carzykt

Hannah is officially the worst problem in my life right now.

It's getting out of control, the way she can never stop being with Jack. Yesterday at lunch, Hannah literally pushed me away to get to Jack, and Jack and I had been in the middle of a conversation! She pushed herself in between us and started talking to Jack when I had just been talking to him.

And worse yet, I found out that Maddie does not like the way everyone fawns over Jack whenever he sits at our table, and is threatening to switch tables if he sits with us everyday instead of just every other day, which is how it's been going.

So, I'm about to lose one of my best friends because of another one of my best friends, and the latter is currently constantly being molested by Hannah.

It's not a good time.


--carzykt

Alright, so I know I just posted yesterday, but I have GOT to post about this!

Since I live in Pennsylvania, I went to see Peter Facinelli, who plays Carlisle Cullen from Twilight, because he was going to be in Harrisburg!

I hadn't eaten for 8 hours.

My sister desperately had to pee for 6 hours.

This is what it takes to meet someone from Twilight.

Yes, it took 6 hours for us to FINALLY meet Peter Facinelli and get a picture with him. My sister and I arrived at the Harrisburg mall around 10 AM and waited until 4 PM, when we FINALLY got to see Peter. They had apparently cleared out the Boscov's in the mall and used it as a huge waiting area for the people waiting, and set up a stage just around the corner for people to go see Peter.

We arrived at 10 AM.

And took our places in line.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After a few raffle ticket giveaways and a 'Look Alike' contest, we finally found ourselves in front of the line to meet Peter Facinelli.

It was 4 PM when my sister and I floated up onto the platform with Peter Facinelli.

"Hey," he had said.

My sister and I mumble a 'hi.'

"What are your names?" Peter asked, shaking each of our hands.

"I'm Allison," mumbled my sister.

"I'm Katie," I said, surprising myself with how steady I said it. But I was shaking all over.

He pulled us over and put his arms around our shoulders. "Are you sisters?" Peter asked.

"Yep," I said.

"You two are cute," he said to us. A light flashed and I remembered that we had been taking a picture with him. I'd hoped I smiled.

"Thanks," my sister and I said, leaving the stage.

And that was it.

It was so simple.

And yet...

It felt like I was on top of the world.

Now I feel ridiculous.

Wow.

Okay.
 

--carzykt

 (this is my sister and I with Peter Facinelli)

Last night was another home game for our football team, and, of course, I went to it.

It was also the night the bands from the elementary schools, the middle school, and the high school's bands play at halftime. A lot of my friends are in the middle school band, including Maddie and Jack.

I was immediately ecstatic when my mom and dad sat down with Randy and Kerrin since they were sitting up high, right near where the middle school band was seated.

I missed the kickoff and the first quarter of the game scouting for my friends. I spotted Alyson, and Jessie, Emily, and Kaitlin. I even saw Jack a few times, moving around to sit with his friends. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to go over and sit with any of them, so I stayed put and tried to watch the game.

Finally at halftime, the five elementary schools' bands, the middle school band, and the high school band marched out onto the field. The elementary band played first (they obviously weren't that familiar with their instruments), and then the middle school band. I paid attention to the middle school band the most, obviously. I saw Maddie playing her flute on the very end of one of the rows, and Emily playing her instrument. I didn't see Jack, though.

I thoroughly enjoyed the middle school band's perfomance, probably because they played one of my favorite songs, "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay. 

During the third quarter, I saw Maddie come up the stairs where I was sitting. She was looking around, obviously looking for someone.

"Dad," I tapped him on the shoulder. "I see Maddie down there. I'm going to go find her."

He nodded and I took off down the steps. By the time I reached the bottom of the stairs, Maddie was nowhere in sight. Finally I found her in another section of the bleachers, looking around for someone again.

"Maddie!" I called up to her.

She looked around more.

"Maddie!"

Maddie finally turned towards the sound of my voice and waved, rushing down the stairs towards me.

"Hi!" She hugged me. "I was looking for you. I...I don't really know that much about football and I didn't know what you meant by 'sitting at the 50 yard line.'"

"It's okay," I said. "Do you want to come sit with me?"

"Sure." I led her back to our spot on the bleachers and we sat down.

We talked about random things for a while. I asked her if she had seen Jack, and she said she had barely seen him. He had apparently been in the front row of their formation on the field when they played. I hadn't seen him.

