"Why isn't anybody here?" one of my best friends, Tianna O'Loughlin asked me.
"Uh... Either we're really early, or we're really late," I answered her, looking around the changing room.
"I want to go with the early one, but just to be safe let's change in high speed. Hey, I don't want to get marked late," Tianna mumbled as she shimmied out of her skinny jeans.
"Goody good..." I said with a giggle, slipping on my gym clothes.
"Shut up, Leighton. I want to get on the honor roll!"
"Okay, calm down deary!"
"So, you ready?" she asked with a smirk, looking at me, fumbling over my laces.
"Un momento, por favor!" I said the phrase I'd helped her remember yesterday for her Spanish test.
"Making friends homework help to good use, I see?" she chuckled.
"Yep. Espanol. Let's go!" I took her hand and started running.
We were late, we could see it at once as we came out of the changing rooms.
Out on the middle of the field, we could see our whole class sitting down, doing the roll call.
"Snap, my last name is E!" I said, sprinting towards the class.
I got close enough to hear Mr. Young, our P.E. teacher say "Leighton?"
"HERE!" I shouted as everyone turned around seeing Tianna and I rushing towards them.
They all giggled as Mr. Young looked down at us and barked "you're late!" as we sat down on the grass.
"Honor roll..." Tianna muttered as Mr. Young continued describing what we'd do today.
Lacrosse. Fun, fun.
I glanced over to my boyfriend, Aaron Schmidt. Busy talking to his friends, Kendall and Will. Wishing he'd pay a little more attention to me, Kendall caught my eye. He then nudged Aaron, who glanced at me, blushed furiously, and quickly looked away.
"What the hell was that?" my best friend Josie Willis asked me, arching her eyebrows.
"No clue," I whispered back to her.
Aaron was such a man full of mysteries.
"Okay, now everyone go get a lacrosse stick and a partner. You only need one ball between the both of you!" Mr. Young yelled.
I rose to my feet, grabbed a stick and looked around for a partner.
"Tianna?" I looked at her questioningly.
"Sorry, with Sharon," she answered, glancing over at Sharon Nam.
"Mmkay, it's all right." I looked around, and spotted Josie. "Joes!" I called out to her.
"Yeah? Oh, sure!" she answered with a smile.
The 65 minutes of P.E. class droned on and seemed like forever, but finally Mr. Young called it to a stop and I let out a breath of relief.
We all started for the changing rooms when a hand grabbed my shoulder and stopped me. I turned around, expecting Mr. Young to lecture me about being punctual to class but I found myself staring at the hazel brown eyes of my boyfriend.
"Hey. What's up?" I asked him curiously.
He shuffled uncomfortably, looking down at his feet. Sighing, I bent down to look into his face.
"HELLO?" I asked loudly. Smiling a little, he slapped my arm playfully. I glared at him and raised my eyebrows asking what he wanted.
"Um... here. I got it over fall break at Thailand... For you." He grabbed something from his gym shorts pocket and thrust it at me. Catching the little plastic bag, I looked inside. It was a necklace of a little elephant that looked like it was made of elephant tusk, but it was actually plastic. Which was good, because I didn't want to have a necklace made of a poor dead elephant's tusk.
"Ohmygosh. I LOVE IT! Thanks!" I said with a big smile and gave him a hug.
"Ich liebe dich..." I heard him mumble. I guessed it was German, since he was half German, half American and only spoke those two languages. Unless he said an English word really weirdly. I pulled back and saw him blushing, I smiled, flipped my chocolate brown elbow length hair involuntarily, and practically skipped away to the girls changing rooms.
"Uh... what happened Leighton?" Tianna asked curiously.
I just hummed happily and showed her the necklace I'd put around my neck.
"Ooh. Did your boyfriend give you that, Leigh?" Josie squealed with delight.
"Mmhm." I pulled up my skirt and tied my shoelaces tightly.
"Well, shall we go spazz out in the cafeteria?" Tianna asked me with a grin.
"Si!" I replied with a laugh.
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"Is that from Aaron?" my guy friend Phillip McLachlan asked me curiously.
I looked down at my necklace admiringly and nodded. "How'd you know?"
"Well he told me he was gonna give something to you and that he was nervous and such. I told him to chill and be cool." I laughed, no wonder he didn't say anything much. Aaron was so cute sometimes.
"Oh Phillip..." I giggled, playfully punching him. He winked at me and walked away.
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Afterwards, we had our usual fights about the stupidest things ever.
Sometimes we'd fight about our interests. Our favorite youtubers, our favorite books...
"WHAT THE HECK AARON? YOU DON'T LIKE HARRY POTTER? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!" I raged at him with caps lock on Skype.
"Percy Jackson, ftw."
"Shut up you 'demi-god'. Muggle-borns for the win!"
Other times we'd just fight.
"I can't believe you were flirting with Patrick!" he spat at me.
"I was talking to him, you retard," I retorted.
"Oh SURE. 'Hey Patrickk. What's up?' And you smiled sweetly at him. What the hell was that about, Leighton?" he mocked me in a high pitched voice.
But somehow we'd make up and get back together again, saying how stupid we were to fight about little things that didn't matter to us. Most of the time, it was our friends who'd make us come back together, though. So I was always unsure if I actually DID want to get back with Aaron. He was such a douche sometimes. Gretchen Park, my best friend since 5th grade had come to peace with Aaron. They used to hate each other, but Gretchen, sweet Gretchen, agreed with Aaron to be friendly with each other for my sake.
On the other hand, I thought they were too close. They started talking more than Aaron and I did, it was like Gretchen mattered more to him than me! Jealousy spread throughout me like a virus. Then again, how can a girlfriend not be jealous of her best friend if that happens? I don't think she can't. So I started being a bitch to them, and I teased them as if they were the couple and not Aaron and I. Sometimes they'd get so pissed they'd stop talking to me for awhile. Those were the times when I paused and thought to myself. Really, Leighton? Gretchen's your best friend, and she'd never steal your boyfriend. Anyways, she thinks 7th grade's too young of an age to start dating... Think about it, Leighton! But when they came back and forgave me eventually, I'd forget all about that and start laughing at them once more.
It irritated me, the fact that Gretchen had gained Aaron's trust easily. It irritated me, the fact that they never included me in their conversations. It irritated me, the fact that they hung out more than Aaron and I did. Aaron was such a shy kid, he was always embarrassed of being with me and letting the public see us together. So, we didn't really talk so much in public, and neither did we go on a date.
Gosh, I was so jealous of Gretchen. I had to stop this feeling.
YOU ARE READING
The Six Degrees Of Separation
Teen FictionAnd they all lived happily ever after... That's what they all want, right? Sadly, reality isn't all that magical. Some people get what they want, and some people have to deal with what they get. I was the "deal with it" person. I never got what I wa...
