Jasmine:
“C’mon, Marvin!” I groaned. I was trying so hard lately every day to wake this hibernating bear every morning. It was 6:30am. Knowing Marvin for almost three years now since we first moved into New York City, Marvin is one of those people who never wake up as early as I do. However, the only difference there is with Jake to other people is that he was my best friend. He was the first one I talked to since my father and I moved into the city after he was transferred to a connected branch. I was just as excited as he was about it.
So here I was, waking up the heaviest sleeper I know. Since he wasn’t cooperating, I did what I had to do. It was one of my specialties. I lay down beside him (horizontally) then used all the strength I had and used my feet to kick him from behind, off his bed. May I remind you, I have shoes on? He fell off his bed, front first, and he groaned in slight pain.
“Jasmine, why you gotta be so rude?!” he groaned at me. I lay, faced down, looking down at Jake, who’s faced down on the floor.
“Hey, it is not my fault. I don’t sleep like a freaking bear. Now go shower. You look like crap. School starts in an hour.” I jumped out of bed and helped him up. He lifted me up over his shoulder and I practically shrieked and started punching his back, screaming and kicking, “Let me go you dork!” He just laughed and ignored my pleading. I hate him, even though he was my best friend.
He just laughed and when he opened the door, he set me down. Before I could argue of his “assault”, he closed the door on me. I grunted then made my way down to the kitchen, where Adrianna, Marvin's mother, was making pancakes. Knowing what just happened, she laughed and handed me a plate of three-stacked pancakes. I smiled and started eating slowly. I admired her pancakes. I was jealous of Marvin. He had a mother who cooks and cares for him. Nevertheless, knowing she and I got along fine since he and I became friends, she was becoming like a mother to me too. Another thing he and I had in common was that he only has one parent. His father died in a car accident when he was 10. For a year now, he and I thought that since I wanted a mother and he wanted a father as well, we decided it was time to set my father and his mom together. Nevertheless, it wasn’t that easy. My father wasn’t up to be in a relationship since my mother left. Jake’s mother didn’t feel she could go out on a date for 7 years now. We didn’t rush them. However, we were very eager to see them together. “I should stop trying to wake up that bear of a son of yours, aunt Adrianna. I hate being lifted.” She laughed a little and I smiled.
“You are welcome to keep doing so. He is never late for school since the day you two became close friends. He will miss you trying to wake him up. Don’t feel bad about it." I smiled then we heard Marvin jogging down the stairs. He primped his brown hair into the mirror on the wall. He was wearing his batman T-shirt that I got him for his birthday last year. He wore his varsity athletes’ jacket over his shirt, faded denim jeans and his black and white converse sneakers. I was wearing varsity athletes’ jacket too, but mine was black and red and his own was white and blue. My converse was black and red high-tops. We were not only best friends but we were also like fraternal twins. He walked over, sat down beside me, and started eating my pancakes. I shoved him lightly. “Lay off my pancakes, you dork!”
He looked up at me then smiled. “Too much pancakes make you fat.” He looked up and down, scanning my figure, and then smirked. “Too late.”
My eyes widen and I pushed him off his seat. “Pig!” I said. I am not fat! I weigh less than that hog. Adrianna just laughed.
English Literature, a subject in school where I usually sit in and listen to Mr. Brakemen go on about the chapter on Macbeth. I was sketching a little black cat on my sketchbook. While I was sketching, my cellphone started vibrating on top of my jacket. I picked it up, relieved that no one caught me. I read the message under my desk to see that my friend, Kelsie texted me. This is weird of her because she was right next to me.
Kels: Want to go to see a movie tonight?
Jaz: I want to... but I promised Marvin I’d study with him tonight.
Kels: Bring him with you!
Jaz: Kk!
After school, I was walking home with Marvin. I told him about Kelsie’s invitation to a movie at the mall tonight. He said he’d be happy to come along. When I got home, my dad was in his room, working on some project for work. Around 5pm, I walked in and he sees me, spreading a warm smile across his face. “Hello, Jasmine. How’s school?”
I sat down on his bed. “School is okay. Still studying and working hard as usual. How’s work?”
He smirked at me. “What is it you need, sweetie? I know you know you never really took interest in my job.”
We both chuckled. “My friend, Kelsie invited me and Marvin to see a movie tonight at the mall. I was hoping you can give me some cash?”
He smiled and reached into his pocket. “I knew you were going to ask that.” He pulled out a 20-dollar bill out of his wallet and handed it to me. I reached for it and I hugged him. “Don’t forget to be home by 10.”
“Of course. And thanks for the 20 daddy.” I hugged him again and went to go get ready.
After the movie, we went window shopping and talked for a while. Marvin had to be home after the movie so it was just Kelsie and me. “So how are you and Ben?” I asked her. Ben and Kelsie were dating; I figured it had become a bit complicated since last month when he moved to England for college. Kelsie seemed okay but I knew deep down, something was bothering her.
“Uhmm… Ben and I broke up.”
I looked at her in disbelief. “What happened?”
“He called me last week saying that he couldn’t take the distance and I told him it was fine. I couldn’t handle it either. I figured it was time to find someone close enough to see, hear and hold on to.”
I gave her a soft smile and she returned it with a stronger smile. That’s what I loved most about Kelsie as a friend. She was brave and strong when it came to breakups. After Kelsie went home around 8, I decided to walk to the park. There was a gazebo where I do most of my thinking or a place to run away to. When I was approaching the gazebo, I heard someone singing and playing with his guitar. I sat down on a bench close by the gazebo to see the person singing. It was a boy in black. Black jacket, jeans, he also had black hair and blue eyes. I don’t know if it was blue, considering there was only little lighting and he was looking at another direction. He was singing “Your Guardian Angel” by The Red jumpsuit Apparatus. His voice was mind easing and I could feel my heart melt. His voice was nothing as if I have ever heard my whole life. This is the first time I felt so good just hearing a voice like this. After he finished, he looks at me. I blushed then I made my way down the path on my way home.