About 20 minutes later, Maddie glanced toward the game clock, which said we only had about four more minutes until the end of the third quarter.

"Oh! Sorry, I need to go. My mom wanted me back with them before the end of the third quarter."

"Aw, alright. I'll see you tomorrow!" I said. Sarah, Maddie, Brooke, and I all went shopping today, so I saw her again today.

I enjoyed the game for about another 10 minutes, but then I heard my name being called.

"Hey! Katie!" I turned towards the sound. Jack jumped down onto the bleachers next to me.

"Jeez!" I said, jumping. "You have to stop appearing out of nowhere!"

"Sorry," he apologized. "Do you want to go over there? Ocean and Evylen are following me."

"Why are they following you?"

"I'm not sure. Come on over with us."

I agreed and hesitantly nudged my dad.

"Um, Dad, I'm going to go with Jack. Over there," I said.

My dad looked up at Jack and then at me before nodding. I took off with Jack across the bleachers.

We met up with two of our friends, Ocean and Evylen.

Ocean thrust a cup of French fries at Jack. "Here, take your food."

Jack, Ocean, Evylen, and I sat down on a vacant part of the bleachers and began talking. I talked to Jack the entire time while Ocean and Evylen chatted with each other.

Not long after we sat down, Ocean announced the bus for the band kids was leaving soon and that they should go.

Jack said, "No, I'm not riding the bus home. My parents are taking me."

"You're sure?" Ocean didn't look convinced. "Well, alright, then, we're going. If you change your mind, text me and I'll tell [insert band director's name here] not to leave without you."

"Okay," Jack responded. "I'm going to stay with Katie."

I couldn't help but fill with adoration for him at hearing him say that.

Jack and I talked and joked for a while after they left.

"What are you doing?" I laughed as I watched him tilt his head back and drink the cup of French fries like it was liquid.

"See, there's a point you reach when you eat French fries. After you've eaten most of them, there's only a few at the bottom of the box and you don't feel like sticking your fingers into the bottom of it and coat your fingers in more ketchup when you've already licked them clean. So, you drink the fries to avoid that problem," Jack explained.

I looked at him like he was insane and began laughing at his explanation. "I have never heard such a thing in my life."

After about 20 minutes, Jack got a text from his mom and had to leave. We said our goodbyes and split up.



It was a good game, even though our team lost horribly.


--carzykt

 

Today, like always, I walked home from school. Since I live only 2 blocks away from school and so does Brooke, we walk home together everyday. Today, though, Sarah had to walk home because her mom could not pick her up.

Brooke, Sarah, and I were about to cross the street near the parent pick-up circle is and walk up the big hill leading to our school, but out of nowhere, Jack appeared beside me.

"Whoa!" I started. "Jack, where'd you come from?"

"What are you doing here?" Brooke asked bitterly, hitting Jack on his chest. She made a sound like "ugh" and stalked away from him.

"Brooke!" I was immediately furious. "Why'd you do that?"

No answer.

Jack acted like he hadn't noticed. "My mom said she was going to pick me up at the top of the hill today. Near the crossing guard?" He said it like he was not exactly sure where he was going.

"The crossing guard at the top of the hill?" I asked, pointing to the top of the hill where the busy street was.

He shrugged. "I guess so."

We crossed the parent pick-up circle and started climbing up the hill with the huge group of walking-home kids. We walked in a line -- Jack in the middle and Sarah and I on either side of him. Brooke was ten paces in front of us, veering off to the side near the baseball field and the street. This was normal behavior for Brooke when Jack was involved. I didn't see why he bothered her so much.

Sarah, Jack, and I chatted happily for a while. I shot a few glances towards Brooke, who was now about twenty paces ahead of us and edging more towards the field -- away from us. Her nose was buried in a book while she walked.

I was deeply upset about Brooke's no-Jack rule. I tried my best not to show it, knowing it would only make things worse. Jack had never done anything mean to Brooke, never done anything mean to me. I was the one who broke up with him the summer before 7th grade, not him. I'd broken his heart.

I didn't see any reason for Brooke's cold-shoulder attitude towards Jack.

When we finally reached the top of the huge hill, Brooke had entirely disappeared to the opposite side of the sidewalk. Jack, Sarah, and I were all walking in the same direction. Jack's mom was picking him up near the apartment buildings near my house, and Sarah always walked with me to my house to drop me off before continuing to her own house. We crossed the street -- safely, thanks to the crossing guard. When we reached the apartment buildings, I said goodbye to Jack and gestured for Sarah to walked with me the rest of the way to my house, which was only about 3 houses away.

