Chapter Two
I opened the front door and jumped
into the freezing air. I wrapped my jacket tightly around my body, as I started
to walk quickly. Even though it was summer, it was always cold in the morning.
It was the last day of school. I wasn’t as excited for summer vacation as most
teens would be. Then again I wasn’t like most teens either.
I didn’t have anything
planned, like my brother Martin did. His entire summer break he would be doing
things with his friends while I sat up in my room reading. It could be a lot
worse, but I would like to have something to do. Of course Gracie would try to
get me to do a bunch of things this summer. I would hopefully be able to get
out of without hurting her feelings.
It felt like I walked forever
before I finally got there. I hurried across the street to the school and
opened the heavy door. As I walked down the hall towards my locker I could
already see Gracie standing against my locker. It was hard for me not to be a
little jealous of her, she was beautiful.
Gracie was more like my
mother than I was. She wore her sunny blond hair curled perfectly and it was
always done differently. She always had makeup on when she came to school. I
wasn’t sure if I had even seen her without makeup for the last four years. Her
makeup made her look much older than fifteen, at least twenty. That was
probably why Gracie and my mother got along so well. Sometimes I even felt like
my mom wished Gracie was her daughter. She was scanning the hallways. I could
tell she was beginning to grow impatient. She bit her lip and looked down at
her watch then scanned the hallways again. She spotted me and waved her hands
frantically for me to hurry my steady pace.
When I made my way to her she
said, “What took you so long?”
“I didn’t realize I was going
too slow for you, I’m sorry,” I said, “So what is this important news that
can’t wait until later?”
“Guess who asked me out?” she
gleamed as I shut my locker.
I sighed, trying to remember
who she hasn’t gone out with at the school, “Um I don’t know Jason again?”
She laughed, “Uh no, try
Danny Miller!”
“I guess I should have known,
you’ve only had a huge crush on him all year,” I said.
“Yeah, I’m excited about it
but nervous,” she sighed. “I was actually hoping you would be able to help me
out with something.”
I looked at her in shock.
What could she possibly need my help with? I had never been on a date before in
my life. Gracie however, had already dated half the school. It wasn’t like I
could do anything to improve her hair or makeup. Now, if she wanted help with
school, I could totally understand. I had a feeling though, school was the last
thing on Gracie’s mind.
It was probably weird to
others that Gracie and I were best friends because we were nothing alike. She
was a pretty, energetic, boy getter. I on the other hand, was a smart, dorky,
bookworm. Gracie had never been good at the whole schoolwork thing. She was too
busy falling in and out of love to pay attention to anything else. Normally
when we tried to do anything that involved school I was the one that did all
the work while she talked about her latest failed relationship.
“Uh, what exactly can I help
you with?” I asked.
“Well, like I said I’m pretty
nervous, and I was thinking you can come with us,” she beamed at the idea.
“No way Gracie, I’m not going
on your date to be the third wheel. That is so embarrassing. I can’t believe
you would want me to do that anyway, I’ll look so lame. Like, oh this is my
best friend Ash Lynn. She can’t get a date so she showed up solo. Hope you
don’t mind Danny.”
“No! You won’t look lame
because I wasn’t thinking of a third wheel kind of thing,” she started but I
cut her off.
“What do you mean you weren’t
thinking of a third wheel kind of thing? What would you call it if I show up by
myself?”
“Well, you know Danny’s
friend Brandon? I thought maybe you two could go together,” she whispered.
“What?” I yelled. A couple of
people turned to see what we were talking about. “You didn’t already talk to him,
did you?”
“I might have mentioned the
idea to Danny,” she said looking away from me, “He seemed to think it was a
good idea.”
“Oh my gosh Gracie! I don’t
want to go out with Brandon! He is a total nerd and I don’t even like him like
that,” I moaned.
“You act like you are so much
better than him. I hate to tell you this, but people think you are a nerd too
and besides, he likes you,” she said. “Maybe if you would give him a chance you
might like him too.”
