Catherine McMillan

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“Wanna hang out sometime?”, Michael asked. He’s been asking me to hang out with his friends or the so-called “popular group” since Tuesday. Today is Friday and I’m starting to get irritated.

 “How many times do I have to tell you? My answer is no Michael so stop asking me.”, I replied.

 “Fine. This will be the last time I’ll ask you. Will you join or not?”

 “NO!”, I screamed. Looks like everybody heard me.

 “Ms. McMillan! Would you mind sharing to the class about your conversation with Mr. Collins?”, our teacher asked. Really, could anything be much worse than this?

 “We were just discussing on the topic you were discussing about how carbon dioxide would react to a solution that is mixed with salt Mrs. Payne.”, I lied.. Well that’s what you call a white lie.

 “Very well then. Class, let us continue our discussion.”. Michael winked at him and I shot him a glare. This guy seriously has some issues. Science ended and it was finally over. School’s over I mean. I grabbed my things and went to my locker.

 “Catherine, can you help me with my homework?”, Stacy asked. That’s Stacy for you, always asking someone to do her homework.

 “I still pass and I will always pass until the day we graduate.”, I stated. She pouted and said,

 “Fine. Anyway, I’m holding a party tomorrow night. All of the popular kids will be there. Wanna come?”

 “No.”, I said as I closed my locker.

 “Please? It’ll be fun. I promise.”, she pleaded.

 “No means no Stacy. So bear with it.”, I said and walked away. It was still raining outside. It has been raining ever since school started. Is there a storm or something? I took out my umbrella and started to walk by the sidewalk. Tomorrow is a promo day and I have to work until midnight. I can’t just ditch my job for some lame party. I’ve tried parties like the movie Project X but right now, I wanna focus on my studies and work if I wanna change for the better. I passed by a watch shop where they had these cool watch designs. I entered the shop and looked at the one watch that was being separated from the rest. It was an expensive watch and I have been saving up for it. It actually costs $500 and I still have a hundred. When am I ever gonna be able to buy this watch? My thoughts were bitter so I exited the shop and went home.

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Dylan Wilson

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I arrived home a bit early so I decided to take a stroll around the shops of California. While walking, I passed by a watch shop and I saw Catherine staring at some watch that was separated from the rest. Was she interested in that watch? Did she want to buy it? I got curious but when I saw her coming out of the shop, I immediately hid behind a tree. It was a huge one by the way so I guess she didn’t see me. When she was far away, I went in the shop and took a closer look at the watch she just saw. It was expensive. Was she saving up for this? Maybe, I couldn’t tell. I got a hunch that she was and I already had a plan in mind.

 “Excuse me.”, I asked.

 “What is it sir?”, the sales lady asked.

 “I’ll buy this watch please.”

 “That’ll be $500 sir.”. I gave her my credit card and after, I got a bag and the watch was inside it. I wonder when I’m going to give this to her. I hope I will be able to or this will become a thing I'll have to put away or give someone to. I planned to go to the bookstore that just opened last week. I didn’t have time to visit but since I’m free right now, might as well go. I went in and saw Stacy reading Sherlock Holmes.

 “Oh hey Dylan. It’s not unusual to find someone like you in a bookstore.”, she joked.

 “Yeah I know. I heard this just opened last week.”

 “Yes and they’re having a sale.”, she said happily. I didn’t know whether I should be happy or not but I had gone with the flow anyway.

 “Well that’s great. Might as well buy books while they’re on sale.”, I said. She agreed and continued to read the book. Was she planning to buy it because reading the whole book inside a bookstore with no plans of buying it is prohibited? Well that’s her problem not mine. I bought Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. I heard this is a good book so it’s worth a try. I went home and went to my room. As usual, the walls were painted dark blue and I had a king-sized bed. A flat screen TV hanged in front of my bed and beside my bed was a drawer with a lamp on top. I had my study table at the right side of the room and beside it was the door leading to my cream colored bathroom. At the left side of my room was a door leading to my closet. I also had a wide table with picture frames on top. I placed the bag on top of my study table and grabbed the book I just bought. I hopped into my bed and opened the book. After hours of reading, my phone made a sound that could mean it was a text message. I sat up and hopped off of the bed. I reached for my cell phone which was on top of my study table. It was a text message from Stacy.

 ”Hey Dylan, wanna come to my party tomorrow? Promise it’ll be a blast! I asked Catherine but she hasn’t replied yet. Hope you’ll come.”.

 I was invited to a party? I had never been invited to a party before. But unfortunately, I’m not allowed to go on such event so I replied to Stacy with a no. I closed my phone and lay back on my bed. It’s boring. I just stared up the ceiling for how many minutes then I suddenly fell asleep.

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Catherine McMillan

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 “Your order will be ready in ten minutes. Excuse me.”, I excused myself and went to the kitchen. It’s twelve midnight and I’m still working. I needed overtime since I’m short  on cash right now and I needed to pay my bills. Suddenly, I felt a little nauseous. I got dizzy and lost my balance. I almost fell but good thing Jacob got hold of me.

