12 Months (Tom Holland)

March

Despite the fiasco at Shake Shack, Krysta and Tom were still going heavy. She came up to me at Starbucks and told me how sorry he was that he said that. I waved it off, knowing that he didn't say shit about it. But I valued my newfound friendship with Krysta, so I kept those thoughts to myself.

    The Spiderman auditions were in two months and I could tell that Tom was getting excited. I remembered when he got the audition and he called me over to celebrate. We watched the Marvel movies and then slow danced to Frank Sinatra. It was one of my fondest memories of our friendship, and I missed hearing about Tom's passion for the comics.

    Only a select number of people had known about Spider-Man being included in the new Captain America movie: me, Harrison, Yasmine, and Tom. We would be hanging out at Harrison's and Tom would talk our ears off about every little thing Peter Parker had done to change his life. None of us minded it at all, we understood devotion more than anything in the world.

    It was getting warmer outside and spring break was drawing to a near. My mother had considered going out of state this year for vacation, but Levi needed to get his wisdom teeth taken out and of course she wanted to be there to nurse him back to health. I had no idea what I was going to do; there was always track practice, but after that, then what?

    The principal called Yasmine and I down into the office the Friday before break started. We sat next to each other while we waited for him to come in. "You doing anything for break?" Yasmine asked me and I shook my head. "Harrison and I were considering staying at his parents' beach house for the week. Would you want to go?" The principal entered right before I could answer and sat down in front of us. "Miss Brooch, Miss Stewart," he greeted us, "Do you have any idea as to why you're in here today?"

    Yasmine shook her head, "Not a clue." "We've noticed you're both well acquainted with Tom Holland," he said. I wanted to roll my eyes, of course it was about Tom. Ever since July ,everybody I've come into contact with always talked to me about Tom, asked me to get his autograph, and whatnot. It was like I was being constantly reminded of my mistake back in January. It wasn't like I wasn't trying to patch things up; he blocked me on everything (rightfully so) and never responded to my texts. The tables had turned on me and I hated how they looked.

    "I assume you're both aware of his audition in May?" the principal snapped me out of my thoughts and we both nodded. He sifted through some papers, I peeked and noticed it was our transcripts and teacher recommendations. "Since he'd be travelling and missing school, the administration had considered bringing along two tutors to get him through his courses. You both have a good rapport with and are academically gifted. Would this be an offer you'd be willing to take?"
    "I don't mean to be a killjoy, but wouldn't we be behind on our courses if we went with him? Because then, we'd all be missing school," Yasmine pointed out. "We've considered that, but Kennedy has already taken some classes Tom is put in, and we can place you in independent studies to speed you along," the principal informed us.

    Logically, this was a great opportunity. It proved to me that teachers held an immense trust in my integrity to excuse my absence for however long auditions took. I would also be able to see the audition process and how it works for actors to get casted. It seemed like a dream. But emotionally, it was terrible. Tom and I were barely on speaking terms, what was it going to look like in May? I'd be there for no reason except to wallow in misery and be reminded of my mistake.

    "When do you need a decision by?" I spoke this time. "Preferably by April 19th. He leaves May 2nd and we aren't sure how long it will last," the principal said. He let us go and we left his office. "This is gonna be so exciting, Kennedy!" Yasmine exclaimed and as much as I wanted to reciprocate her excitement, I couldn't. I nodded along, but my mind was murky, muffling her words. Yasmine grabbed my shoulder and stopped me in the middle of the hallway, her excited expression disappearing.