“Wow Gracie, that is really
nice for a best friend to say,” I glared at her.
“Oh come on, you know I
didn’t mean anything by it Ash. You know I’m not the one that thinks that. I am
just trying to say that maybe you should get out of the house,” she said.
“Well I might not be better
than Brandon but I don’t like him and don’t want to go out with him. I don’t
need to go out with him to figure that out either. So you might as well let
them know for me that I won’t be there. Seeing that you are the one that let
them know I would,” I said walking faster down the hall.
“Please, please Ash. Do this
for me please!” she begged grabbing my arm, “I will do anything for you, please
do this one favor for me.”
“Why should I?” I asked.
“Because if you don’t then I
won’t get to go out with Danny and I’ve wanted to go out with him for so long!
I need you to help me please,” she begged.
I didn’t want to give into
Gracie. I knew that if I didn’t go on
this date with Brandon there was a good chance she wouldn’t talk to me for the
rest of the summer. Even though I hated all of her plans if she wasn’t talking
to me then my summer would really suck. I sighed, I couldn’t believe what I was
about to say.
“You owe me big time if I do
this for you.”
“So you will then?” she asked
in excitement.
“Yeah I guess I will.” I
groaned, “But as friends nothing else. You need to let him know that too.”
“Thank you so much Ash Lynn!
I promise whatever you want,” she said, grabbing me into a bear hug, “And I was
thinking I could come over and do your makeup so you look really pretty!”
I laughed a little, “Yeah I
bet you can make me pretty.”
She sighed, “Shut up Ash! You
are pretty, you just need a little polish.”
“Well I’m going to be late
for class so I have to go,” I said rushing down the hall, “Talk to you at lunch
okay?”
“Okay! Talk to you then,” she
yelled back to me as I disappeared down the hallway.
I finally made it to my
classroom with only a second to spare. I rushed back to my seat, which happened
to be in the back of the classroom. Most people assumed that is where all the
bad kids sat. I liked it back there because people didn’t notice me, and the
teachers never tried to make me answer questions. Not that I wouldn’t know the
answers, but I hated to talk in front of everyone.
My first couple of classes
dragged on, not that it really mattered to me. I wasn’t excited to hear about
Gracie’s plans for the weekend. I wasn’t looking forward to discussing the game
plan with her at lunch. She seriously annoyed me sometimes. Part of me wished I
could be more like her but another part of me wished she could be more like me.
I guess if we were too much alike we wouldn’t be friends though. When the bell rang
for lunch, I packed my stuff as slowly as I could and walked to the lunchroom.
When I finally arrived, I
looked in our normal spot and saw Gracie sitting at the table. To my surprise,
I saw Danny and Brandon sitting across from her. She was waving anxiously at
me. I rolled my eyes right before Brandon glanced over and waved at me as well.
I smiled back, trying to be as nice as possible. I slowly walked over with my
head down, plopping down next to Gracie. I wished I had a way to get out of
this lunch, but I was stuck there. I felt as though I was in a war and I was
about to surrender my territory.
Danny and Brandon were like
Gracie and me. Most people didn’t understand why Danny (who was cute) would
ever hang out with Brandon (who was a total nerd). Danny had dark brown hair
and greenish-blue eyes. He was tall and athletically built, and, of course, he
played sports. Brandon had dark brown eyes that were almost black, which were
hidden behind huge geeky glasses. Even mine weren’t as bad as his. He was also
tall, but not in an attractive, strong way. He was lanky and skinny. His light
blond hair was always parted to the side, as if his mother brushed his hair
each morning. To top everything off, he wore button up shirts, which only add
to his nerdy appearance. Oh and he was the president of the science club. I
know what everyone is thinking I’m being judgmental but seriously the science
club?
“Oh my gosh Ash I was
starting to wonder where you were. What took you so long?” she asked when I sat
down.