 “Are you alright Catherine?”, Jacob asked. He is my childhood friend and we happened to be working together in this restaurant. I told him to tell nothing of this to my parents. I trust him. We’ve been friends for God knows how long. He helped me sit and I massaged my head with my fingers. Gosh my head was aching.

 “Catherine?”, Jacob brought me back to reality.

 “Yeah. I’m good. I have to get back to work.”, I replied to him as I tried to stand up. I lost my balance and suddenly, everything went black.

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Dylan Wilson

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I went to the kitchen to drink a glass of water. I took a glass but it suddenly feel on the marble floor and was smashed into tiny pieces in a matter of seconds. What just happened? That was weird. Then a feeling came rushing to me; like something bad happened right now. I didn’t really get it. I cleaned the mess I made and took another glass. This time, I got to drink water. I went back to my room and my phone was ringing. It was Stacy. This is probably about the party. Well I told her many times that I’m not going but I picked it up anyway.

 “What now Stacy? It’s twelve midnight.”, I asked.

 “Dylan. Fresh news! Catherine collapsed while she was at work. But she’s being taken care of now.”. Catherine worked? Where? Since when? I became so curious for no apparent reason.

 “Well that’s good to hear that she’s being taken care of right now but i hope she’s okay.”, I replied.

“Whoa there. Someone’s concerned.”, she said. I bet she was smirking. I could tell by her tone of voice while saying what she just said.

 “Duh, I’m her friend. It would be natural to be concerned, right?”, I obviously asked.

 “Well you’re right about that. Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say. Bye”. She hanged up and I closed my phone. Wait, I forgot to ask Stacy about Catherine’s work! Ugh. Me and my forgetfulness. I tried to erase that in my head and went back to sleep. I really do hope she’s okay.

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Jacob Madison

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 I brought Catherine to the apartment where she was currently staying. I went inside her room and placed her on her bed. Actually, we’ve been best friends when we were four. I bet she forgot about how old we were. We met at the playground where I saw her being bullied by other kids bigger than her. I felt sorry so I went and protected the helpless four-year old Catherine. The kids ran away.

 “Thank you. They hurt me. I got scared and cried.”, she said.

 “That’s okay. My name is Jacob. I hope we can be friends.”, I asked. She nodded and smiled.

 “Yes. Let’s be friends! I am Catherine!”

 “From now on, I’ll always be here to protect you!”, I confidently said.

 “Pinky swear?”, she asked. She raised her hand and her pinky was the only finger that wasn’t closed. I intertwined my pinky with hers as a sign of a promise.

 “Pinky swear!”

 It always made me smile whenever I thought of it. And through the years, I developed feelings for her. I started to have a crush on her when we were in junior high and then she became a bully. Even though she is a bully, I know my best friend way too much to judge her with her current attitude. I believed that she would one day realize and change her ways for the better. I had to stop my studies due to financial problems and my grades weren’t that excellent for me to apply at Wilson High as a scholar just like Catherine. So I went back home here in California and fortunately, I met Catherine here. I never knew we would see each other again. She even cried during our graduation. That was three months ago when she told me about her application to Wilson High. Then we decided to find work together and ended up at that restaurant. I returned to reality when she made a sudden movement. I was just sitting on her bed just right beside her.

 “Catherine?”, I called her softly. She sat up.

 “Just lay down. You need to rest.”, I gestured her to lay down but she didn’t. She faced me and said,

 “Thank you for taking care of me Jacob. You’re one of the best friends anyone could ever have.”. She hugged me and I was surprised. I wasn’t expecting that from her.

 “Thanks for being my friend.”, she whispered it to my ear and it sent shivers to my body. She faced me and our faces were like an inch apart. She closed her eyes and she went nearer to me. She never had her first kiss yet and I would be very happy if I was her first kiss but not right now, not in this situation,  and not in her state. But just when I thought of pulling away, she kissed me on my right cheek. It made me really blush and I looked down. I let my hair cover the top of my head in the hopes that it covered my cheeks too. She softly laughed and lay back down.

 “You thought I was going to kiss you seriously, right? You got nervous there Jacob.”

 “Geez. You and your jokes Catherine.”, I said as I rolled my eyes and stood up.

 “But you know, I wanted you to be my first kiss. I was actually planning on kissing you right here and right now but I felt your nervousness and I knew you wanted to pull away. You thought about me because you care. That’s why I decided to just kiss you on your cheek. It was a good opportunity but who cares? There’ll always be opportunities if God would let it be, right?”. I didn’t know what to say. It made me speechless.

“Thanks for bringing me here Jacob. Since it’s late already, you can sleep here.”, she suggested.

“Okay. I’ll sleep on the couch.”. I made my way to the couch and laid there.

“Good night Jacob.”, she smiled at me and sent me a flying kiss. I caught it and placed it on my cheek. Actually, when we were kids, she loved to kiss her family on their cheeks but since it was a different story with me, she decided she would kiss me through flying kisses. I nodded in agreement and up until now, we still do that. It was the first time that she kissed me on my cheek. It was valuable to me since I loved Catherine so much. I’m even planning on a future with her that’s why I’m working so hard to save up for my studies. She soon fell asleep and so did I.