The Lies We Tell

Chapter 1: The Time I Knew What Happiness Was

The lunch room was crowded but Laurel maneuvered it with ease. She sat down at one of the most crowded tables in the room which sat off in the corner. It was not a "popular" table, but rather a large friend group. She didn't much like large groups, they made her rather uncomfortable with all the noise and people, but Joy and Sevy sat here and it was easy to get lost in some intellectual conversation with at least one of them.
"Salut," Sevy greeted her in French. Laurel's mouth stretched into the small curve of a smile and her eyes laughed, right eyebrow raised slightly over the left, a look that was uniquely attributed to her.
"Salut," Laurel returned, voice soft and amiable. "Ready for French?" French was one of the classes shared by the two girls. Joy took Spanish. Not that there was anything wrong with Spanish, it was just a bit too useful for Laurel's taste. Sevy confirmed that she was in fact ready for French and the two continued talking half in French half in English about whatever subject they pleased. On this day in particular it was about band.
And so continued the rest of the school year. Eight grade went by in a flash and soon there was talk of graduation and of high school. There were three high schools in the county and each had its own special science program that could be applied to. Of course, they weren't mandatory, but being involved in one meant you changed schools and went to the one at which your academy was based. The one in the north of the district had MAESA, math and engineering academy. In the west was ESA, environmental sciences academy. The east had the one that held interest for Laurel. The Health and Medical Sciences Academy. She had spent her life fascinated in science, anatomy, in addition to languages. She had already taught her self to be proficient in both German and French.
Each academy had its perks. MAESA was the most competitive and therefore came with the most pride. HMSA, in Laurel's opinion, was the most interesting. ESA was based at her home school and would require no move. Each of the three friends also had their different interests. It was about halfway through the year when each applied to a different academy: Sevy to MAESA, Joy to ESA, and Laurel to HMSA. Now it was nearing the end of May and all three had been accepted. This left less than a month to say their goodbyes, but each was determined to take her own path and equally determined to stay connected. None had phones, but emails were exchanged and goodbyes were said. Thus ended the period of happiness.