“I came at my usual time
Gracie.” I glared at her, “Beside I’m not that hungry. I almost feel like I
could be sick at any moment.”
“So how are you doing Ash
Lynn?” Brandon asked, a little shy.
I sighed, “I could always be
worse I guess. What about you Brandon?”
“I’m doing great today,” he
smiled at me, “I was actually wondering if you were going to be busy this
weekend?”
“Oh um, I don’t know. I’ll
have to check my schedule and see what I’m up too,” I said to him, “I mean, I
have a pretty tight schedule.”
“Uh, okay. I thought,” he
stopped and looked at Danny, confused. I held back a smile. He was such a nerd,
I couldn’t help myself.
“She is just kidding, Brandon, she isn’t
doing anything this weekend, right Ash?” Gracie said pinching my leg under the
table.
“Ouch,” I groaned, “Well, I
guess I don’t have to check my schedule after all.”
“Ash Lynn has a weird sense
of humor,” Gracie glared at me.
“In that case, I was
wondering if you would like to go to the movies with me on Sunday?” Brandon
asked, with a smile.
I sighed, “Yeah I guess so.”
“Great! I bet we are going to
have a lot of fun,” Brandon said, “I’m really looking forward to see this movie
with you.”
“Oh, I bet it is going to be
a blast. I can just see it now.” I groaned.
“Great I bet we are all going
to have a blast,” Gracie smiled at me.
Lunch dragged on especially
because I didn’t want to be there. Everyone at the table was involved in a big
conversation that I’m sure I should have been involved in. I was too busy
trying to think of a way to get out of this weekend. Everyone knew I wasn’t
going to have anything planned with anyone else. Even if I was deathly sick
Gracie would drag me to the movies with them. I was screwed. Finally, the bell
rang to go to class. I jumped out of my seat and made it to the lunchroom doors
before Gracie finally caught up with me.
“Where are you off to so
fast?” Gracie said, chasing after me.
“I was almost late for class
earlier and I don’t want to be late this time,” I said.
“Ash Lynn it is the last day
of school. No one really cares if you are late,” Gracie said.
“Maybe you don’t care, but I
do.”
“Why did you give Brandon
such a hard time? He is already nervous,” Gracie noted.
I groaned, “Well, like I
already told you, I don’t want to do this.”
“It’s one night, I promise.”
I glanced back and Brandon smiled
at me. I knew he wasn’t thinking it would only be one night. I didn’t want him
to think there was a chance I liked him, but there was no way out now. I was
sure Gracie wasn’t actually going to tell him I didn’t. We walked in silence to
our last class. I didn’t feel like talking to Gracie at the moment. All through
class she gushed about how excited she was for her date, which made me even
madder.
I never thought that my first
date would possibly be this upsetting. Then again I never imagined going on a
first date. I knew most boys saw me as the smart nerdy girl that had straight
A’s in school. That was the way it had always been. I remember last year when
Gracie tried to convince me that one of our friends liked me.
It was embarrassing because I
started to think she might be right, his name was Mark. He was in the same
grade as us and she was convinced that he liked me more than a friend. I tried
telling her that he didn’t, but she said that he was just shy. I didn’t want to
ask him out and take the chance that it would ruin our friendship. I really
wanted a boyfriend but I knew that our friendship was more important.
“Come on Ash, Mark definitely
likes you. Just go ask him to go to the movies or something,” she said.
“No he doesn’t Gracie, if he
did why hasn’t he asked me out?” I asked her.
“He must be shy,” she said.
“No he isn’t Gracie you know
that,” I said
“You are going to have to ask
him out,” Gracie said, “Just trust me Ash.”
“No Gracie, I don’t want to
ask him out. He likes me as a friend,” I said as we made our way into the class
room.
