Jump

Chapter 3

Speaking of Rose, Jeremy was currently walking towards our table. I elbowed Rose and she sighed. He hadn't made contact with her since he failed at asking her out last time. I kind of felt bad for him! He was a perfectly fine guy, and if Rose didn't take him, I might have to!

"Hey, Rose, I was wondering if this Friday I could take you out to dinner and a movie? There's the new Maze Runner movie coming out!" He looked so hopeful. 

"Ooh, I'm really sorry Jer, but I kinda have plans on Friday. With the girls," she added with a fake sigh and a shrug.

"Oh no," said Skylar. "We can raincheck that, it's no big deal." She just smiled while Rose glared at her. 

"Yeah, Elena and I already had plans anyway," I added, to which El just nodded. 

Jeremy looked at Rose again. 

"Well," she breathed. "Since my plans have suddenly cancelled themselves, it seems as if my Friday afternoon is free." She seemed to be processing the words in her head. "So I guess I can go to the movies with you," she said. 

"Dinner and a movie," Jeremy corrected. 

"Yep," she replied with a weak smile. 

"AWESOME," Jeremy said as he walked past our table. I could've almost sworn I heard him whisper "yessssssssss."

Elena got up. "I've gotta go talk to Alec." She nodded her head towards the jock table. I saw Jaxon sitting there, laughing. He caught me looking and waved. 

'Jaxon's kinda hot,' I thought to myself. 

"K, so how 'bout instead of ogling over him you come with me and say hi," answered El. Uh oh, did I just say that out loud? 

"Yeah," said Rose. UGH, NOT AGAIN. 

So El and I walked up to their table. Jaxon was still laughing, his dimple showing. His dimple was so adorable. 

--

Later that day, I opened up my laptop to type a new writing piece. I took a breath and titled it. 

Who Am I? by Kayla Carter.

Who am I? That seems to be the question lately. 'Who are you, what do you want to do with your life?' I guess you could say that I'm Kayla Carter. Daughter of Christine and Francis Carter, sister of Fiona Carter, Juilliard attendee. 

But is that really who I am? Can the whole essence of a human being be captured in a limited number of words? 

There are many different sides to every person. There's Writer Kayla, Daughter Kayla, Sister Kayla, Friend Kayla, Basketball Kayla, and so on. And there are hundreds of thousands of words to describe each and every one of them. All of them are different in their own way. 

I wish I'd known that earlier on. Being different is ok. In my dark days, it was like nothing about me was good. I'd felt like I was on a whole different planet than everyone else. And being diagnosed with PDD (Persistent Depressive Disorder) and Anxiety certainly didn't help. I'd felt like an alien among everyone else. I'd still get anxiety attacks some days, and I certainly had to take anti-depressants at least once a week, but it was to a lesser extent. I continued typing. 

My friends would label me as funny, smart, or ambitious. But those are just words that are part of a bigger scheme. There are also different types of every person along with the different sides. For example, there's happy Kayla and sad Kayla. 

I lingered on the word happy for a moment. I hadn't been truly happy in a while. I'd definitely had bits and pieces and moments, but I didn't know if the skies would ever turn blue again. My psychologist said that it would go away, but so far it hasn't.