it's only right • braeden lemasters

3

poppy • age 17

i stare at the walls of the classroom. this is really my last time here. i am enjoying my peace and quiet before it'll be taken away when the bell rings.

the rest of the class are outside, they're crying and sobbing and blah blah blah. they are signing their year books.

that's because they have something to miss, im licking.

i'm gonna be going to college 2 states away. and i don't need to speak to anybody. it'll be amazing.

pure bliss.

my high school experience was weird, and it consisted of nothing the average high schooler experiences.

i didn't have friends, no parties, no drinking illegally. none of that.

i had dread coming home everyday, because it would be my mum sulking off in the kitchen. my dad isolating himself in his office. me, trying to survive.

"dude! it'll be sick. but the apartment is so far away so that's a total bummer-"

immediately, cole preston stops. he clearly acknowledges my presence at the back of the class. he awkwardly coughs and dylan, who is stood behind him leans on the teachers desk and stares  down at the floor, they clearly were expecting an empty class but they shouted like it was the only important thing in the world. . braeden enters last, he looks around the room confused as to why the silence is so tense.

i didn't know the reason for that to be honest. but it was tense, probably because we've had no encounters and it's almost the last time we'll see each other.

shut up, poppy. what's we anyway? you're being ridiculous.

they hurry to the other corner of the classroom, and continue their chatter. i have a stupid idea in mind, but it seems worth a try.

braeden • age 18
she stared up at me when i walked in the room. she knew the tension, like me when i entered.

i don't understand how she survived high school with no friends. it's past me to be completely frank.

"dude?" dylan snaps his fingers in front of my face.

"oh, yeah. what were you saying?" i quickly reply, so that they couldn't suspect anything.

they knew i liked her. i remember complaining to them in 8th grade. dylan told me to find somebody else, cole said it was stupid since she was never going to speak to me.

it was done, though. even now, i didn't feel that infatuation when she  stared at me. i would've been ecstatic, quick to inform dylan or cole. but it didn't happen this time, instead it was like an ordinary passing moment.

the love i had for her was long gone, she was just another crush. her eyes were normal, her hair, that bump on her nose- all normal features. didn't stand out to me, not anymore.

and i was grateful.

"hey guys..um, high school sure whizzed past! hehe.."

i shoot my head up, only to find poppy speaking.

9th grade
"are you okay? i saw you crying over there... is everything okay?"

she snaps her head at me. "no you didn't. i don't cry. shut up."

"i'm sorry, i swear i saw you though."

she glares at me then yells : "shut up! shut up shut up shut up!!! you're so annoying. stop trying to talk to me!" she was sobbing like a hysterical single mum, hah. but she was definitely upset.

i got kinda upset when she was upset. but i looked at her, one final glance, and took the hint. she didn't want me near her.
"bye then."

present time

"yeah, sure did." cole politely replies.

dylan nods in agreement. i nod too, then she steals a glance and rapidly continues the conversation :

"look, i'm here because i want your phone numbers? i'd like to speak to some people, a reminder of home when i'm away." she smiles, close mouthed.

"but you don't speak to us? anyway? like never, we've never spoken. apart from that baseball incident like a decade ago..." dylan states

"oh! that's what the reason is. i'd like to speak because we've never spoken. we could begin a friendship now. like right this second. could i have your phone numbers?"

"i'm sorry but you don't get to do this. this isn't right, you can't befriend people when you see fit. you even gave b s***. get a hold of yourself." dylan now raises his voice slightly.

poppy

the words hurt but that's because they're true. whenever i was able, i'd give him a look of disgust and hatred.

i didn't matter to him anymore though, he was barely paying attention to the conversation.

"i'm going to a college in alaska! i just wanted to have connections. listen, i'm aware i'm not the nicest person. i apologise, it was my intention but now i'd like to take it all back. doesn't mean we're on speaking terms but i'm no longer holding a grudge. braeden?"

he shoots a smile, then returns to his phone. damn.  his emerald glistening eyes, they drag across the screen from left to right and so on.

"okay, we'll write our number on a post it note. there:" he hands me a yellow post it note, then scribbles the numbers as it is in my hand.

"shouldn't you have wrote it, before you gave it to me? just a weird order, don't you think? giving it to me then writing?" i ask dylan.

"shut up, be grateful that we're giving it to you in the first place." i nite the inside of my cheek, and immediately zip my mouth.

it's true.

i can see a friendship forming, but with braeden? i've hated him for so long, i'm not even sure if i meant what i said before. and i think i didn't.