My Girl

Chapter One

Joshua 18 years old

"Will you please let it go, Mikey!" I am seriously contemplating dropping my best friend off the side of the road and letting him walk to school today. He won't shut up about me and Abby dating.

"Dude, you've had the hots for her ever since I could remember, why not take the plunge?" he persists.

"Take the plunge? What are we, getting married?"

"You know what I mean doofus." He retorts.

"Because one, she's only sixteen, two, she's my best friend and three, I don't want to lose her if things don't work out between us. I can't not have her in my life man, she makes everything brighter for me. I just can't risk it."

"Look man, I get where you are coming from, but this is your senior year and you're heading off to university next year, do you really want her to be unclaimed for all that time? Listen man, she won't stay single forever. Just think about it alright."

I'm too pissed off at him to reply so I stay quiet for the rest of the trip to school. 

The truth is, he is not telling me anything I haven't thought about before. I think about that every night when I go to sleep and some nights it haunts me. I am consoled by the fact that she will join me at Marwen University as soon as she finishes her senior year.

We have a plan that we will go to the same university come hell or high water. She also let me know, not so subtly, that if she doesn't get into the same university as me, I will have to change universities. To be honest, I don't see a problem with this plan, because I always want to be where she is.

When we get to school, we see Charlie, Mikey's girlfriend, waiting by the front entrance of the school. 

"Alright man, I'll see you later, don't want to keep Charlie waiting long."

I nod and give him a fist bump as he exits the car. 

He's not even worried if I'm still mad at him because this is not our first rodeo with this topic. I know his concerns come from a good place and he knows I know it.

I scan the parking lot for Abby's car and don't see it, which means she hasn't arrived yet. I wait in my car for her as we always go in together, this has always been our thing and no one from school questions us about it.

Not five minutes later, I see her pulling in the school gates. I gather my school bag and cellphone and exit my car. She parks next to me, and I go around her door and open it while she is still gathering her things.

"Hey," she smiles up at me and gives me a hug as soon as she exits her car.

"Hey back."

She opens her boot and takes out a paper bag. I take it from her hands because she is carrying too much already, and she lets me.

"What's all this?" I ask her as we make our way into the school building.

"This is my IT project, remember I told you that we have to fix a motherboard?" she looks up at me.

I don't remember her telling me that, but she probably did, and I was staring at her beautiful face and not listening to a word she was saying. 

"Oh, yeah, I remember that."

She gabs the whole way until we reach her locker. When she opens her locker, I help her unpack some of the things from her bag to her locker.

"Hey Josh." Samantha a senior from my class giggles as she walks by us.

"Nye Josh." Abby says mimicking Samantha.

"What was that?" I chuckle.

"You could swear she doesn't have a brain cell. Which eighteen year old speaks like that? Grow up man!" she slams her locker closed.

"Woah there Mike Tyson. Settle down otherwise you will hurt yourself." I grab her hands and pull them to my chest. She avoids looking at my eyes, 

"What's wrong?" I ask her.

"Nothing, I have to get to class." She slips under my arm and walks towards her homeroom. 

Something upset her, but I can't put my finger on it.