

“I can’t believe him,” Stephanie says, getting a drink. She takes a sip and makes a sour face. “I understand why you were coughing so much. Chad knows how to make a strong drink.” “Yeah. Drinking isn’t really my thing.”

“I know. You don’t have to,” she says, taking another swig of her drink.

“It might not be so bad if you had a chaser. Let me see what I can find,” Stephanie says, looking in the kitchen.

“It's fine. Really. I wasn’t planning on drinking. It’s a school night. You probably shouldn't either. “Classic Hayley. I found coke,” she says, handing me the coke.

“It's ok. You can finish my drink.”

“I will if you don’t like it. Just try it. One more sip, won’t hurt anything.”

“Ok, how do I do it? Do I mix them?”

“No, you take a sip of alcohol and chase it down with the coke.”

“Ok,” I take a sip of the alcohol and immediately chase it down with the coke. “How is it?”

“It's more bearable with the coke.”

“See not that bad. Cheers,” she says, clankng my cup and taking another sip. I decided to finish the drink I had with the coke Stephanie gave me. While Stephanie was on her second glass.

“Hey Stephanie, I feel weird.”

“You're probably a little tipsy because you're not used to drinking. I'm not surprised, Chad did really make these drinks strong”

“I feel light.”

“It's ok. I'll get you some more water.” She heads into the kitchen to get me some more water. She heads back to the living room and hands me the glass of water.

“Chad sure is taking a long time.”

“Yeah.” Stephanie finishes her second drink and pours a third.

“Can I ask you something without you getting defensive?”

“What is it?”

“Do you have feelings for James,” Stephanie says, sitting next to me on the couch.

“I don’t know.”

“You still don’t know.”

“I don’t know what it feels like to have feelings for someone.”

“Do you feel happy when you're with him? Do you get nervous and your heart races around him?

Stuff like that.”

“I mean I like spending time with him.”

“Did you feel anything when he kissed you?”

“It caught me by surprise.”

“Do you want to do it again,” Stephanie says, taking another swig of her drink.

“Uh. I don't know. Can we talk about something else?”

“Fine. Since we're waiting, wanna have a dance party?”

“Sure,” I say as Stephanie plays her playlist off her phone and extends her hand to me. I take her

hand and she twirls me. We continued twirling each other back and forth. Until Stephanie trips over herself and falls on top of me. We fall to the ground laughing.

“I'm sorry. Are you ok?”

“I'm ok. Are you?”

“Yeah,” Stephanie says, laughing, making me laugh with her. Then we stop to catch our breaths.

She just stares at me and I stare back. Just like that night I spent the night at her house. My heart skips a beat. I was about to sit up, when she put her hand on my cheek. She learned in and kissed me. I stood there frozen in place, not knowing what to do. She opened her eyes and realized what she was doing.

“Oh my god. I’m sorry,” she says, getting off of me. Then, the front door swings open.

“Hey guys. Sorry I'm late,” James says, taking off his coat. He hangs his coat on the rack and comes into the living room. Stephanie and I already got up quickly to sit on the couch.

“Where’s Chad,” James says as he looks around the room.

“Oh. He had to do some errands for his parents. That was half an hour ago. He should be back soon,” Stephanie says, taking a swig of her drink.

“Typical Chad. Anyways, hey Hayley,” James says, walking over to the snack table.

“Hey.” He takes his drink and comes over to sit with us on the couch with me in the middle.

“You ok, Hayley. You look a little red,” James says, putting his hand on my forehead. I squat his hand away.

“I’m fine. Probably the drink I had.”

“What’s this? Hayley drinking on a school night. You make me proud.”

“Shut up and why were you so late.”

“My pops got in another fight at the bar and I had to pick him up from jail.”

“Is he ok,” Stephanie says, interjecting.

“Yeah, he’s fine. Just a couple scrapes and bruises.” Then Chad Bursts in.

“Sorry it took longer than expected,” he says, walking in the living room.

“Oh. Hey man. You made it,” Chad says, walking over to dab James up.

“Yeah. Had to pick up my old man.”

“Damn man. Anyways, I got something to cheer you up,” Chad says, pulling out a bag filled with

joints. He hands James one and pulls out a lighter. He lights the tip of the joint hanging out James mouth. “What about you ladies,” Chad says, walking over to us.

“I’m good,” I say, putting my hand up.

