Just Friends

Prologue

The vibrant rays of sunlight emitted from the scorching sun lurked across the west coast of America, flooding the golden land of California with immense heat and thick air,dehydrating the chartreuse greenery of San Clemente. A group of eight kindergarten kids sat in a circle on the cool concrete surface of the school playground whilst they ate their lunch. Arielle, a little girl with turquoise orbs and tight, chocolate, ringlets which rested upon her dainty shoulders sat beside Kylie - a petite blonde girl who had her hair tied in two long pigtails which happened to whack Arielle in the face everytime she flicked her head, which was quite often. Unlike Arielle, Kylie had deep brown eyes and was slightly more energetic than Arielle, although the two were almost equal.

Arielle leaned over excitedly to Kylie and proposed "i'll trade my cookie for your apple?". Kylie's face automatically lit up as soon as she heard "cookie" but then returned to normality when she remembered what her mother had told her last time she was in the ice-cream parlour - coldstones. "I can't! My mommy promised me if i eat one apple a day she'll bring me to coldstones and let me get three scoops of chocolate ice-cream!" she exclaimed, hiding her face in her hands.

"So? I won't tell her..."Arielle continued, attempting to persuade Kylie. "But moms know everything!" Kylie sighed, picking up her carton of milk. "Just be careful not to swallow the seeds..." Arielle trailed on "Or else an apple tree will grow inside you!" she sneered. Kylie's face automatically dropped and turned pale as if she'd seen a ghost. "b-but i s-swallowed a seed by accident y-yesterday!" she stuttered. "Oh no Kylie! Don't worry. I know how to cure you! Just eat a cookie...it has special ingredients which can...uhh- cure you!" Arielle exclaimed, eagerly pushing the cookie towards Kylie who immediately grabbed it and shoved it in her mouth. "Thanks so much Arielle! You saved me! Here take my apple!" Kylie exclaimed shoving the apple into Arielle's lap. "Well, i am a mermaid after all" Arielle boasted. Arielle had been obsessed with mermaids from the first time she watched the little mermaid. Funnily enough, she was named after the main character which convinced her that she was a mermaid.

"Mermaids don't exist and it's impossible for a tree to grow inside you!" Dylan pointed out as section of his blonde hair flopped across his chestnut eyes. "Yes they do!" Arielle yelled, anger building up inside her. "Mermaids aren't real. Only babies like mermaids!" Dylan sneered poking his tongue out at her. Arielle was convinced he was lying so she just rolled her eyes and chanted "L-O-O-S-S-U-R! You're a loser!" then stood up and ran away into the classroom. A few minutes later, she was accompanied by Kylie, Blair and Elysia. Kylie was the good girl of the group whilst Arielle was the troublemaker.

Blair was a sweet little girl who was very obsessed with ribbons, bows and looking 'pretty' - you'd never catch her without a ribbon in her hair. Blair had short jet black hair which suited her hazel eyes. She also had bangs which rested slightly above her eyebrows.

Elysia was the tom-boy out of the girls and possibly one of the only girls who was unaware of the fact that boys had 'cooties' as she willingly played with the boys every recess and was the only girl participating in baseball games during recess. She complained the girls were 'too girly'. She always had her copper coloured hair tied in a neat french plait. She had a pale complexion which suited her lime green eyes.

Dylan raised his eyebrows and shouted back "That's not how you spell 'loser' dumbo!" whilst packing up his lunch and returning to the classroom alongside his three musketeers - Miles, Nathaniel and Hayden. The four were almost inseparable. Dylan was a very clever and bright boy in school who never failed to answer a question or conform. Miles however was very different to Dylan. Miles spent his recess chasing and teasing girls then throwing pencils at them and running away when he got bored. Although, it was hard to deny his hazel eyes and scruffy brown hair suited him very much - he was a cute little boy - i could imagine him breaking a lot of hearts when he was older..

Nathaniel came from a very wealthy background and had an unlimited supply of toys - he lead the lifestyle that every young kid dreamed of - a life full of unlimited toys and expensive trips to disneyland every year. Not only that but he got to ride there in a private jet full of toys and unlimited chocolate ice cream! What more could a boy ask for? Despite his huge amount of wealth, Nathaniel was far from the spoiled, demanding little brat you'd imagine him to be ; he was sweet and humble with a very innocent and cute face which no one could picture as hellish. He had a very lively and striking pair of emerald orbs with neatly combed walnut brown hair.

And last but not least was Hayden - the future soccer player for LA galaxy. There was no doubt about it that Hayden was talented in sports - especially soccer. No doubt every recess he'd been playing soccer or baseball with the boys (and an exception of Elysia on some days). Hayden had charcoal black short hair with deep silver eyes which stood out in the sunlight and illuminated his tiny, round face.

Recess had officially ended and all children had now entered the classroom and were fidgeting in their seats. Just before recess was story time, where the children were read a short story about dreams and the future. Mrs. Humble spoke out after a while of settling the children down "After reading that story, do any of you have any ideas of what you want to be when you're older?" the room erupted in to a loud roar of children shouting out their answers.

"I want to be a mermaid!" Arielle exclaimed jumping up and down in excitement.

Dylan rolled his eyes then shouted "I want to be a rocket scientist!" whilst picking up his toy rocket ship and pretending to make it fly whilst making a rocket ship engine sound with his lips.

"I want to be a pretty princess!" Blair signed dreamily, clutching her dress then taking a bow and waving to the class as if she was the queen of England.

"I want to be a famous soccer player!" Hayden yelled whilst attempting to balance his football on his head.

"I want to be a cow boy like woody!" Nathaniel shrieked then pretended he was riding a horse around the class room whilst yelling "giddy up!".

"I want to be a singer!" Kylie sung picking up a pen and pretending it was a microphone.

"I want to be a dog!" Miles squealed, immediately getting on for four knees and pretending to bark.

"I want to be a unicorn!" Elysia walied, galloping around the classroom in an attempt to resemble a unicorn.

"I can't wait to grow up!" a little girl chanted.

All the children in the class were bursting with ambition, hope and resilience and saw the world as nothing more than purely amazing. They thought growing up would be spectacular and had no doubts about accomplishing their dreams. But little did they know what fate had in store for them. But eventually, we all grow up and turn into the people we swore we'd never be. We all grow up and do the things we said we'd never do.

Playing hide and seek in the playground turns into trying to find your drunk friend in the dark corners of nightclubs with both your hands occupied with vodka shots, trying hard not to spill them. Birthday cake and bouncy castles turn in to blurry memories and belated birthday wishes on your facebook wall from people you don't even talk to. Sticky fingers and paint splattered hands turned into sweaty palms which roamed your lovers bodies the night you lost your virginity. Juice cartons became vodka shots. Lollipops became cigarettes. Bikes became cars. Innocent cheek kisses turned into sex. Getting high meant swinging on the swings in the playground and the most pain you ever felt was when you skinned your knees in the playground - and we couldn't wait to grow up.