Media: Jake's opinion of Keith and Devon.

Mood: swipe left and tap the media box above to listen to Don't Speak by No Doubt.

Lydia

Senior year was also when Keith DiMarco asked me to the first dance of the year. Jake referred to him as 'Squidgymop' because he couldn't remember Keith's last name, so Jake made one up.

The soccer team's captain had an air of confidence bordering arrogance. He was considered as hot real estate and happened to be available at the time. He previously dated Yolanda Briggs, one of Gainsville High's sirens, who was friendly with Elsie and Katie.

He 'bumped' into me at a pep rally for the school's athletes on a Friday evening, while I was there to support Jake.

I wore a miniskirt and had Jake's swim team number painted in blue, our school color, on the back of my figure-hugging white shirt. I applied a small smattering of glitter on the sides of my eyes and cheeks, lashed out my eyelashes with mascara, and plumped my lips with tinted lip-gloss.

"You look great, Missy," Jake said to me when we caught up with each other later, once the formalities were over and the crowd mingled.

He wasn't the only one to notice.

"Hey, Lydia. You look hot," Keith said.

"Keith, I didn't see you there," I replied. Jake's eyes rolled with annoyance, which Keith noticed.

"Hey, man, good luck with the upcoming swimming comp," Keith's eyes connected with Jake.

"Yeah, thanks," Jake replied, before turning his back on me when Elsie and her crowd came to chat with him.

"Keith, good luck with your game against the westies next week," I said.

"Glad I got a girl like you to think of me. It means a lot," Keith said.

A week later, at the cafeteria during lunch, Keith came up to my table.

"Temperature is rising," Carrie commented to our group. Jake ignored her and kept eating. Reggie and Lindy were debating about who was hotter on a TV show. Greg and Zach were talking about cars-Teslas versus Porsches was today's topic.

"Lydia, I want to ask you something," Keith said.

"Hey, Keith. Shoot." I tried to act cool, but inside I was feeling like jelly. Last year at prom, he tried getting a little too close to me on the dance floor. I thought he was just doing some loose flirting, but now I saw he was zoning in on me as his target. I wasn't sure if he was serious or after some fun.

"School dance is coming up. I wanted to know if you'd like to come with me," Keith asked.

I looked into his puppy-dog brown eyes and handsome face. He looked good-healthy and fit. He had good taste in clothes, and I would love to ruffle his chestnut brown hair. He was also popular with the girls. I only just realized he had these adorable dimples when he smiled. Boy, was he eye candy!

I heard that Bronwyn Hill asked him out a few weeks ago, and he said no. She was naturally disappointed about it, as she and her group had been crushing on him. I felt for her. She was a nice girl, outspoken at times-not at me, but in general, when she was passionate about an issue-and sweet. She wasn't glamorous like Elsie or stylish like Carrie or rebel-cool like Reggie. She wasn't the typical It girl, like Yolanda or high maintenance like Rosita.

Bronwyn represented girls in the school who could go unnoticed down the hallways. However, once you converse with Bronwyn, you see a diamond waiting to be polished. They were the ones you want to have around as friends in life. They were loyal, honest, empathetic, and faithful to you-the real beauties.

"You should ask Bronwyn to go," I said. I meant it in a good way-for him to learn to be friends with a girl who would be an amazing woman one day.

"Nah," Keith replied. "I was hoping you and I could go together."

"Hey, Nathan," Jake yelled over to a tall guy behind Keith. "You coming to the council meeting this afternoon?"

"Yeah. You and Elsie ready for the presentation to the school committee?" Nathan asked.

"Sure am," Jake smiled. He was ignoring me today. He seemed to do that more and more lately, now that he's hanging out more with Elsie. He would join her group and sit at their table from time to time. This would become more of a regularity as the year progressed.

I got up and asked Keith to walk me to my locker to get out my books for the afternoon classes. He said yes. He had that look in his eyes like he was in a trance. Carrie raised her eyebrow and smiled. She mouthed, "Go for it!" as I picked up my empty lunch tray walked away with Keith.

