Letters to Leah

1: The Best of Friends

Chapter 1: The Best of Friends

            "Noella stop staring at him! That's weird," Leah was whisper-yelling at me. I turned my gaze away from the most beautiful guy in school to my best friend. I gaped at her and she gave me a pointed look. I guess I had been watching him for too long, but he was just so interesting. He was funny and told the best jokes. He had gorgeous muscles that rippled when he moved. Realizing that I had gone back to watching him again, I turned to Leah and asked what she was doing this weekend.

            "I don't have any plans yet; do you wanna come over?" Leah asked.

            "I'm supposed to call my dad and see about staying with him this weekend, but you know how that goes. He never answers, so I'll probably be there." After telling her, I rolled my eyes at the thought of spending time with my dad. What a joke that was.

            I normally didn't even have to ask to come over since Leah and I spend so much time together. In the four years that we have been best friends, our parents have even started to claim we are sisters. This statement in itself is funny, because Leah and I don't look anything alike; in fact, we seem like exact opposites when it comes to looks. She is tan and has straight brown hair that falls down to the small of her back, and she's a few inches shorter than me. I have curly blonde shoulder-length hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She always wore full blown makeup and I only wore mascara. Of course, we both get our fair share of compliments for our looks, but I'm always finding myself jealous of her beauty.

            A few seconds later, I found myself sinking back into the routine of school, putting in just enough effort to get by, while still occupying myself with my own thoughts. The day went as any other normal Thursday went. Everybody at school was antsy about the weekend, and most teachers hardly cared about teaching that day. Leah and I chattered about the latest news around school. Well, actually, Leah talked about it and I listened and soaked it up. I really didn't care who was dating who, or what they did behind the bleachers, but listening to Leah was a break from the boring drone of teachers.

            Lunch came, and with it more gossip. Leah and I sat at our usual table, with our usual crew. These people aren't really my type of friend, and I would feel out of place if it weren't for Leah including me in the conversation. She always had a way of doing that. Whether I was feeling out of place at lunch, having trouble coming up with a response to someone, or just trying to meet someone new, Leah always stepped in and aided me with the right words to say. She's a life saver.

            Thinking of her being a life saver socially reminded me that she really has saved me before. It wasn't exactly my life all those times, but maybe some fingers and toes, and my dignity as well. I smiled at the thoughts of all the things we've done together that were probably more stupid than necessary, but they were fun and made good memories. One winter the creek at her house was frozen over on the top. We were walking along the ice, and she told me not to go to one spot. I did anyways, because I was curious. It didn't take long for the ice to buckle beneath my weight and me to be shoulder deep in icy water. She rushed to my side to help pull me out of the ice, and helped me walk back to her house. I probably wouldn't have been able to climb out alone. Another time, we were at school and I had a huge hole in the seat of my pants, and she loaned me the extra pair that she had. It would've been really embarrassing for people to have seen that. This is only one of the few reasons that she's my friend. She's amazing.

            We finished the rest of the day meandering from class to class. I promised to let her know when I found out about plans with my dad this weekend, and we parted ways to go home.