We walked around the back of the school when Becca and I arrived. I showed her the back way in. There was a lot less hustle and bustle of fast moving seniors, and lost new students. And this way, I could see Mathew before first period. Mathew was my best friend. I told him everything, and he told me everything. Some people say it’s weird, because boys and girls can’t be just friends. But we have spent the last three years proving our peers wrong. Becca found her group of friends, and wandered off before I could even say good luck. I sat down on the benches by the door, and Shortly after Mathew pulled up in his old beat up ford. He threw the truck in park, and shut it off. Alexis, his younger sister jumped out, and walked towards the back doors. I looked up and waved to her, and then I looked over to Matt, who was waving me over. I got up off the bench and began to walk towards the truck. I walked over to the driver’s side, and leaned into the open window.
“Hello, hello.” He said as he shoved some paper into a binder.
“Couldn’t do that last night?” I chuckled, as I watched him struggle with a new pack of pens.
“Shut up, I had basketball, and hockey last night.” He said, continuing to struggle with the pens. He finally gave up, and looked at me. There was a strange sparkle in his hazel eyes, one that I have never seen before. “You look different.” He said as he stared at me. I self-consciously ran my fingers through my hair.
“I got a haircut.” I said as I looked down at my feet.
“hmm, It looks good.” He said. As I looked up from my feet his eyes were right on mine. And I don’t know what it was, but everything was different.
“Dude get in I gotta show you something.” He said as he suddenly looked away and shoved the whole pack of pens and his binder into his bag. I walked around to the passenger side. I wondered if he felt that weirdness a minute ago too. I climbed in the truck, and shut the door. He cranked up the radio, turned to me, and smiled.
“What!” I screamed. Then he turned it back down, and laughed.
“You’re such a girl. I got a new stereo system. New speakers and everything.” He turned the radio off, and looked over at me. “Nice eh?” he asked.
“Yah that’s totally sweet.” I answered, and turned to open the door. He then grabbed my arm, and I felt it, more weirdness. I turned and faced him with a questioning look, and he quickly pulled his hand away.
“What are you doing tonight?” He asked with a smile. Weirdness.
“Nothing. Why?” I questioned. This felt all wrong. And I wish I knew what it was that felt wrong.
“Ok, well now you have plans.” He laughed and got out of the truck. I have never been so confused in my life. I also got out of the truck, and shut my door. He waited at the back of the truck and when I walked towards him he must have saw the confusion in my face. He laughed again. “We are hanging out tonight. Don’t look so scared. I just thought I’d ask now, since that new haircuts gunna have the boys all over you.” I punched him in the arm and he laughed again. We walked towards the school together. And I didn’t say anything about the weirdness, but I could tell that by the silence, he felt it too.
We walked into the back doors, and said hi to a couple of our friends, and then we all walked to the front bulletin together to see what our homerooms were. I had English, so did Matt, Chris, and Melanie. And we all have Mr. Cage, who was the best English teacher in the school. The warning bell rang, and we decided to make our way towards class. As we were walking down the hallway, Mel grabbed my arm and told the guys to save us seats, and that we were going to the bathroom. They agreed, and walked towards the English wing. We walked into the nearest washroom. Mel looked frantic, and tired, ok exhausted.
“Mel, what’s up?” I asked. I didn’t have to pee, and I knew she didn’t either. I was never really one to have girlfriends. In fact I hated girls. The mean ones all talked behind your backs, were snotty, and they only cared about being pretty. The only girlfriend that I’ve ever been close to is Mel. I met her when she and Chris started dating about two years ago. Ever since then we’ve been good friends. She’s not like most girls. She doesn’t give a s*** about what anyone thinks of her, she just lives her life. And I admire the crap outa that. She and Chris were voted the cutest couple last year, and it sure wasn’t for no reason. Everyone wanted a relationship like them. They respected each other, laughed together, and they never fought in front of people. Mel even told me once, that they had amazing sex. Which was way more information than I ever wanted to know. You never saw one without the other, and not in a weird, “wow she never leaves his side” kind of way. They were happy, simply happy. And just looking into Melanie’s eyes right now, I could see that my view on all of that was about to change. “hello, what’s wrong?”
