Promise

Chapter 1

"NO! NO! NO!" I screamed. Mom and dad both pulled me out of the school. I saw Kelsey in tears. The principle looked sad. Just as I reached my car, I saw Kelsey try to run to the door but principal Williams stopped her. "LET GO!" I sobbed. "Honey, you have to stop," Mom said. "I can't leave! Please-"

"We're sorry."

Dad carried me. I tried kicking myself up to get out of his grip. He let go, making me fall down. He tried grabbing my sleeve but he didn't make it. I ran back in the school. The principal was taking Kelsey back to her class. "Kels!" I yelled. She turned around, her eyebrows raised. We ran to each other and hugged.

"Don't forget me. I'll come back as soon as I can."

"I will wait for you."

"Tell Luke And Jacob that I'm going to miss them. Tell them I said bye," I cried. She nodded. We hugged again. "You will always be my only best friend," I told her. "And you will always be mine, too." She sobbed.

Just as I thought 7th grade wasn't so bad.

I felt two arms grab me. "Bye Kelsey!" I cried. She sobbed, "Bye, Leah."

•

My mom put her hand on my knee, "I'm sorry, honey."

I looked out the airplane's window. "I couldn't even say bye to Luke," I said as a tear rolled down my cheek. "I know. I'm so sorry."

"I promised him we were going to date once we got to high school. I promised him I would go to all his football games. I promised Kelsey I would come back, but that's obviously not happening, is it?"

Mom frowned. I knew that meant 'no' or 'I don't think so'.

I wiped tears away from my eyes. I thought about everything Luke and I had talked about. Like, how it didn't matter that he was shorter than me because height doesn't matter. How we were going to be the happiest couple in high school. Then, I thought about everything Kelsey and I talked about. How we were going to have so much fun running around in high school. We planned to move to Hawaii once we were older.

I promised her we would always be together. But now, I was leaving Houston,Texas because my dad got promoted to a job at Ohio.

7th grade was the worst year ever.

-

"Leah!" Mom exclaimed. I jumped as I snapped out of my thoughts. I had forgotten we were at the airport. "Our flight is here," she smiled "We're going home."

I nodded and smiled nervously. "Last call to gate 13 with destination to Houston, Texas" A woman's voice said through the loud speaker.

"It's time," Mom said. I nodded. My phone buzzed. I looked down at it as we walked to the gate.

Riley tagged you in a post.

Mom and I got in the airplane. I hated the fact that she still couldn't get over dad. He cheated. She's trying to act okay, but it's obvious that she's hurt.

We took our seats and I clicked on Riley's post. It was a picture of us last year in the weird carnival where a guy asked me out and told me I was the prettiest girl he's ever seen. There was another picture of us a few months ago when we went to get ice cream together and then some guy said he wanted to do...un-holy things with me.

She was posting all the pictures where something with a guy happened. I looked at the third picture. It was us at a lake. That was the day she called me dumb because I tried giving a duck some of my chocolate.

I looked at the caption. It read:

I remember when I first met you in 8th grade. You were so shy. I told you that you looked like cousin and you laughed. You always laughed at everything. You always attracted guys. I don't blame them...you're so pretty! If I were a guy, I would definitely date you and your pretty green eyes. I'm going to miss you so much :( don't forget about me. You're my best friend!

I love you, L, and hope you have a great life.

- Rylie ♡︎

I felt weird. Some part of me made me feel like she's fake. She always told me I was dumb and then she would laugh. I never knew if she was joking or not. That one day we got drunk last year. She started yelling at me. She said it wasn't fair that I was so pretty. She said it wasn't fair that I attracted every guy. I confronted her the next day and she just used the excuse that she was drunk and didn't mean it.

I suddenly remembered all the times guys talked to me and flirted. She always had that weird look. The look was saying, 'ugh'.

I suddenly realized she was fake. I blocked her on everything. Mom sat down next to me. "Ready to see Kelsey?" She asked. Those words hit me like a truck. They seemed so exciting, yet scary. What is she moved on? What if she had a new best friend that she is more close to? I suddenly felt like a traitor by hanging out with Riley a lot.

I took a deep breath. Kelsey would understand if I had another best friend. I decided to stop thinking about it. What about Luke? What if he's dating someone right now. No, no girl liked him in middle school. No offense, but I was the only girl who ever liked him (according to him).

I had a feeling inside my that everything had changed. What if Junior year turns out worst then 7th grade? Hopefully not.

Maybe everything was still the same. Probably not. Let be realistic. People grow up. People move on. People don't care. People change.

At this point, I don't know if that's thinking realistically or negatively. Maybe both? I don't know.
Maybe I'm just overthinking. Yeah, maybe I'm just paranoid. Okay, maybe I've said "maybe" too many times to even count.