I noticed Sarah hesitate, looking at Jack, who was now on his way towards the apartments where his mom waited in her car. I gave her a questioning look. She reluctantly followed me the rest of the way, glancing back a few times.

Oh, no, I thought. Not her, too. All I need is another person to keep me from seeing Jack. One Hannah was bad enough.

I immediately felt guilty for thinking that, but I could help it. The words repeated in my mind as I slid the house-key into the lock and entered my house. What had ever happened to 6th grade, when all Jack really wanted was to hang out with me? I knew I was selfish for wanting him to only want me, but I barely ever got to see him anymore. We didn't have any alone time, and every time I was with him, he was always being mauled by my other friends.

I was glad I was alone in my house for the time being, because right there in the kitchen, I started to cry and couldn't stop. It was madness.

--carzykt

Hey....

Nothing interesting really happened this week...just going to school day after day, nothing interesting.

About the fight Brooke and I had last week...

It's over. It's settled and we're still friends. In fact, on Friday we went to Maddie's sleepover. So, yeah. It's all over.

I did not go to the football game on Friday, obviously, because I went to Maddie's, so I did not look for Jack at the game. He probably did not go anyway, because he said he does not really go.

I'm sorry for posting two days late and I'm sorry there's nothing to post about. My life isn't exactly a sitcom. Just a normal, boring teenage life.

I'll try to get myself in order and not post late next week!

--carzykt

This week was...interesting.

We had off school on Monday, so on Tuesday I went back to school. Jack and I joked about the football game we shared. Hannah kept up a long stream of chattereing throughout the day. Nothing really exciting.

Wednesday was very much the same. But when I got home on that wonderful (not) Wednesday night, I discovered that I was feeling quite crappy. I debated going to school tomorrow because of my runny nose and horribly sore throat, but my mom left for work too early, so I had to go on Thursday. What was worse is that I had gym class on Thursday and I had to run 100 yards with a sore throat. I know, I'm being a baby, but it was really quite irritating at the time.

I skipped school on Friday and slept until noon. Sleeping in made me feel better, but my muscles ached from all the prerunning stretches they made us do in gym on Thursday. And I'm not that flexible, or athletic. So it really hurt. I'm still in pain now, on this wonderful Saturday evening.

But I also found out on Wednesday that Sarah and Brooke had a discussion -- or an arguement -- about Jack and me online. Brooke refused to tell me anything about it, and Sarah said Brooke told her she wasn't allowed to tell me. I was deeply worried up until now, because I just now found out what was wrong. Here is the exact email Sarah sent me just an hour ago:

Last night was Friday, September 4, 2009. It was also the night of the first varsity football game.


Allison's boyfriend, Joe, is number 52 on the team. He's a lineman (I think). Every Friday night, my family goes to the game to see him play and to show team spirit. I would say the name of our team, but since I've already pointed out that I'm from Pennsylvania, I don't want any stalkers who would figure out what county I live in.

My mom suggested that I call Sarah or Brooke or someone to go to the game with me. I said no, because I know that both Sarah and Brooke don't like football and would be very bored sitting in the stands with a bunch of high school football fans like myself.

I expected the night to go like any other football night. We sit with Kerrin and Randy, Joe's parents, watch some football and cheer like maniacs (I don't cheer at all really, neither does my dad. But Kerrin, Randy, and my mom all do). But my night didn't go at all as expected.

As we were walking towards the entrance to the stadium, I heard someone call my name.

"Katie!" I turned towards the voice and my eyes bulged out of my head. Jack.

"Jack!" I called in complete surprise. I'd never seen Jack at a football game, or heard him talk about one.

Jack ran up to me. I saw his mom and younger brother standing off to the side behind him. "Hey! What are you doing here?" he asked me.

"I'm always here for football games. Joe's a player," I said.

"I didn't know Joe played."

"Yeah, he does. And Allison manages the team."

"Cool," he said with a smile. His voice made something jump inside me. He turned around and looked at his mom, seeming uncomfortable. She beckoned to him. "Uh, I gotta go. Where are you guys sitting?"

"We usually sit near the 50 yard line, up real high. What about you?" I said.

"I don't know. Can I come over to sit with you during the game or something?"