“Hold on.” She was waiting. And as the last junior walked out of the bathroom she started to spill. “well, my life is over, my mom’s going to kill me, my dad’s going to kill Chris, and everyone’s going to think I’m a freak.” She was freaking out, and I didn’t know what to do, so I just stared at her, hoping the rest of her weirdo story would come out. Thankfully I didn’t have to say anything, and she began to spill again. She told me how her and Chris went to her cottage this summer, and how they spent four amazing days together, and that they had slept together, a lot. I sat there on the bathroom counter and listened, as tears ran down her cheeks I became more confused in what I was supposed to do or say. And then out came the whopper. “Leigh, I’m pregnant. The condom broke, and there’s a stupid baby inside me.” She began to cry more. Harder, louder, and I had no choice but to get up and hug her. I hugged her and told her everything was going to be ok. I heard the final bell ring, and I continued to console her. She cried for about ten minutes before she let go and wiped her eyes. By this time she had no makeup left, and she was all red and splotchy. She sat down on the floor against the heater, and put her head in her hands. “What am I going to do Leigh?” she asked me. I sat down beside her and folded my hand in my lap. I had no idea what to say, this was Melanie I was talking to, she was always the strong one. I never imagined that she would be asking me for advice.
“Does Chris know?” I asked
“No, not yet.” She replied, using the back of her hand to wipe away her tears. I looked at my best girlfriend, and I knew exactly what had to be done.
“Well you can’t go to class like this. And I can’t leave you here alone. So any place you wanna go?” she looked up at me and smiled. And I smiled back, “we can go to my house if you like, it’s not far, just till you need.”
“Leigh, I knew I could tell you, and you wouldn’t judge. And could we please, that would be great, since I look like a drowned rat.” We both got up, hugged again as we laughed. We then walked out of the bathroom, out of the school, and to my house. It was my first day of grade twelve and I had already skipped.

For the rest of the afternoon, Mel and l talked about everything. We talked about my family, her family, cute boys in school, everything and anything. We talked about stuff that I could never dream of talking about with Matt. Was I losing him? Is that why things were so weird? Or was he losing me? I didn’t know, but I didn’t like it.
When I looked at the time, it was four o’clock. I dug my cell out of my pocket and saw that I had about ten messages from Mathew. I dialed his cell number, three rings, no answer. I hung up and called again.
“Hello.” He didn’t sound impressed. S***.
“Hey I’m really sorry, I had a girl emergency, I had to help Mel.” I tried to explain. I could hear Chris in the back ground. He sounded worried…
“Look, do you know where she is? She’s been missing all day. She’s not answering her phone. And her mom doesn’t know where she is, and Chris is worried.” He sounded annoyed. S***.
“Yah she’s at my place, she’s asleep on the couch.” I said as I rubbed my four head, I felt quite stressed with this whole situation. I wanted so bad to tell Matt what was going on but I knew I couldn’t.
“We’ll be there in five.” He said then he hung up. S***. He was mad. At me? I don’t know.
I was so glad today was one of those days when my sister had something, and my mom decided to go to work. This way I could catch the phone call from the school before my mom got home, and i could avoid questions, not that she’d ask. Five minutes later Chris and Matt showed up. Mel hugged me goodbye and thanked me, and Chris took her home. Matt and I sat outside on my front step in silence. Silence used to be okay between us. It used to be comfortable, I felt like we didn’t need to talk. But sitting here with him now, felt awkward, and I was scared. I felt like a bomb was about to go off. Finally he spoke, and I was so thankful.
“We made plans” He sounded really disappointed in me.
“Matt, it’s not the first time plans got cancelled between us. And I told you, it was a girl emergency.” I didn’t want him to be mad. But he didn’t really have a reason to be. He didn’t reply. He put his head in his hands, and rubbed his temples. What was stressing him out so much.
“Well I think I’m just going to go home.” He said, as he stood up. I couldn’t understand why he was so angry.
“Matt, what is going on? What are you not telling me?” I demanded answers. He was being weird.