"Let me get that for you," Keith said, and he took my tray for me.

A few days later, I was all butterflies. I said yes to Keith's dance proposal, and we were going together next Saturday. He asked me to join him and his group for lunch one day, and I felt a little out of my comfort zone, but I needed to be out of my element.

Jake sat with Elsie that day, as there was no way Elsie would sit at the same table as Reggie. He barely spoke to me after I started crushing on Keith. I thought he, of all people, would understand, as he was crushing on Elsie. I didn't like the control she had on him-she would treat him as if he was her footman sometimes, or boyfriend or whatever was going on between them. However, I wasn't going to let that deter me from my own happiness.

One day, during a break, I walked into the classroom where photography club meetings were held. Someone had put up on the wall a framed photo that Jake took during last year's prom night. It was of me. I saw some of the younger high schoolers in the room admiring the photo.

"She's so pretty," one of them said. The group then noticed me in the room.

"Hi. I left my pencil case here. There it is." I picked it up and walked out. The group stared at me in silence.

As I left the classroom, I overheard one of them say, "That's her. The senior class president took that photo last year."

A Week Later

Everything changed, and my world was upside down again. I hated guys, life, and school. Reggie and Carrie were there for me at my worst when I sank deep into depression. They made me eat an apple as I had stopped eating. Being an emotional eater was a bad habit that I had picked up due to being bullied in my early high school days. Jake was oblivious to all of this, as he was preoccupied with student council matters, swimming races, his studies, and Elsie.

He came over less often, and when I dropped by his place to see if he wanted to study together, his mom, Angie, said he wasn't home. She had a look of concern on her face, which said it all. Jake was over at Elsie's. How did I know? Reggie told me. When she found out, she was fuming with rage. She hated Elsie.

Then it happened. Keith stopped replying to my messages. He didn't take my calls. We had been texting and calling each other in the last week. He was persistent and responsive to messages and calls in the beginning. Now I feared whatever we had, whatever was going on, was over. I saw less of him and understood that he had ghosted me.

I went up to him at his locker when I spotted him with the jocks and asked if I could have a chat with him alone.

"Sure," he said nonchalantly. His eyes were cold, like dead fish. The warm puppy-dog eyes no longer existed.

"Keith, what's the plan for this Saturday?" I asked. "Are we going together or not?" I hated sounding desperate, but I needed to know what was going on.

"Lydia, about that... I'm sorry, but I'm going to be upfront with you. Yolanda and I, you see, we were having a bit of a break. We're working things out, and I'm going to take her to the dance this Saturday night."

Wow. Just like that. I felt an emotional punch to the stomach. My ears turned red, and my legs started to shake. I could barely hold myself up. It was a horrible feeling, compounded by everything else that was going on.

"Lydia, I'm sorry," Keith said, before turning back to his friends and carrying on as if nothing had happened.

---

Saturday Night. The School Dance

"Are you sure I look okay?" I asked, uncertain of my new look. I had gotten a slightly lighter color to my hair-it was dark brown with highlights at the end. I had it styled with waves for the dance. I wore a blue dress that I bought on sale-a seventy percent discount from the original price. It was from a high-end fashion store that Carrie and I went to a few days before the dance. She insisted that I buy it when I took it from the rack.

"That dress is timeless and classy," she said. She loaned me her red Marc Jacobs bag and a pair of high heels for the dance.

"You outshine everyone here," Carrie said at the dance.

"Mmm, too pretty and preppy for me, but it suits you," Reggie commented. She eyed my dress. "You look good. Better than the sirens over there." Her eyes gazed at Elsie and Katie.

"They're dressed to fuck guys, like Jake," she said.

"Reggie, you're so crass," Carrie rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I have to say, though, that Katie lacks originality."

Katie mirrored Elsie, who wore a short mini-dress. They both looked as if they had their hair done at the same hairdresser. It was almost the same blonde shade, and they were spray-tanned.

Jake came over to us after talking with a few people from the dance committee. He was as handsome as ever.

"Ladies," he said and nodded to us, looking directly at me.

"Hey, Jake. Long time no speak," Reggie said.

