Between Love and Friendship (Completed)

Chapter One

Chapter One

It all began when I was seven years old. It was my first day of second grade. I remember being really excited to go, since I hadn’t been in school for the whole two months of summer vacation. Being that I was such a little girl, school was still something new for me. Something different.

After many hugs, kisses, and goodbyes, the entire class was in the room. My teacher, Ms. Anna, told us to pick a ‘buddy’ to sit with, and that it would help us all get to know each other. I noticed that all the desks were arranged in pairs of two.

Kids gathered around in little circles, choosing their buddies and making new friends. Me, being the shy little misfit that I was, stood there by myself, not even making an attempt to talk to someone.

The teacher clapped her hands; telling us that we only had one more minute to pick a seat. I rushed to the back of the room, where I saw an empty desk. But a girl with red hair, green eyes, and freckles got there first.

I turned around, glad to see another unfilled desk, near a boy with glasses. When I tried to sit down he said, “Hey! That seat’s for my friend!” I mumbled an apology before backing away. I remember being embarrassed.

Where am I going to sit? I thought, while frantically looking around the room. All the seats were taken, and I seemed to be the only child left without one. I was nearly about to cry when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“You can sit next to me.”

I spun around to find a smiling boy with messy brown hair and a blue and white striped T-shirt. He was shorter than I was and I thought he looked more like a first grader than a second grader. “Okay,” I said in my tiniest little voice.

“My name’s Gabriel. What’s yours?”

“Aria,” I answered, shyly. Even then, I got nervous around boys.

“That’s cool. Do you wanna be friends?”

I nodded.

That quick exchange of kind words was the start of our inseparable friendship.

* * *

Ring! First period trigonometry was finally over. Thank God, I thought with a sigh of relief as I stepped into the overcrowded hallway of Greenwood High School. There were people everywhere, but that was nothing new. I noticed a group of freshmen girls huddled in a corner gossiping about god-knows-what. Aubree Williams, from my chemistry class, was against a locker, making out with her senior boyfriend, Brad. And of course, Micheal O’Sullivan was getting scolded by Mr. Bounds for cheating on an exam.

Like I said: nothing new.

I continued walking, shoving though a couple of rowdy boys in the process. When I finally got to my locker, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Without looking, I knew exactly who it was.

“Hey Gabriel.”

“Hey yourself,” He said, giving me a quick nod.

It had been eight years since I had first met him. Gabriel’s brown hair had darkened considerably, but his big brown eyes stayed the same. Up until seventh grade, I was always the taller than he was. But he must’ve hit a growth spurt or something, because there he stood, a towering six inches above me.

“Basketball after school today?” I asked casually. Gabriel was on the basketball team, and he often bribed me into helping him practice. I play too, but just for fun. We often used the courts behind the school, which were always free after ninth period.

“You know it,” He said, giving me a half-smirk that made most girls go weak in the knees. “I have a game coming up.”

“Yeah, there are flyers all over the school.” Lynne DuBoise, the head of the school newspaper, always made sure that everyone was updated on school events. But, it could get annoying to have the bathroom mirror covered in flyers when I was trying to fix my hair after PE.

I shoved my trig textbook into my locker while changing the topic. “So, how’s Mystery Girl?”

That was the name I had given to Gabriel’s mysterious crush, which had lasted for a fairly large portion of sophomore year. He wasn’t the type of guy to crush on a lot of girls. Not seriously, at least. He would sometimes mention who he thought was cute, or who had been hitting him up on Facebook.

But it was never a serious “I-want-to-go-out-with-her” kind of crush.

Strangely enough, Mystery Girl seemed to be one of those rare ones that actually mattered to him. Gabriel first mentioned that he was starting to like someone in late October. It was nearly the April. And, if I wasn’t mistaken, he still liked the same girl.

She must’ve been one hell of a catch.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Me, being the best friend of the opposite gender, must have developed feelings for Gabriel. I just don’t know it yet, or I’m unwilling to admit it.

Hate to break it to you, but my life is not a cliché romance novel. In real life, things don’t always work the way they do in the movies. The girl doesn’t always fall for the guy. The guy doesn’t always fall for the girl. People do get their hearts broken. People do end up single. It’s not some Harlequin romance novel where the protagonist always gets a happy ending, and the villain always ends up alone.

 But anyways, back to the conversation that I was having.

“She’s been fine,” Gabriel answered smoothly. “Why?”

“I don’t know. It just seems to be one of those things you love to talk about these days.” This was true. Gabriel seemed to bring her into nearly every conversation.

“I hardly ever talk about her!” He holding his arms up, defensively.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” I said, shutting my locker before anything could tumble out. My bedroom is neat; my locker, not so much.

“And the hell you will.”

I smiled. “It’s my bathroom break. I’ll catch you later,” I said, while walking off.

“Hasta luego!” He waved.

Gabriel is half Dominican. He speaks Spanish fluently, but he sticks to English during school. I’ve heard him at home with his parents. When he says he ‘barely speaks Spanish’, it’s a total lie.

I walked into the light pink school bathroom, pleased to find that it was empty. My second period class, AP Environmental, was right next door so I wasn’t pressed for time.

I adjusted my partially ripped jeans and rolled up the sleeves of my navy and white plaid shirt. I combed my wavy brown hair back, loosening the waves that fell just past my shoulders.

When I looked closer at my reflection, I frowned. A new pimple was sprouting up on my left cheek. Just great. “Acne. How I hate it,” I groaned aloud.

“Tell me about it,” Kristen sighed, as she stepped out from the last stall on the right. I hadn’t even noticed that anyone else was in the bathroom. Just goes to show how absent minded I can be when I’m focused on my appearance.

“And you barely have acne,” She added, while she stepped in front of the sink to my left.

I shook my head and smiled. “I guess it could be worse.”

Kristen was one of my better friends, but I didn't share many classes with her. We talked whenever we could, which wasn't that often. When it came to school, I really didn't have a lot of people that I considered "close friends".

“See ya around,” I said, before exiting the bathroom.

 I had a class to get to. Wouldn't want to be late.