Friends With Benefits (COMPLETED)

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS *1*

Just then I noticed a movement at the door, and there she was, looking as nervous as I'd ever seen her. When I continued to stare at her, she widened her blue eyes to signal an immediate reaction from me, I gathered my things and stuffed them into my bag.

The next few moments were extremely hard to watch without laughing out loud, as I watched my perfect friend, with her perfect grades, put herself on the line for me. She took her academics seriously, she always had since they'd been kids, and I felt a slight guilt for having her do this for me. But on the other hand, I knew she needed to relax and have some fun herself.

When the teacher gestured towards me and told me I could go, I couldn't have escaped fast enough. I grabbed Paige by her arm and practically dragged her outside the class and out the building. Paige Ambrosia was still the same, shy but uniquely wild personality that I'd met in the first grade. Oddly enough, she had remained mostly the same except one major thing: she would do anything I asked her to do. Over the years, we had grown quite close; I definitely considered her a best friend, and even though I was well known around school and everyone liked to be around me, I always had a special attachment to this quiet and introverted friend of mine.

When we got to the parking lot, I looked at her and smiled, a big goofy grin on my face. She responded by smacking me with her bag.

"Ow! What was that for!?" I asked, rubbing my side.

"For asking me to do this again! Last time we skipped class like that I got detention", she was yelling, and her cheeks were getting flushed.

I tried my hardest not to laugh, but my amusement must have shown, considering Paige's sudden increase in temper.

"You know what! I've had enough. I hate you, Nate. I hate you so, so, so much for doing this", she leaned back on my car and turned her head away, arms crossed.

I knew it was time to apologize, after all, I'd practically ruined miss Paige Ambrosia ever since we'd first met. Knowing how to get a reaction out of her, I yanked a piece of grass out from the nearby field and slowly walked towards her. She was looking away from me, which was perfect because I tickled Paige from behind her neck, causing her to giggle. She pushed me away and I stumbled around, finding my balance and laughing back at her.

"Okay, okay I'm sorry, but no one else was going to convince Ms. Parke the way you could", I apologized, and she rolled her eyes but started to smile.

Just then, there was a sudden blast of music and we both turned around to see a bright red sports car come into the parking lot at full speed, it took a sharp turn towards us and stopped a few meters away. The driver's window rolled down and a hand waved at him. I had met Jonathon not too long ago, when he first transferred to our school, and even though he was obnoxious and rowdy, him and I had quickly become friends. He had also managed to gain an immense popularity since he'd come here, winning over the entire school's admiration as the typical loud and confident jock.

"Yo Nathaniel! Hurry, get in, lets go!" he yelled.

I grabbed my bag and ran towards the car. As I got closer I noticed some of my other friends were in the car as well, and just like that I jumped into the back seat. It wasn't until we were pulling out of the school lot that my smile vanished and my heart dropped. I didn't hear Jonathan's question and simply looked down at my hands.

I realized I'd forgotten to say bye to Paige.

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(Paige)

I quickly swiped at my eyes, grabbing my bag off the ground as I heard thunder above me. One by one, rain drops hit my face. This always happened to me, I thought with resignation, as I slumped my way across the lot. I forced the tears away, refusing to cry. He was the only person I had, the only one I trusted. The only one I cared for. And somehow, he was always the one who made me feel this way at the end. This was starting to become a routine, and I didn't like it one bit.

I should have seen this coming, I should have been more realistic about the whole thing. But my emotions always got the better of me, and this time had been no different. He had asked, no, begged me, to come by during English class and get him out somehow. My naive nature was starting to feel like a curse, I trusted him to acknowledge my efforts and he didn't even stop to look at me before abandoning me.

In my head, I pictured those stupid kangaroos he considered "friends", and visualized myself walking up to each one of them and throwing a bucket of slime on their cocky faces. If it wasn't for their negative influence, I knew Nate would think of me more often. I sighed as I continued to walk in the rain, away from the school. I wasn't in the mood to return to my classes, and even though it gave me anxiety skipping school like this I just couldn't go back. I felt my throat tighten again as the tears threatened, but squaring my shoulders I pushed onwards.

I hated him, I just hated him so much. He was supposed to be my person, not everyone else's, but most of the times he didn't even notice me. I was one of the few people he allowed to call him "Nate", a nickname that was personal to him. I reminded myself of that small little victory and regained some of my confidence back. But another sob escaped my throat, and I hunched over and covered my face with my hands, starting to soak under the heavy rain.

Love was a funny thing, whatever it was. It caused you to lie to yourself, I thought. As much as I wanted to believe it, I couldn't ever hate him. Not after all the years I'd secretly pined over him. 

-end of chapter-

© Anu Singh (LuvErChiicK), 2018. All rights reserved.