“Leigh we made plans. I had something I wanted to tell you tonight. Something that’s kinda big. And you just bailed” he didn’t know what he was feeling and I could tell by the look on his face. I stood up and he stepped towards me. “Leigh I like you.” Weirdness.
“I know stupid, you’re my best friend. I like you too.” I laughed, and he looked into my eyes begging me to understand. And a part of me did. “oh.ooooh.” I whispered, and sat back down. S***.
“Yah, so I’m just gunna go. Um Cage wants to see you first thing tomorrow. You missed some stuff today.” He turned and walked to his truck in my drive way. He opened the door and stopped, “see ya at school tomorrow Leigh.” Then he climbed in his truck and drove away.
All I could think was that nothing was ever going to be the same between us. I had lost my best friend.

I woke up the next morning, and remembered the strange events of the previous day. It sure had been a day to remember, that was certain. My best girlfriend was pregnant, my best guy friend confessed his love for me, well sorta, and I had skipped school. What a first day of school. I got up and shut my alarm clock off. All I could think about was how much I did not want to go to school today. But I really had no choice. I couldn’t, and wouldn’t abandon Mel. And if I didn’t talk to Matt soon, who knew what was going to happen.
I walked down the hallway and into the kitchen, where I saw Becc on the phone. She sounded happy. And she looked it too. I tapped her shoulder, and mouthed the words, “who is it?” she rolled her eyes, and looked away. I walked to the fridge, and tried to find something to eat for breakfast, which was nearly impossible in this house. Dad did groceries, since mom, well, didn’t want to do anything. I wondered again about my mom, would she ever snap out of it?
“ugh yah, shes right here. Mhm. Yah. No we have school today! Its Wednesday.” I overheard some of the conversation. And I knew exactly who it was. Bryce.
“Becc! Let me talk! Becc!” I ran over to the phone.
“ok. Love you too. See you real soon. “ she handed me the phone, and rolled her eyes again.
I talked to Bryce for about twenty minutes. And when we hung up I began to cry. The phone conversations were killing me. It made it feel so real that he was so far away. I missed him so much. We talked about school, and mom. He said he didn’t want to talk to her because he didn’t want to hurt her any more than he already had. And I couldn’t agree more. Although I honestly don’t think it could get any worse. When we said good bye, and hung up the phone I almost cried.
“who was that?” asked my dad as he walked down the hallway. I was quite surprised that he was home, since he spends every day all day at the law firm he works for. He looked like he was in an alright mood. Which was also unusual. I haven’t seen him smile since before Bryce left.
“Oh it was Bryce” said Becc as she handed dad a cup of coffee. He nodded his head, and walked towards the kitchen table. He sat down and opened the newspaper.
“Well I’m outta here.” I said as I grabbed my bag, and headed for the door. “you coming Beccs?” I asked looking back.
“Nah, I’m not ready yet. Il see ya at school.” She replied. It was chilly out this morning, and I hadn’t expected that. And I had to admit, I was freezing. I was already running late, so I didn’t have time to back track and get a sweater. And that’s when it happened. A strange black pickup truck pulled up beside me, I continued to walk without taking notice. The driver rolled down the window, and called my name.
“Leigh! Leigh, wanna ride?” I turned around enough to take a look at the driver. It was Daniel Jacobs. And five hundred things ran through my head at once. Daniel Jacobs new my name. Daniel Jacobs was asking me if I needed a ride. Omg his eyes were so dreamy. Daniel was only the hottest boy in school. He was tall, with a muscular build. He had light blonde hair that perfectly surrounded his perfect face. And don’t even get me started on those eyes. They were as blue as they came; he was perfect in every way. Except for his personality. That stunk. But what do you expect when you get a guy like that. He played every sport known to man. However he excelled in hockey, basketball, volleyball, and football. He was the captain of every high school boys ‘team since grade nine. Except for last year, when the coaches of the hockey team chose Matt instead of him. Matt and Daniel never got along. They were each-others competition. I decided that it was unimportant for me to get to know Daniel, since he was such a jerk. The way he used girls, and threw them away. It was sickening. But he had the power to do that, given his great looks and all.