"Sure," I agreed, pleased by his offer. "See ya!" Jack smiled, waved, and took off with his mom and brother.

With a sigh, I reluctantly turned towards my parents. My mom was smiling knowingly, and my dad was facing the other direction, arms crossed over his chest.

"I didn't know Jack went to football games," my mom said.

"Neither did I," I responded defensively.

"Do you think he'll come sit with you?"

"I'm sure he will; we're friends," I said, just to clear things up.

"Hmm." My mom looked like she was contemplating something. "Okay, well, let's go."

The football game didn't start off so great. The opposing team got a touchdown right after kickoff. Hating to admit it, I wasn't really paying attention to the game because I was waiting for Jack to come up to sit with me. It actually surprised me when he did, with 5 minutes left on the clock in the first quarter. He must have gotten bored awfully fast.

He stopped on the steps near where I was sitting. "Hey, Katie." He hesitated, seeming to consider coming to sit beside me when I was sitting next to my parents.

I turned to my parents, who seemed indulged in the game, focused intently on the field. "Dad." I poked him on the arm. "I'm going to sit with Jack, okay?"

My dad looked up immediately at Jack. "Okay," he agreed. He turned back toward the field.

I jumped up from my seat and began climbing over the people on the bleachers to get to Jack. When I finally made it to the steps beside him, we stood next to each other, smiling like idiots.

"Do you want to sit somewhere?" Jack asked me.

"Yeah, sure."

"Let's sit over there." He pointed to an almost vacant set of bleachers. "There's no one over there."

We ran up the steps and only had to climb over two people on the way to the empty bleachers. We sat down and were talking right away.

I don't remember half of the conversation, only some random stuff like him going rock-climbing with his friend, Luke, and talking about our favorite Hershey Park rides. I found out that we both were in love with rollar coasters.

"I love roller coasters! The thing is, none of my friends like them. My sister is the only one who will go to Hershey Park with me, because Sarah and Brooke are terrified of roller coasters," I said, feeling buoyant.

"I love roller coasters, too! They're all I ride when I go to Hershey Park. I was just there today with my brother, before I came here. Did you ride Fahrenheit yet? I just rode it today!"

"Yeah! My sister and I went on it last summer." I remembered the adrenaline rush it brought when I realized we were going straight up in the air at a 90 degree angle.

The conversation really got interesting when we started talking about the Kissing Tower.

"I haven't been on the Kissing Tower since I was like, seven," I said.

"Yeah, me neither," he agreed.

"I remember how grossed out I was when it got to the top and everyone started kissing."

"Yeah." He paused. "Why do you think we thought kissing was gross when we were little?"

"I'm not sure."

"I don't really think it's gross now," he stated hesitantly.

"I don't, either."

The conversation paused, and when it resumed it was on a totally different topic.

At the end of the third quarter, Jack got a text from his mom that said he had to leave.

"Do you think you'll come again?" I asked. "It was nice having you here."

"I don't know. But yeah, this was fun."

We stood up.

"Well," he said. "Bye." He paused, seeming to consider something, and then turned around and ran down the steps.

I immediately felt sad at his sudden departure, and I stomped back over to sit beside my parents.
 

We didn't win the game that night, but the good news was that Joe played well. The final score was 24-8.

I'll definitely keep an eye out for Jack at more football games. For now, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my weekend.
 

--carzykt

So, today, Thursday, was my 4th day of school, as well as the end of the week. We have off Friday and Monday for Labor Day, so today was what's known as 'Thiday', because it's Thursday acting like a Friday.
 

Today was my best day so far. I got a lot of Jack's attention, got to know my teachers more, and I wore my favorite outfit to school. (of course, the outfit part required some sneaky shoe-stealing from my sisters closet; I wanted to wear Converse.)

I kind of forget how my day started off because I'm quite forgetful and I was only half awake this morning, so I'll just start with health class today.

Health is the only class that I have with Jack that I don't have with Hannah, and I hate to say it's my favorite class so far. Unfortunately, my health teacher gave us assigned seats. Of course, he seated us alphabetically. Jack's last name begins with 'm' and mine begins with 'b' so we didn't get seats anywhere near each other.

Luckily, Jack's seat is in my line of sight and mine is in his, so we could make faces at each other and laugh silently from across the room without the teacher noticing. The health class was more specifically first aid class. We talked about car crashes today, and Jack and I giggled to each other when the teacher imitated what it would look like to slam into the steering wheel or go crashing through a window. I know, it sounds horrible that we were laughing, but the way my teacher portrayed it made the whole thing look ridiculous.

