Chapter 1
Senior Year
Let me start with a little introduction. My name is Sophia McKenzie. I’m from a small town in New Jersey
The
one guy in my life I could always count on was my best friend. But even
sometimes that got complicated. Being
best friends with the most perfect guy is not always easy; especially when he
is friends with a girl like me. I am no
where near perfect like he is. Why he
chose to be my friend I will never know.
Let’s start senior year in high school.
First
period was always the slowest part of the day.
It was senior year and I still had to deal with listening to the same
monotone voice I was so privileged to hear day after day. Mr. Delaney was a good teacher but he was
just so boring.
“Yo,
Soph.” I heard someone whisper behind
me.
“What?” I said practically sleeping.
“First
off, wake up! Secondly, what are you
doing after school? I need help with my
English paper.” He said.
That
was my best friend. His name was Jayden
Daniels. Everyone called him JD. He slacked off for three years and now he was
actually trying to be studious so he could graduate, go figure.
“I
thought you did it already?” I announced
curiously.
“Not
exactly.” He laughed.
I
gave him a quick glare. “Talk to me at
lunch.”
He
smiled and replied, “Thanks, you’re the best”
That
megawatt smile always got me…and every other girl in the entire school.
JD was the most popular guy in school. He was not only charmed with talent but good
looks too. He was captain of the
basketball team, had starred in some of the high school’s musicals, and he was
extremely lucky with the ladies. The
girls swooned at the sight of him. The
girls wanted to date him and the guys wanted to be him. Don’t get me wrong though. He was not your stereotypical arrogant, self
centered jock. He was practically
oblivious to his popularity status and was very modest at times. He was also down to earth, funny, and
sweet.
Then there was me.
I was not so much an outcast but I was not exactly popular either. I was pretty much stuck in the middle of
everything. I was invisible but
not. I don’t even know if I qualified
for any particular category. I guess I
was just there.
Everyone at school always wondered how JD and I were even
friends in the first place. It was hard
for them to believe because we were put into different categories when we
started high school. So it was like,
“There is JD and that girl.” Some people actually knew my name and some did
not. They probably all wondered why the
hottest and most popular guy in school hung out with such a Plain Jane kind of
girl like me.
JD and I met in third grade. It was Halloween and we were having a parade
of all the kids dressed in their costumes in the parking lot of the
school. I remembered standing by the
fence holding my mom’s hand for dear life cause I did not want to go off on my
own.
“Come
on honey, you need to get in line for the parade.” My mom said.
“I
don’t want to go by myself mommy. No one
else is dressed in the same costume as me.
They’re gonna laugh.”
“Sweetie,
they are not going to laugh at you.
Everyone’s costumes are different.”
She assured me.
“But
mommy, I’m the only girl dressed in a boy costume. The other girls look like pretty princesses.”
I told her.
“That’s
okay Sophie. You don’t want to be the
same as everyone else anyway. That is
what makes you unique.” She explained.
I
stood there looking around for a little while longer with a sad look on my
face.
“Hi!”
I heard someone say excitedly behind me.
“Hi.”
I hesitated as I turned to see who it was.
“You’re
costume is awesome!” He said.
“Thanks,
yours is too!” I said happily.
We
were both wearing the same costumes. We
were ninja turtles. I was Michelangelo
and the boy was Leonardo.
“You
like the ninja turtles too?” I asked the boy.
“Yea,
they’re awesome!” He answered. “Do you want to walk with me in the parade?”
“Okay.”
I said, “Mom, can I go with him?” I asked with a smile.
“Sure
sweetie.” My mom responded happily.
The
boy and I walked off leaving our mothers to chat with each other.
“What’s
your name?” The boy asked.
“I’m
Sophie, what’s yours?” I asked back.
“I’m
Jayden.” He responded with a slight
grin.
We
had been inseparable ever since that very day.
The next couple of classes went by in a blur. The bell rang and it was finally time for
lunch. I met JD at his locker. As he was going through his books I leaned up
against the locker next to his with a dramatic sigh. He looked up at me with
curious eyes.
“What’s
wrong?” He asked
“Nothing.” I said unconvincingly.
He
rolled his eyes, “Liar.” He stated plainly.
He
shut his locker, and we were off to the cafeteria. It was completely quiet the whole way there
and as we got our lunches. We sat down
at the table and JD was the first one to break the silence.
“So
what’s the story?” He asked.
I
played with my food quietly for a moment.
Then I took a slight breath and looked at him with uncertainty running
through my mind. “It’s just that…” I started not finishing my sentence. JD gave me a look to urge me to continue.
“Well,” I began again, “it’s just that it’s hard to believe high school is
almost over. I’m just scared is all.”
“Sophie,”
JD replied, “we have been thorough this before.
There’s nothing to be afraid of.
Things will work out the way they were meant to.”
“That’s
easy for you to say,” I argued, “you’re so easy going about everything. It’s like you have no fears at all about the
future.”
“Of
course I do,” he added, “I just don’t think it’s necessary to dwell on it. It’s not like we are completely done with
school anyway. We still have college to
get through. Now after that then we have
to face our fears head on. That’s when
it’s time to be an adult and start worrying.
Right now we just take it one day at a time kid, one day at a time. No worries. Everything will be fine.”
No worries? I don’t know how that kid did it. There I was millions of thoughts running
through my head worrying about every little thing and he just planned on
breezing through it all. Graduation was
only weeks away. I still had yet to
choose a college. Plus JD planned on
going away to school. That meant we had
to say goodbye. I barely knew how to get
through the day without him by my side.
I felt like I wasn’t going to survive without hearing him run his crazy
mouth all the time. I also had never
been good at goodbyes. When I was ten, I
cried for a week when my goldfish died.
My mom gave me a whole speech about how we all had to say goodbye to the
ones we loved at some point or another.
That did not comfort me at all.
Maybe I was just scared things were going to change for the worse
instead of the better. I tried to block
all the worries out of my head for JD’s sake.
He was probably right anyway and everything was going to be fine….I
think.
The bell rang, interrupting my pending thoughts. It was time to face the rest of the school
day.
Once
the school day was over I was glad to head home. JD came by my house after school so I could
help him with the rest of his English paper.
He wound up staying for dinner.
My Grandma Rose cooked her famous lasagna. JD loved my Grandma’s cooking so he could not
resist staying when my mom asked him if he wanted to.
“Gran,
it smells amazing.” He announced to her as he walked into the kitchen.
“Why
thank you, son. I’m glad you could join
us tonight. You haven’t stayed for
dinner lately. I was beginning to think
Sophie kicked you to the curb.” She replied with a laugh.
JD
laughed along with her. “She would never do that.” He said as he put his arm
around my shoulder. “She would miss me too much.”
I
gave him a goofy look.
“Come
on kids. Let’s eat.” My mom yelled from
the dining room.
Later
after dinner I walked JD out.
“So,
do you want me to pick you up in the morning for school tomorrow? I don’t feel like driving there alone. Plus, let’s put it in the thank you card for
helping me with the rest of my paper.” He smiled brightly.
“Sure,
I’ll see you in the morning bright and early.” I gave him a hug goodbye. After he finally left I went upstairs for
some much needed sleep to face the next few weeks.
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