Always// Jacob Sartorius • Mark Thomas • Blake Gray • Hunter Rowland

Chapter 2

I woke up to my alarm going off. It's 6 am again. Wait, I'm in bed and under the covers. My computer was put up on my desk. That's never where I put my computer. In fact, I don't remember going to bed last night. I sat up in bed and walked over to my computer. I opened it and my essay wasn't finished. I still had a half a page to go. My mom must have walked in last night and tucked me in after seeing I fell asleep. I sat down and tried to gather anything I could to write half a page. I finally finished and it was 6:50. I ran to the bathroom and brushed out my hair. I didn't have time to put on make-up today, so I went to change. It was a bit chilly today, so I put on skinny jeans and a sweater. I brushed out my hair and ran downstairs to eat breakfast. As I was cramming my face, I managed to thank my mom in between bites. "Thanks for cleaning up after me last night." She looked at me with a confused look. "I never went into your room last night." What? Who else could have done that? I finished eating and went to Ethan's room. "Hey, thanks for checking in on me last night." He was on his phone, probably texting his girlfriend. "I never even went into your room." I walked out, wondering who it could be. It may have been my dad, as he usually checks in on my at night. I decided to text him because he was already at work.

Me: Thank you for cleaning my mess up last night!

Dad: What mess?

Me: My computer and tucking me in!

Dad: Whenever I went into your room last night, there was no mess and you were already in bed.

Me: Oh, ok.

Dad: It was probably your mom. Have a great day at school!

Welp, that leaves one other person. My baby sister, Ellie. She's 3 months, so there's no way she tucked me in. I may have put my computer up and got in bed without remembering. I grabbed my backpack and phone and headed downstairs. It was 7:50, so I was doing fine on time today. "Bye mom!" I yelled as I walked out to the bus stop. The bus finally arrived and I walked on with, surprisingly, Stacey saying nothing. She probably just didn't see me. I sat down beside Lilia. "Where's your new bestie?" She laughed and looked at me. "Jacob is not my bestie. You will always be my best friend, you know that. And he doesn't take the bus." I looked away. Why did Jacob have to transfer to our school? Life was so much better without him.

I walked into school and headed straight to my first class. "Wow, you look beautiful even without makeup on." I rolled my eyes and sat down. I took a breath and asked the question I had been afraid to ask. "What time did you leave my house last night?" I asked Jacob. "Around 11:30. Me and your brother stayed up playing video games, why?" I sighed. I looked down and away. I muttered, "Thank you for cleaning my mess up last night." He smiled and said, "It's no big deal. I went in there to tell you bye and you were passed out on your bed. Now am I still annoying?" I quickly replied, "YES." Before he could say anything, the teacher walked in.

As the teacher was talking, I looked over at Liam. Woah. Did I catch Liam staring at me? I smiled at him and looked back front. After class, Liam caught up with me. "Hey, do you want to hang out or something sometime?" He blushed and looked at the floor. Is this really happening? "When were you thinking?" I said with hopes that this was not a dream. "Maybe Friday night we can catch a movie?" Now it was my turn to blush. "I'd love to." He waved bye to me and headed to his next class.

The day carried on pretty normally. I continuously ignored Jacob, and barely talked to my friends. All I could think about was disinfecting my body whenever I got home. I can't believe Jacob touched me with those gross lip-syncing hands. I took the bus home and walked straight to room. I sat my stuff down when I got a text message.

Lilia: im boreeeeed, wanna come over?

Me: sure i'll be there in 10

Lilia: ok, me and the gang will be waitin

Me: btw, you'll never believe what happened to me at school today!!

Lilia: what??

Me: liam asked me if i wanted to hang out on friday!

Lilia: OMG NO WAAAAY

Me: i knowww! we're going to see a movie :)

Lilia: omg im so happy for you

Me: thanks :) see you in a bit

I ran downstairs and told my mom I was going to Lilia's house. Lilia lives in the same neighborhood as me, so I could walk. I walked out of the house and started walking to Lilia's house.  Around 5 minutes later, I was there. I knocked on the door and Lilia opened it. "Hey girlll!" I smiled and hugged her. "I was so bored at my house. Thank god you texted." Lilia walked me to her room. As I entered her room, I saw "the gang" sitting on the floor. There were Kat, Vee, and Jacob! I pulled Lilia aside. "Lilia you said that only the gang was going to be here!" She looked down at her feet and back at me. "Jacob is kind of part of us now. He's not as bad as you think. I really don't think you should blow this out of proportion." "Lilia! You know how I feel about Jacob, and that will never change! I honestly cannot stand him! I can't believe you just let him into our group without even asking or even telling me!" As I walked out of the house, Lilia was calling my name. I ignored her and kept walking. As I headed home, I felt the loneliest I've ever felt. I feel like my friends were slipping away. Everyone knows that all friends have a mutual enemy. But now, our mutual enemy had just become friends with the rest of the group. This week could not get any worse.

**

Word Count: 1082

Hey everyone!! It's Emma here again! ✨ I know I said this story would get better in time, but IT WILL! Just hang in there a biiit longer! Also, comment down below how you guys want the story to turn out!

Q: Whats your favorite season?
A: Mine's Spring!