A Sky Without Stars

Part 6-January

January got off to a slow start. I spent the night at Melody's house, along with Hannah, Sierra, Viv and Mia. We were going to be getting together before Christmas, but Melody had something come up with her family.

At first, our chatting remained pretty casual. We mostly just talking about school and such. But knowing my friends, the topic of boys just had to come up.

"So," Sierra said, looking around at our circle of friends. "The Sweetheart's Dance is coming up at the beginning of next month. And you know what that means, don't you? It's a Sadie Hawkins dance, so girls ask boys."

Mia stared at her smugly. "Oh yeah, Sierra? And who exactly were you planning on asking?"

Sierra blushed slightly. "I don't know. Why don't we go around, and each of us can say who we would ask; that is, if we have enough guts. I'm pretty sure that none of us are asking any guys."

We all nodded in agreement. I didn't actually know a lot of the boys that were mentioned, but in a surprise twist of events, Melody said she would ask Gavin. Mia briefly mentioned a guy I didn't know, so I figured she was completely over Gavin. That hadn't exactly worked out, but I still smiled at the thought of homecoming.

I was going to go last, because I honestly had to think. Who would I even ask? I wasn't sure. Obviously, Castor was in the running. I mean, he was smart, handsome, kind...what could be better? But I could also ask Isaac. We were pretty close and I didn't think it would be too awkward.

When it was my turn, I just said, "I'm not sure," and I mentioned Castor and Isaac under my breath.

Did I actually like Castor? As more than a friend? I didn't think so...I mean yeah, we were great friends. And I definitely liked him at the beginning of the year. But did I like him now?

"I think you and Isaac would be an adorable couple," Hannah sneered. The other girls muttered their agreements, and I sighed. I wasn't sure where my feelings were. Having feelings for more than one person felt so wrong, so unnatural in my mind. But I might not even have a crush on either of them at all. It hurt my head to think about it all. But more than anything, it hurt my heart to think about what might happen if I fell for either of them.

It was going to be a long and bumpy road to the Sweethearts Dance, I knew that for certain. And even though I wasn't planning on asking anybody, I was fully aware that my friends would be pestering me up until the very night of the dance.

~~~~~~~~~~

Classes resumed the next week, and I had a completely new schedule that I had to master. A few of my teachers were, in fact, different than the one's I'd had first semester. In biology, I had a teacher named Miss Robyn. She was a tall and scrawny woman, relatively young, who was new to St. Barnabas this school year. I had heard rumors from Sierra that Miss Robyn was terrible, and right off the bat, the rumors could be confirmed true. Her voice was whiny, and she talked to us like we were small children. I knew that she was going to get annoying very quickly, and that biology this semester was going to be hell. The only plus side was that Viv and Coda were in the same class as I was.

I was back to health with Mr. Quincy for the semester, which I just happened to have with Freddie Larson. I was beyond excited when I discovered this. The first day was already exciting, other than the fact that he told so many puns.

For religion, I had a new teacher as well, Mr. Ritterback. He seemed like a funny and nice guy. The rest of my classes were the same teachers I had first semester. It was just the kids that had been mixed up and rearranged. My lunch table was fantastic: it was me, Andrew, Castor, Isaac (finally!), Coda, and Freddie. It was loud. It was chaotic. It was filled with boys. But let me tell you, it was fun.