Tragic and Wonder: An Un-Fairytale [On Hold]

Chapter 2- High School Years

It was nice welcoming Casper into our quirky group of friends our freshman year, which came and went without too big of a hitch for most of us. I did not escape the year unscathed. In a strange series of some very unfortunate events, I managed to get a concussion, break my arm, and lose my final art project all in one week. The last week before school was out for the summer. Yeah, very unfortunate events indeed. I think that the concussion and the art project being misplaced were somehow connected, but man, it was a rough week for me. Luckily, my friends came through for me. Casper was especially helpful. He would carry my books for me so that I was not overexerting myself. Since we had practically the same schedule, he would take notes for me and then read them to me as we studied for finals. He even helped me to come up with something for our art final. That was when I knew I was liking him more than a friend. I was developing a crush for Casper Cunningham. I knew that I had to hide it. I did not want to ruin or lose his friendship. He meant too much to me and so did his friendship. So that is what I did. I hid it all summer and into our sophomore year.

Our sophomore year started off as well as could be expected. Most of our schedules were different, except for one class (study hall with Casper), I had no classes with my close group of friends. We grew closer to one another. We always seemed to manage to make time for hanging out. A new place opened in our town that quickly became our hang out spot. "ComCade," as it was called, was hybrid arcade-comic bookstore. It was awesome.

They had a variety of arcade games; games from the 80's all the way through to present day. We had a blast playing games from over 20 years ago, mesmerized at the progression that happened with gaming. Amanda being the least-sporty person of our group had no desire to play any of the games, so she spent most of her time in the comic book side. Usually, Jermaine and Jane would join her because they loved reading and comics were kind of a way for them to get ideas on how present their "art." The comic book side of ComCade had more than just comics. They had a lounge area to sit and read or talk. They also had a gaming area for boardgames. It was a well-executed setup they had in the building. It was nice to have the arcade and eatery area to the front of the building with the quieter setting for the boardgames and comics at the back. There were some loud customers, Casper included, who were way too emotional while playing certain games. I must be honest; it was cute watching him get wrapped up in the old arcade games. I loved hanging out with him. I think he was my best guy friend. I would do anything for him, just as he had done at the end of last school year. I would not have made it through those two weeks without his help. I looked forward to Fridays like most people look forward to Saturdays because I knew I would be able to hang out with Casper and the rest of the gang and for the most part it would be uninterrupted. It was our thing, our scene, our hangout. It was perfect. Or at least I thought it was perfect.

The Friday before starting back up after Christmas break, we all got together at ComCade to catch up. We wanted to get caught up with each other before going back to school because our schedules were so different that we had no good time to catch up while at school. Casper was the last one to show up that night, which we were expecting to happen, as was his usual. I saw Amanda as the doorbell rang to tell that someone entered. Her eyes lit up for a brief second to quickly be replaced with a new look. It was a look of disappointment but there was something else mixed with it, then it disappeared in a blink of her eyes. Naturally, I turned around to see what had caused it. It was Casper, but he was not alone. I put on a poker face because I instantly understood what Amanda's disappointment was mixed with: resentment and heartbreak. I realized then that she was keeping a secret from me. The same secret I was keeping from her: she liked Casper.

The girl on Casper's arm was beautiful. She was tall, dark, skinny, and had a gorgeous smile. She looked like someone took her from a shampoo ad. She was quickly becoming the bane of my existence. (Okay, I admit, that may be a bit of an exaggeration looking back now, but it sure felt like it at the time.) Casper introduced her to us. Her name was Rose (it was fitting). She was new to town and would be starting school with us next week. It turned out that she and Casper met on vacation in Florida. He goes there every Christmas to visit his grandparents who are snowbirds and refuse to celebrate Christmas alone and refuse to do it anywhere that is colder than 60 degrees.