“What about you,” he says, looking at Stephanie.

“I'm with Hayley. I think I should sober up,” she says, looking at me. My face starts to get a little red. That moment before James walked in started to play in my head.

“Where’s the bathroom,” I say, standing up off the couch.

“Straight down the hall and should be the first door on the left.” I walk away without another word to the bathroom.

“What was that about?”

“I don’t know. I guess she really had to go,” Stephanie says, looking down at her cup.

“James, can you get me the pack of beer on the kitchen table?”

“Sure man,” James says, walking to the kitchen.

“Did something happen with you two,” Chad says as James was out of ear shot.

“Nothing happened.”

“Then why are you two acting weird?”

“It’s not on the table man,” James says, yelling from the kitchen.

“Try the fridge,” Chad says, yelling back.

“Must be your imagination. Hayley’s been gone awhile. I’m going to go check on her,” Stephanie

says, walking away.

“Yo. I swear there’s no beer in here,” James says, appearing in the walkway of the living room. “Really, my pops must have finished them.”

“Really bro.”

“Hey Hayley. You ok,” Stephanie says, knocking on the bathroom door.

“I’m fine.”

“Can I come in? So we can talk.”

“Are you sober enough to take me home?”

“I’m sorry. Let me in please.” I unlocked the door for her to come in. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that earlier. Can we forget about it?” “Can you take me home?”

“Talk to me.”

“I don’t know what to say. I’m just confused.”

“I’m sorry.” I didn’t say anything. We sat there in silence for a minute until Stephanie broke the silence.

“Please say something.”

“What you want me to say.”

“Anything. How you feel. What are you thinking about?”

“I don’t know.”

“Hey guys. Everything's ok in there,” James says, knocking on the door.

“Can I use the bathroom in peace,” I say, yelling through the door.

“Sorry, you guys have been in there awhile.”

“Yo man. You never bother a girl in the bathroom. It could be that time of the month.” “Oh. My bad. Take your time,” James says, walking away.

“Chad is such an idiot,” Stephanie says, under her breath.

“Guys are just idiots in general.” We both look at each other and start to laugh.

“We should go back,” I say, catching my breath.

“Yeah. Let’s go.” We both walk out the bathroom and meet the boys out in the living room.

“Welcome back to the party ladies,” Chad says, taking a hit of his joint.

“What’s that smell,” I say, pinching my nose.

“Really guys. Go smoke that outside,” Stephanie says, taking the joint out of Chad's hand and

dunking it in the glass of water on the snack table. “Hey!”

“You boys go outside and smoke.”

“This is my house right.” Stephanie just glares at him without a single word.

“Fine. Let’s go James.”

“It’s cold outside,” James replies back.

“Either you guys go outside or me and Hayley will leave.” Stephanie then looks to me for

agreement.

“Yeah,” I say in agreement.

“Fine I was done smoking anyways.” We spent the night drinking, dancing, and singing. Well they sang, I didn’t know the lyrics. It was funny cause they kept slurring and forgetting the lyrics. Stephanie and Chad got into a little argument about how the song goes. I swear they are like siblings, the way they always bicker.

“Whatever. Let’s agree to disagree on how the song goes.” Then cups his mouth towards us and whispers, “even know I’m totally right.”

“Hey! I can still hear you.”

“Oh. Did you? That was totally not my intention,” he says, smirking at Stephanie.

“Ugh. I can’t with you,” she says, punching him in the arm.

“Hey! Hey! Baby, be more gentle with me.”

“Shut up,” she says, lighting up on hitting him to go sit on the couch.

“Ok I’m sorry. I can’t help it. You're too cute when being teased.

“Whatever. I’m tired of dancing.”

“Should we head to bed? It is a school night,” I say, interjecting.

“It’s only 9. It will be fine. I’m not ready to go to bed yet,” James says, looking at me.

“I don’t know. We have our project tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry. Just chill a little.

“It’s worth half our grade. It’s fine if you don’t want to pass but I sure do.”

“Then, you go to bed. You don’t need to be here.” I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to

say. The room was quiet as the music stopped playing and no one was talking. I stood up and everybody looked at me.

“Fine. Chad, where am I sleeping?”

“Oh. Uh. You and Stephanie are sleeping in our guest room. It’s across from the bathroom. I grabbed my bag by the door and went to the room without another word.