"Erm," Jake cleared his throat. "Missy, you look great. Mind if I get a pic of you?" He had his phone camera ready.

"Sure, go ahead." I looked at Jake coolly, and he grinned at me. Nothing was going to get me down tonight. Not Jake, and certainly not Keith DiMarco. I was with my girlfriends, and they didn't fail me. Guys like Keith did. And to a certain extent, Jake too. He hadn't been much of a friend lately.

Jake took some photos of me and a selfie of him and me. Then, he got a group selfie of us three girls and him. Zach was chatting with Kelly Stone, a junior who was new to the cheer team. Greg was talking with Devon. Rosita and her crew of friends were gossiping at the other corner of the hall. She gave Devon the evil eye and flirted with one of the guys from the football team. I saw Devon glancing over at me, smiling at me. I looked away quickly, avoiding eye contact with him. Not now. I didn't need to add fuel to the fire.

"Just so you know, I always thought Keith was a dick," Jake said.

"Aren't most guys dicks?" I looked at him. "I'm thirsty." With that, it was my cue to turn and walk away from Jake to the kiosk, where they had soft drinks and water.

I spent most of the night dancing with my friends-Carrie, Lindy, Reggie, and another girl, Diane, who was in my math class and sometimes hung out with us. Jake, Zach, and Greg were hanging around Elsie and her squad. They were laughing, talking, dancing, and having a good time. Elsie stroked Jake's back and patted his shoulder at one point. I also saw Jake put his hand on her back later on.

I felt sick in my stomach. I wanted to cry. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole into another realm. I wanted to disappear.

Towards the end of the night, I went outside for some fresh air after a bathroom break, when I saw Keith sneaking a cigarette and smoking with a friend on his soccer team.

Keith stopped me as I walked by. "Lydia, you look beautiful."

"Hey, Keith," I replied. I didn't want to be there.

"Lydia, shall we go inside?" a familiar voice behind me said.

"Jake, hey!" I was startled by him being there next to me. He was moving in on me fast, with his arm around me. His hand rested on my waist.

"Jake, great job with the charity work," Keith said. He was referring to a hospital charity campaign that the student council organized. Jake was instrumental in orchestrating the activity. They were in the local media, with Jake and the school principal at the forefront of the photo in the news article.

"Thanks," Jake nodded.

"Where's Yolanda?" I was curious and had to ask.

"I dunno. She's with her parents or something like that," Keith said. His eyes were on my dress. Then legs. Then back at my eyes. He had a look of regret.

There was a moment of awkward silence while Keith's friend turned his back and stepped on a cigarette butt, trying to bury it into the dirt with his foot.

"So, are you guys together?" Keith asked Jake and me.

I was about to reply when Jake stepped in.

"Yeah, something like that," Jake said. He had his arm around me, and his hand now held my arm, gently stroking it. He gave Keith a stern look, and Keith half smiled, looking defeated.

"Good luck to you both. Jake, you've got a good catch. You're a lucky guy," Keith said.

"I know," Jake replied.

When Jake and I were inside the dance hall, I thanked him for helping a friend out.

"That's what friends do," Jake responded. "We help each other out." He smiled at me, winked, then walked away. Elsie was a siren, signaling him to come to her.

Later that weekend, Jake had a selfie of him, Elsie, and Katie on his social media page. It was a post that he was tagged in. I didn't see anything of him and me lately. He used to post photos of us together.

---

Jake

I couldn't leave Lydia alone. I tried. Elsie thought I cared about her too much, and she was right. I assured Elsie that Missy and I were just friends. Elsie hated it when I referred to Lydia as Missy. I told her it was like nicknames siblings gave to each other. That seemed to work.

With Missy, I was like an animal chasing its tail. I was a loser who went nowhere. I'd been friend-zoned one too many times. There were too many unresolved feelings that I just had to kill.

It was different with Elsie. She was hot, smart, ambitious, and I wanted to bang her. Plus, there was definitely something going. There was chemistry between us. I felt like I was winning.

A/N: Please vote and/or comment if you like this chapter. ⭐️