“Is that a yes.. Or no?” he asked again, I must have been staring. I just couldn’t believe he was talking to me.
“Um yah.” I said as I climbed in his old pick up. It was surprisingly tidy. Well what did I expect, condoms, and underwear everywhere. He was silent for a minute, and we just sat there parked on the side of the street. I wondered if I should say something. Maybe he just wanted a hook up before school. Maybe this was some sick joke. “Listen, I can just walk.” I said then attempted to get out of the truck.
“Sorry, I was just thinking of the best way to say this,” he was playing with his hands in his lap. I became even more confused. I was about to ask what when he spoke again. “I’ve seen you around Leigh. And I think you’re really special. I was just wondering if..” He trailed off, and looked out the window.
“um, wondering if what?” I asked. This was extremely weird. He obviously wanted me to hook up with him in exchange for a ride to school. I should have known. It’s all over school. They say, “don’t get into Daniel Jacobs car unless you’re ready to give it up” and that was defiantly happening to me right now. Oh gosh. I was so stupid.
“Look, are you and Mathew Brinks together?” he asked and looked right at me. I couldn’t speak. No one had ever asked that before. Everyone knew we were just friends.
“No. No. No, what are you talking about.” I was so confused. Why was he asking this. Was Matt telling people we were together? How could he.
“Oh. Ok, good.” He said looking out the window again. I was going to be late for school. I skipped the first day, and I was going to be late the second day. I was making a great impression. “look, I don’t do this very often, ok I don’t do this ever. But um Leigh, would like to go out with me Friday night?” awe he was nervous. He was so cute. WAIT. Back up did he just ask me out. Yes Leigh, he did. Now don’t be an idiot and say yes!
“Daniel. I’ve seen how you treat girls. And I don’t want to be any part of that.” I got out of the truck, and began to walk to school. What did I just do! The hottest boy ever just asked me out and I turned him down. Wow I must have had some will power.
He drove away, and I walked the rest of the way to school. I was ten minutes late, and there wasn’t a soul in sight when I arrived. I went to my first period class, and waited for an earful from Cage at the door. He came to the door, and let me in. he told me to take a seat beside Mathew, and nothing else. He didn’t ask why I was late, or where I was yesterday. I looked around the room for Mel. Nothing. I wonder where she was. Then I noticed that Chris was also absent. I looked at Matt hoping to gain eye contact. When he looked up I mouthed the words, “we need to talk.” He nodded, and put his head back down on the table. For the rest of the class I day dreamed about Daniel. I tried to ignore the hurt in his eyes when I turned him down, but I couldn’t stop seeing them. Why did he want to ask me on a date? He could have any girl he wanted. I knew I couldn’t tell Matt about this. He hated Daniel. And I couldn’t tell Mel, she wasn’t here. I was going to go insane. I also eventually put my head down, in attempt to drown out Mr. Cage’s rant about Shakespeare. I’ve never been so disinterested in a lecture before. And I was really disappointed in myself. But I couldn’t stop thinking about Daniel.
I must have dozed off for a few minutes. I felt a swift shove from Mathew’s hand. I lifted my head, and looked over at him. He was smiling back at me. He was handsome. I never noticed before, but he was extremely handsome. I can’t believe what an idiot I was. Things had obviously changed between us. But I still needed him, and he needed me. Friendship’s as great as ours just didn’t end. I thought back into the summer, hoping for a clue to why he suddenly felt this way. We did a lot of things together this summer. He came camping with my family, and I went to the water park with his. This summer I definitely changed. Maybe he noticed the small changes? Then a possibility hit me. Maybe he liked me the whole time. No way. There’s no way. He hated when people said we couldn’t be “just friends”. Maybe he hated it because he knew it was true. I looked over at him again, and thought about what it would be like with Matt. Weird. That’s what it would be like. He was my best friend. That’s all he was meant to be. I was staring at him hoping that I could read his mind. He was right focused on Cage’s lecture, and he looked okay. He didn’t look sad, or angry. He must have felt me staring at him because he suddenly looked over at me. I quickly looked away, hoping he didn’t catch me in the act of staring. He tapped my knee with his knuckles like he was knocking on a door. I looked over at him, and he smiled. I smiled back nervously. There was no way things were going back to normal anytime soon. I watched him rip out a piece of paper from his binder. He then scribbled something on it, and slid it over to me. It said “sorry about last night. Still buds till the end?” I read it and my heart sank a little. I kind of liked when Mathew wanted me. Oh well. I wrote back, “absolutely,” and slid the sheet back over to him. The bell rand and I stood up. He shoved the paper back into his binder and got up also. He flashed a smile over to me, but it quickly faded. Things were still weird; a note passed in English class wasn’t going to fix that. I grabbed his arm as he went to walk away. He turned and faced me with a questioning look on his face.