“I’m going to bed too. You guys have fun. Good night,” Stephanie says, minutes after Hayley went into the room.

“Damn. I thought I was an asshole when I drank,” Chad says, finishing his drink. “Sorry bro. I don’t know why I said that. I didn’t mean to bring the room down.”

“It’s not me you should be apologizing to.”

“Shit. You think I should say something. Maybe I will tomorrow. She just needs time to chill.” “This is why you suck at relationships.”

“Shut up. You know I don’t do relationships.”

“I thought you wanted a relationship with her.”

“I do. I don’t think she wants me.”

“This is new. What happened to all that confidence?”

“Shut up dude. She’s different from any girl I've been with.”

“Been with. You mean all the one night stands you have.”

“Whatever dude. Let’s go to bed.”

“Alright bro. Good night,” Chad says, turning off the living room light.

“Wait. Why are we not sleeping in your room?”

“My room is a mess right now.”

“I don’t care.”

“Fine. Wait here I’ll be right back,” he says darting to his room. He comes back five minutes later. “Ok. You may enter my domain.”

“You can be really weird sometimes,” James says, walking in his room.

“Ouch. That really hurts my feelings,” Chad says, sarcastically.

“Go to bed,” James says, jumping on the bed. Chad turns off the lights and jumps on the bed with

James.

“Funny. Get your ass on the floor.” “Really. This is my bed.”

“You really want to share the bed. “I don’t want the floor.”

“Fine. Just stay on your side,” James says, rolling over to face the wall. Couple minutes later, James jumps up as he feels an arm around him.

“What the fuck! No dude.”

“Sorry I had to. It was just too easy,” he says, laughing. “You play too much. Go to bed.”

“My bad. Just a joke. Good night.”

In the guest room, Hayley and Stephanie were lying in bed until Stephanie broke the silence. “Hayley?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you ok?”

“I’m fine.”

“It’s ok if what James said hurts your feelings.”

“It didn’t. Just go to bed.”

“You know you can tell me if it did.” I turn towards Stephanie. “Can you just drop it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry I snapped at you. I’m not used to people caring about how I feel.” She just stared at me without saying another word.

“What?”

“Nothing...”

“Goodnight then,” I say as I roll back over towards the wall.

“Night.”

The next morning, I woke up to everyone still fast asleep. I looked at the time and it's late. I tried

to shake Stephanie.

“Hey, get up, we're going to be late for school,” I say, fiercely shaking her. Damn, how much did

she drink? I knew we shouldn’t have drank on a school night. As soon as I was about to give up. She started coughing and sitting up, yawning.

“Is breakfast ready?”

“Sorry no time. We need to get the boys up and get ready for school,” I say, jumping out of bed. I look at Stephanie to say hurry up, let's go. She stretches and looks around.

“Where am I?”

“Chad's guest bedroom. Now come on,” I say, grabbing her hand and going to the boys room to get them up.

“Ouch. not so fast.”

“What's wrong,” I say, stopping in front of the boys room.

“My head is pounding.”

“Help me get the boys up and we will get something for your head.”

“Fine.” I bang on the door, yelling at them that they were going to be late. No answer.

“For heaven's sake, all this yelling and banging isn't helping,” Stephanie says, bringing foot up to

kick the door open. The door swings open, slamming into the wall behind it. The crash, making the boys jump. Chad fell to the ground, screaming.

“You got the wrong guy. Please it wasn’t me,” Chad says with his hands up shielding his head. “Enough with the screaming. Get your asses up, it's time for school.”

“Oh. it's just you beautiful,” Chad says, getting back up on the bed.

“You're such an idiot,” James says, yawning.

“Guys were kinda in a hurry. We need to leave now if we're going to make it,” I say, getting everyone to hurry up. We all hurried and got dressed and were in the car on our way to school.

“Here,” I say, handing Stephanie medicine for her headache.

“Thank you. You're such a life saver,” she says, taking the medicine.

“Water.”

“Thanks,” she says, taking a swig of water. We finally made it to the school. The boys were

trailing behind us and ending up parking beside us. We made it with 10 minutes to spare.

“I can’t believe we made it,” I say, unbuckling.

“Yeah, I think I'm going to just relax here for a little while,” Stephanie says, lying back in her

seat.

“Sure. I'll talk to you later. I need to make sure James is presentable to present our project.” “Yeah yo-,” she starts to say but starts to drift to sleep. I start to smile.

