With You ✔

11

-Ellie-

It's been a little over two months since I started my senior year at John Rogers High School. It's been over two months since Kit Kennedy bumped into me at lunch, starting this thing between us. Two months since I started hanging out with Kit and Finn pretty much every day.

Two months is also how long it took for everyone else in school to stop trying to start up a conversation with Kit, or try to get him to come to a party, or rejoin a team he used to be a part of. Two whole months, and I am still the only person, aside from Finn, that Kit Kennedy will talk to. Two whole months and I'm still not used to this feeling I get as I walk over to Kit in our sixth period class and see him smiling at me.

The feeling I get when Kit smiles at me during school, or even when he sits beside me at lunch (okay, so maybe he talks to Gwen and Maci a little bit too, but it's only small talk during lunch to not be rude - however, they think they're part of some elite club because of it), the point is - none of those feelings compare to the feelings Kit gives me when we're outside of school.

Outside of John Rogers High School's walls, Kit is a totally different person. He laughs more, he talks more, his eyes shine more, and even though I still don't know anything about what happened to him last year, I think that when he's away from the people who remind him of it, he feels more free to be himself.

Kit and I are not together, although that is what everyone at school seems to think. Kit Kennedy and I are friends, very good friends. We hang out after school, sometimes with Finn and sometimes just the two of us. We watch a lot of Netflix, he tries to teach me how to play video games, we take long car rides with no destinations, we eat, and sometimes we find ourselves holding hands. But that's it.

I don't want to push Kit to something he isn't ready for or doesn't want, so I am content with being his friend.

I've made other friends in the past two months, including Parker, who doesn't seem at all upset anymore that I don't text him or hang out with him after school. Parker is apparently Finn's best friend and actually a nice guy once he stops all the flirting and drops the shy guy act that he uses to get a girls attention.

When I say I've made other friends, what I mean is that there are more lunch tables I would be welcomed at now, but as far as actually hanging out goes - Kit and Finn are my main friends. Gwen and Maci are obviously my friends to, but with Maci dating Jake and Gwen being the president of a million different clubs, we don't have as much free time to hang out like we did over the summer.

I take my regular seat beside Kit and pull out my notes, trying to get in a few extra minutes of studying before Mr. Mattox begins passing out our tests. Kit and I studied for this test last night, and I feel pretty confident about it, but you can never be too prepared.

A few minutes later I look over at Kit just as our teacher walks into the room with our tests in his hand. We give each other an encouraging smile and thumbs up, but Kit seems to be off in a way. He has his notes out but he had never turned from the first page, and there's a slight grimace on his face as he forces a smile for me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Let's get this over with so we can go finish that movie." He moves his notebook from his desk to his backpack, and I do the same as Mr. Mattox comes walking down our aisle handing out the tests.

The deal with Mr. Mattox is that once you've completed your test, you're free to go home for the day. Kit and Finn usually give me a ride home these days since Maci and Jake are now connected at the hip and she no longer walks with me.