We were still arguing when
Mark came in and sat down at the desk next to mine. I glared at Gracie and
shook my head no. I looked over at Mark and he smiled at me. I smiled back and
looked down at my homework assignment. I tried to fake like I was looking over
my answers. I could feel Gracie’s eyes on me and I knew that she wasn’t going
to let it go. She never let anything go and she always thought she was right.
If she wasn’t my best friend I would have hated her for sure.
“That homework last night was
pretty tough,” Mark said looking over my answers as well. His face was closer
to mine than I was use too.
I backed up a little, “It
wasn’t that bad.”
“Of course you didn’t think
it was bad. You’re so smart,” he smiled sitting back in his seat.
“Well if you need help I can
help you,” I said pushing my glasses up my nose.
“You finished all of it?” he
asked.
I smiled at him, “Do you
really have to ask me that?”
He laughed, “Yeah you have
always been really smart. I remember in the sixth grade I would always copy off
you test in Science.”
“Yeah I remember when you got
caught too. The teacher had to rearrange the seating chart because of you,” I
laughed.
“Hey Mark, Ash and I were
going to go to her house tonight to study. Do you want to come over and help
us?” Gracie said.
“Uh I don’t really see Ash
Lynn needing help with school work, but I have nothing better to do so sure,”
Mark said winking at me, “I’ll come over.”
That night waiting for Mark,
I felt like Gracie might have been right. He winked at me that must have meant
something right? Gracie kept telling me that she knew he like me and that
tonight I would finally have my first boyfriend. I felt nervous when I heard
the knock on the door. Gracie went up to my room, and I went to answer the
door. Mark walked in with his backpack and smiled at me. I guided us into the
living room Mark sat down. I sat next to him and started to unload my books
from my bag.
“Alright so what did you want
to start on, Math? Or do you want to do some English first?” I asked.
“Hey I thought Gracie was
going to be here too,” he said not unpacking his bag.
“Oh yeah, she had to
canceled, so it looks like it is just going to be us,” I smiled, “I hope that’s
okay?”
“Uh, I don’t want to be rude
Ash but I only came over because I thought Gracie was going to be here. I think
she is really hot, and I was finally going to ask her out tonight,” he said,
standing up.
“Of course you like Gracie. I
should have guessed that because everyone likes her,” I said, packing up my
books.
“I’m really sorry Ash, it’s
not like you really need a study buddy anyway,” Mark said.
“You’re right I don’t need
your help with school,” I said.
“Now I feel like a jerk,”
Mark said, “Ash, you didn’t think I liked you, did you?”
“Nope, that never crossed my
mind. I’m not stupid Mark, I just thought you came over here to study,” I said,
“I’m sure you can show yourself out right?”
“Uh, sure I guess.”
I stormed upstairs to my room
and threw open the door. Gracie was sitting on my bed painting her toe nails.
She looked up and smiled at me. It quickly faded as I slammed the door and she
jumped. As I sat down on the bed she capped the fingernail polish and put it on
my nightstand.
“What the heck happened Ash?”
Gracie asked.
“He likes you.”
“Wait what do you mean he
likes me?” she asked.
“That’s exactly what I mean
Gracie. Mark likes you, that’s the only reason he came over here. He wanted to
ask you out,” I said.
“What a jerk, I am so sorry Ash,”
she said. “I really thought he like you.”
“Yeah well, I tried to tell
you he didn’t,” I said.
“His loss, any guy that
doesn’t like you is an idiot. You are going to be the perfect girlfriend,”
Gracie said.
“Ugh! No one is ever going to
like me. I’m such an idiot to even think Mark liked me,” I sighed. I felt so
embarrassed to even think that a guy would ever like me. I was just a dork and
Gracie was beautiful.
I shook my head, and tried to
refocus on the present. Mark was in the past and that was last year. It didn’t
make me want to go out with Brandon still. Thinking about Mark made me realize,
I should make the best of any opportunity that I was given. I was sure that a
lot of girls probably went on practice dates and that’s what I would think of
Brandon as.
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