Stay

Sarah Daniels smiled as she walked out of the front doors of Dulles High School with her best friend, Amanda Nichols, by her side. It had been the first day of their junior year, and Sarah was relieved that it was over. Finally, she could go home and get ready for Amanda's pool party, one that she threw at the beginning of every school year although no one really knew why.

"See ya!" said Sarah's gorgeous blonde best friend as she turned to the direction of the student parking lot, leaving Sarah to walk alone to the area designated for the school buses.

Sarah glanced one last time at Amanda, admiring the confident vibe she gave off with every step she took. Although she never admitted it to anyone, Sarah always felt like Amanda was better than her in every single way.

Sarah was a plain and simple brunette while Amanda was an eye-catching blonde.

Sarah had always been an A and B student, but Amanda had always been a straight-A student.

Amanda had been in a committed relationship with her boyfriend for three years, and Sarah found it difficult to pay attention to any guy that showed even a slight interest in her. That was probably because she had only ever had feelings for one guy, one who never felt the same way about her.

Ashton Jones.

Sarah and Ashton had been friends for a long time, but when they started high school, they began to drift apart. Now, they barely spoke to each other, and that hurt Sarah more than anything else in the world.

Quietly, Sarah walked across the campus and got on the school bus that was already filled with the raucous students. Finding a seat at the back of the bus, Sarah sat down and laid her head against the window, blocking out all the sounds and losing herself in her thoughts.

When the bus finally stopped near her house, Sarah stepped off and strolled up the walkway leading to the front door.

"Mom, I'm home!" Sarah yelled as she walked through the door and immediately ran up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Hi, sweetie! How was school?" Mrs. Daniels shouted from the kitchen downstairs.

"Great," Sarah sighed. She quickly ran into her bathroom, changing out of her t-shirt and jeans into a light blue, spaghetti-strap sundress.

"Are you getting ready for Amanda's party?" Mrs. Daniels asked as she stepped into her daughter's room.

"Nope, of course not. I'm getting dressed to go play basketball," Sarah replied sarcastically as she stood in front of her mirror, running a comb through her long and wavy hair.

"Well, you look pretty," Sarah's mother said, ignoring her teasing remark. As she put on a pair of simple pearl earrings, Sarah looked at herself in the floor-length mirror, trying to figure out if she agreed with her mother or not.

Sarah's thoughts were interrupted when she heard the honking of a car as it pulled into the driveway. She ran down the stairs, realizing that Kent had finally arrived to pick her up.

"Should I meet this guy?" Mrs. Daniels inquired.

"No, Mom. It's okay." Sarah gave her mother a quick hug before she walked out the door with a small black clutch in her hand.

"Hey, Sarah!" Kent said as Sarah opened the passenger side door of his car.

"Hi, Kent," Sarah replied as she sat down and buckled her seat belt.

Kent Adams was Ashton's best friend. He had asked Sarah to go to the party with him, and Sarah only agreed because she didn't want to be dateless at one of the most popular parties of the year.