Best Friends

I looked around the cafeteria; people were eating lunch, talking, having I spotted Jake; his light brown hair got in his eyes as he laughed and threw chunks of food at the kid named Erik. His new best friend, I thought with sad eyes. Jake must have thought some one was watching him; he looked me straight in the eyes and glanced away as if he were ashamed or angry; I couldn't tell. I looked down at my hands.

We used to be the best of friends around here; everyone thought we should have dated, but now as I looked around, no one sat with me, not even Jake. I didn't know if I'd done something wrong. Was it Jake that everyone liked? I wish he would tell me, I thought as I slowly dug into my lunch. I hadn't been myself ever since Jake disappeared from my life. I wouldn't talk to a lot of people; only if I was being asked a question would I speak. I would ask questions that I normally wouldn't ask. I'm not as hyper as I was before,when we used to be friends.

I dumped my tray of leftover food and put it where the cafeteria lady was cleaning them. The bell rang; it's annoying. I've heard that ring since my freshman year. Jake and I had always thought it was annoying, and he probably still does. At least that was one thing that didn't change between us…us. That last word lingered in my mind longer than I would have liked it to.

Trying to get to my locker through the crowded hallway was a challenge for me. Since I was only five foot two, I had to weave around the tall people just to get there. I was grateful that I was taller then Mesa Long; she was only four foot nine and had a harder time than me. The only thing was that she was a bossy…girl. I would have said another word for her, but she didn't deserve that.

Mesa was a part of Beronica's group. I hated Beronica, and so did had always said she was a girl who got what she wanted when she wanted it, even from the guys at night. That's probably how far I'd explain that just glared at me as she put her stuff away. "Hi Alicia." She said it too innocently.

"Hi," I said, trying to get my English Four book out of my locker. I knew she was up to something with the way she was trying to hide her smirk behind her thin blonde hair, but her bright green eyes could always tell you something, too. They looked too innocent, just like the way she was talking. I decided to just play along.

"I was just wondering if after school, you could take me home? My car broke down and Beronica can't do it since she has a date tonight." Like I said, I was going to play along.

"Why sure," the sarcasm flew from my mouth, "but I bet this is some kind of trick for getting me back for what I did to Beronica last week." I had dumped over her head after school for saying mean things about me and how Jake hates my guts.

Mesa's green eyes narrowed. "Look, this isn't a set up," her hands clinched into fists. "This is the truth." I sighed. I really wasn't going to win this.

"Okay, since I'm nice I'm going to take you home later, but this better be the truth."

Mesa let out a long breath and said her thanks. The second bell rang; the warning bell. I was surprised that it wasn't the tardy bell. I looked up to see Jake's crystal blue eyes glaring at me. He then turned around and stormed off. This day is getting better and better, I thought as I rushed to my English class.

By the time I got there, the tardy bell had rung. The first tardy I'd gotten all school year. When I walked into the room, Mr. Awesome looked up. "You're late, Miss Stillwater." He looked at his grade book. "Your first tardy;just be careful or you'll get more." He smiled his awkward smile. was the best teacher around. The first time I had him he looked like he was really mean, but as they say, don't judge a book by its cover. I would vote Mr. Awesome as the number one teacher; he made English fun when I used to hate it with all my heart.

I sat in my usual seat next to Jake. We picked these seats at the beginning of the year, and I used to love this spot till now. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye to see him messing with his dark green jacket. I knew him too well; when he started messing with his clothes, that meant that he was nervous.

Mr. Awesome clapped his hands together. "Now class, today we will begin your Senior papers." A couple of yeses chorused throughout the class. "You can write anything you want, but it has to be ten pages long." The class sighed. "Well, at least this is the only thing you will be doing, and this is your semester test, so please write it as best as you can. You may now begin." I got a piece of paper out of my spiral notebook and looked down to see a note right next to me. I glanced over to see Jake turn away from me.

I opened his note. It read: What where you talking to Mesa for?

What the heck? I thought. I wrote back, When did you start to care? and passed the note back to him. I looked over to watch him read it. I saw the hurt look in his eyes. He wrote something in his own notebook as he simply passed the note back.

I'll tell you later. Just tell me what she wanted.

What are you, Jake, her protector? She just wanted a ride, I thought. I just hope it's not a set up.

He didn't write back, but it just felt pretty good just writing to him,though it still hurt a bit. I just wished he would tell me what's wrong. I guessed I'd just have to find out after school.

Mesa wasn't by her locker when I grabbed my stuff to take home, so I figured she was going to wait for me at my car. I walked out of the building to see Beronica, Mesa, and Aphrodite standing next to it. Yep, I knew it was a set up.

"Hi Alicia; I bet Jake didn't tell you that he was dating me?" Beronica asked as she fixed her skirt that was way too low on her hips and I didn't know how in the world she didn't get in trouble for it.

"He would never date you. You're too much of a slut for his liking." Beronica glared at me.

