Nowhere Kids

Pressure

I walked to school feeling mixed feelings. Part of me couldn't wait to complain to the others about last night, and another part of me was scared to confront them, especially if Brent planned on being harsh. Then there was Brent. I was glad to be with him last night, but it felt weird. I didn't want to rush things things with him. I valued our friendship and didn't want to ruin it.

When I arrived at school I found Barry and Zach hanging out in our usual spot. I stopped walking for a moment and wondered if I should wait for Brent. No, I have some words for them. I walked over, ready to confront them.
"Oh hey Jamie, how was last night?" Zach asked with a smile.
"What do you think?" I growled as I crossed my arms. "You guys stood me up"
"Sorry, I got caught up with homework" Barry said.
"I got sick" Zach said.
"Oh really? You were fine at gym and you're fine now" I said.
"Dinner made me sick" he said quickly, clearly lying. At least Barry tried.
"Hey guys" I turned around the see Eric walking towards us.
"And what's your excuse?" I asked him.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Did you not show up either? Weird" Zach said.
"Shut up Zach" I growled. Zach turned away with wide eyes.
"Sorry Jamie. I tried to call, my parents needed me to stay home" he said.

Brent showed up before I could argue anymore. This was going to be interesting.
"Hey Brent" Barry greeted the angry teen as he stormed over. He stood there a moment, trying to think of something to say
"What the fuck guys?" He finally snapped.
"Dude, what's your problem?" Zach asked, stepping back slightly behind Barry. Coward.
"Jamie and I waited 45 minutes for you assholes to show up. You didn't even tell us!" Brent was yelling at this point. I reached for his hand but he swatted me away.
"Why didn't you two watch the movie without us? Why wait so long?" Barry asked. Zach was now hiding behind him completely.
"It's not the same without you" I said softly.
"You three have never stood me up in years! Why did you do it last night?" Brent yelled.
"We're sorry dude" Eric said.
"Forget it Brent" I mumbled as I walked away. I get why he was upset, but yelling wasn't going to fix anything.

I went to my first class and took my seat. The bell hadn't rang yet so I was the only one there. I didn't care, I wanted to be alone. Eric came in a few minutes later looking depressed as he sat next to me.
"You okay?" I asked. Eric sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I'm such an ass" he mumbled.
"Don't put yourself down man. I agree Brent has a right to be mad, I know I was, but he didn't have to go so hard on you" I said.
"I shouldn't have planned that though. I should've just talked to him or you" he said sadly as he put his head on his desk.
"If it makes you feel better, Brent and I walked to the cafe down the street and spent some time together"
"So it wasn't a total waste?" He asked, turning his head towards me.
"No, but don't tell him I said that. He didn't want you guys thinking you did the right thing"
"Make sense I guess. Did you two at least have a good time?"
"Yeah, it was nice" I said, unsure of myself. I knew I had a good time, but his anger this morning made me wonder if he did.

I ended up being quiet during class. Eric didn't seem to mind, he probably understood it was a weird morning for both of us. The bell rang so I headed out to history. Brent bumped into me as we walked into the room.
"Oh hey" he said, his head looking down.
"Hey, you calm down yet?" I asked him. He looked up at me and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeah, sorry about this morning" he said quietly.
"I'm not the one you have to apologize to" I said as I continued walking to my desk. Brent followed and took his seat.
"I know, I know. I just wanted to apologize to you as well. I wasn't that nice this morning. I was just frustrated" he mumbled as he sat down.
"I was frustrated too, but I didn't cause a scene" I said.
"Look, I said I was sorry" he said slightly louder.
"Look who's fighting already" Courtney giggled as she sat next to us. "Can't handle each other?"
"Shut up bitch this has nothing to do with you" I growled.
"No need to call her that Jamie" Brent said.
"Thank you Brently" Courtney said in a sweet voice.
"This doesn't concern you Courtney so can you please stay out of it?" He asked, clearly annoyed. Courtney nodded but didn't turn away from us. She clearly wanted more drama so we stopped talking about it.

After class I walked to my locker. Brent seemed surprised I didn't follow him straight to the cafe, but he didn't stop me. I approached my locker and opened it, putting some books away.
"Hey, why aren't you in the cafe?" I turned around to see Zach standing there.
"Wanted to stop here first. You heading there?"
"Yeah. Want to walk with me?"
I shrugged and closed my locker and followed Zach towards the cafe.

"So are you still mad at us?" Zach asked as we walked through the doors into the loud cafeteria.
"No, but Brent might be" I said as we walked. "Well, I think we're mad at each other"
"What? But we did it so you two would get closer" Zach whined.
"Thanks, but I think the pressure you put on us was a bit much. And I think Brent values his friendship with you guys more" I explained.
"That doesn't mean he doesn't like you"
"I know, but I'm with Brent on it. I'd rather see you guys all together then be alone with him and have him miss you guys" I said.

We found the others at our usual table and took our seats. I sat next to Brent today at the end of the table with Barry across from me. Brent gave me a side glance before resuming his conversation with Eric.
"I'm just saying I'm sorry" he said.
"We're sorry too Brent. Can we put this behind us?" Barry said.
"I'd love to" Brent said with a smile. They all put their hands in the middle of the table.
"Jamie, you want in?" Eric asked. I hesitated before putting my hand in.
"Nothing can break up this friendship. Cheers on three" Brent started. The three of them counted down before throwing their hands up and cheering. I followed, trying to keep up. Brent laughed and put an arm around me.
"So, all of us together tonight?" Eric asked.
"There's that new mini golf place in town. Want to check it out?" Barry suggested. We all thought it sounded fun and agreed to meet up after school.

Barry and I walked together to English once the bell rang.
"I'm glad we talked things out as a group" I said as we walked into class.
"Yeah, we try to be good about it, even if we fight beforehand" Barry chuckled.
"Boys will be boys" I said as I took my seat. "You guys are actually going to show up tonight, right?"
"Of course. We learned our lesson. Besides, it sounds like fun"
"Just no pressure on me and Brent please"
"No promises" he said with a wink. I rolled my eyes as he chuckled.

After a boring English class, I said goodbye to Barry and headed to gym. Once I changed into my gym clothes I found Zach hanging out.
"Hey, what's up?" He asked.
"Nothing much. Hey, I never apologized for snapping this morning" I said. "So, I'm sorry"
"It's cool. You were mad and we earned it" Zach said.
"Hopefully tonight goes well" I said as we started walking laps around the gym.
"It will. We'll all be together this time" he said.

Zach and I jogged laps outside for class as it was nice out. The fresh air made me feel better and put me in a good mood. After class I grabbed my things and met Zach outside the gym doors.
"Ready to meet up with the others?" He asked.
"Yup" I followed him outside the school were Eric and Barry were waiting.
"You two have things you need to do or are we meeting straight there?" Eric asked.
"I'm fine. What about you Jamie?" Zach turned towards me.
"I'm fine. I'm going to wait for Brent though" I said.

The three said goodbye and walked to Barry's car together. Brent came out of school moments later and wrapped his arms around me.
"Ready to go?" I asked as I turned to face him. "The others are already ok there way"
"Alright then, let's go" he grabbed my hand and we walked together to his truck. Hopefully this will go better than yesterday