“Come over tonight?” I asked still holding his arm. My hand felt like it was on fire. Butterflies suddenly took over my stomach. I’ve never felt so confused. I pulled my hand down to my side, and looked away. I felt something when I touched him, and I wanted to do it again. But I wouldn’t dare. He said he wanted to be just friends. He obviously made a mistake when he said he liked me. I wasn’t like the girls Mathew usually dated. They were pretty. They were either cheer leaders, or beauty queens. I was a nerd. A nobody. I played hockey, but that wasn’t enough to get me noticed. People that did know me, knew me as Matt’s friend Leigh.
“I have hockey practice.” He said then started to walk away. Just as he was walking through the door, he looked over his shoulder and said, “maybe some other time.” Then he smiled as if to say all of this could have been yours, you missed your chance. And from that moment I knew he would never be my best friend Matty ever again. I sat back down, feeling like I couldn’t breathe. Tears welled in my eyes as I thought about how much I needed him. He was a huge part of me, of my life.
Mr. Cage came over and sat on my desk. He knew something was up, and at that point I didn’t feel like hiding it. “what’s up kiddo?” he asked nonchalantly.
“nothing, its fine.” I say as I gather my books. I didn’t feel like talking about the situation at all, and I really didn’t feel like talking about it to my English teacher. No matter how cool he was, I knew he wouldn’t understand.
“alright, if you say so. However, you ditched my class yesterday, and you were more than fashionably late today missy.” He said with a little chuckle in his voice. I’ve never seen him angry ever. I’ve heard about times when he’s blown up on students, but they usually deserved it. I knew I wasn’t in trouble, but I also knew I wasn’t getting off without a light punishment.
“I’m sorry, it will never happen again.” I said as I got up. He stood up to, and looked at me with sympathy.
“I’m sure it will never happen again Leigh. But what kind of teacher would I be if I didn’t give you proper punishment.” He said as he picked up two lined pieces of paper off his desk. He handed them to me, and explained what they were for. “On one you will create a comparison chart, and a persuasive paragraph on the other.” He said with a huge smile on his face. He seemed pleased with his punishment.
“And just what am I comparing?” I ask, with a little giggle, because each of us knew that I could do both in the matter of 15 minutes.
“Well, you’re going to compare pirates and ninjas. Then choose your favourite, and write a piece on why one is better than the other.” He laughed at his ridiculous punishment.
“Oh alright. Well I got to go. I wouldn’t want to be late for gym, and have to explain the difference between a beach ball and a tennis ball.” I joked back as I walked over to the door. Just as I was about to exit the classroom he called me back.
“Leigh, you know if you ever need anything, my door is always open.” He said, then turned his attention back to the work on his desk.
“I know Mr. Cage. I know.” When I left the classroom I began to walk towards my locker. I was surprised to see Daniel leaning up against some lockers. I figured he was probably leaning on some other girl’s locker. Some girl that was prettier than me. When I came closer, I noticed that he was leaning on my locker. Daniel Jacobs was leaning on my locker. Someone take a picture. There was no way this was happening. Play it cool I told myself.
“Um your on my locker.” I said as I hinted for him to move. Only he didn’t. Why was he here talking to me? He could have been with a hundred other girls.
