Seven Minutes in Hell

The People Pleaser (2)

Quickly grabbing my gym uniform, I slammed the door to my locker shut, the vibration running through my bones.

                “Laura!”

                I turned around to see one of my best friends, Lucas Catch, heading his way towards me, his blonde hair pushed out of his round eyes. He wore dark grey corduroys along with a white crew-neck shirt.

                “Hey, Lucas,” I smiled. We walked shoulder-to-shoulder towards the gym. Lucas was over a head taller than me, reaching a perfect 6’2. “What’s up?”

                “Not much,” he smiled, revealing his perfect aligned teeth. I remembered when we were younger, still freshmen, when Lucas still had his braces. I grimaced at the thought. “You excited for tomorrow?” he asked.

                I gulped before I said, “Not exactly. I mean, I probably won’t even know half the people coming to my party.”

                “Sarah took all the control again?” he joked, already knowing the answer.

                Ever since we were kids, Sarah was manipulative and bossy. But we learned to love her anyway. She only did what was best.

                A tall brunette whom I didn’t recognize smiled at me in the hallway, and I returned her smile eagerly. I was used to people smiling at me, and in a weird way, I preferred it when I didn’t know them. The sad part was that they probably knew everything about me. Except about my virgin lips, Sarah and Lucas promised to keep that a secret and I trusted the two with my life.

                Lucas bumped my shoulder, a subtle way of telling me goodbye as he stirred into his English class, greeting his girlfriend, Rosemary Peters.

                I continued walking towards the gym. Lucas and Rose have been dating for nearly ten months. I remembered when they first started dating, how jealous I had been. After all, he would be spending much more time with her than me. At least that was my initial thought. But Lucas and I would always be best friends. We knew each other so well and accepted our differences. He was my oldest friend, right before Sarah. He even helped through the grieving of the loss of my mother.

                I entered the locker room, greeted by more encouraging smiles. Several murmurs surrounded me.

                “I’m so excited for tomorrow.”

                “—no parents are going to be there.”

                “I heard Walker slept with a teacher—“

                I rolled my eyes. Walker Milne received such negative attention. Every girl fell to their knees for the boy, even I could admit that there is certain edginess about the way his features seemed perfectly chiselled. As if someone had spent months creating his face and body. But from what I’ve heard, Walker has a long list of ladies.