The Eighth Grade Couple

On Vanessa's first day of eighth grade, she and her best friend, Becky, realize that every eighth grade class each year always has a couple. Now she wants to find someone to be just like them.

     The date was perfect. Chris took Vanessa to a movie. They had to walk, though, because they were only thirteen and couldn't drive. That's the thing about dating in middle school. You have to depend on your parents to drive you to places. That also means that your boyfriend or girlfriend has to meet your parents, and you never know what could happen with that. So, Chris and Vanessa avoided that by walking.

     After the movie, they held hands as they walked through the park. It was dark, so the fountain's lights were on.

     "Wow, look how beautiful it looks. I've never seen the fountain during the night," Vanessa said.

     "I have. I'm always alone, though. This time I get to share the view with you," Chris said.

     "Awww," Vanessa said. She looked up at him, but something was different. His baby blue eyes were replaced with green eyes and his blonde hair turned brown.

     "Jake?!" Vanessa exclaimed. That's when a crow landed next to them and made a loud alarm noise.

     Vanessa woke up and slammed on her alarm clock. That was a perfect dream until Jake came along, she thought. She got out of bed, put on her glasses, and looked at her calendar. The first day of school! She rushed to her closet and opened it. She took out all the clothes she bought over the summer and layed them on her bed.

     "Let's see..." she whispered to herself. "The blue crop top with shorts? Or the red and white striped Hollister top with jeans?"

     "Neither. They're both ugly like you," someone whispered from behind her. She turned around, startled.

     "Brandon! Get out!" Vanessa screamed at her older brother. He ran out, laughing hysterically. She slammed the door.

     "Stop slamming that door! This house cost good money! Don't waste it!" Yelled their mother. Vanessa's family had decent money. They weren't super rich or super poor. They were in-between. Vanessa's father worked for a computer company, while her mother was a nurse.

     Vanessa pulled on her shorts and crop top with a tank-top under. She picked out her red Toms and put those on.

     As she walked passed her mirror, her reflection caught her eye and she took a step back. Her curly brown hair was frizzy and her face looked so plain. And the worst part... she almost forgot to take off her glasses and put in her contacts. She pulled out her hair-straightener and plugged it in. While it heated up, she put in her contacts and did her makeup. Black eyeliner, mascara, with a little bit of eye shadow and lip gloss was Vanessa's usual combination.

     "Perfect," she said to herself when she finished.

 

     Vanessa walked through the door of her new homeroom. She wasn't nervous at all. Her school was small, so every year her class had the same students as the year before.

     "Vanessa!" Someone called out. Vanessa turned around and saw Becky, her best friend. Vanessa remembers every detail on how they met.

     They had met in first grade. Vanessa was the new student. One day, she had lost her glasses on the playground and couldn't see a thing. No one helped her. They just laughed as she stumbled around trying to find her glasses. But the laughter stopped and someone put Vanessa's glasses over her eyes and she could see clearly. It was a girl with little red pigtails. She smiled at her.

     "I'm Becky," she said. Vanessa didn't say anything. She just stared at her, confused on why Becky was being so nice. Becky looked down at Vanessa's hands. They were cut up from falling. "Oh! You should go to the nurse. Come on, I'll take you." She held out her hand and Vanessa looked at it. Becky giggled and took Vanessa's hand.

     They've been close friends ever since. Becky was the first friend Vanessa ever made at that school.

     "Becky! Hey!" Vanessa said and pranced toward her.

     "Can you believe it? It's the first day of eighth grade! The first day to our last year here," Becky said.

     "I know, right?" Vanessa said. "Who's here?"

     "Practically everyone. Except for Samantha. I heard she wants to be fashionably late," Becky made quotes with her fingers as she said the two words.

     "Wow," Vanessa rolled her eyes. Every class has that one really snobby person in it. Well, Samantha was basically the class b***h.

     "Look, there's Chris," Becky giggled and nodded toward a corner of the classroom. Vanessa looked over and there he was, Christopher Roberts, being his perfect self. He looked her way, smiled, and nodded at her. Vanessa bit her lip and waved.