“Thank you,” I whisper to her before getting out. I get out to see James standing there leaning on

Chad's car.

“Hey, good morning,” he says, waving at me.

“You're good enough to do the presentation right?”

“Yeah. no sweat. I've had way worse hangovers than this.”

“I'm counting on you. Don’t screw it up,” I say, walking in.

“Can we talk about last night,” he says, following behind me.

“No time.”

“Please.”

“Let's get through this presentation and we will see after that,” I say as I'm walking into class. We

take our seats and wait for our teacher to finish taking roll calls.

“Now for today's students who will be presented for us, James and Hayley.” We got up and

started with a powerpoint presentation. Where I did most of the talking because James didn’t study up on the slides. After the powerpoint, we took questions and James passed out worksheets based on the powerpoint. The whole class period went by just fine. We finally got through the whole presentation without a single problem. I looked at James and he didn’t look okay.

“What's wrong with you,” I whispered to him. “I uh- feel like- throw up,” he whispered back.

“Hayley, James something the matter.”

“No, we're fine. Mr.parker.”

“Good. Any last questions before we dismiss class." Please no one raise their hands. Then the bell

rang. Thank god and that's when everyone started filing out of the classroom. No one was faster than James leaving the classroom that day. I found him throwing up in a trash bin in the hallway.

“This is why I don't drink,” I say, walking over to him. He picks his head up from being hunched over and wipes his mouth.

“You don’t say.”

“Here,” I say, handing him a bottle of water. “Thanks,” he says, gulping it down.

“About last night.”

“I'm going to stop you right there.”

“I'm sorry I didn't mean it.”

“Let's just agree you're an asshole when you drink.” “But a cute asshole right?”

“The jury’s still out on that one,” I say, hiding a smile. “I saw that.”

“I’m walking away now.”

It’s the last week of school and I spent the whole weekend studying for finals. Monday finally came and Stephanie was outside waiting for me.

“Hey,” I say, getting in and shutting the door.

“Goodmorning, how was your weekend,” Stephanie says as she starts driving to school.

“It was good. I got a lot of studying done.”

“Oh right. Finals are starting today.”

“You forgot?”

“It will be fine. I can cram during lunch,” Stephanie says as she's pulling into the parking lot. “If you say so,” I say as I get out and head inside. Stephanie follows me inside and walks me to

my locker. As we approached my locker, there we saw James waiting.

“Morning ladies,” James says, smiling.

“Morning,” Stephanie and I say in unison. I open my locker to put my bag in and get my books for the first period.

“Good morning,” Chad says, putting his arm around James and Stephanie.

“Dude, you know I hate when you do that,” James says, pushing his arm off his shoulder.

“Agreed,” Stephanie says, pushing Chad away.

“You guys are always so mean to me,” Chad says, sarcastically. I shut my locker as the first bell rings. “See you guys at lunch,” I say as I head down the hall.

“Wait up,” James says, catching up to me.

“And then there were two,” Chad says, smiling at Stephanie.

“I'm going to class, bye.” The whole day I was feeling great about finals. The studying I did was really paying off. I felt most of the answers I knew. Lunch rolled around and I met up with Stephanie, James, and Chad.

“Hayley, thank god you're here. Think you can help me study for tomorrow's test,” Stephanie says, taking a seat next to me.

“Sure. What class do you need help with,” I say, taking a sip of my milk. “Math. I suck at math. Mr.Porter tests are the worst.”

“Hey ladies,” Chad says as he and James take their seats across from us. “Hey James,” Stephanie says, smiling, ignoring Chad.

“It really hurts my heart when you ignore me like that.”

“Not my problem.”

“Come on. Let’s kiss and make up,” Chad says, puckering his lips.

“Come any closer and you're gonna lose some teeth,” Stephanie says, making a fist. Chad grabs James and hides behind him.

“Don’t hide behind me, dude. You reap what you sow,” James says, moving away from Chad.

“You're really going to leave me hanging like that,” Chad says with puppy dog eyes.

“Yup.” We all just start laughing.

“Chad will remember this,” Chad says as he bites his burger.

“You want to study after school.”

“Yes please. You're a lifesaver,” Stephanie says, hugging me. That's when the bell rings signaling lunch is over. Everyone started filing out of the cafeteria and headed to their class.