Dear Freya,

8

A series of 'dings' awoke me from my deep sleep. I reached over to my phone, which was on the night stand, and shut off my alarm. "Wake up!" I yelled in Colton's ear. He woke up startled and rolled off my twin sized bed. "What the..." his head swiveling from left to right, obviously confused. "Up here dumbo, get ready." I got off the bed and held my hand out to help him up. "Why am I getting ready? What time is it?" I giggled, Colton was never a morning person. "First day of school!! Let's get ready for our last year of middle school." He groaned, realization hitting his face. He grabbed my hand and pulled himself up. "I don't like growing up, things get complicated when we're old." I looked up at him now all 6 foot in stature, "Very deep, but go get dressed." He rolled his eyes and made his way to the bathroom, "Whatever you say, mom." I laughed and threw a pillow at the door.
...

I remembered those words he said before we entered 8th grade. He couldn't have been more true. I still sat down on the floor of my room with Arizona- by sit I mean a weird, awkward squatting position, being that the dress was so tight it wouldn't allow me to sit on the floor. "Soooo." She breaks us out of the silence we were in, "are you ready to go back out?" I chewed on the inside of my lip contemplating. "Possibly but, I really don't know what to do, Ari, I need your expert opinion." She sighed, stood up , and stretched out her hand for me- I thanked her in my head, there would have been no way I could get up on my own- I took her hand and she picked me up.

"Hmmm, very complicated situation," I rolled my eyes waiting for her to get to the point, "I guess you should just take it one step at a time, and go with the flow." She laughs at her own advice. "Very profound." I reply laughing myself. She gives me a quick hug and says, "I'm sorry this is happening." I nod into her curled hair, "I guess, it's time to go?" I ask hoping she says no and we can hide out a little longer. Instead, she grins,"we got places to go and people to see." I rolled my eyes once again.

We make our way out of my room and head down the spiral stair case, I know, every time I describe my house I cringe a little too.

"Freya!!" Luke runs picks me up and swings me around. I grin at him, happy that he's the first face I see, "Hey Luke, how are you!" He sets me down and jumps a few times, this boy has more energy than the energizer bunny itself. "Yo, I am so hyped, I could run a few miles." I laughed at his hyperactive state, I'm honestly not surprised, Luke's on the cross country team with Arizona. They both keep trying to get me to join, which with lacrosse season coming up, the offer seems more and more appealing. I really should start conditioning again.

"What's up with you?" Gerald asks Luke who's literally on the floor doing push ups, "grind never stops." Luke replies, sounding a little out of breath. The group responds with a collective amount of eye rolls, see it's a thing in a our group. "He just gets super hyper at night." I respond.

Nathan looks around the room as if he's looking for someone. "Who are you looking for?" Wisteria asks Nathan, noticing the same thing I did. He stiffens, not saying anything for a moment, "Um, no one really." With that he leaves. I turn to wisteria her face mirroring mine: mouth slightly hung open, eyebrows furrowed. "What the hell?" We both say at the same time. "What a mysterious guy," Arizona chirps in, "kinda makes him hotter." "Ew!" Me and wisteria, again, both mirror each other and hit Arizona on her shoulders. She bursts out laughing, "Just saying."

"Speaking of mysterious and hot." I follow Arizona's gaze to the one and only Colton Johns. At this point Luke had tired himself out and joined the group. "Who's that?" He questioned breathlessly. "Colton." I tried to make my voice strong and harsh but it only came out as a whisper.

There he was, my former best friend standing talking to Bailey. Funny how I still feel my blood boil even though I hate him, and her. Her arm draped over his neck, the other on his chest. Skank. She looked up at him captivated over all he was saying. He on the other hand looked bored, like he would rather be somewhere else. My heart beat rose and I felt triumphant for some reason. "Why are you smirking like a little freak?" Arizona whispers in my ear, careful to not let Luke hear. My eyes widened slightly and wiped the smirk of my face, leaving it blank instead.