     She whipped around. "Did you see that?! He just did the 'sup-nod at me!" She squealed.

     "Sorry, ‘Ness, but look behind you," Becky said. Vanessa looked toward the door. Samantha was waving and smiling toward Chris.

     "Crap. Well, that's embarrassing," Vanessa said. She looked for a desk with a sticky note with her name on it and sunk down in the chair.

     "Aw, this sucks, my desk is all the way on the other side of the room," Becky complained.

     "Hm, I wonder who sits next to-"

     "Good morning, class! Everyone take your seats! You've had enough reunion!" The teacher announced as she walked into the room.

     Everyone sat down. Vanessa watched Chris sit down in the front of the room. It sucked that he wasn't sitting next to her, but at least s****y Samantha wasn't sitting next to him either. Vanessa looked beside her.

     "Jake?!" She whispered.

     Jake leaned backward in his chair and smirked, "Hey, ugly."

     "Hey, dickface," Vanessa said.

     "Hey, c**t!"

     "Hey, cocksucker!"

     "Vanessa and Jake, stop talking!" The teacher called out.

     Vanessa glared at Jake and he grinned.

 

      "Out of all the people in the class, I get stuck next to my ex. This year has started off crappy," Vanessa vented to Becky at snack time.

     "I saw that. At least, you don't have to sit next to Samantha. She was kissing up to Mrs. Pickles the whole time," Becky said.

     "True," Vanessa said. She walked up to a bulletin board. "Aw, look, pictures of the past eighth grade classes."

     "Cool! We'll be up there this year!" Becky said.

     "Remember when they were dating?" Vanessa said and pointed to a boy and a girl.

     "Aw, yeah," Becky said.

     "Them, too," Vanessa said and pointed to a different pair in the next class.

     "Yeah," Becky said. Her eyes scanned every picture. "Wait a minute..."

     "What?" Vanessa asked.

     "Have you ever noticed that in every eighth grade class... there's a couple?" Becky said.

     "Woah... you're right!" Vanessa exclaimed. "I wonder who will be the eighth grade couple this year."

     "Chris and I, of course," someone said. Vanessa looked over her shoulder.

     "Really, Samantha?" She said and glared at her.

     "Well, duh, don't you see that he's totally interested in me?" Samantha said with a flip of her golden hair. Vanessa and Becky exchanged looks. Samantha's smile dropped. "Okay, so maybe he's not that interested. But I do have a better chance with him than either of you do."

     "Maybe we should have a contest," Vanessa stepped closer to Samantha.

     "Vanessa..." Becky started to say.

     "Maybe we should! Whoever gets Chris to like her first wins," Samantha said.

     "And no rules. Rules are stupid," Vanessa stated.

     "That's fine with me," Samantha smirked. She walked away.

     "Oh, Vanessa," Becky sighed.

     "What? I really like Chris. Also, I want us to be that famous eighth grade couple. I want to beat Samantha in something," Vanessa said.

     "Okay, class, break is over!" Mrs. Pickles announced. Everyone sat back down in their seats. Vanessa looked at Jake and he winked at her. She rolled her eyes and looked back at the teacher.

     "Now, I know it's the first day of school, but since we already went through our handbook and basic rules, I should tell about your first assignment. This is going to be a really busy year since you're graduating, so let's get a head start on your assignment. I'm going to seperate each of you into pairs. Each pair is going to work on a project on Egypt. I'll give you a rubric with specific information on what to do," Mrs. Pickles explained. She pulled out a list and read each pair.

     "Please be Chris. Please be Chris," Vanessa whispered to herself.

     "Penny and Becky. Robert and Vinny. Jake and Vanessa..."

     "What?!" Jake and Vanessa both said at the same time. Everyone looked at them.

     "Mandy and Michael. Lisa and Georgia. Samantha and Chris..."

     "Are you kidding me?" Vanessa mumbled and slumped in her chair.

     Walking back home, Vanessa saw Chris walking alone ahead of her. You only live once, she thought. She caught up to him, but tripped in the act.

     "Oof!" She cried out. Chris turned around and saw her. Vanessa's cheeks burned of embarrassment.

