Young Forever

Chapter 8

Lunch time came soon. Angela looked for Aaliyah and her friends. Aaliyah waved to her from her table. Angela went and sat down with her.

Every time she sat with Aaliyah, she just couldn't believe she was actually friends with her. Aaliyah was beautiful, smart, kind, and popular. Sometimes Angela couldn't believe all this was happening. Was it actually a dream? It seemed too good to be true.

"So Angie, what's been going on with you?" asked Monica.

"Uh.... Angie?"

"Ohh, hope you don't mind us calling you that"

"Oh no, not at all. Its just that, I'm not used to hearing anyone but my mom calling me Angie."

"Ah, I understand. You never had friends for the longest time."

"Monica" Aaliyah nudged her.

"Yeah, that's true," said Angela.

"I wanna know, how did you and Aali become friends anyways?" asked Hannah.

"Oh, well, uh... basically we just bumped into each other once" said Angela.

"Yeah that's pretty much it" said Aaliyah.

"Wow. I didn't know that all it takes to make friends these days is to be clumsy as heck and bump into everyone you see" Monica said.

"Monica, stop teasing her," said Aaliyah.

"Alright, alright, I'm just joking," said Monica. "So what's been going on with you Angela? What do you do when you're not studying"

"Well..."

Should she tell the girls what she'd been working on? Would they tease her about it?

Well, they were her friends, they would support her.

"Actually, I've been working on something..." she said.

"Ooh, what is it?" asked Hannah.

"A..... a video game" said Angela.

"A video game?!" the three girls said at once.

"Yeah. Honestly my dream is to become a game developer so I've been working on my own game. I'm starting small of course, but-"

Suddenly Monica began to laugh.

"Uh..., what's so funny?" asked Angela.

"Oh, don't worry. Its so adorable how big you dream" said Monica.

"What do you mean?"

"Yeah, you're in for a surprise if you think it'll be easy," said Hannah.

"I know it won't be easy but I still enjoy doing it. And..." Angela was about to say that she'd gotten into a college for video game development, but she stopped herself just in time.

"Wow, no wonder Aali became your friend. You sure share a lot in common. Like your big dreams.... and your dorky interests too. Can you believe most of Aaliyah's favourite music is anime and video game soundtracks?" Monica said.

"Hey, I can't help it if they're really good," said Aaliyah.

"I mean.... I listen to video game soundtracks too. They help me concentrate on working" said Angela.

"Aww, you're both so adorable," said Monica. "You're really made for each other now that I think about it."

Angela and Aaliyah looked down and blushed.

The bell rang.

"Oh, gotta get back to class. See you around Angie" said Monica.

"Bye Angela" said Aaliyah.

"Bye guys"

Angela went back to class. She felt smaller than usual. Was her dream really that far-fetched? Well, she knew she would end up in a college for video game development. She remembered that day clearly.... Her doing the entrance test, getting nervous and giddy when the results were announced, and her parents throwing a party once she found out she had got in. To think she could relive that day now.... Still, Monica and Hannah's words rang in her mind. Should she have a more achievable dream?

Angela wasn't as attentive in class. She still thought of Monica's words. Video games were her passion, and so was game design. But still.... should she really give it up?

The last bell for the day soon rang and Angela took her bag and made her way home.

"Angela! Hey Angela!"

Aaliyah's voice called to her. Angela looked back.

"Oh. Hey Aaliyah" she said.

"I was looking for you" said Aaliyah. "I just wanna say.... I think your dream is amazing. You should go for it!"

"Really? You think so?"

"Yeah. Its amazing how you're so passionate about game design. And.... Monica told me the same thing about my dream of becoming a novelist."

"She did?"

"Yeah. She doesn't mean any harm, she just thinks.... some dreams are impossible to achieve. But I know, if you work hard, you'll definitely make a great game. Someday I want to play your games too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I bet they're great."

"Oh.... well, I'll be sure to let you try my game after I'm done."

"And I'll let you read the novel I'm working on."

"Done."

"Oh, and another thing. I was thinking.... maybe we should spend some time together. You know, without Monica and Hannah. I like them, but I wanna get to know you better. So, this weekend, do you think you'd be able to..."

Angela almost couldn't hear her over the thumping of her own heart.

"Y-yeah, I'd love to" said Angela.

"Great! Then we'll meet each other this weekend."

"S-Sure. Bye then, Aaliyah."

"Goodbye Angela."

The girls went their own separate ways.

Angela touched her face and felt it was hot. She'd get to spend time alone.... with Aaliyah. It was everything she wanted. And Aaliyah had asked to play her game.... Angela pinched herself and immediately pulled away.

No, this was definitely not a dream.