Ugh, I don’t want to talk to him. He thinks we’re “friends”. So annoying. I’ve been alone for 14 year. I didn’t need anyone.

“Hey!” he pestered. I continued past him.

“Hah, I know what you’re trying to do!” he chuckled, “So listen to this, I-“
I shot him an angry look. He backed away slightly.

“Is-is there a problem?” he asked. I glared at him and walked away. Connection cut. He didn’t follow me after that.

“That wasn’t nice, Ryan!” someone yelled. Shutupshutupshutup. Not now. The boy’s bathroom seemed like a nice option. I veered left and pushed through the door. Nice escape, she won’t get me here.

Then the door slammed open.

“You’d better apologize!” she yelled. The guy using the urinal shrieked and made a mess.

“No, you should,” I muttered.

“What? No, never mind, I don’t care. No, wait, I do. Sorry!”

The guy walked out and probably to the nurse. You could see how ashamed he was. He pushed past her and moved as quickly as possible.

“Hey! Wash your hands!” she commanded. He did as told and rushed down the stairs.

“Now,” she sighed, “You go need to apologize to him right- hey!” I stormed off to my next class.

“We have science together! YOU CAN’T RUN!” she yelled. I pointed to a list of rules posted on the wall, specifically to “No yelling”.

“I DON’T CARE, I CAN BE AS LOUD AS I WANT!” she shouted.

“Taylor, no yelling,” called a teacher.

“Sorry,” she whimpered. Then she turned and speed-walked as quickly as she could. She grabbed my arm when I entered the doorway to science.

“He’s right there, so go say sorry,” she demanded. I glared at her and shook myself free. She was the only person that I couldn’t cut ties with.

And that made me really mad.

The bell had just rung. I moved as quickly as possible to English, pushing past the other students. Taylor tugged me by my hood and pulled me back. She looked really frustrated, but I just pulled myself free and continued with class.

I had just barely entered first period math the next day before she scolded me.
“You really need to be nicer, Ryan. You can’t make any friends like this,” she said. I gave her an annoyed look and sat down.
“Hey! HEY!” She hit me several times, but I ignored her. The bell rang and she sat down.
“… so you’re going to be working in partners.” said the teacher.
“Can we work alone?” someone asked.
“Just go find someone!” another person yelled.
“Just find a partner,” the teacher sighed. Taylor moved as quickly as possible and bashed me with her binder. We worked in silence for the next half hour.

Taylor ignored me the rest of the day. Not that I had a problem with that. She’d bothered me my entire eighth grade year. Connection cut at last!

Man, I’d forgotten how boring schooldays actually were. I criticized people most of the time. The people at this school suck. And Taylor looked annoyed. HA! Karma!

It’s been about a two weeks since I dropped Taylor. Something really bothered me, though. The days felt empty. There was literally nothing to do. Taylor didn’t seem as angry as she had been. She was more so… down? Sad? Why?
Wait, why would I care?

AGH! EVER SINCE I THOUGH ABOUT IT YESTERDAY IT’S REALLY BEEN BOTHERING ME! Oh hey, there she is, maybe I should…
“Hey, Taylor.”
Uh, what? GAH, I DIDN’T MEAN TO ACTUALLY DO IT!
“Oh, Ryan.” She still looked pretty sad.
“Anything wrong or somethihgg.” Ow, bit my tongue. Why am I still going with this?
“My cat died,” she answered.
“Oh, uh.” What am I supposed to do about that?
She smiled.
“Why would you care?” It felt like she was asking an impossible question.
I threw my stuff on the ground and stomped off. I felt really embarrassed.
“Oh- Hey!” She chased after me. She bothered me for the rest of the day. For some reason, it wasn’t that bad.

Alright maybe it is that bad. It was alright yesterday and the day before that, but it really sucks right now.
“Hey Ryan, we’re getting a new cat!” she said with a smile. Well, I guess its okay now. I grunted in return.
“Hehe, I bet you’re jealous!” she boasted.
“Not in the slightest,” I said. She grinned and went back to work on our science assignment.
“Hmm… Ryan, you get this one?” She pointed to the last question.
Then she leaned over and peeked at my answer.
“No, you are no getting this.” Alright, she was getting annoying. She made a sad face. I walked over to the turn in basket and looked her dead in the eye.
“You better not,” she threatened.
“Oh, I will.” I slowly placed the paper in the basket.
“Noooo!” She lunged at me. Yeah, that didn’t work. We both laughed. Why was I laughing? Eh, whatever. At least I’m happy, right?
“Aw, Ryan, this is the first time I’ve seen you laugh! Ha!” And now I knew why I didn’t laugh. I quietly sat down.
Ugh this was embarrassing. Way to kill the mood, Taylor. Way to kill the mood.

