What Happened on Wednesday

Part One

 My first day of seventh grade was as I thought it would be and more. It was August 22nd, 2017, and the sun was bright in the sky. It was the day after a solar eclipse and all everyone could talk about was the moon crossing in front of the sun and how beautiful it was. I had gotten the chance to watch it with my neighbors and my best friend, who also lived just down the street.

Oliver and I had been friends our entire lives. From the age of seven, when he moved to the big city of Downing, Missouri from the small town of Chicago, Illinois. Even when we were in second grade, we knew everyone in town. The population was the same as it had always been. All 422 acres of farm land and roughly 300 family oriented folks knew everyone and everything about the folks in their small town.

When I learned that the new boy in class had just moved to the big city of Downing, I was ecstatic. When I learned later that evening that Oliver was my new neighbor, I was more excited than I had ever been. Through the years, we became inseparable. Siblings to the outside world, we would play in the woods behind my house and jump on his trampoline every day after school. It wouldn't shock a soul when I told them I had a crush on him. It was obvious from the day I met him.

My first day of seventh grade consisted of me greeting my friends with hugs. I was most excited to see my two best friends, Kourtney and Joliene, who were waiting for me by the front door of Schuyler County High School, waiting with anticipation for me to arrive. Our school was a small one, just one building for kindergarten through twelfth grade. There was a hallway, we called it the blue hallway, that connected the elementary school and the high school. The middle school and high school was in the same building, so even on our first day of school in this new part of the school, my friends were already swooning over the senior boys. I was not.

"Aura!" Kourtney shouted and ran up to me. "I missed you so much!"

I wrapped my arms around my best friend and Joliene caught up to us and joined the hug. I turned around to see Oliver get off of the bus and I smiled and told him to hurry up. He lightly jogged up to us and the four of us walked smiling into the school, taking note of the large statue of the ram standing gracefully outside of the small town school. I leaned over and smiled at Oliver, telling him, "You're going to have to learn to run faster than that if you're trying out for the football team, pal."

My friends laughed and Oliver gave me a light shove, telling me that my legs were too small to even dream of trying out for the track team. I ignored his comment, rolling my eyes and brushing my hands down the sides of my black skinny jeans. I had a brief thought about how large my thighs seem to have gotten overnight. I brushed it off and rushed forward slightly to hold the door open for my friends. This is going to be a good year, I thought to myself. Oliver turned around and walked slowly to wait for me to catch up again, he smirked, and I tried to suppress a laugh. He always looked like a dork.

Let's face it here: I always knew that he had feelings for me. I used to crush on him, too, but I have gotten over that. Last year during the Downing Appreciation Days, I had a panic attack because one of my best friends, Joliene, was hanging out with my (then) huge crush, who happened to be Ollie. I had a major crush on him. It was to the point that I was practically obsessed with him. I would swoon over every little thing that he would do.

Oh, and his mother. I am convinced she hates me, and that kills my confidence. Ollie is like a brother to me, and when his mom glares daggers at me from across the room, it terrifies me. Or at least she wants me to have nothing to do with Oliver, who happens to be my best friend. Ollie's mom, we'll call her Jane, was there when I flipped my shit at Joliene for sitting too close to him, or whatever I freaked out about.

Which means Jane saw me cuss out Joliene, who wasn't doing anything wrong, and some more information for the book, Joliene and Jane were very close. So when she saw me swear at Joliene, Jane lost all faith and-or trust in me completely. She's hated me ever since. At this point I think Oliver has told Jane about every single time I've asked him out or said something stupid over the phone or something.