“I know that silly.” He said playfully. He slid over to the locker beside mine. I opened my locker hoping he’d just go away. Only he didn’t do that either. “Look, I really would like to take you out Friday night.” He said crossing his arms. He gave me this look; it was like he was confident again. I remember the look of confusion and hurt I saw when I said no earlier this morning. He really must hate getting shut down. Otherwise he wouldn’t come ask me a second time. Maybe he had a feeling that my answer would change. Or maybe he was just trying to make someone else jealous.
“Yah? And where would you like to take me? Dinner then a motel? Oh and I suppose there’s a certain colour of undergarments you’d like to take off of me. Sorry dude, but you’re a jerk and I don’t do jerks.” I said and I suddenly felt all powerful and what not. I expected him to look hurt all over again. I jabbed him with an extremely rude comment. Only, he just laughed. I looked up at him shocked.
“Well, I was actually I got some leafs tickets, and you seem pretty cool, so maybe you’d want to go with me? I promise, no specific colour panties.” He chuckled, he seemed like he was taken off guard by my comment. But he also seemed sincere.
“Oh? So you think I’m a Leafs fan?” I replied. Closing my locker, and leaning on it beside him. I was a Leaf’s fan. I have been since the day I was born. And I wanted to go to that game. So what if Daniel took me? It was just a hockey game. Right?
“Who isn’t these days?” he asked. He was extremely amused by how witty I was being. And honestly, so was I.
“Ok, I’ll go with you Daniel. But on one condition.” I smirked, “you do not buy me dinner, and this is not a date.” We exchanged cell phone numbers so he could text me with the details, and then he walked me to class. I walked into class feeling like a superstar. All the girls were staring at me, they were obviously jealous. But there were one set of eyes on me that I didn’t quite like. Mathew’s. He immediately walked over to me. He tried not to sound angry or jealous when he spoke.
“Why were you talking to him?” he asked. Both anger and jealousy were present in his tone.
“It’s not a big deal.” I said, and walked to the change room. Class began, and Mathew hardly spoke to me. It’s not like I noticed, I was lost in thought about Daniel.

At lunch I saw a group of Mel’s friends sitting in the cafeteria. I went over, and say beside them. One girl spoke to me immediately; I think her name was Tonia.
“What’s up Leigh?” she asked nicely, but she was clearly wondering what the hell I was doing at her table. I never sat with them. In fact I’m surprised they even knew my name. I asked them if they have spoken to Melanie today or last night. And they said that they haven’t. They also asked me why she was acting so strange. That’s why I hated girls. So nosey. I wanted to say Mind your own business. But I caught myself. If I wasn’t going to have Mathew as a friend for the rest of my senior year, I was going to need someone. The rest of lunch they all compared schedules with me. I had my last period class with Tonia, and some other girls that I didn’t know too well. At the end of lunch Kassidie approached me.
“I saw Daniel walk you to gym today.” She said, she didn’t sound impressed. I gave her a confusing look as to say “so?” She continued to talk. “Just so you know, he’s my unofficial boyfriend.” I had to bite my tongue. I wanted to laugh right in her face. Unofficial boyfriend? What the f*** was that? Wow were all girls this pathetic?
“Then why’s he taking me out Friday night?” I asked with an extremely sassy tone. The look on her face was hilarious. I let out a laugh this time, and walked away. I wanted her to know that I was not the type of girl to mess with. I wasn’t the same shy girl I had been. I hated girls.
The rest of the school day seemed to last forever. My last two classes were completely boring. Tonia and Sophie were in my last period class just like they said they would be. We had Chemistry, boring. All I could think about was Daniel. I can’t believe I let myself become this effected by a boy. Finally the day ended, and I couldn’t have been happier. I just wanted to go home. What was wrong with me, I used to love going to school. Now I just couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there.
At the end of the day I walked to my locker, and I wasn’t shocked to see Daniel standing there again.
“Hey, I thought you might like a ride home.” He said with a huge smile on his face. Just as I was about to answer, Mathew came up beside us.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” he asked obviously amused with the situation. He let out a loud laugh. “Are you two –“ I cut him off before he could say anything.
