Seven

one: background

to Sadie, for being one of the most supporting and chill people I know

I went to the type of school where there were eight hundred kids for K-8. That's nine grades, and eight hundred people. Everyone knew everyone, and half of our school was the home schoolers who came on Mondays and Thursdays or whenever they needed to.

Before the school year started, I just knew that the year was going to be great (maybe I was going crazy from watching all of the seasons of The Office in two weeks). It turned out that it was going to be a great year for friendships, but a bad year for everything somewhat romantic.

On the first day of school, I saw my old science competition team coach's son (yeah, I did Science Olympiad. Google it). I mean, he seemed like the cutest guy ever until you go to know him, and then he was dorky and stupid and annoying. His name was Landon Horn. He was good friends with my friend, Leo Marcelo. Shout out to Leo for introducing us. (It was more like me hanging out with Leo and then Landon showing up.)

Landon was the type of boy who you saw and immediately thought was attractive, although, once you got to know him, he was one of the strangest yet loyal people you'll ever get to know. Landon was taller than me, which was always a real perk. It had been really difficult for me to find decent looking boys that just so happen to be taller than me because I was twelve-year-old who just so happened to be five foot four. Two years down the road,  I've only grown an inch while all the other boys catch up. Back to Landon: He had blue eyes and a big smile, but he had a Bieber cut. Yes, a Bieber cut. He also wore a ton of hair gel, so we would mess up his hair in the library after school. "We" were Leo, my good friend Adriana, and my ex-bestie, Jennah. Every once in a while, Wren Hedglington, another one of our friends, would hang out with us as well.

Landon and I became such good friends that it simply wasn't possible for us to be together. Another factor was that the first thing I ever said to him was "You kinda look like a baby." His cheeks were perpetually red, like he was constantly embarrassed. After a lot of coaxing, I found out who he liked: Wren!

"So, Mads, who do you like?" he asked me.

"Umm... I like... Elijah Woodey," I said. It was true. My friends Lanie, Tara, Emma, Wren, and I created a new name for Elijah Woodey. He would be called EW, but I stopped liking him shortly after that came out. He's cute, but in a baby way. His voice is higher than mine and he says a lot of strange things. Everyone out grows their crushes, and that's perfectly fine.

For the longest time, Landon had his Bieber cut until we finally pushed him to the brink. He cut his hair and did that spiky thingy with it. Not quiffs, not total spikes, but like where you make the back go forward and then the top goes straight up. It's hard to describe. Anyways, I found that it resembled a unicorn's horn. He was renamed Unicorn, and to me, he's Bestie.

Anyways, here's Landon's background. He ends up being very, very important in our story:

Landon Horn was the baby of his family, and he was probably the baby of our grade. He definitely wasn't the youngest person in our grade, but for the first few months of school, he certainly acted like him. Something very tragic had happened to him, so his seventh grade year was his first year in public school. I'm proud to say that I was his second friend in 'real life' and that we are still friends today. I promised him that I'd be his best friend till the end (and we still are very close), but then the winter formal came.

Lanie Blackstone has been a good friend of mine since second grade. Landon, being his socially awkward self, had no idea how to say no, and he and Lanie became a thing. They went to the winter formal together. Lanie's always been adorable and pretty and sweet, but when she was with Landon, she was obsessed. It was got kind of annoying. She bought him a Christmas present that he never wore (it was a Doctor Who shirt). Eventually, I couldn't watch poor Lanie and told her the truth. Luckily, she understood, and we're still friends.

Lanie's and my friend, Tara, has never been one to get stuck over a boy, until that dang Alec Scotts came into her life. Although we violently told her that it would not work out, we let it slide. She helps us through our tough times, though. That's why we love Tara.

Wren is a good friend. She's a great listener and we could look up horoscopes together all day. I even made her a mixtape for her thirteenth birthday. We fangirl over the same things, and we share a lot of good memories. Wren's and my best mutual friend is Emma Hansson. Emma's sweet and kind and smart and just great to be around. I love Emma and her dorky little wire frame glasses. Landon and Leo's friend, Mason, liked me at one point. Mason is sweet and cute, but I could never like him like that. My mom said that one day, Mason would be very cute and I'd be sad I'd let go of him. I just laughed.

Emma liked a boy named Tyler. I love Tyler and sometimes forget that he's a boy. Wren and I were talking and we both said that everyone in our friend group needs to have an all nighter, boys and girls. Crank up the music, play games, and watch movies.

Alyssa. I love Lyssa, but because she's an only child, she's a bit socially awkward. Her mother babies her. Once, at a game, she walked up to me and rubbed her poms in my face. I felt like screaming at her, but I withheld myself.

Adriana Hubbard. Man, Adriana, how badly I would like to ruin your life with Jacob Lascaro. Adri's been a good friend of mine, until she asked two boys to the dance for me. One I barely knew (and he was pretty freaking cute) and the other time it ruined our friendship. Luke was very nice and cute, but we barely knew each other. I wanted to get to know him better, but thanks to Adri, there was no possibility. The other boy, a cute jock named Jackson, and I were good friends. Ever since Adri basically harrassed him to go to the dance with me (we both didn't go; the Valentine's dance was on Feb. 12th, his bday), things have been very awkward between us.

Jenae. Darling, mean, beautiful Jenae. She's unfairly beautiful. She's also very mean and doesn't like to be hugged (in the six years I've known her, she's hugged me twice), but she's a huge fangirl so I love her. We can talk about anything and everything. She isn't always available, but when she is, I can trust her with my life

That's the background, guys! Anyways, I hope you enjoy it. This chapter was basically worthless, but it kinda tells you what going on. Thanks guys :) !!!

xoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxxooxoxoxo

Madds