Nowhere Kids

Just Stay Strong

For once, I was excited to go to school. I'd rather be in a boring class then home, and I knew I had friends to see.
"Be good Beau" I said to my pup as I headed out the door. At this point he was the only thing making me want to go home at the end of the day. I looked back at the house and saw him watching me through the window as I walked away. I smiled and turned back ahead of me as I headed off to school.

I walked onto the school yard and began looking for the others. Sadly, someone got in my way. Courtney approached me with her friends an she didn't look happy.
"Did you have a fun weekend with your new boyfriend?" She asked in a mocking tone.
"Who?" I asked. I knew who she was talking about but I wouldn't call him my boyfriend.
You know who. You stole him from me" She said in a huff.
"Don't know what you're talking about" I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yes you do!" She stomped her foot and growled at me.
"Oh, did you mean Brent? Cause he's not my boyfriend, and I'm pretty sure he walked away from you, no one stole him away" I grinned.
"Hey Jamie!" I looked over to see Eric standing over by Brent's truck with Brent and Zach.
"Looks like the guys want me. See you in class" I said before walking off. I knew that just made her mad and I'd probably pay for it later, but messing with her was fun.

"What did she want?" Zach asked as I approached them.
"Just wanted to know if we had a good weekend" I said as I leaned against Brent's truck.
"That's it?" Eric asked. I nodded and noticed Brent staring in her direction.
"Well, she was pretty sarcastic about it. I think she's jealous I'm friends with all of you" I said.
"Yeah, Brent never let her hang out with us" Zach said.
"Even before I realized I was in a bad relationship, I knew she was too crazy to hang out with everyone" Brent added, not taking his eyes off her.
"Geez Brent, can you make it any more obvious? Stop staring" Eric laughed.
"Sorry" Brent mumbled as he put his head down in embarrassment
"Aw leave him alone. He's allowed to miss his ex. They only just broke up after all" I defended.
"He broke up with her. And he hated her" Zach reminded all of us.
"I'm sure they had good days, even if they were outweighed by the bad. Right Brent?" I looked over at Brent to see he was walking away.
"See what you two did" Eric pointed out. I gave him a dirty look before leaving to follow Brent.

"Brent!" I called out as I followed him inside. Brent stopped walking and turned to face me. "What's the matter man?" I asked. Brent sighed and turned his head away.
"I do miss her. Does that make me stupid?" He asked.
"No, it's okay to miss the good times. You'd be stupid if you went back to her, but that's just my opinion. You can do whatever you want" I said. Brent smiled at me as the bell went off.
"Well, I'll see you later" he said. He then turned away and continued down the hall.
"Ready?" Eric patted my shoulder as he pushed past me to get to class.
"As ready as I'll ever be" I laughed and followed him to our classroom.

Math class was pretty boring, but at least Eric was here to be bored with.
"So what did Courtney really want?" He asked.
"I told you" I laughed. "She was just mad I hung out with you guys over the weekend. I don't know how she knew, unless she just assumed since we spent all week together. I think she was mad I saw Brent and she didn't"
"Yeah, that last part makes sense. I'm sure she'll try getting him back for a little while before moving on to another poor soul" He said.
"I feel bad for whoever that'll be" I giggled.

The bell rang so Eric and I parted ways as we headed to our next class. I greeted Brent as I took a seat at my desk.
"Ugh, I'm not looking forward to Courtney's arrival" He groaned as I turned my body to face him.
"Me neither. But then again, I never did" I said as I l put my arms on top  of the back of my chair.
"Walking her to class was nice the first time. It went downhill from there" He sighed and ran a hand through his long hair. "I hate that I miss her. I'm going to say something stupid and make her think we're together again"
"Then just don't talk to her at all if you're worried about it" I said. Brent just buried his face into hands.
"I'm weak against her" He mumbled.
"No you're not. I've seen you be strong. And if you are feeling weak, I'm here for you. I won't say anything unless you need me to" I said. Brent looked up at me and sighed.

Courtney walked into the room before Brent could say anything else.
"You're looking good today Brently" She said as she took her seat.
"Thank you" Brent replied quietly, keeping his head down in his notes.
"You know, I bought him that jacket" She said as she turned towards me. Brent was wearing a black leather jacket covered in zippers.
"Good taste, it looks good on him" I said. I knew she just wanted to start an argument by bragging, but I wasn't giving in today. She gave me a dirty look before turning back towards Brent.
"It's nice to see you kept it as a memory of me. I still have one of your shirts at my house, and I wore it last night to bed" she said in a sweet voice.
"That's nice. I guess you can keep it if you want" Brent said.
"Well, if you ever do want it back you can swing bu my house and grab. I might even have a few other of your things" she giggled. I gave Brent a look.
'Don't fall for it' I thought to myself.
"Maybe" Brent mumbled. Courtney was about to try messing with him again but the teacher called for our attention, bringing our conversation to an end.

We all headed to the cafeteria once class ended. For once, Brent didn't pull me aside to talk. I actually got to join everyone at the lunch table. I took a seat between Zach and Barry while Brent sat opposite of us with Eric.
"So what's the plan after school today?" I asked.
"It's a hot day out. We could chill out by my pool" Barry suggested.
"As long as Brent doesn't shove me in again" Zach laughed. Brent started laughing as well.
"Come on man that was fun" he said.
"Sounds good to me" Eric said. I nodded in agreement. It sounded like fun.

Once lunch ended we broke off as a group to head to class. Barry and I walked to English together.
"Maybe I'll invite a few other people and make it a pool party" Barry said as we took our seats.
"How many people?" I asked.
"Only a few. Can't have too many, my parents would find out and kill me" he joked.
"Oh, yeah" I gave a slight laugh. I knew my parents would kill me just for going, but I didn't want to think about it.
"You'll be there, right?" He asked.
"Of course. Wouldn't miss it" I said. He smiled so I smiled back.
"Cool. It's going to be so fun" he said.

I listened to Barry tell stories of past pool parties he hosted. They all sounded fun, until he brought up Courtney.
"Brent had no fun that day, the poor guy. She dragged him around and didn't let him talk much" he explained.
"I hope she's not going today" I said.
"I'm not inviting her. I don't want her at my house ever again"
I couldn't blame him. I wouldn't want her at my house either, not that I can get away with anyone hanging out at my house.

I listened to Barry talk until class ended. We parted ways as I headed to gym. Zach bumped into me before I could get into the locker room.
"You excited?" He asked.
"For gym? Not really" I chuckled. Zach laughed back at me.
"No I mean for Barry's house later. I know someone else is" he winked at me before going into the men's locker room. I stood there a moment in confusion before going into the woman's locker room. Who was he talking about?

I changed into my gym clothes and put my things away before rejoining Zach in the gym.
"So, who's excited for later?" I asked.
"All of us, it's going to be fun" Zach said. I put my hands on my hips and sighed.
"You know what I mean"
"You don't know?" Zach asked. "It's pretty obvious"
"Well I guess I'll just wait and see then" I said. I had a feeling I knew who he was talking about, but I didn't want to get my hopes up and find out I was wrong.

Our class played some soccer outside today. Zach and I were on the same team and we actually played well together. It was a fun class for once. Once the bell rang I went back to the locker room and changed clothes. I met Zach by the gym doors and we walked out together. The others were waiting outside.
"You guys want to go home first and change, maybe get some things?" Barry asked. We all nodded.
"Sounds good. What time do you want us over Bear?" Eric asked.
"Whenever your ready" he said. We all said our goodbyes and parted ways towards home. Brent offered to drive me but I wanted to walk. It was nice out after all. I made my way down the street, both excited and nervous for what was to come.