The Five Stages of Losing Your Best Friend

Chapter One: "Who's Taylor Swift?"

   I couldn't believe it.

I stared intently at the piece of paper being posted on the school's bulletin board. A crowd had been forming around me, but I barely noticed. My whole mind and body were focused on the boy struggling with the piece of wondrous paper on one hand, and thumbtacks on another. Finally, all four corners of the paper were subdued by the thumbtacks and the boy moved away for everyone else to see what was written.

I pushed my way through all the big and small people until I was at the front of the crowd. I was vaguely aware of the glares piercing my back and it took me a while to register that my actions might have been rude, but I paid it no mind. The paper was right in front of me and I didn't hesitate to soak in the words printed on it. I was on cloud nine once I finished reading everything from top to bottom. It was that time of the year again. Auditions.

A tap on my shoulder caught my attention and the face behind the finger immediately made me wipe the silly smile off my face. "Morning Vannie." He greeted, but his eyes weren't on me. They were analyzing the posted print-out and quickly softened once they understood what it was that caught my attention.

   "Chance, hi." I greeted back nervously. Damn, he caught me at a bad time. I didn't want him to see me drooling over a piece of paper. His forest green eyes flickered over to me and he smiled, no, forced a smile. "Do you plan on auditioning?" He nodded towards the piece of paper and I immediately lift my hands in a cross.

   "Uh uh. No way."

The smile disappeared from his face and I could already feel the questions just dying to leave his mouth. "Why not?"

   I shrugged. "Not interested."

Chance was quick to disagree. "You're lying. You love acting. Their drama club is the sole reason you chose to enroll in this school."

   "Oops. There goes the bell. We better get going or we'll be late for homeroom. You know how the Vulcan is," I said dismissively. I tried to drag him away from the crowd and make him remember that our homeroom teacher is a tyrant just so he will drop the subject, but Chance wasn't having any of it. "Vannie." He glowered.

I sighed and let go of his hand before putting it inside my jeans' pocket. "Maybe I just got sick of acting. I've been at it since I was five. Maybe I just need a break from all the drama." I tried to ease the tension with a little pun, but his expression remained hard.

   "Besides, auditions are held after school and there's no way I'm spending my afternoon in a stuffy room filled with snotty people who can't act for jack," I arrogantly said.

Chance's shoulders sagged and he sighed in defeat. His expression finally morphed back into the gentle and caring one I had grown accustomed to. "If that's what you want, Van. But please, don't give up on acting because of what happened to...him." I recognized the glazed look in his eyes and the pause before he said him, but I act as though I didn't. There's no point in reliving bad memories.

   "It is what I want," I restated firmly.

   "If you're sure..." He tried again, still reluctant of my decision.

   "As sure as my love for Leonardo DiCaprio and Taylor Swift." I said with finality. "Now let's go! I seriously do not want to be late for homeroom."

   "Fine, but I gotta ask, who's Taylor Swift again?" Chance's question stopped me completely in my tracks. I slowly turned to face him, bewilderment probably written all over my face. "Are you seriously asking me this question?" I couldn't mask the outrage in my voice and briefly wondered if he was pulling a joke on me.

The look of confusion on his face was adorable, but I shook off the feeling. This is serious business. "I know Leonardo DiCaprio, because he's the guy in Titanic, but I have no idea who Taylor Swift is."

My eyes bulged at the extent of his ignorance. I started to scratch my head in frantic circles. It was a habit I picked up when something I believed was impossible was happening. "You're not pulling my leg.....at all?" I asked again.

Chance shook his head. That action was just enough to make me want to smash my head against the walls, but the sound of the final bell stopped me.

   "Let's talk later," I commanded as I pointed my index finger at his chest. "I'll let you listen to all her songs starting from when she was thirteen years old, so don't escape!" With that, I ran all the way to my homeroom class. Shortly after I realized, with dread seeping in my skin, that the door was locked.

   "We're doomed," Chance said matter-of-factly, as he fell into a step beside me.

   "Nicely deduced, Watson," I said sarcastically.

   "You should knock on the door," He reluctantly suggested.

   "Why should I?" I snapped. I hated being late to Vulcan's classes.

   "Uh," he started off hesitantly, "because you're directly in front of the door?"

   "Well," I swiftly moved out of the door's vicinity. "Now you're closest to it, so you knock." He helplessly stared at me for a good few seconds, but finally succumbed to my death glare. As he moved to knock on the door, I also started to move towards the door again.

Noises from the inside all seemed to ceased when Chance knocked on the door. Seconds felt like hours while we waited. Finally, the door flew open and the force of it almost blew us away. My heart jumped to my throat when we saw the intimidating figure of the Vulcan dominating the entire doorway. He leered at us with his large eyes. We were so nervous I could practically see the sweat dripping from Chance's forehead.

   "Lewis! Newman! You're late!" He barked.

   "Sorry, sir." We answered simultaneously

   "I got held back by someone," I added, with a little glare directed at Chance.

   "No excuses!" Vulcan barked again. "You know the rules of this classroom, Lewis!" I shrinked back at the tone of his voice. I hated being scolded by teachers, too.

   "As punishment," he continued. "Both of you are to write a thousand word essay on the central dogma of molecular biology. To be passed tomorrow." Chance and I both blanched at his impossible demand. Five hundred words were barely doable, so completing a thousand word essay under one day was just not plausible.

   "Do you understand?"

   "Yes, sir," We both muttered without complaints and without a choice.

   "Get inside," Vulcan shrugged away from the door and we slowly walked inside with our heads hung in shame. Chance and I were two of the top five in our entire year, so being scolded and punished was beyond embarrassing.

I quietly headed towards my desk at the back of the classroom, all the while ignoring the blatant stares of my classmates. At the same time Chance took a seat in the front row. Once I was seated, I focused all my energy on glaring at the back of his head. I prayed that he could feel the holes burning through his white shirt by my fiery glare.

The moment I saw sweat pouring down his temple was the moment I sat back in my chair in satisfaction.

Like I said, I hated getting into trouble.

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A/N: Well, here it is! The first chapter! What do you think? Do you think Vannie should join the drama club? And who do you think is the "him" Chance mentioned? ;)

Elizabeth Olsen as Veronica Lewis :> She's so gorgeous <3

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