Friendzoned

Chapter 14

Rae

            Ryder and I didn’t really keep in touch after our fight on the trampoline at the 8th grade end of the year party. We occasionally saw each other outside that summer, but we never really talked. When our families did end up getting together to have a family get together, Ryder went to a friend’s house instead.

Freshman year went by pretty slowly. Not much happened. Ryder and I didn’t have any classes together, so we lost touch. Jake, Lexi, and I hung out a lot. We became really close and did stuff together almost every weekend. Jake and I dated for 4 months during Freshman year, but things didn’t work out. Luckily, we were already such great friends, that the break up didn’t affect us that much.

Ryder and Brittany kept “seeing” each other throughout the year without making things exclusive. I spent most of the year avoiding awkward eye contact and conversations with them in the hallway. I focused really hard on my school work and grades and was on High honors role both semesters.

As the end of the year rolled around, I was beginning to get really excited about the photography camp I was taking this summer. It was all the way across the country in a small town I never heard of before enrolling. My parents bought me a brand new camera and a scrapbook kit for my friends and me. I started taking a bunch of pictures of Lexi, Jake, and I to put in the scrapbook. I couldn’t wait to start working on it. I already have half of it done!

Camp Photography was the best camp ever! I learned so much about taking pictures that I never knew. I learned all the best angles and lightings to take a perfect picture in and I even learned how to edit pictures like the professional photographers do. I was so sad to go back home and leave all of my new friends that I made. There were some really cool people there. However, I am really excited to see Jake and Lexi again!

When I got home, my parents surprised me with a nice family dinner at a really fancy restaurant. I told them all about camp and how thankful I was that they let me go. I talked about all my new friends that I made and what I learned and even which boys were really cute. They were really glad I had fun and told me that if I could raise up the money, I could go to camp again next summer! That got me wanting to start raising the money right away.

The next few weeks of summer went by really fast. I spent a lot of my time swimming and tanning with Jake and Lexi. The week before school started, Mr. and Mrs. Young came over to ask us if we would be up for having a family barbeque again. I hadn’t been to one in over a year and was really nervous about having to deal with Ryder again. We made plans to have the barbeque the next day and decided who was going to get what kinds of food. I instantly tried to think of a way to get out of it. I asked my mom if I could go over to Lexi’s house instead of going to the barbeque, but she told me I should spend some time with the family. I guess I’m stuck.

I woke up the next morning and hopped in the shower to start getting ready for the party. By the time I was ready, mom was just about to leave for the grocery store. I decided to go with her to help her pick out a few things. After we did all the shopping, we headed home to do the last few things we needed to get done before the barbeque.

The first thing I noticed when the Young’s family walked in our front door was how nice Ryder looked. He had definitely gotten cuter over the past year! I bet he is still a jerk though. I was forced to sit outside with Ryder and Reagan while our parents helped each other cook dinner. The dads were outside grilling and the moms were in the kitchen preparing everything else. At first the small talk between us kids was really awkward. They asked me how camp was and what I had been up to lately. I asked Ryder how he had been and if he had a girlfriend now.

“I’ve been really good! I’m focusing more on sports and staying away from girls this summer.” He replied. I just nodded and smiled thinking about how cute he looked. I also asked Reagan about school and all her middle school drama. After a little while, things became less awkward and we talked about everything like old times. I was beginning to realize that Ryder had changed a lot since the last time we hung out. 

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