Best Friends?

The Start Of A Long Year

Mazy

"Mom!" I yelled out as I ran down the stairs, "I'm leaving!"

I didn't wait for a response, mostly because I knew she would make a big deal out of her precious little girl starting her first day of high school. I ran out of the door in a hurry. Our first day and we were going to be late. Awesome.

I spotted Luke as soon as I stepped out of the door. He was leaning gracefully against the tree in the very front of my yard. His was absentmindedly tapping away at his phone, looking just like a Calvin Klein model as much as ever.

I stopped a few feet away from him with crossed arms, taking him in. The messy blonde hair, shimmering blue eyes that sparkled from the cell phone light, and his pursed lips that were just close enough to the side that you could make out the adorable dimples I loved so much.

"Now who's staring?" he commented, slipping his phone into his pocket, eyes finally meeting mine.

I sighed as I rolled my eyes saying, "Fine. We're even now, butthole."

He grabbed at his chest as if he had just been shot and said, "Ouch. I'm wounded. How could you ever be so low as to call me, a perfect little angel, a butthole?"

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Such a baby," I retorted. He smiled and held his hand out in front if me, signaling for me to start walking.

You'd think that Luke, being the president's child and all, would have a car or limo or some sort of ride waiting to take him to school, but he decided to tell his parents he didn't want it. He didn't like taking flashy gifts from them. So now we're stuck walking until one of us gets our license. Which will be at least a year and a half.

"Were your parents home?" he asked, trying to keep his balance on the curb.

"I thought so. Maybe not?" I replied.

"Well," he started, "Considering my parents weren't, and they don't ever go anywhere without yours, they're probably not."

"Alright then," I muttered, "Guess I said my goodbyes to the wall this morning..."

"Knowing your parents, they probably went upstairs to wake you up and tell you they were leaving and found an empty bed."

"Uh oh," I said, "Looks like I'm gonna be in trouble when they get back."

He chuckled. "Probably. But have you noticed how that still hasn't stopped us? You'd think they'd catch on." I laughed in response.

I still remember the day my parents said we shouldn't have sleepovers anymore. We were eleven, and Luke got so pissed. I'd never seen him so mad before that day. Of course, I've seen him angrier since, but he was so upset over it. I won't forget the expression on his face when our parents told us, and I never will understand why. I mean, I'm the girl, shouldn't I have been the one freaking out? It was a weird day. He hid in his bedroom the entire time, and I had nothing else to do but sit outside his door until he me in.

"Whoa," Luke said, interrupting my memory, "We're definitely not in middle school anymore."

The campus was huge. Three stories, hundreds of kids pouring in and out of the front doors, and even more sitting on benches or in their little cliques.

I felt my stomach lurch.

"Hey, hey, hey," I heard Luke whisper in my ear. "You're okay, you're okay." All of a sudden, I was in his arms, like he had caught me or something.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked, still out of it.

He sighed. "I'm not exactly sure. You were just looking at the school and started falling over. I think you might've started to faint..."

Great. I fainted looking at the front door. How in the world was I supposed to face what was inside?!

This was going to be a very, very long year...