After health, Jack and I hung around outside the room for a minute because the class was let out early. Finally, the bell rang and Jack and I said a hesitant farewell. I didn't miss that his eyes appraised me before he took off in the opposite direction for Spanish. I smiled to myself and went to English.

After English, I sprinted downstairs into the cafeteria, my mind set on saving a seat for Jack at our table this time. He hadn't sat with us since the first day of school, and I was anxious to talk to him again. I wouldn't see him at all after lunch until Tuesday. Inconspicuously, I place my stuff down beside Hannah's books and put a binder in the seat next to me for Jack. I knew that if he sat beside Hannah, I wouldn't be able to talk to him at all.

Lunch was a never-ending stream of exclamations. Everyone seemed hyper, the way they always act when Jack sits with us, and it felt as though I was buzzing the entire time. A big goofy smile plastered on my face, I chatted happily (more like ecstatically) with Jack almost the entire time. The buzzing stopped when he went up to throw his trash away. I chatted with Sarah and Hannah, and then refocused on Jack when he came back. The buzzing started again.

After lunch, I felt really bad about the whole only-focus-on-Jack thing, so I comforted myself by listening to Hannah blabber on during French class. After chatting with her, I realized that I really like Hannah. She could be a bit overwhelming, especially when she's excited or on a sugar high, but she was actually a cool person and I made a mental note to hang out with her more.

American History was fun. Emma and I said nothing about our online chat last night as we finished our flag project, laughing like always. We had to present it to the class, and I felt like an idiot, standing up in front of everyone with a ridiculous flag with a mountain landscape, a sunset, a tree, and a big salad bowl in the middle of it all. No one else's flag looked like our's.

Emma and I walked to our lockers together, laughing about our presentation speech about our flag and how we started cracking up when I got to the part about there being "13 sunrays to represent the 13 rising colonies." I was still laughing as I put my books in my locker.

Today was a really good day. I'm definitely hoping for more days like that in the future.

TGIT! (thank god it's Thiday)

--carzykt
 

So, today was my third day of 8th grade. The reason I'm not writing about yesterday was because not much happened, and the stuff that was important will be said in this entry.

Today fortunately started off cheerfully because I got to walk to school with Alyson and Brooke. My sister, Sassa, and I had to linger for a minute on the sidewalk so that Alyson could catch up with me, and then me and Alyson were off to the middle school while Sassa was off to the high school.

The 8th graders had to wait in the gym until it was time to go up to homeroom, and the 6th graders went into the encore hallway while the 7th graders stayed in the cafeteria. Me, Brooke, Sarah, Hannah, Maddie, and Jack all hung out together this morning.

To my great dismay, I noticed Jack was mostly only talking to Hannah. This bothered me deeply, much more than it should. It would be interesting--and no doubt frusterating--to see what was going to happen between them this year.

You know the saying "i can't wait"?

Yeah, see, I can wait.

I can wait a loooong time.

During gym class today, we basically did nothing because it was too early in the year to actually do exercise. So, the gym teachers got our height and weight, and we were free to pretty much do anything for the rest of the period. They let us go outside and walk around the parking lot (we don't have a track, so we run laps around the parking lot), which is what Hannah, Jack, and I did.

Hannah chattered the whole time we were out there, barely ever pausing for one of us to answer or get a word in. I was slightly annoyed by her nonstop talking, but Jack seemed content to stroll on beside her and listen to her aimless blabbering.

It seemed like every time Hannah finished talking about something, her brain immediately came up with a totally new and irrelevant topic. Her conversation went from talking about the movie Push, to talking about geese, to rambling on about Jack waddling like a duck in 6th grade, and on and on.

Gym class ended, and I had barely gotten a few words in to Jack. Gym, health, and lunch were the only times I'd see him during the day. Hannah and Jack were on the same team together. At my school, each student is categorized by be placed on a different team. The 6th grade teams are Silver, Brown, and Orange. 7th grade is Green, Gold, and Navy. And our 8th grade is separated by Red, Blue, and Purple. I'm on Purple, Jack and Hannah are both on Red.

Basically, each team has their own set of teachers and their own hallway and classrooms. The students on the same team have their core classes, like English and math and science, together (we're mixed up for each class, of course) and we only have encore classes, like art, music, cooking, health, and gym, with students from other teams. But 8th graders all have lunch together, which is a good thing.

