His Girl #Wattys2016

15. I call it a day.

"Long day, huh?" Drake nudged my elbow, as we waited for Melanie.

"Yeah," I answered. I was still pissed at him for ignoring me for an hour during Physics class.

He put his arm around me and rested his head on my shoulder. As much as I wanted to shove his head away, I found myself smiling. He had a kind of numbing effect on me, I always calmed down when he was around. It was like he was in my life for a cause, only we both didn't know what.

"Best friends extraordinaire. I wish I had someone who loved me so selflessly, too," Melanie said, as she made her way through the crowd towards us.

"You would, if you stop being so full of yourself," Drake muttered under his breath.

I shushed him and greeted Melanie with a wide smile. We always met at the parking space before going our way, so until Tasha finished her rounds we were stuck there.

It was another fifteen minutes before Tasha came sprinting towards our cars. She was flushed, panting and her hair looked out of place. If it were anyone else, I'd not have noticed it. But Tasha was never anything but perfect, so it looked weird to me.

"Oh, I forgot to warn you about the tornado that was waiting for you on your way. My bad." Drake laughed at his own joke.

Tasha blushed in response.

"Whoa," I gasped. "Did she just blush? What's going on, Tash?"

"Matt." She was blushing so much, and not even trying to hide it, it grossed me out.

"Ugh!" All of us said in unison.

"You always do that!" She put up her hands in exasperation. "He isn't that bad, come on!"

"Drake, let's go," I said, ignoring her on purpose.

"Bye, guys." Melanie called out, "no bye for you, Tash."

Tasha stomped her feet and pouted. For real. It was so funny, Drake and I went straight into a laughing fit. Melanie was the first one to wave the white flag in peace as she went on to hug Tasha.

"I don't really hate him, it's just that he brings out this kind of you that I'm not used to," I explained.

"What kind?"

Before I could reply, Drake made his famous 'fangirl' face, starry eyes and faroff expression, and Tasha started kicking at him, calling him names. It had been ages since we had had this fun and I wished people were here to witness it. My friends wanted different things to be remembered for after we left high school. I wanted to be remembered as the girl with the best best friends, the girl who her friends loved.

"Sarah, where did you go?" Drake asked, waving his palm in front of my face.

"I'm right here," I smiled at them. "I'm gonna miss you all once we go off to college."

"God, Sarah, it's a good seven months away. Relax," Melanie hugged me.

I instantly relaxed. I realised it wasn't just Drake but each one of my friends had a calming effect on me. Who'd have thought an average girl like me could be loved as much as I was?

"What do you mean by average?" Melanie asked, pulling me away from her.

Only then did I realise I had said it out aloud. Shit.

"You're anything but average, Sarah. It's you who keeps this group together, really," Tasha grinned at me.

I looked up at Drake, who was smiling at me. At us.

"That's enough praising you for a day, let's go now." His mouth twitched.

"Yeah, give me a call once you're home. Conference call," Melanie motioned towards Tasha and me. "Need to talk."

We both nodded our acceptance and started our cars at the same time. Soon we were out of the parking lot and speeding away from school.

"Sometimes, I don't understand why you put up with Melanie." Drake spoke up, breaking the silence.

Because she didn't invite you for our conference call? I wanted to ask. But the words stayed in my mouth when I saw the expression on his face. Whatever this was about, he wanted me to hear him out seriously.

"I mean, I know that she's sweet at times. But most often, it's hard to even stand her for a moment."

"What happened?" I asked, quietly.

"She was being really mean to Gwen again. I stopped her and she stormed out of there," he shook his head. He looked up at me curiously, "I thought she'd have told you already."

"No. She only told me that Gwen was a weirdo. But-"

"The thing is, Sarah, we have to put up with her because of you." Drake's voice was accusing. "Give me one reason why you do it. Just one."

"She's my friend, Drake."

"You have me. You have Tasha. You have the entire school going crazy after you, Sarah. Why her?"

"Because," I breathed out. "She has seen me when I was at my lowest. Remember when Emily and I moved out of our house and decided to live alone? It was Melanie who took us in. She was the one who fought with her parents for me when they were not sure about taking us in."

Drake's face lost its colour. He always hated it when I talked about that time. But today, he had compelled me into bringing it up. When he didn't reply, I continued.

"But if you can't see the good in her, then you shouldn't be able to see the good in me. I'm equally bad because I've always been with her when she did the stuff you hate her for." I made it a point to look at him. "You should hate me too."

"Face the road, Sarah."

I smiled because I knew I had shut him up for now. I knew for sure that hating me was not an option for Drake. It was my job to keep my group together until the end of the school year at least, until we'd all depart for college. And I'd do it no matter what.