     "Hey, are you okay?" He crouched down next to her and tried to take her hand. She winced and pulled away. "Did you cut up your hand? Let me see," he said. Vanessa slowly held her hand out. Chris took it gently and examined it. "It's just a little scratch. You're fine." He helped her up and gave her her backpack.

     "Thanks," Vanessa said.

     "No problem," Chris said. They just stood there. Chris's eyes wandered and Vanessa just stared at him, too nervous to talk.

     Come on, Vanessa, speak! This is your chance, Vanessa thought.

     "Well, this has been officially awkward," Vanessa blurted. Stupid!

     "Well, it's only awkward if you say it's awkward," Chris said and smiled.

     "True," Vanessa said and smiled back. "So... what'd you think of the first day of school?"

     "Eh, it's school, so..."

     "Right."

     "Who'd you get paired up with for the project?"

     "Jake."

     "Ooh..."

     "Exactly."

     "Hey, Chris!" Someone inerrupted.

     Chris turned around. "Hey, Samantha."

     Vanessa turned around and watched Samantha skip over, joyfully. Wonderful, Vanessa thought.

     "What a coincidence!" Samantha said.

     "Yes, what a coincidence," Vanessa glared and Samantha.

     "Well, now that I'm here, wanna head over to your house and work on that project?" Samantha asked.

     "Sure," Chris said. Samantha grinned and started walking off. Chris turned toward Vanessa and stepped closer to her.

     "See you around?" He smiled and squeezed her arm.

     "Sure," Vanessa said and smiled back. He walked away and caught up with Samantha.

     "Oooh, legit crash and burn," someone said from behind Vanessa. She turned around. It was Jake.

     "What, are you following me or something?" Vanessa asked and crossed her arms.

     "No... I was actually heading over to your house for guitar lessons from your brother," Jake said.

     "Oh," Vanessa said, feeling stupid. Why was he getting lessons from Brandon again? He stopped after we broke up, she thought.

     "Stupid," Jake said.

     "Shut up! I shouldn't even let you into my house if you're gonna treat me like that,"

     "Well, I'm not going to your house to see you. I'm going to your house to see Brandon," Jake said. He kept walking, shoving Vanessa to the side.

     "Hey! Well, maybe we could start on our project, too," Vanessa suggested and walked toward Jake.

     "Great," Jake said, sarcastically.

     When they got to Vanessa's house, Jake went straight to Brandon's room. Vanessa threw her backpack to the ground and followed, but Jake shut the door behind him and locked her out. She sighed and walked back into the kitchen. Her mother was reading a magazine at the table.

     "Vanessa... what's Jake doing here?" She asked.

     "Oh, Brandon didn't tell you? He's giving him guitar lessons again," Vanessa said.

     "Hm," her mother said. "He shouldn't be here. Your brother should be fighting against him, not giving him friendly guitar lessons."

     "No, Mom, don't worry about it. I got stuck with him for a project so we could start working on it while he's here."

     "Okay, but I don't like that boy."

     Vanessa walked to her room. When she turned on the lights, Jake and Brandon jumped out and scared her. She screamed and slapped Jake. He fell backward onto the ground.

     "Dude!" Brandon shouted.

     "What the hell, you guys?! You're supposed to be in the other room playing guitar!" Vanessa said and shoved Brandon.

     "We were, but after 5 minutes we got bored and decided to scare you," Jake said as he rubbed his cheek. "Damn, you hit me hard."

     "Well, you deserved it," Vanessa said and crossed her arms again.

     Jake held his hand up. "Care to help a guy up?"

     Vanessa just looked at him.

     "B***h," Jake whispered. Brandon helped him up.

     "Why do you have to be such an a*s?" Vanessa asked. "You know what, forget the guitar lessons. We're gonna start on our project now."

     Brandon shrugged and walked out.

     "Ugh, fine," Jake groaned. He threw himself onto Vanessa's bed and sprawled out.

     "Okay, rule #1: Just because I'm smarter than you, doesn't mean I'm going to do everything," Vanessa stated.

     "Who said you were smarter than me?" Jake asked.