Nothing interesting really happened until American History at the end of the day. Of course, I walked in late like always; I always come from French class, and the French classroom is all the way over in the 7th grade wing, which means I have to sprint from the 7th grade wing to the 8th grade wing.

My history teacher, Mr. Shaffer, had assigned us a project the previous day. We could work with a partner, or alone. Mr. Shaffer assigned us to create a new design for the American flag. I had been planning on working alone, but yesterday Emma, my ex-best friend, came up to me and announced that we were going to be partners. Of course, I wasn't exactly thrilled by the news, but excepted her offer to be nice.

So today I just had to survive working with her on a new design for the American flag. We had to come up with at least 3 symbols, and we had to be able to explain what each symbol represents.

"Hey, Katie," Emma greeted as she plopped down at the desk near me. "Did you think of any symbols last night that we could use?"

"Not really," I said, feeling guilty. I knew I should have at least thought about it last night.

"Me neither," she stated. I was instantly relieved.

We began jotting down ideas for symbols. Some of them were ridiculous, like the one about the fat man on a treadmill to represent the obesity of most Americans, or the one about George Washington standing next to a cherry tree with an axe. Soon, we were laughing so hard our sides hurt. Or at least mine did.

I had to remind myself that we were still supposed to be acting all guarded towards each other. Now, we were howling so loud half the class was watching us instead of doing their work. It was like we'd never had a fight.

"Maybe," I gasped as my hysterical laughter continued, "we could draw the McDonald's golden arch because most Americans eat at fast food places. Then we could draw the treadmill!"

"Yeah," Emma laughed. "but we could make the fat man on the treadmill be eating a salad, and all the different ingredients in the salad could represent the different races and cultures in America."

I stopped laughing and thought it over. "You know, that's actually a good idea. The salad part, I mean, not the fat man on a treadmill part. Let's do that."

"But it wouldn't go with the other three symbols we already drew on our flag. A big salad bowl in the middle of a tree, the mountains, and the sun?" Emma giggled.

"Sure. It's not like this is actually going to be the American flag."

I had to stop myself before this went too far and I would actually feel like Emma was my friend. I didn't trust her, and I was afraid that if I said something to her and didn't realize it, I would suddenly find myself amidst drama.

But I was confused.

Was Emma my friend?

Or my enemy?

Frenemy?

After dinner tonight, I went upstairs to my room and got on the computer to check my Facebook. I had recently found Emma on Facebook, and she had just now excepted my friend request. An IM popped up from the corner of my screen. It was Emma.

hey, so you like jack's voice and height? It said.

I responded to her. um...yeah. how'd you find that out?

i saw you talking to aly and jessie about it on your facebook.

oh. well, yeah i do.

...okay...  Emma said.

what's weird about that? I asked.

well, wouldnt that mean that you LIKE like jack?

it could very well mean i just find his voice and tallishness appealing. But I knew that what Emma said was true.

hey, sorry, idk if you like him. ever since our fight in march i've kind of been out of the loop. Emma responded.

yeah. dont you kind of think our fight was...stupid and pointless? it wasnt really necessary...
im sorry about it, by the way, I added.

yah. it was kind of stupid. im sorry, too.

Emma and I continued to IM each other about random things, like our flag project and what stories we were currently writing. But the one part of our conversation that stuck out the most was this part, and I'm almost positive she thinks so, too.
 

It will be interesting to see what will happen tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the rest of the year. It'll be an exciting one.

--carzykt

Yesterday was actually my first day of school, but I'm just now writing about it.

After getting dressed and chatting with my older sister, Allison (or Sassa), I was on my way out the door and trudging unhappily to the school. One of my friends, Alyson, caught up with me and walked with me to school (both of us only live 1 block away from our middle school).

I arrived at school and looked around for my friends in the cafeteria. Each morning, before the bell rings, the students hang out in the cafeteria until it's time to go up to homeroom. I spotted my best friend, Sarah (or Sarsh), sitting on the big carpeted stairs called the "LGI," which stands for "large group instruction." I ran over and sat beside her.

My eyebrows pulled down in confusion. She was pouting. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Our table is reserved for 7th grade only," she complained. I looked over at the table we usually sit at in the morning and at lunch, and noticed a paper on top with the words "7TH GRADE ONLY."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, it doesn't matter. We can still sit there for lunch."

