Freshman Year

Class Picnic

Finals was is the most stressful time for some of them. There is just one perk to living with your friends, endless study time. It also meant that Audrie and Hadley were able to throw Ellie's phone across the room and make her study. They quizzed each other until their brains exploded and then some.

By the time finals came around everyone felt prepared. They had their math and history exams first which took forever. Although it did help that they knew almost everything on the test. After lunch they all got an hour of extra study time which was obviously used unwisely. In fact all they wanted to do was talk about their plans for the summer.

The next tests they had were science, English, and health. Everyone had a much easier time with those. After this they all went outside to walk around. The whole class sat around in a giant circle and just talked. Ellie stared with an obviously pained look on her face as she stared at Aiden holding Courtney's hand. Audrie and Justin were talking to Frankie, Elliot, Neville, and Hadley. Hadley and Audrie were clearly trying to escape the conversation. Taking another glance Kennedy was talking to Chloe in a hushed voice. Brooke and Carter were making out, and Margie and Trent were talking about someone's YouTube channel. This left Ellie mostly to herself. That was until Emerson and Addison came over to talk about taking a trip to New York together. Ellie found it hard to keep her eyes off of Aiden.

"So guys, I know we haven't gotten along all year. However Chloe and I were wondering if any of you would want to have a class picnic tonight. We would really appreciate it thanks." Kennedy says it all in one breath before sitting back down.

Audrie glances over to Hadley who just makes a disgusted face. Audrie laughs at her before realizing that she laughed at a wrong time. Apparently Frankie was saying something that didn't need to be laughed at. Audrie's face turns fifty shades of red. She then stumbles on her own words trying to say that she was sorry. Justin squeezed her hand letting her know it was okay; while Hadley just smirked at her uncomfortableness.

"So are you guys going to stay for the picnic?" Elliot asks even though his mind is else where. None of the others really know, but Hadley has a pretty good idea.

"Maybe." Audrie says. She glances at Justin to see if he wants to go. Justin simply shrugs in response.

"You two are so indecisive sometimes." Hadley tells them while rolling her eyes. They both shrug and laugh in response.

After about fifteen more minutes of sitting in their giant circle people begin to leave. The last people sitting were Courtney, Aiden, Josh, Drake, and Cory. Ellie had started to walk off with Brooke, Carter, and Thea but had to turn back around. Something inside her was willing her to do it. Most likely she would regret it, but this was something worth the risk. They saw her coming and first she noticed Aiden tense, yet it was not nearly as bad as the look on Courtney's face. By the time she started to reach them she started to move another way. Then after she was fifteen feet away she turned right back around crashing into Aiden.

"Um..." Aiden says in a rough voice. He had no desire to be talking to Ellie. Or did he?

"Aiden I am sorry to bother you..." Ellie starts. Every inch of her brain was keeping herself from rambling. "Ah... Are you coming to the picnic thingy?" His look softens a bit.

Even though his looks are kind his words are not, "Why do you care all of a sudden." He asks her while crossing his arms.

"Just wondering..." Ellie barely squeaks the words out. She notices the look in his eyes change but decides to leave quickly. In her rush to leave she never even notices that she was going the wrong way. As soon as it dawns on her she whips around. Aiden is standing rooted to his spot with a smirk on his face. "My dorm is this way."

After three steps Aiden grips onto Ellie's arm and whispers, "See you later... alligator."

Ellie laughs not even bothering to finish the joke. With the little pride she has left, she walks away. No one stops her again. However the deathly glares of the people behind bore into her back. Part of Ellie was excited for this picnic.

•

The ninth grade class picnic was something to see. For once in the whole year everyone was striving to get along. The drama of this year was gone. Stress from finals were now melted away. Right now was the time for signing yearbooks. To them it didn't matter if you hated the person, they had to have everyone sign their yearbooks. A memory to this year, as horrible as it was.

"I'm going to miss everyone this summer." Audrie sighs to Justin. He simply smiles while she continues. "Text me everyday and I think we should facetime." She tells him.

"Sounds good to me." He squeezes her hand. "After everything that has happened this year, we are all getting along. This is very rare with our class."

"Yes, very." Audrie giggles. The wheels in her head were already starting to turn again. "I wish that every day could be like this. I guess conflict is just normal... Still wish we all liked each other."

"Me too, babe." Justin winks at her. Audrie laughs at the nickname.

"Yanno, Hadley and Ellie love calling you bae." She laughs again.

"I mean who could resist this!" He gestures to himself causing her to laugh again.

"I could if you would simply leave me alone!" Audrie rolls her eyes and tries to keep a straight face. Even trying as hard as she can, her face and tone reveal that she is clearly lying.

"You wish!" He pokes her in the stomach before throwing an arm around her shoulder. Even though she had joked about resisting him she couldn't. She found herself leaning into him and taking a deep breath through the nose just to smell him.

"You smell good." She tells him. He laughs and pokes her in the side again sending her flying away from him. He runs after her wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her into the air. "Put.... Me... Down!" She shouts in between giggles.

"Alright stop the PDA people!" Hadley and Ellie shout even though they find the two funny.

"Your friends are gross." Aiden whispers into Ellie's ear making her jump out of her skin. She turns with wide eyes to face him. For once in a long time Ellie was speechless. Hadley stares between the two for a few moments before slipping away. "Hey." He says taking a small step towards her while trying to make it look like he was kicking the ground.

"Hey.. um... hi." Ellie breathes the words out. Slowly her eyes look around for Courtney who is by her friends. "Are you two still-"

"Yeah." He fills in the blanks himself.

"Oh." Ellie mumbles and looks to the ground for moral support. When she looks up it is clear he is closer than before.

"So-"

"Look, Aiden, Carter kind of stopped talking to me. I think Brooke told him to. I'm not sure. The point is that you are still with Courtney. However the guy best friend position is open. Would you like to fill in an application." Ellie keeps a relatively straight face the whole time.

"Sure. I would love to." He says with a smile. Ellie begins walking back to Hadley with her eyes still gazing at Aiden.