"At least Beronica gets guys, unlike you." Aphrodite flipped her shiny black hair back so that her rare red eyes glared at me. Aphrodite was pretty,but she was very hateful. I wondered how in the world she could have friends with her attitude. I'd rather hang with Beronica than her, and that's saying something. I shivered at the thought.

I laughed. "Well, that's because Beronica's at the bottom of the apple tree and she's easy to get. Unlike her, I'm at the very top of the tree and harder to get, so I'm just waiting for the right guy brave enough to pick me."

The three were stunned. Beronica's dark green eyes were furious. She ran up to me so quickly that I didn't have time to react when she punched my face.I fell to the ground with blood trickling out of my mouth.

"You'll regret saying that!" Beronica yelled.

"Leave her alone."

I looked up to see Jake, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes looking murderous."Hi honey," Beronica said nervously. Mesa and Aphrodite were backing away.

"Go to Hell!" Jake ran over to me, pushing Beronica to the ground in the process. He took me by the arm and almost dragged me to my car. Next thing I knew, I was in the passenger seat and he was in the driver's seat, pulling the car out of the parking lot. I put my hand to my mouth, putting pressure on my wound so it would stop bleeding.

We didn't say anything to each other as he drove down the street. He pulled into a parking lot at the park. I looked over at him and glared. I didn't want to be there; it just brought up better memories of our childhood lives. I got out of the car slamming the door shut. I ran toward the hiking trail between the trees.

"I know you're mad at me!" I heard him yell after me. "Please, Alicia,I want to talk to you!" I knew he was taller and had longer legs, so he was going to catch up to me any minute but that just made me push myself harder.I suddenly slipped and fell face-first to the ground, stopped from running by a rock. Jake picked me up as I threw punches at him, trying to make him let goof me. He sat me down on the ground and came down next to me.

"Alicia, I know you're mad at me, and you have every right to be mad. Just listen to me and let me explain myself." I tried to get up, but he pulled me back down.

"Yeah, I am mad at you. You hurt me Jake. Why should I listen to you? You left me without anyone else to lean on. Why do you care about me all of a sudden? You didn't seem to care two months ago!" I didn't realize I was crying till he wiped the tears away with his thumb.

I could see the hurt in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Alicia. I didn't mean to hurt you like this. This wasn't how I planned to tell you. Please don't cry anymore; I don't like it when you cry or when people hurt you." His finger ran over my lip; it had dry blood on it now. I felt a slight shock of joy, but then remembered I was supposed to be mad at him.

"I'm listening," I whispered.

A sigh of relief escaped from his lips. "After my dad got thrown into jail for no damn reason at all, I got so mad that I started doing things that I shouldn't have been doing, Alice." He said my nickname, which sent a slight shiver down my spine. "I started getting into drugs, which, by the way, I'm not addicted to at all… I think," he said nervously, blushing at my glare when he said the word 'drugs.' "Anyways, I started to party without you knowing and stealing stuff just so I could sell it. I've gotten into street fights over the last couple of months." He took off his green jacket. I gasped at the some of the nasty scars on his arms. "It was just getting worse, and I had to leave you so that I could start over for a while."

I looked straight into his crystal blue eyes. "Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped you."

He shook his head. "I didn't want you to get hurt, and I was so mad at the thought of the police taking someone inno..." He didn't finish his sentence as he looked at the dark green leaves on the trees. I remembered when his dad got accused of drug dealing. Even without evidence, they put him in jail anyways. It really messed up Jake's family.

"You still hurt me." My voice sounded hollow.

"I know, and I want to make it up to you. I won't leave your side till you tell me to."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right."

"I promise I will," he tried not to laugh.

I glared at him. "What's so funny?"

He burst out laughing. "You." I'd probably looked confused. "What?I'm not laughing at you…okay, maybe I am, but you know me. I always laugh at you." He smiled as if none of the fighting between us had happened.

I grinned. "You win."

He grinned an even bigger grin. I wondered if his smile could grow even more."You know what, can I tell you something?"

I nodded. "Sure, best friend."

He looked a little bit nervous now. "Did I mention that I've liked you since eighth grade?"

"Meaning?" I knew where this was going, but I didn't want to say it out loud.

"I like you more than a best friend."

He suddenly leaned forward and kissed me. It was totally unexpected…okay, it was expected, and heck, I enjoyed it.

"You're a good kisser," I said once he pulled back.

He grinned. "I know."

I punched him in the shoulder. "You're such a pig."

He laughed. "So, are we on better grounds?" I nodded.

He stood up and offered me his hand. "Let's go home…new girlfriend." I rolled my eyes as he helped me up. I knew we were on better grounds; I still had that tear inside of my soul, but I knew it was going to get better with Jake back.

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Dancer: I hoped y'all liked it. I wrote this for my English assignment last week. I thought it was good but I'm not for sure so please review and tell me if it's good or not. Thank you.