As I made my way through the crowded hallways, pushing through the crowds of students, I couldn't help but feel a slight bit overwhelmed. I wasn't usually afraid of interaction and I knew I was definitely a people person, and yet, packed corridors still got me anxious. I was a bit shy, yes, but once a conversation had sprung, there's no way I could get my mouth to stop jabbering on.
I turned the corner in the direction of my first class and almost sighed with relief upon seeing all my friends waiting outside for me. "Ellie!" Riley exclaimed, almost attacking me with a hug. "Riles!" I gushed, hugging her back with equally matched aggression.
"Guys, you're acting like you haven't seen each other in decades,"Emma muttered with a disappointed sigh. She was like our mother; always making sure we weren't going too crazy and was always there to talk some sense into us when we were about to plunge into making the worst decisions of our lives. Honestly, we didn't know what we'd do without her.
"Aw come on, Em. We know you love us," Riley said, sliding an arm around Emma's shoulder. "Well, it depends, How much chocolate are you going to bribe me with for me to say that?"
"Hey, single people. Check out my girlfriend," Ace interrupted, while holding hands with Stacy. Stace pretended to be offended. "Stop talking about me like I'm some kind of trophy you won!"
Em rolled her eyes. "Ace, have I taught you nothing?"
Ace beamed at his best friend. "Come on, Em. You know I'm never gonna change. Besides, Stacy fell for me despite all that so..?"
Stacy looked like she wanted to laugh and punch him at the same time. "You're making me want to regret that decision." He smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back. There was no denying that they loved each other. I wanted something like that.
"Get a room, you two," Ralph groaned from beside Riley. Ace and Stacy glared at him and walked away together to do God knows what. Thea gave him a silent questioning glance that no one would've noticed unless they were as close to them as I was. As Emma and Riley were caught up in a conversation with Ashley, who'd just joined in, Thea, Ralph and I made our way towards an isolated spot in the corridor.
"Jigglypuff," Thea and I said at the same time. Ralph sighed. "Fine, fine. Where do I start?"
Three years ago, Ralph, Thea and I made a pact that we would tell each other everything so long as we used the code word 'jigglypuff'. It helped keep the drama alive and definitely proved to be a good source of entertainment for us. Although, yes, it permitted us to tell each other the deepest of secrets, it also worked to our advantage. See, you could only use the code word when you were asking about something specific. So in order for that, you'd need to have known at least a little something in order to get out the full truth. For example, you couldn't just walk up and say jigglypuff out of nowhere without any context to it. However, like in our current situation, when we detected something was wrong and there was some kind of backstory involved, the magic code word was all it took to get it all out.
The thing is, the pact was what strengthened our friendship. Back then we'd just made it as a joke to see if we could last a week without anyone breaking it, but it happened to last even three years down the line. I'd found out so many things about the two of them that I'd never known before and they knew things about me I hadn't told anyone else. It was a safe place to let go and I knew I could trust them. It was funny how the simplest of things could pave way for the strongest of bonds.
"I think I like Stacy," Ralph declared, hanging his head low. Thea and I both shared alarmed expressions. "Oh, no. No, no, no. This can't happen and you know it," I said firmly, then gave him the most sympathetic hugs I could offer.
"Yeah, Elody's right. I know Ace can be a jerk sometimes, but he's one of your best friends and he loves Stacy," Thea said gently.
"I just.... I can't stand it! They're so oblivious to it and I hate how they're so happy and-" he late out a frustrated sigh. Thea took his hand. "Okay, look. Do you want to sound like the most selfish person on the planet? Do you really want to steal Ace's girl just because you think she'll be happier with you? 'Cause that's not the Ralph we know. Snap out of it. We know you can move on."
I nodded. "Thea's right. And don't even think about waiting for her until she and Ace break up, or something. Even if they do ever breakup, she's off-limits. You hear me? No breaking the bro-code."
Ralph managed a half-smile, then took a deep breath. "I love you guys, you know that?"
Thea and I shared a smile. "We know," we said together, as the bell for the first class rang.
I ran to catch up with Riley before we went in. "All okay?" She asked, concerned. I gave her a reassuring smile."Don't worry, it's all good." No matter how close Thea, Ralph and I were, Riley was always going to be my best friend. We had a history; having been in the same band for two years and hanging out during most of our shared classes, we were closer than anyone in the group. Although I did tell Ralph and Thea quite a lot about myself, it was Riley who knew me inside out.
By the time we went inside to find seats, there were only two spots left, and, to our dismay, not next to each other. One empty seat was beside Emma and the other was beside this kinda-cute-messy-brown-haired boy.
Naturally, Riley and I raced for the seat next to Emma. Unfortunately, I was gifted with the ability to trip on air, so while I was left to embarrassingly pick myself off the floor of the front of the class and take a seat next to the cute guy, Riley couldn't tone down her laughter. I stuck my tongue out at her and tried to ignore the guy sitting next to me.
"Hey, I'm Will,"he said, and smiled at me. I found myself smiling back involuntarily. "Elody."
It's funny, because he was probably in my class the whole year, but I was only noticing him now. I recognized him from being friends with Ava, the girl who was my lab partner the previous semester. We were still good friends and caught each other up on pointless gossip whenever we had a class together, but other than that we had our separate groups.
Mr. Todd started telling us about our mid-term assignment, which was supposed to be a book report on any classic. My eyes immediately locked with Riley's; we knew what we were going to choose. I, Little Women, and her, Pride and Prejudice.
Since the beginning of time we had debates on which one of them was the better book, and still we hadn't reached a fair compromise.
"Does Geronimo Stilton count?" A kid named Andrew called out. The class burst out laughing. If he were just one of those regular idiots who made stupid jokes for attention, no one would have stirred, but the way he asked the question with so much innocence cracked us all up.
You just gotta love Andrew.
I turned towards Will. "So.. what are you planning to do?"
He shrugged. "Andrew stole my idea, so now I have to come up with something else."
I tried to suppress a laugh, but failed to do so. "Honestly, I'm really excited for this."
He raised an eyebrow and nodded, as if surprised by the fact that I liked to read. Then, I noticed him pulling something shiny from under his desk. My eyes widened instantaneously at the wrapper. "Gum?" I asked, my voice sounding slightly squeaky.
He nodded, looking like he wanted to laugh. "Do you want some?"
I nodded enthusiastically and he dropped a piece in my hand. I smiled to myself. That indeed was a defining moment of friendship. If Will and I became closer over time, we could look back at this moment and smile.
I guessed that he probably already thought I was weird and was secretly judging me this whole time, but I didn't really care. I didn't live my life to impress everyone, anyway.
As the bell rang and Mr. Todd's class was over, I joined the rest of the group in the corridor. As more and more students filed into the hallway from their previous classes and Ace and Stacy continued to act like a cringe-worthy couple, I knew it was just another normal day. Yet, my encounter with Will, however basic and small, made it feel like a day I'd never had before.
• • •
A/N I need to find a Will in real life.
Also, what did you think about the gum scene? I can promise there will be way more where that came from ;)
Let me know what you thought of Elody's group of friends and whether Riley is the perfect substitute for Ava for Elody.
Thanks for reading!