Life With Friends

Birthday

•••••Anika•••••

"Really?" I say, tears running down both our faces.

"Yes" he says, crying with me. He pulls me into a great hug and we both cry until there are no tears left. He gives me a kiss and I kiss him back.

<>

I walk into school, my eyes red from my tears I cried to myself this morning. I walk up to my locker and pull out my books. I pack them in my book bag and head to my first class.

"Hey Anika!" Avalon says coming over to me with that big smile of hers on her face.

"Hey Avalon" I say with a sad smile on my face.

"What's up?" She asks, her expression and tone softening.

"Can I talk to you about it later?" I reply.

"Yeah, sure" she says with a caring look.

"Well, I'm going to head to class" I say putting my brave face on.

"I'll see you at lunch?" She asks. I nod and walk towards my next class.

<>

"So, let me get this straight" Avalon says with half a fry in her mouth. "You're moving this weekend and you didn't even bother to tell us?" She says defensively.

"Well, to be fair, I just found out myself and I'm not too happy about it either" he says. "And hey! At least I'm still in town for your birthday!" He states, trying (though failing miserably) to make things better.

"I guess" Avalon trails off, still eating her fries. Judging by the looks on everyone's faces, they had forgotten her birthday was this Saturday.

"Dudes" I say getting everyone's attention. "We need to do something with Brandon to celebrate the time we have left with him!" I suggest.

"That's a great idea!" Raquel exclaims.

"Well you know what sucks, I'm going out of town on Friday" Lexi tells us. After a chorus of 'Aww man's, 'That sucks's, and 'Pooh you's' we all accepted the news and lived with it.

"Okay well, I have to head to reading. See you guys later?" Blakely asks, giving Avalon a kiss before he leaves.

"See you then" Houston tells him.

"You know, now that I think about it, I have to get to class too" Jacob says walking out.

"I suppose the rest of us must finish the day too?" I ask.

"Yeah" they all reply in harmony. Then they look at each other as if a squirrel just landed on each other's head. I giggle as I walk away and think of the sorrow Brandon is going to cause me when he leaves.

•••••Raquel•••••

Emmett goes to another school, you see. He goes to a school where there's only deaf students. We drifted apart in this time and realized that I only took a liking into him, because I was hurt. We're still good friends though!

•••••Avalon•••••

I head to my next class when I'm pushed into the lockers. I fell and scraped my elbow on one of them. I look up too see Alex, Harry, Carmen, and Liza.

"You didn't think we'd leave you alone to your perfect, little life forever, did you?" Harry asks.

"Yeah, now that you've got that boyfriend of yours, we just had to find a way to get to you without him in the way" Liza explains. Carmen suddenly comes forward and slaps me. I hold my cheek in pain.

"Hey! What do you think your doing?!" Someone yells, jumping in front of me. I look up and see... Houston?

"Who are you?" Liza asks with disgust.

"Just a decent person helping someone out" he says defensively.

"Come on guys, this guy is obviously her second boyfriend! I bet she's cheating" Carmen says with an evil smirk.

"Wha-" Houston starts.

"Come on guys! I don't see the point in talking to them anyway" Harry insults.

•••••Houston•••••

I heard the classroom door slam behind me and I say bye to Blakely, him walking the opposite way. I start on my way to my next class. I turn the corner and see Avalon on the ground with a bleeding elbow. There are 4 people surrounding her and they don't look very nice. I see them talking to her and one of them steps forward and slaps her. Then, my instincts kick in

"Hey! What do you think your doing?" I say stepping in front of Avalon.

"Who are you?" One of the girls asks me with distaste.

"Just a decent person helping someone out" I come back.

"Come on guys, this is obviously her second boyfriend! I bet she's cheating" The other girl says, smirking evilly.

"Wha-" I start, getting interrupted.

"Come on guys! I don't see the point in talking to them anyways" the tallest guy says starting to walk away. I shake my head that them and whip around to see if Avalon is okay.

"Are you okay?" I say, looking at her elbow.

"Yeah. I'll walk to the nurse and get a bandaid. Thanks for that" she says with a caring smile.

"That's what friends do" I say, smiling right back.

•••••Joy•••••

I have to do it today. I had to speak to them while Zoe parades on into school again. Well, those years of drama club are sure going to pay off today.

I look around for Avalon and her posse. With no sight of them, I walk around the halls a bit some more. Ah ha! I spot them and walk over.

"Avalon?" I say in a timid voice.

"What do you want?" She asks annoyed.

"I'm sorry" I say tears coming to my eyes, thinking about what I did. Not just leaving her.

"I am too" she says tears also coming to her's.

"I'm sorry to all of it. Leaving you, not trusting you, everything" I say. All she does is come forward and hug me. I hug her back. I heard her gasp and I cringe, knowing what she saw.

"Zoe" she whispered.

"What?" I say falsely surprised. I turn around and see them. They give me a good-job look and I sort of smile back.

<>

I open the front door and walk into my empty house, my parents still at work. I hang my keys up and lock the door again. I head over to my living room and sit in the couch. I scoot the coffee table closer to me and I pull out my homework. I get my working station set up and pick up my pencil, staring at my math worksheet.

My mind decides to drift elsewhere. To the night it all happened. When we did it, when I made the biggest mistake of my life, when Blakely cheated on Avalon.

With me.