"Madison and I are officially doing it" Candace sat down next to me in history class, and I put down Tuesdays With Morrie to give her my full attention.
"Well hello to you too" I said sarcastically as I turned to face her, "I'm great, thanks for asking"
"Do you really think this is the time for your sarcastic pleasantries, Kier? I AM HAVING SE-" I covered over her mouth before she screamed out her personal affairs to the entire classroom.
"Okay even if you are-" I paused to properly phrase my words "Doing the deed, what's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that I, your near and dear best friend for the past eleven years, is no longer a virgin. Can I get a high five?" She threw her right hand in the air, and I refused to congratulate her and just rolled my eyes, "nope, I'm not gonna get one, I bet Ang will give me one, right lil' sis?" Angelina had just walked into the room and gave her sister a look of complete confusion before lightly tapping her hand and sitting down.
"Now that's more like it!" I laughed lightly and out teacher walked in with a grimace on his face. Just from noticing the fact that his right hand was coffee-less, I knew today was going to be bad.
"Alright students, pop test!" We all groaned and he began to hand out papers.
*
"Not going to lie, I thought I saw the light today during history" we were all now sitting at our usual table in lunch, Candace sitting a few seats to my right, "If tests could kill, my body would be ice cold by now"
"I thought it was pretty easy" Angelina shrugged and Candace and I gave her the of course you did look. Angelina is passing that class with flying colors, meanwhile I was struggling to get a B.
"I bet you did fine love" Nick said to me, taking my hand and lightly squeezing it for reassurance.
"Bleh, affection" Shaeleigh came to sit down and saw Nick and I holding hands, instantly putting a sour expression on her face.
"Someone needs to get laid"Melinda muttered not-so-discreetly and Gabrielle elbowed her in the side. She cried out in mock-agony and the rest of the table lightly laughed, "seriously though, not to be offensive but, have you ever even dated anyone?" She asked and Shaeleigh's cheeks began to blush.
"Well do you want to date?"
"Yes, but it would have to be with the right guy"
"Wait...you aren't lesbian?" Everyone at our table snapped their head towards Melinda and Gabrielle, once again, jabbed her in the side, "What, I was kidding!"
"Do you think you know the 'right guy' then?" Andrea changed the subject, talking with a mouth full of salad.
"Possibly" The entire table said a collective 'oh' and pressed her for details.
"His name is Louis and he's a year younger. He's in my Geometry class and, ugh, I hate talking about gross girly shit like this, can we talk about skateboards instead?" She tried to divert the subject from herself, but all of us were too far invested to forget about it.
"Are you talking about Louis Dipippa? The sophomore on the varsity soccer team?" Chris spoke up for the first time, his arm stretched out comfortably behind Andrea's seat. He was the varsity soccer captain, quite an achievement considering a junior captain at our school was previously unheard of.
"Yeah, that's the one" Shaeleigh tried to act nonchalant, but it was obvious that this boy was bugging her. I've known her for many years, and this is the first real crush that I had ever heard her talk about. She never got crushes, because she never wanted to feel. She already had enough heart break, considering the fact that her dad left her family in the dead of the night, and I doubt she ever wanted to feel it again. It was actually kind of refreshing to see how this boy was affecting her. It was good to know that her dad didn't completely destroy her emotions.
"Well we practice everyday after school, why don't you come today and I could talk you up a bit and also see if he feels the same" Chris said and her face instantly lit up.
"Really? Thanks man, it means a lot" Shaeleigh said and the two of them slapped each other's hands.
"Don't think we wont all be there as well" Melinda said and the rest of the table nodded their heads in agreement.
*
"I can't do this, nope, I bail" Vinny, Gabrielle, Nick, Shaeleigh and I were just starting to walk down to the soccer fields when she began to have her doubts. She tried to run in the opposite direction, but Nick and Vinny both grabbed one of her forearms. She was kicking and desperately trying to get out of their grasps, but she just looked like one of those cartoons that's running on air. Gabrielle and I tried to suppress our laughter, but couldn't help ourselves and began hysterically laughing at the sight in front of us.
"But...in...all seriousness" I said while trying to catch my breath, "You can't run from your feelings forever, Shae. You may be able to let go of this one, but what about the next? Crushes aren't just a one and done kind of thing, and one day you're actually going to fall hard for one of them. Heartbreak is inevitable hon, so stop running" I said and she stopped kicking, the boys placing her gently on the ground.
"Alright, let's do this then" she said and the five of us made our way to the fields, waving to Andrea and Melinda who were sitting in the stands. We sat down beside her and watched the boys practice. I was contemplating how in the world one could do that kind of footwork when practice abruptly ended.
"Hey guys, this is Louis" Chris and Louis jogged over to the stands, "Louis this is Melinda, Gabrielle, Nick, Andrea, Vinny, Kiera and Sha-"
"I already know Shaeleigh" He cut Chris short, staring at my tomboy amigo with pure adoration. It was possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen.
"Hey Louis, what's up" She got up to walk over to him and the two of them walked over to get his practice bag.
I smiled, knowing that that puny sophomore is helping to break down her walls once again. She was still hopeful.
