𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 -- s. harrington

→ eight.

THE SCHOOL DAY ticked by a lot faster than Andrea had anticipated and now she was halfway through that day in hell. Andrea knew when Steve would be playing basketball so she slipped out of class after asking to use the washroom and then went to watch him play. She always went to watch when she and Steve were friends since he participated in the game. After they stopped being friends though, she stopped going and Steve missed seeing her smile and laugh every time he made a small mistake but she always flashed him a thumbs-up when he got back into the swing of things.

          The gym doors pushed open easily once Andrea put enough weight on them and she slipped inside quickly before letting the doors slam back into their places. She spotted Steve with his back up against a boy she didn't fully recognize, trying to keep the ball away from the boy who towered over his slightly hunched form. Andrea smiled at him and quickly moved over to the bench where she had sat one too many times - she swore a print of her butt would form if she sat there any longer.

          Steve noticed the doors had opened to his left but was too invested in keeping the basketball away from Billy Hargrove that he couldn't be bothered to look to see who had come into the gym. Steve has his arm outstretched, bouncing the ball as his other arm was out to the side, holding Billy back.

          "I saw one of your girlfriends walk in," Billy whispered in Steve's ear, smiling slightly as he quickly glanced over his shoulder at the beautiful blonde sitting on the bench. "The blonde one with the nice ass." This comment made Steve's posture falter slightly and Billy planted his hands on the boy's back, shoving him onto the ground. "Plant your feet, Harrington." He said as he held a hand out to help Steve up from the floor.

          Steve smacked the boy's hand away and got up to his feet quickly, glaring at Billy as he jogged away with the ball. Immediately, Steve's eyes shot to the benches and there he saw Andrea sitting in the place she always sat, her left leg crossed over her right as she waved her fingers at him and smiled. The boy returned the smile, feeling his chest heat up with joy and his stomach was soon filled with butterflies. Steve strolled over toward Andrea but stopped abruptly when the back door of the gym opened and Nancy Wheeler poked her head in. Steve's smile dropped as he looked back to Andrea who was looking over at the Wheeler girl. Steve jogged over to Andrea and crouched down, tapping his fingers on her knee. "I'm sorry, Andy, but I have to go see what Nancy wants."

          Andrea didn't bother meeting Steve's eyes, she just simply nodded and looked down at her hands in her lap. "Is this how it's gonna be Steve?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper. "No matter what, as soon as Nancy shows up are you just going to ditch me? Not even say hello or ask me how I am?"

          Steve glanced over toward Nancy and sighed, holding up a finger to let the girl know he'd be over in a minute. "Look, Andy, I'll be back in a couple of minutes and then we can go do whatever you want," he said and gave the girl's knee a gentle squeeze that caused her to look up and meet his eyes. "After basketball is over we'll go do something, just the two of us."

          Andrea sighed and shook her head. "I've come second to Nancy for a really long time, Steve, and it hurts. We used to be best friends and now I'm not even a thought in your head," she lifted her fingers and tapped the side of his head, smiling slightly even though her heart was aching on the inside. Andrea pushed herself to her feet, causing Steve's hands to slip away from her. "Have fun with Nancy, Steve." Was the last thing she said to the boy, and the last thing she planned on saying to him for a long time, before walking away and leaving him behind as he chose his girlfriend over his "best friend" once again.

*  *  *  *

Valorie was starting to hate the slug that Dustin called Dart. It had grown in size since she had introduced her sister to the slimy thing and now she was standing in the middle school's AV club room with Dustin, the other boys and the new girl Max so that Dustin could show the redhead girl his weird discovery. Ever since Max showed up to the middle school, Dustin and Lucas had been doing their best to get her attention - this made Valorie jealous because she had always fought so hard to get Dustin's attention and he only acknowledged the girl after what happened last year. Now he was after a girl he didn't even know.