     "Rule #2: No fooling around or procrastinating. The sooner we get this project done, the better."

     "Got it, go to the bathroom every fifteen minutes."

     Vanessa rolled her eyes and kept talking. After the fourth rule, Jake got up, walked toward Vanessa, and put his finger to her lips. She stopped talking and looked up at him.

     "Look, giving me all these rules isn't gonna make anything better, okay?" He whispered. Vanessa felt her face burn like she was blushing. Jake smirked and pulled his hand away. Vanessa pushed him, angrily, and turned away.

     "And rule #5: Don't do that!" Vanessa said.

     "Why? You liked it," Jake winked.

     "Oh my gosh. Ew, no, I didn't!"

     "You were blushing."

     "No I wasn't! My... my allergies were acting up because I'm allergic to you," she smiled triumphantly. Jake bursted with laughter. "Ugh, screw you. Let's just get started on this project."

     Vanessa researched information on her computer, while Jake wrote down notes. They would take turns writing down notes and researching. Whenever someone's hand started to hurt while writing notes, they would switch. But then, Jake started faking his hand hurting, so Vanessa just made him take notes the rest of the time no matter what.

     "So... who does Chris like?" Vanessa asked Jake.

     Jake stopped writing and looked at Vanessa. "Why?"

     "Just wondering..." she mumbled.

     "You like Chris, don't you?" Jake asked.

     "No! What makes you think that?"

     "Well, it's kinda obvious. The whole thing while walking home from school, and now you're asking who he likes."

     "Well, you're a guy so I would think you would know!"

     "Admit that you like him and I'll tell you," Jake smirked. Vanessa turned and looked at him. She glared at him. Jake just kept smirking.

     "Fine, I like him! Why do you care?"

     "Just wondering."

     "Ugh."

     "He likes you. He's just afraid to show it."

     Vanessa's eyes widened.

     "Really?"

     Jake nodded. Vanessa hopped out of her chair and twirled. She jumped and danced around her room. Jake watched her. He watched her be happy. He watched her giggle goofily and dance joyfully like no one was looking. She stopped and looked at him.

     "I can't stop smiling!" She exclaimed.

     "Gee, calm down. It's not like you're getting married," Jake said.

     "Oh, stop being so grouchy. Come on, we can take a break. Celebrate with me!" Vanessa said and held out her hand.

     "Don't bother. I'm leaving," Jake said as he stood up. He grabbed his backpack and walked out.

     "Hey, wait!" Vanessa said and followed him. They went all the way outside.

     "What?" Jake asked.

     "What did I do to piss you off?" Vanessa asked.

     "You didn't piss me off. You're just... annoying."

     "Don't say that! Ugh! I hate it when people say that!" Vanessa screamed. She punched Jake and ran back into her house. Jake was shocked. He followed her back into the house. He went into her room and saw her crying on her bed.

     "Vanessa?" He said. She didn't respond. He sighed and wandered around her room. On her wall was a corkboard full of pictures. He saw the ones from kindergarden to fifth grade, when he didn't go to her school yet. She hadn't gotten contacts yet and she was still wearing glasses. In fifth grade, she had braces and glasses at the same time.

     "You were a nerd back then, huh?" Jake asked.

     "Shut up," Vanessa sobbed.

     "No, I mean, everyone judged you. Were you made fun of a lot?"

     "Yeah, what's it to you?" Vanessa asked as she sat up.

     "No one got to know the real you," Jake said and sat on her bed. "Your braces and glasses together were a wall to the others, blocking them from seeing you. So in order to break down that wall, you got contacts and started wearing makeup and started straightening your hair every single day."

     Vanessa nodded. Jake scooted closer to her.

     "But now you still hide behind a different wall around other people by acting like you don't care about anything. I saw you just now happily dancing when you found out Chris liked you. You were being you. You don't know what it's like to be yourself anymore because you're too busy trying to fit in at school," Jake explained.

     "And I've been trying so hard to beat Samantha in something. That's why I want Chris to like me better than her. So we can be the eighth grade couple," Vanessa said.

     Jake looked at her funny.

