the diary; nick mara

one

sage groaned as she walked into the dull doors of her school. senior year was kicking her ass, just like she thought it would. the only thing giving her sanity today was the fact that it was friday, and she could go home and rest after school.

she wore a white band tee and blue jeans, accompanied by black and white converse. she walked into the cafeteria, as she had got to school a bit earlier today, coffee in one hand, and hot chocolate for her best friend parker in the other.

she said hi to people as she passed them, finally making it to her table. there sat nick, parker, zion, austin, and edwin. they all greeted her, and she said hi back.

handing parker her hot chocolate, she furrowed her eyebrows, looking around at the table.

"where's b?" she asked, he never missed school and he was always on time. his mom would kick his ass otherwise.

"he's out getting stuff for his party tonight." nick said, and everyone agrees.

"the one that you-" parker puts a hand on her shoulder. "-will be going to." she demands and sage shakes her head.

"you know sage is not going to this party." austin says, throwing subtle shade at sage for never coming out. she catches it, but doesn't care.

"yeah, what austin said." she remarks, pushing parker's hand away from her shoulder and glancing over at zion, who had his head on parker's shoulder with his eyes closed. she'll have to talk to parker about that later.

"come on, sage. everyone wants you to go. have some fun for once. it's brandon's first party of the school year for fuck's sake." parker pleads, giving sage her best puppy dog eyes.

here's the thing with sage; she doesn't hang out with people. she is relevant at school, and she knows that. she doesn't care and she doesn't try to be, but pretty girls attract attention. sage was craved by all of the boys in school. they all wanted her, and most have tried to get with her, but she always politely turns them down. she has never had sex, she's never even been kissed. she doesn't drink. she's a good kid. she's still fun to be around, she's not "nerdy", she's just smart. she thinks about things before she does them. her friends say she thinks "too much." she has lots of "acquaintances" and only six real friends: the five boys and parker. even then, she never hangs out. she thinks it's a gateway to drama that she doesn't need. she keeps to herself. that's just how she is.

"i don't know, parks. you know i don't do parties." she slowly gives in, but hasn't yet. just then brandon shows up and sits across from her.

"so you're going to my party right?" he asks and she shrugs her shoulders.

"i don't know..." she hesitates and then he gives her puppy dog eyes as well, and pokes his bottom lip out slightly.

"please, sage. it's the first one this year and you're one of my best friends.." he trails and she stays strong in saying no.

"sorry, b. it's not my scene."

"okay. that's fine." he says, completely unbothered and she smiles, knowing that she didn't hurt his feelings.

she thought the conversation was over, but of course the dramatic boy had something up his sleeve.

"it totally doesn't bother me that one of my best friends hates parties more than she loves me.." he says in a melodramatic tone, giving a really deep and unconvincing sigh. she roles her eyes.

"if only she would go. it would make my entire night... but she's not!" he bursts into fake and fairly loud crying and sage scoffs at him.

"fine! i'll go." she gives in and slumps in her chair. his 'crying' immediately stops and he smiles at her with his rosy cheeks.