“Daniel here was just about to drive me home.” I said, as I grabbed my bag out of my locker, and locked it. I was scared to look at Mathew so I began to walk to the back doors. I heard them talking behind me, but I just kept walking. They were arguing. Oh no. I continued to walk, when I turned around, I saw Daniel trailing behind me. We got in the truck, and I let out a huge sigh.
“He likes you yah know..” he whispered looking out the window. I laughed. It must have been loud, because Daniel gave me a funny look. I asked him not to talk about Matt anymore. When we reached my house I invited him in. He agreed, but said he could only stay for a little while because he had practice. My mom was home, but thankfully she didn’t say much. I told her wed be in my room, and she just nodded her head. I lay down on my bed, and Daniel sat on my desk chair. He looked so good, it took all I had not to go over and kiss him. I wondered if he liked me. Or if he just thought I was a cool girl to hang out with.
“Are you really Kassidie Wood’s unofficial boyfriend?” I asked with a smirk on my face. I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. And apparently neither has Daniel, because he began to laugh hysterically. “I’ll take that as a no.” I said and also began to laugh.
“Dis she tell you that?” he asked still chuckling. He picked up a tennis ball off my desk, and began to play catch with himself.
“Yep.” I replied. I knew they weren’t together Daniel was never together with anyone. He was a player. I became suddenly worried. Just then he came over, and sat on the bed next to me.
“I hate playing.” For a moment I thought he was talking about girls.
“playing what?” I asked, unsure of what he was saying. I crossed my legs, and faced him. I had a feeling this was serious.
“Hockey. My dad just expects me to play. Anyways, I’m sorry that slipped out.” He said then got up off my bed. I could tell that he just told me something he didn’t usually share with others. But I didn’t understand. I played, because I loved it. The thrill, the rush, it was amazing. But then again I didn’t play competitively. He did, and he was good. I heard that he was being scouted.
“You can’t continue to play if you hate it Daniel.” I said, it was a completely obvious observation. But those words seemed to make him feel better. He threw the tennis ball at my face; thank goodness I caught it before it connected. I took that as my cue to shut up. It felt strange having Daniel in my room. I remember when Matt and I used to hang out in my room for hours and hours. I threw the ball back at him, equally as hard. He seemed impressed. Just as he went to throw the ball again, I jumped up and pushed him backwards into the wall. He then pushed me down to the floor in attempt to pin me to the ground. But there’s no way I was going to let him win. We rolled around on the floor for a while, laughing and screaming. He finally became victorious, and had me pinned to the floor. I was exhausted. It seemed to have slipped my mind that Daniel was also the captain of the wrestling team. He was sitting on top of me, laughing. He had my arms pinned to my side, and I couldn’t move.
“You put up a good fight. But you’re no match for me.” He said winking. He was so hot. Suddenly I really wanted to kiss him. Only I couldn’t move. I prayed that if there was anything good in this world that Daniel would kiss me. Sure enough he leaned over so that our lips were just inches apart. I wanted our lips to meet so bad it was killing me. And he must have known, because it sure felt like I was being teased. Then he whispered, “Leigh, you’re so beautiful.” Just then there was a knock on my door, and Daniel sat up. He didn’t let me go through. I laughed out of nervousness.
“Hey Leigh,” I was Rebecca. What awful timing. I would have to tell her about this later. She opened the door, and looked shocked, really shocked, like I could never have a boy in my room. “Oh. Hi Daniel.” She said and giggled. So they knew each other. How did they know each other?
She was staring at us, and a painfully awkward silence took over the room. Daniel finally spoke, “I was just teaching Leigh here, some wrestling moves.” He looked over at me and winked. She stood uneasy in my door way for a moment.
“What do you want Becc?” I finally asked. She looked like she wanted to laugh, but she didn’t.
“Um the letters from Bryce are here.” she said as she handed me mine. I didn’t even notice that she was carrying them. I looked up at Daniel, who was still planted firmly on top of me. He looked back at me, and jumped up. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me up as well. I grabbed the letter from Becc’s hand. Sure enough, straight from Afghanistan was a letter from Bryce. Sudden excitement exploded in my body. I smiled from ear to ear. I stared at the letter, wanting to rip it open, and read the words that my brother had written. I loved it when mail came from Bryce. It was personal, he always wrote three letters. One for mom and dad, one for me, and one for Becc. Becc loved reading her letters also. She kept them all in the same place, her scrap book. She’d glue it to a new page after she read it about a hundred times. Bryce and Rebecca never quite got along. They were always arguing, and fighting. But what did anyone expect? They were 4 years apart, and both extremely strong headed.