Sarah's eyes widened and she pointed towards the doors. "Look! There's Jack!"

My eyes shot wide open like her's and followed the line of her finger. Sure enough, a good friend of mine since 6th grade, Jack, was striding towards me. "Wow. Is he taller?" I said, noting the unusual height of his figure.

"I don't know," Sarah responded. "Maybe."

I stood up when he reached me. I hadn't seen him since the beginning of summer, when we were both hosting a Big 33 football player and we went to an arcade kind of thing called Adventure Sports. When I had seen him there, he was about an inch shorter than me. Now, I didn't miss that he had to actually look down at me.

"Hey," Jack said with a smile. "Since when are you short?"

Oh my, god. His voice. His voice was deeper. I would no longer mistake him for Sarah or Brooke when he came up behind me and said something. His voice was...hot, I realized with an internal giggle. "Hot" was barely ever a word in my vocabulary, and I almost never giggle, internal or not.

Something else was different. Something about his smile. Or his teeth, to be more specific. They looked...white. Not that they were yellow before, but there was just something different about them. He had gotten his braces off! That was it. His teeth and mouth didn't look crowded or full of wires and brackets like usual.

Jack had gone from a short, girly-sounding boy with braces, to a tall, deep-voiced, clear-toothed guy in just one summer.

He was...hot.

He was a new person.

He was a stranger.

That last thought scared me. What if, along with the physical changes, his personality had changed as a result of puberty as well? What if he wasn't my funny, nice, forgetful, easy-going friend anymore? The Jack that I know and love?

I kept my voice light and teasing when I answered his question, trying not to show the jolt of fear that had just run through me. "I'm not short, you're suddenly freakishly tall. So you grew, huh?"

Jack nodded with a familiar friendly, open smile, but I noticed he looked a little smug. "Yeah, I guess I did," he said in his new voice.

The bell rang, signaling it was time for us to head up to homeroom. Sarah, Jack, and I started up the steps that led to the 8th grade wing. My friend, Hannah, caught up with us, her mouth moving a mile a minute and I had to struggle to understand everything she was saying. I didn't miss that she was only talking to Jack. The thought made my insides burn with rage that I was careful to keep safely hidden. There was no need for jealousy...

Homeroom was fairly uneventful, as was most of the morning. It didn't get interesting until gym class.

When I walked into the gym, expecting the worst, I was surprisingly delighted to see Hannah sitting on the bleachers with everyone else. I ran up and sat beside her. She was talking before I was even in earshot.

Soon, my friend Brooke entered the gym, looking around for her friends in her confused way. She spotted us as soon as Jack walked in the door. He spotted us immediately and shot up the bleachers for the seat next to me. Brooke, being her slow self, sat down on his other side.

"So we have gym together," I stated happily. I felt guilty for not listening to Hannah, who was still sitting on my other side, spitting out more words that I couldn't understand even if I was listening. But for some reason, I could only focus on the fact that Jack and I were squished together because of all the other people packing us in to a small portion of the bleachers. Our faces were only 6 inches apart from each other.

"Yeah," he agreed, seeming just as giddy. He smiled at me, showing off his nice, bright teeth. My answering smile was accidentally a little bit too flirty.

The gym teachers called us to attention and began reading names off the list, taking attendance. After my name was called, I stopped listening to what they were saying. For the rest of class, Jack and I whispered to each other about everything and nothing, giggling when the other one said something funny. My heart was beating erradically the whole time.

After gym class, I went to English. To my horror, Emma, my ex-best friend, was sitting at one of the desks. To make matters worse, I had to sit almost right beside her. And I had to talk to her. It's not that I didn't like her, I just didn't trust her and felt like I had to force a smile on my face when I was around her. Her eyes, and mine too, probably, were guarded the whole time we spoke.

Lunch was next after English, and I gratefully fled the room as soon as we were dismissed. I was also delighted to find that Jack was sitting with us at lunch, as he does occasionally. Unfortunately, Sarah sat between Jack and I, so everything I said to him Sarah had to hear, too.

I found out that Emma was in my American History class, as well, which was a bit of a downer. I thought I'd had enough luck to keep me out of a second class with her. No such luck.

Luckily, (sensing a theme, here?) study hall ended on a good note, so it brighten my day almost as much as seeing Jack did.

It was a pretty good first day of school. Maybe it would be a good year this time.