Taylor was just screwing around the next day. Was she trying to make me laugh? Well, it’s almost working. It’s getting hard to hold a straight face.
“C’mon Ryan! Just laugh again! It was so weird!” she giggled. I just rolled my eyes and went back to transforming triangles in math. She tried to mess with my face. Uh, hey, maybe don’t get so close?
I pushed her away and went back to math. She backed off and quietly worked. I could feel the weight of the mood multiply by the dozens. Then the bell rang. I quickly ran to my locker and bashed my head against it. Man, was my heart beating fast. It’s because of the running, right? Yeah, definitely.

Taylor sat next to me during lunch.
“Sorry about earlier, Ryan,” she said. She looked like she had been really bothered by what had happened. I sighed and gave her half my brownie. She was instantly happy and hey, I was happy too. All’s well ends well.

That is, unless there’s a cat involved. Taylor somberly entered the math classroom the next morning
“Ryaaaan, the new cat went missing,” she moaned. I just sighed and shook my head.
“At least try to care,” she wailed.
“Ah, fine. I found a cat in my front yard this morning,” I said. She lit up like a light bulb
“Really? Really? Can I come over and check it? Pleasepleaseplease?” she pleaded. Whoa there, did she know what she was asking? She just asked to go to a guy’s house on a moments notice. Uh, well, uh, I can’t- okay.
“Fine,” I said, albeit reluctantly.
“I’ll walk with you afterschool then!” Her excitement was 0% hidden and to be honest, I was just as excited.

We arrived at my lawn after a bit of a walk.
“Wow, you don’t live very far from school,” she said in wonder. I ran to the backyard and grabbed the cat. It woke up, but it just chilled in my arms while I ran back out front.
“This your cat?” I asked. Her face went from happy to kind of happy, but kind of confused.
“Uh, no?” she said. Then she perked up. She grabbed the cat and fiddled with it.
“It’s gonna be a while till my mom arrives,” she said.
“Yeah, I get it,” I sighed. We messed with the cat for a little bit. Taylor got pretty into it. Aw, that’s cute. Aw? AW? AH! AHHHH! AHHHHHHHH! WHAT AM I THINKING?
Then Dad showed up. He parked his car in the garage, walked out with a smirk on his face, and walked into the house.
I was subject to questioning that night.

I felt awkward the next day.
“Hey Ryan!” called Taylor. I stared back blankly.
“Everything alright?” she asked.
“Oh. Yeah. Yeah…Yeah,” I awkwardly answered. She laughed. Calm down, myself.
You know what?
I think something might be going down.

Man, this be feelin’ fresher than laundry right now. Talking to Taylor was weird. Awkward. Ugh, how do I describe this?
I can’t. It’s too new. Wait-no, no…nope. I’ve got nothing

“Are you okay, Ryan? You’ve been kind of weird lately,” said Taylor. I grunted. It meant I was fine.
“Alright, whatever you say. Or…don’t say.” I watched as she walked away. Wait, that’s kind of creepy to say. “I gazed upon another as they approached a distance negative to me”. Uh, what? Either way, I wished I was going with her.
Is that weird? We’re friends, isn’t that normal? I didn’t like the word “friend”. It felt vicious and intangible. Maybe I should be something…else? GAH! I’M REALLY CONFUSED NOW!
Maybe I should just ask her. Better yet- waitwaitwait. What am I thinking? Maybe I should just- NOPE. NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. NOT DOING IT.
“Hey Taylor!” HOLY CRAP WHAT HAVE I DONE. She turned around.
“What?” PLEASE! NONONONONONONO!
“I, uh, I…” STOP STARING AT ME LIKE YOU’RE WAITING FOR SOMETHING!
“I…like you.” I’M DYING ON THE INSIDE PLEASE STOP!
She smiled. Is this it? Is this seriously happening?
“I like you too!” THIS IS THE HAPPIEST MOMENT IN MY LIFE!
“Wait does that mean that-“She cut me off.
“We’re friends! Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be?”
Oh.
Oh.
OH.
YES!
Yeah. Alright. Okay. Got it. Yeah.
NO!
I, the unfortunate Ryan, have been shot down. With friendship. This is…ow. This hurts. It really does.
“We’re going to the same high school right?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
Wait, does that mean…!
Yes. Yes it does.
I. get. a. another. chance.