ITS NICE TO HAVE A FRIEND; seth cohen

four

my tears ricochet, taylor swift

"lucy, wait!" i hear a voice calling my name on my way out of english class.

"hey, marissa. what's up?" this is odd. i don't think i've spoken to marissa cooper in years. even though we were in student council together, we were never really close. after she was elected social chair, the thoughts of the potential rejection that would be the result of me trying to befriend her outnumbered the thoughts telling me to talk to her.

marissa smiles, "i was wondering if you were coming to the kickoff carnival tomorrow night. it's gonna be a lot of fun."

"uhhh," i stammer, "i'll see if i can go." i start to turn and walk to my next period. "why?"

"honestly? ryan atwood asked me about you."

i have to process what she said. "what? why would he be asking about me?"

marissa shrugs and hands me a flyer for the carnival.

"hopefully i'll see you there!" she says happily and walks away.

i'm not sure what to make of that conversation. i ponder as i spot a brown sweater out of the corner of my eye.

"hey, luce. are we still on for tonight?" seth's words shouldn't make me all happy inside. after all, studying definitely isn't the most fun thing we could be doing. not that we're ever going to do that. but i will admit i always look forward to hanging out with him.

"yeah! i'm gonna make some snacks for us after school." as if pretzels and cheese dip are going to make him see me as anything more than a lab partner who used to be his best friend.

"that sounds great! you know how much i love pudding. and how much i love saying pudding."

"yes i do. i'll see if i have any." only for seth cohen would i make tapioca pudding.

"thank you! i love you!" he says happily as he makes his way to his next class. why can't he just say i love when you make pudding or i love the thought and effort you put into our study dates? that would be so much clearer and so much more accurate.

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when i get home, i throw my backpack down on my bed and make my way to the kitchen.

"mom! do we have tapioca pudding?" i call out, crossing my fingers. i open the cupboard and instantly spot a container of instant tapioca. "nevermind!" i get out a saucepan, the rest of the ingredients, and set the creation on the stove.

i walk towards the door the second i hear the doorbell ring. i open it to find seth standing there, bag of chips in hand.

"you didn't need to bring anything!"

"i thought it would help our focus. it smells good in here. are you making-?" he steps inside the living room.

"you bet!" i say, a bigger smile on my face than i would've liked. "meet me in my room, get comfy, i'll be right there." i watch as he walks into my bedroom, his jeans fitting--why would i be thinking about his pants? he's here so that we don't fail biology, not for any other reason.