I Fell Anyway

Chapter 5

             The next year was better. I was better. We were better.

            That year was my first taste of freedom. Ally was accepted for some fancy dance academy, and I could finally breathe. Everyone still remembered her and compared me to her, but it was like she was a memory, a past, she didn’t matter as much. Her legacy was still very much intact, but people stopped bothering me to try and get me to introduce them to her.

            He also came into my life more that year, though it was at the end.  The end is really all that matters, isn’t it? The end is what broke us, wasn’t it? Our ending would never have been happy and isn’t that all that matters?

            Sophomore year went by in a blur. I was placed in AP classes because the regular classes were full and my grades were high enough. Classes went on and friendships passed, and then it was the end. Close to it, at least. It was finally finals.

            He sat next to me during finals week. That was the day I acknowledged how smart you actually are, well were. We were a class full of smart students, and he was always near the bottom when we were told our ranks, so I never thought he really was smart. Oh how I underestimated you.

            Here’s a common fact: Everyone cheats. On tests, I mean. Okay maybe not everyone but most people do. I was not an exception. Neither was he. I finished and I was rushing to check my answers since finals was also on the day of the choir performance, which I was in.

            I didn’t realize he was ‘comparing’ our answers until he tapped on my side of the table. I looked up at him and he pointed to one of the questions. I stared at him skeptically, but checked that question nonetheless. I was wrong. You have no idea how confused I was right then. I looked at him thankfully, and changed my answer. We ‘compared’ answers for a couple of pages before I decided that was enough. I turned my test in and left. As I speed-walked down the stairs, I saw him come down after me.

            “You’re welcome,” he said.

            I was in a rush, but I something came over me. I didn’t realize it then, but I was drawn to him. I stopped, well slowed down, and replied, “You helped me on what… 2 questions? I saved you on like 4.”

            “I think I still deserve a thank you,” he retaliated, not being affected by my attitude.

            “Thank you, now do I get one?” I said, not being able to hold back a smile.

            We chatted longer than I had the time for. After we went our separate ways I sprinted to the auditorium. I didn’t realize it then, and I wouldn’t realize it for another year, but it was then that he captured my attention.

            It was then that it all changed. You weren’t some arrogant prick anymore, I wasn’t some stuck-up popular kid anymore, and we weren’t so self-obsessed anymore. For better or for worse, we changed.