WILD (✓)

~ twelve ~

"All right, I think I've got everything," Lucas smiles his perfect white smile at me as I munch on some cereal. He sticks the leather bound notepad that he got for Christmas into his briefcase, patting his hair down in the mirror before looking back at me. "Wish me luck?"

I return his smile lazily, still sleepy from his parents New Years party the night before. The party got crazy - who knew working adults could drink so hard? Even Mom let loose a little bit.

Lucas looks so handsome, dressed in a tailored suit and tie. "Good luck," I stand on my toes, placing a gentle peck on his nose. "But you don't need it, they'll be lucky to have you." I send him off to his interview - he's hoping to get a position in the emergency room to help his medical school applications later on. Lucas gets nearly perfect grades and has worked in his professors  chemistry labs every year, so he's more than qualified for the internship. We were practicing interview questions all week but no matter how many times I reassured him, Lucas was still feeling pretty nervous.

I return to my breakfast, looking around Lucas's kitchen. His mom and dad have left the house already, both have big higher up jobs that require lots of work in and out of the office, with little time for much else. No one cares that I spend the night, even though my house is just next door.  Even Mom doesn't argue. I think they figure it'll work out in their favor if they just let us do what we want - maybe then we'll get married some day, like they've always planned. The funny thing is that we don't do anything besides watch movies and sleep. Lucas doesn't try anything with me beyond kissing and for now, I'm perfectly okay with that. I'm still getting used to being together... in that way, anyways.

I consider Lucas's interview today, remembering all the saved applications waiting for me on my laptop. I've got to start applying, too, I make a mental note before returning my thoughts to Lucas. There's no way he won't be offered a position, I smile to myself. Oddly, I don't feel jealous that his medical school dreams are working out so much better than my own.

My phone rings, interrupting my thoughts before I can deliberate much longer. I pick up to find a very distraught Hannah crying on the line. "What's wrong?" I try to make sense of her sobs. "Hannah, slow down,"

The crying goes on a few more minutes before Hannah is finally able to speak. "Sorry," she blubbers. "What I was saying is you know how my mom always throws that big New Years Eve party every year?" Hannah's mom is a lot like Lucas's, from what I've gathered. Her parties are always amazing to the point where sometimes it feels more like a chore to attend - looking absolutely perfect, behaving the right way, dealing with pretentious family members and work colleagues... I feel almost bad for Hannah. But it's the life she's used to, I suppose.

"Mhm," I prompt, putting her on speaker and cleaning my dishes in the sink.

"Well Cass came this year and she... she was just such a ... a bitch," Hannah is crying again, sad hiccups interrupting her complaints. My first thought, selfishly, is to wonder why Cass was going when I wasn't even invited. Not the point, I remind myself, drying my cereal bowl and placing it back on the shelf.

"What happened?" I ask softly, trying to push the nagging feeling of being left out from my mind.

Needing no further comment, Hannah dives into the story, telling me everything from how Cass complained about the party from the moment she was invited to how rude she was saying goodbye to her mom's family. I listen intently, offering sympathetic oh's, soothing ah's and somewhat confused apologies, the entire time wondering why any of these things was enough to upset Hannah so much. I know better than to ask, though, and I'm sure she has her reasons. Still, I wonder why for the first time since we've been friends, Hannah is keeping things from me.