We were having a pizza party to celebrate the end of the year. Just me, and a few of my girlfriends. It was during lunch, and we'd snuck outside to eat. Carrie had volunteered to bring the pizza, because she was a senior. We didn't tell the boys about it, because we knew they'd try to crash it. But they found out anyway. I watched Ben walk up, and, to be perfectly honest, I wasn't that upset that it was him who had found us.
"Hey Joey! Mind if I take a slice?" My soft feelings evaporated, and I smacked his hand as he tried to grab a piece of pizza.
"If I've told you once, I've told you a million times! It's Joanna! Not Jo, not Joey, Joanna!" He pulled his hand back and winked at me.
"Sure thing... Joey." Then he snagged my pizza, and ran off. My best friend, Adam, walked up to find me ready to go after Ben.
"Don't hold me back! I'm going to kill him!" I snarled. Adam rolled his eyes.
"Sure. You do realize he's a sophomore, right? You're just a freshman." Then he smirked. "And I doubt you'd kill him anyway. Wasn't it just yesterday you were gushing about your enormous crush on him, and how you thought he'd never notice you!" My face burned red.
"Look, if you're going to talk about it, at least lower your voice, for Gods sake!" He snickered. I groaned, and hid my face. Was everyone going to tease me about something today? I decided the best tactic would be a change of subject.
"So, are you going on the summer trip to Yellowstone?" I asked. He shook his head.
"I can't. I'm going to Minnesota this summer to visit my dad. I really don't like him in the first place, but the fact that he's not letting me go is not helping his case." His face darkened like it usually did when he talked about his dad. His parents were divorced, and he always told me that he hated that he was going to have to start spending his summers with his dad, because he'd rather be spending them with me. In a very platonic, non-romantic way. He was starting to look really upset, so my mind was scrambling for another subject topic.
"Um-" was as far as I got before Ben stuck his head between Adam and I.
"Did I hear you two talking about the summer trip?" He asked. Loudly. Right in Adam's ear. Not good.
Let me explain you a thing about Adam and I. We have similar blonde hair, but my eyes are green, and his are an angelic blue. But not at that moment, because I could swear they had turned flaming red. Flame on. Then Ben made another mistake. He put his arms around me and Adam. I wasn't even touching him and I could feel Adam stiffening.
"I can't go. Mostly because certain people can." He disentangled himself from Ben, managing to "accidentally" elbow him in the head. I wasn't sure what was going on between these two, but it had been happening since the beginning of the year, and it drove me insane.
Luckily, Ben decided not to escalate it. Instead, he awkwardly slugged me on the shoulder, and walked away. Adam watched him go with clenched fists.
"Asshole." He muttered. I rolled my eyes.
"He's not that bad! Is he?" He nodded. I groaned. "Well, thanks for supporting my crush on him anyway." He shrugged. I could tell he still wasn't too happy.
Is it my fault that I had a crush on Ben? No. Pretty much every girl in the school did. He had spiky black hair, and dreamy green eyes- like mine, except way better. He was tan too, and had perfect skin. The only thing that ruined all of that was the fact that he was kind of immature. But me, and every other girl who had eyes, were willing to overlook this small imperfection. Unfortunately, Adam wasn't, and so I was stuck in between their rivalry.
I went home with Adam (his home, not mine,) and helped him pack for the summer. He was leaving Monday. His parents had gotten divorced recently, and this was going to be the first summer he was spending away from me. I was really going to miss him.
After we were done packing, we sat on his bed, and talked about his dad. I was trying to convince him to give his dad a chance, and he was being stubborn.
"What about that time when he took you and your mom out for ice cream? That was nice of him!"
"Yeah, only because he'd been a jerk the rest of the day. Face it, he's a jerk, and nothing he does helps that." He leaned against me and pulled such a mopey face that I had to laugh. He joined in, and then we were both laughing together, and when we stopped, we just kind of leaned against each other thinking about what the summer would bring.
The comfortable silence between us was shattered when the doorbell rang. Adam got up with a sigh of irritation, walked down the hall to the front door, opened it, and immediately slammed it closed.
"It's Ben! What the hell is he doing here?" He whisper-yelled at me. My hand flew up to check my hair.
"Ben? Quick, how do I look?" Adam snorted.
"You look great, but if you seriously think I'm letting that asshole into my house, then you're dead wrong!" I gave him my fiercest glare.
"Adam Thomas Jessen! I have been crushing on Ben for my entire freshman year, and now he's here without any other girl to compete with talking to him, so open this door right now!!" I whispered. Adam gave me a pleading look, but when I just glowered at him, he slowly opened it.
"Hey Ben." He muttered. Ben just gave a quick nod in greeting. His normally carefully spiked hair was messed up, and his shirt was halfway untucked.
"Adam, you have to help me- um. Why's she here?" He asked. His eyes were moving quickly between me and Adam, and he looked suspicious. I had no idea why.
"I was helping him pack for the summer. What's wrong?" His face turned scarlet.
"Nothing, it's just- nothing. Never mind. I'll see you at Yellowstone I guess." He turned away and walked slowly back down the driveway. Adam slammed the door closed.
"What do you think he was doing here?" I asked him. He didn't answer. He just stared out the window at Ben, who had broken into a run.