I took a deep breath and tried to keep calm. Braden Woodrow was really talking to me! I knew Braden was sort of a player, but I didn't mind conversing with him at all! I felt warmth from his body, and we sang quietly to ourselves with a new Ke$ha song. It wasn't until he walked away that I remembered he was dating my best friend.
Teri had already told me that she didn't mind her boyfriend mingling with other girls. Besides, this was the monthly high school dance that hundreds of kids went to. You were supposed to hang out with random people.
Braden and I had never really talked before, but I was sure he knew who I was. I knew him because... Well, because everyone knew Braden Woodrow. It was practically a rule. He probably knew me because Teri and I were always together. ALWAYS. We were inseparable since kindergarten, despite our big differences.
Teri was always the most popular girl in school, always getting all the guys. Even the ones she didn't want! I was average. Not a loser, but not a cool kid. Nobody understood how our friendship worked, and neither did we. Now that I look back, I see that it was because of our differences that we were so close. We used each other as an escape from the people we usually hung out with. That is, until we were betrayed.
Weston was your typical high school. There were the cliques (popular, nerds, drama geeks, freaks, etc.), the good and bad teachers, and the inseparable friendships. I, Alixandra Raquel, was all over the place.
In kindergarten, I entered the school that my 10-year-old sister, Aubrey, currently goes to - East View. I remember the first day clearly. I was nervous, just like every little kid waiting outside Mrs. Brassen's classroom. A little September chill swept by, leaving me with goosebumps. I closed my eyes to embrace the moment, as I do often - Mom calls it scraping, for some reason - and made sure I would always remember the feeling I had right then of the butterflies swirling in my stomach and the nausea of anxiousness. Finally the door opened, and my name card was placed next to a girl named Teri's.
At first, I kind of hated Teri. She was always surrounded by people, and it got annoying. I tried focusing on what Mrs. Brassen was saying, but there was always a reason for Teri to be talking to someone nearby. She was loved, that's all there is to it.
I, on the other hand, was a loser. At that point in kindergarten, I always had my nose in a book - usually something above grade level - and didn't talk much. If the old me could see me now, it would be like Justin Bieber going through puberty. Shocker of the century.
At some point in the year, Teri and I just clicked. Something worked, and we became best friends. She was my first real best friend, and I loved her like family.
The years at East View are almost a blur to me now. I just remember the main points, as I didn't bother scraping anything that happened. Teri started dating in fifth grade. By then, my popularity status was about average. Teri's, however, was the highest it can get. Or maybe higher.
Next came Cherry Lane Middle School, where I was actually really popular. Teri and I ruled the school. I remember my first boyfriend, Josh, who came along in eighth grade. We broke up over the summer, when I caught him kissing Marlene Draper. Marlene was always causing trouble and Josh had been distant, so it didn't really come as a shock.
Finally, high school. Freshman and sophomore years were good, and junior year was the best of the three. It was senior year when things turned around.
