they were just having fun

the one with Race I

Katherine squealed. "OMIGOD!!!" She yelled.

"saw that coming." Andi laughed.

"when did he ask you??" Katherine wondered, eager to know all the details.

Andi put her books away and closed her locker. "uhh Friday." She replied. The two girls then made their way to the cafeteria.

"and you waited a whole weekend to tell me?" Katherine put her hand to her heart in offence.

"well actually you're the first person I told." Andi stated. At that, Katherine smiled widely.

"I'm the first one to know?"

"actually you're the second one to know." Andi answered as they sat down at their lunch table.

"what? B-but you said I was the first person you told!" Katherine reminded.

"Race, Finch, Albert and Spot were there, making them the first ones to know." Andi replied casually. She then opened her water bottle and took a sip. Suddenly,  the four boys in question, plus Elmer, sat down with them.

"you guys suck!" Katherine complained, crossing her arms.

"what did we do?" Race threw his hands up. "We just got here!" He then let them fall.

"I'm Andi's girl best friend yet I can't know anything about her first as long as you animals are around!" She ranted.

"you think we're animals?" Spot asked with a laugh.

"who doesn't?!" Katherine replied, slamming her hands on the table.

"everyone but you!" Spot retorted. The two then got into an argument, which nobody else wanted to take part in, so they decided that it'll die down soon.

Elmer put his arm around Andi. "day three. How we doin'?" He asked.

"great." She answered and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"nothing can go wrong?"

"I hope."

Soon, the rest of their group showed up and let's just say, they were shocked at what they saw.

"W-when did this happen?" Jack asked, pointing at Andi and Elmer.

"Friday." Race answered.

"how do you know?" Jojo wondered, tilting his head in curiosity.

Race brushed his shoulder. "I'm the committed one out of those three." He boasted, motioning to Albert, Finch and Spot.

"you sit on a tree longer than us!" Finch retorted.

"like I said, animals." Katherine piped in and Race stuck his tongue at her.

"how did y'all tell each other that you like each other?" Crutchie wondered.

"we didn't have to." Elmer said, taking his arm off of Andi. At that, Crutchie, Jack, Mush, Jojo and Romeo snapped their heads towards Race all at the same time.

"it wasn't me, I swear!" Race defended, putting his hands up. They then looked at Finch.

"nope."

"raise ya hand up Spotty. You're the answa to their question." Andi said in a mid-Atlantic accent.

"what is that, why are you talking like that?" Elmer asked, furrowing is eyebrows.

"I'm neva stoppin'!" Andi smiled, talking with the same accent, making Elmer laugh.

"you're something else."

"you love me." She replied, hitting his shoulder with her backhand.

"you know it. 'Cause SPOT TOLD YOU!" He yelled louder than he expected.

"that was loud." He acknowledged, eyes wide.

Spot threw his hands up and let them fall. "I'm never gonna live this down, am I?" He complained.

"never." They said at the same time. Everybody's attention then turned to Race, who was sitting down and staring at his phone with a sad look on his face. For the first time, the brightest blue eyes they have ever seen were dull and lifeless.

"Racer, you good?" Albert wondered, waving his hand in front of his face.

Race looked up and turned off his phone. "uh ye-yeah, I'm alright. I'm just gonna go to the bathroom." With that, he grabbed his things and walked out of the cafeteria. Andi and Albert looked at each other, nodded and followed him out.

Race was walking down the halls when he turned around and saw Andi and Albert following him, so he ran. And being a runner, he ran fast. But they caught him when he ran into a dead end. He then tried to run past them, but Albert stopped him.

"Race, what's going on?" Andi asked.

"nothing's goin' on." He replied quietly, avoiding eye contact with her or Albert.

"look, there's definitely something going on 'cause we saw you back there." Albert said

"we're your friends, you can tell us anything." Andi reassured, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Race took her hand off of his shoulder. "why are ya my friends?" Andi just stared at him in disbelief. Albert and Andi are one of his realest friends and he's had the least doubts about them.

Albert scoffed. "what are you talking about, you know we're your friends!" He stated.

"you're our best friend and we're yours, it's always been like that! What's not to understand?!" Andi asked and felt tears forming in her eyes. Instead of answering, Race shook his head and walked away, leaving Andi and Albert. Andi then wiped her tears and looked up at Albert.

"something's wrong with Race... and it's bad." She concluded, letting more tears fall. Albert pulled her into a hug so she couldn't see tears in his eyes. He's going to find out what's wrong with his best friend.