Chapter 1
As soon as the bell had rung, Isabel and I picked up all of our things and dashed out of there as soon as possible.
As soon as we were out of earshot Isabel turned to me, “I’m almost 100 percent positive that Mr. Harris thinks were little lab rats he can control. I mean really, who the hell assigns a 6-paragraph essay out of the blue like that and expects it to be completed in like four days? I swear he just sits at home plotting about how he can make our lives more miserable than they already are!”
“Oh don’t be so dramatic Iz. I’m sure Mr. Harris just hasn’t gotten any in a while and he’s taking his frustration out on us. I don’t think he spends his time at home in a dark little corner with a rocking chair thinking about new torture devices he can use on high school kids, well at least not all of the time…” I replied
“Oh yeah, and you call me the dramatist. Seriously Emma, when did rocking chair and dark little corner come out of my mouth? You know sometimes—Oh my God!!”
“What?! What happened?!” I yelled in reply as I flung myself around in circles in order to see what had happened. It was only 30 seconds later that I realized Iz was laughing at me, and I was suddenly really dizzy. “Really? You think you’re funny when you do that? Because to be honest, it’s times like these that make me realize how immature you really are sometimes.”
“On the contrary, I feel like it’s times like these where you get to see how incredibly fun I am to be around. And sometimes being immature is better than being a sixteen year old with a stick up their ass.” She replied while nodding her head in the direction of Lauren. “Oh Lauren... poor, poor, Lauren. When will she ever learn that being a slut will eventually get her nowhere in life?”
“Oh stop being mean,” I replied, “you and I both know that she’s actually a sweetheart who just can’t keep her legs closed all the time. You’re just mad right now because you heard through the grapevine that she had a little ‘encounter’ with Will this weekend. And by 'encounter' I don't mean your normal run of the mill encounter, if you catch my drift, wink wink, nudge nudge. So I don't you’re really mad at her, I think you’re more mad at yourself.”
“Oh gee, thanks for the diagnosis Dr. Emma! But I’m pretty sure I’m mad at Lauren. And I don’t care that she hooked up with Will this weekend, why would I? It’s not like I like him or anything. I’m just upset that she still hasn’t learned how to say no to guys.” Iz tried to reply with some dignity.
“Mhmm,” I started,” Is that so? If that were really the truth then you would have an explanation as to why you stare at him all of lunch. Which of course you don’t have, because you actually do like him, and you’re just too far in denial that you can’t admit it. “
Wincing, she says back to me, “Am I really that obvious? Do you think he knows? Oh my god, he does, doesn’t he?”
“Chill out, the only reason I know is that I’m your best lady friend. He’s about as oblivious to your feelings, as Noah is to mine.” I said.
“Really?! Well, that’s a relief. Oh and, speaking of Noah…”Iz started
“Oh god, don’t start with me. No, I haven’t made any progress with telling him. But you can’t really bug me about it because you’re in the same position as I am. So, ha!” I said back triumphantly.
“Alright I’ll give you that one, but this is going to be different.”
“Right. Of course it is,” I responded dryly
“No this time I’m serious! This year we are going to try and get them to notice us in a more than friend way. We can’t just slink away in the background.” Iz asked.
“That’s easier said than done, especially because the boy I have feelings more is also my other best friend. At least in your case Will barely even knows you exist so you can start with a clean slate, I live next to Noah!” And with that said Iz shot me an evil look so in an attempt to save myself I continued with,” And what I meant by ‘barely even knows you exist’ is that he secretly worships the ground you walk on. Who wouldn’t though? You’re beautiful, smart, charming, ni—“
She interrupted, “Yeah, yeah, alright, you’re forgiven, let’s just not make a habit of insulting me okay? I’m in a very fragile state right now as you know my family’s been going through a bit of rough time so I think you should just be warned that if I have any emotional breakdowns this week it’s perfectly normal.”
“Iz, your Mom and Dad refusing to buy you a car does not mean you’re going through a rough time. There are plenty of people out there that do not have cars and they’re older than you! I think that once you prove you’re responsible, they might be willing to have a change of heart.” I told her.
She scoffed in response and shook her head back at me. “I’m very responsible, I don’t know what you people are talking about. Just yesterday, I came down into the kitchen and I put out a fire I saw burning on the stove. Instead of running around like some crazed serial killer was after me, I responsibly got the fire extinguisher and extinguished the fire. Now if that’s not responsibility in action, I don’t what is!”
“You mean the fire you started when you put some noodles in a pan to boil and then went to go take a shower? If you’re trying to make a case towards your parents, I beg you not to use that one,” Iz tried to open her mouth to make a defense statement, but before she could I cut her off with,” also don’t use the time you tried to save the bird from being electrocuted incident. You should have known that when birds land on top of utility poles, they aren’t going to be electrocuted! You should also know that they have enough balance to not topple over!!”
“You know what? I don’t appreciate your attitude with me lately. You’re supposed to be a good best friend and support me when I have crazy ideas, not pull me back into sanity. Goodness, sometimes you are so boring!” She remarked.
“Oh I know, Em can be a real bore sometimes! I definitely agree with you there.” Replied a deep, masculine voice that sent shivers down my spine. I then whirled around on the heels of my feet, and shot Noah a look that said Oh-if-you-weren’t-so-irresistibly-cute-then-I-would-so-kill-you-right-now, but he probably read it as, you-are-annoying. As you can see, sometimes there are communication failures between Noah and I. Maybe that’s why I have such trouble being around him…
“You think you’re just some big shot cool guy, don’t you Noah Woods? Well, newsflash you’re really not! And just because I’m in love with you doesn’t give you the right to think you’re the greatest thing since chocolate!” I declared. Well, at least in my mind that’s what I said, I’m not entirely sure that’s exactly what came out. It may have sounded more like this, “Makd odne downdkw, I love you…” However, I can’t be sure that came out either, I might have just stared at him for the next ten minutes looking like an idiot before I realized that I was staring and drool was dripping onto the floor…
Iz nudged me in the shoulder as Noah questioned “Em? You okay? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
Finally back on the roller coaster of reality I mustered up a witty reply of, “ Oh you know, just too tired out from running away from my many admirers!” And then I slapped myself on the forehead and thought to myself, oh yeah so witty! Next to me however, Iz was having no trouble whatsoever realizing what an idiot I was. She was laughing like there was no tomorrow, and I’m pretty sure tears were coming out too.
“Err, okay? Didn’t realize you had any actually,” Noah told me almost thoughtfully.
“Gee thanks man, it's good to know I’m loved.” I muttered.
“Aw shit Em, you know I didn’t mean it that way!,” He then gathered me into a tight hug and whispered,” You know that you’re the bestest person in the world and you cheer up my dull, boring, dreary life with your insanely cool personality, and sometimes I just wish I could be the guy version of you because you’re so cool! I wuv youuuuu!!”
“Crushing-lungs-can’t-breath,” I tried to say. Talking while your lungs are being crushed is actually a lot harder than it sounds.
He let go while a took a huge breath and said, “Haha, sorry ladybug! I keep forgetting you’re so small and fragile.” He then patted my head and said,” how tall are you? Like four foot nine?”
“I’ll have you know that I’m five foot two and damn proud! And I do not appreciate the comments on my height thank you very much! It’s not my fault you’re a giant.” I retorted
Noah chuckled and then slung a muscled arm around my shoulder and with a smirk on his face chuckled, “alright ladybug, whatever you say…why don’t we just get you class, miss advanced placement?”