How The Sun Rises

2: First Friend's and Miracle's

Dedicated to TheUJelly_ for commenting the sweetest thing and literally making me scream. Thank you so much to you, and all the other users who commented. You guys are making me so much more excited to write this story :) Enjoy!

My eyes traveled the flooded halls with a sense of anticipation. I knew who I was looking for, but I refused to even think about why.

After a week of Kyle's never-ending speeches about not having heard from his childhood friend, and how something bad might have happened to him, I was beginning to worry. Jackson was well-known for having a perfect attendance record—or used to having one.

I always thought nothing could stop him from getting to school and away from his home.

Where is he? I thought, desperate for an answer.

I knew it was ridiculous for me to worry so much about him. We weren't friends. We had only spoken to one another once and despite that, I knew he was fully capable of taking care of himself. His best friend being the captain of the wrestling team earned him special privileges in going to the practices and participating in them. He'd been attending their practices since sophomore year, and I'd heard from Kyle, who had gone all of high school so far undefeated, that Jackson was better than everyone on the team.

"Bunny!"

I turned around, smiling at Ray as she rushes to catch up to me. "Hi, Ray. How're you?"

"I'm great—Kyle just asked me out on a date." She beamed. "How about you?"

I completely disregarded her question and momentarily forgot my previous worries as I turned my full attention towards one specific detail. A date. My mind reeled in order to process the news, and when it clicked, I squealed. Then I started jumping, my backpack hitting my back repeatedly as I clutched my binder to my chest.

"Seriously? That's awesome!"

She laughed, nodding as her dark skin seemed to glow from happiness. "I've been flirting with him non-stop for the past two years and he finally got a clue. We're gonna' see a movie this weekend."

We started walking down the hall as Ray continued talking about how Kyle asked her out. I smiled the entire time. Even when she got distracted and changed the topic to how her crush on him first started. The story was cute, but one I already knew.

When she first tried out for the wrestling team as a sophomore, after transferring to our small town and earning nearly every boy's attention, Kyle had been the only one to blatantly ignore her.

Other than Jackson and the small selection of guys who aren't into females, I added as an afterthought.

When Kyle and Ray had first met at the wrestling team's tryouts, he had warned her that it wasn't a sport in which a girl should take part in. She had gotten so angry she'd punched him in the face and kicked him down below. Besides it being the start of their friendship, it was also how Ray had become the first female member of the wrestling team.

Ray chuckled, "I thought he was such an asshole!"

"How exactly did you two become friends after that, though?" I asked.

Ray sent me a look that I didn't quite understand and my smile wavered as I thought I should be upset about the meaning behind it. "You mean you don't know?"

I shook my head, forcing my smile to remain as my eyes began to sting.

She shrugged, her expression changing to one of nonchalance. "We both got detention—him for being a sexist dick, and me for kicking his sexist ass. We had an entire hour to do absolutely nothing, so the teacher in charge had us make up."