Daniel was clearly confused. He probably didn’t even know that I had an older brother, let alone know that he was in Afghanistan in some war. “Who’s Bryce?” he questioned, as he sat down in my desk chair again.
“Well, I just thought I’d bring it to you. Anyways, have fun wrestling.” Becca said with a chuckle as she exited my bedroom. I sat down on my bed with the letter in my hand. I was thinking of how to answer Daniel’s question.
“He’s our older brother.” I decided to start with the simple part. I never really told anyone about Bryce. Only Mathew, Melanie, and Chris knew. It was a long painful story to tell people. And I didn’t know if I was ready to tell Bryce. Maybe he wouldn’t ask.
“Where’s he at?” tough break. I lay down on my bed, thinking about Bryce. Where was he at? I didn’t really know myself.
“He’s in the Canadian Armed Forces.” I said, expecting Daniel to understand the rest.
“Like the military? Like the one in Afghanistan?” he looked extremely interested. He thought it was cool. It was anything but cool. People died over there. Many men, just like my brother would never return home to their families. I didn’t know what else to say so we just sat in silence for a moment.
Just then Daniel got a phone call. The person on the other end didn’t sound too impressed. In fact they sounded pissed. Daniel hung up the phone, and explained to me that he was late for his practice, and that he had to leave. I walked him to the door, and said goodbye. He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. He waved over his shoulder as he walked to his truck. I retreated back to my bedroom to read the letter from Bryce. They’re not allowed to talk about where they are, or what they’re doing in their letters, but from this letter, I got the impression that Bryce was scared of something. After I finished reading it I added it to the collection I had gathered over the few months he’d been gone. I lay back down on my bed, and fell asleep.
When I woke up a few hours later, I decided I’d call Mel. I told her about everything that had happened. I told her about Mathew liking me, and Daniel insisting I go on a date with him. I also told her about him spending a few hours at my house after school. Then it was her turn to talk. That’s the great thing about Mel, she listens, and then shares. Where most girls just share, which was annoying. She said she wasn’t at school today because her mom took her to the doctor. I was shocked when I found out that she told her mom, and Chris. Chris also went to the doctor’s appointment. We talked for what seemed like ten minutes, however when I looked at the clock it had been an hour. We said our goodbyes, and promised to eat lunch together tomorrow. I went back to my room, and checked my cell phone.
There were two new messages, one from Daniel and one from Mathew. It was a no brainer who’s I opened first. Daniel said that he had a great time, and hoped he could see me again soon. Mathews told me to go f*** myself, which was very interesting. I replied to Mathew’s, and asked what the heck he was talking about. He didn’t reply. So I decided that I’d call him. Just as I was about to dial the number, my mom called my name. I walked to the kitchen to see Matt standing in the door way. Oh great. I didn’t want to have a fight with Mathew, but he sure looked like he was ready to argue. I turned back down the hallway and practically ran to my room. Mathew grabbed my arm gently just before I reached the door.
“Let’s go for a drive.” He sounded really mad. Lately all I did was make him angry. What kind of friend was I? I agreed to go for a drive with Matt. When we got in the truck, there was an awkward silence for a while. “You’re dating Daniel?” he asked with a jealous tone. He didn’t take his eyes off the road, and his grip tightened on the steering wheel.
“What? No.” Not yet, is what I wanted to say. He looked a bit relieved, but he still wasn’t happy.
“That’s how he made it sound tonight at practice.” He said looking over at me this time. Does that mean Daniel was talking about me? I wanted to ask Mathew what he was talking about, but I held back. The rest of the drive was silent, and awkward. When Matt pulled into my drive way, I practically jumped out of the truck before he stopped it. I went straight inside without saying a word to him.