    "It's this thing... there's a couple in every eighth grade class every year. I want me and Chris to be this year's couple," Vanessa explained.

     "Oh."

     "You're okay with that... right?"

     "Yeah, of course. I mean, everyone has to move on, right?"

     "True," Vanessa said. Then, silence. Jake still heard Vanessa sniffle. He turned to her and wiped a tear from her cheek. Vanessa smiled and turned toward him. She realized how close he was and froze. Jake touched her face again. She caught his hand, held it against her cheek and closed her eyes. After a minute, she pushed him away. Jake looked startled.

     "What did I say about doing that?!" She shouted. Jake cracked up.

     "Don't act like you didn't enjoy it," Jake laughed.

     "You caught me off guard!" Vanessa said.

     "Whatever. Hey, if you don't get mad at me again, then maybe I'll help you out with Chris," Jake said.

     "Really?" Vanessa gasped.

     Jake shrugged, "Why not? We're friends now, right?"

 

     "What?! You're friends with Jake now?! After all he's done to you!" Becky shouted at Vanessa at lunch when she told her. "You're supposed to hate him, remember?"

     "Shhh! I'm only doing it because he's gonna help me out with Chris," Vanessa said.

     "Oh. Good idea!" Becky said. "Oh yeah, wanna come over tonight and study together?"

     "Nah, I can't. Jake's coming over to work on the project and study, too," Vanessa explained.

     "Oh... okay," Becky said. She smiled and Vanessa smiled back.

     "Hey, guys, can we sit here?" Someone asked.

     Vanessa looked up and her heart skipped a beat. It was Chris and Jake. Chris smiled that perfect smile of his and Vanessa automatically said, "Sure! Why not?"

     Chris and Jake sat across from Becky and Vanessa.

     "So Chris... don't you have a question to ask Vanessa?" Jake nudged him.

     "Oh yeah, um... are you doing anything Friday?"

     "No-"

     "Yes!" Becky cut in. Vanessa looked at her. Becky glared back. That's when Vanessa thought, Oh yeah... we go to the mall every Friday after school.

     "Just this once! Please," Vanessa pleaded to Becky.

     She hesitated for a minute. Then she said, "Fine."

     Vanessa grinned and turned back to Chris. "No, I'm not doing anything Friday. Why?"

     "Wanna see a movie with me?" He asked.

     Vanessa glanced at Jake and he nodded. "Sure!" she said. Her and Chris started chatting away about what movie to see. Becky pretended to listen and be happy, but inside she wished Vanessa never liked Chris.

     Back at Vanessa's house that night, her and Jake studied for the test tomorrow. In the middle of her question, Vanessa sighed.

     "What, are you nervous about the test tomorrow?"

     "No, I'm nervous about the date. What if I screw up, like always?"

     Jake thought for a minute. Then, he set his books down. “Here, this is what you do.” He walked over to Vanessa and sat down next to her, pretending they were at the movies.

     “In the beginning, you’re going to be like this,” Jake said and scooted a little bit away from Vanessa. “Then, you’re going to be like this,” Jake said and scooted closer to Vanessa. She giggled as he yawned and put his arm around her. “Just cuddle with him and watch the movie,” he said. Vanessa got closer to him. She pressed her cheek against his chest. They were so close that she could feel his chest move slowly up and down as he took every breath. He looked down at her and she looked up at him. “Then…” he said, quietly as his eyes met hers. Jake leaned down and kissed her softly. Vanessa closed her eyes and kissed back, smiling as if they never broke up.

     Wait… she thought. What am I doing?!

     Her eyes popped open and she pushed him away. She stood up.

     “What? What’s wrong?” Jake asked.

     “What’s wrong?! What’s wrong with you?!” She shouted.

     “I… I thought you changed your mind…”

    “Huh?”

     “I thought you would get back together with me.”

     “What? But… you broke up with me.”

     Jake didn’t know what to say.

    “You jerk! You really think I’m desperate enough to get back together with you? I’m not stupid. You only want me because I changed, don’t you? Chris understands me and he’s really sweet and brave enough to ask me out on a date. You never wanted to be seen with me and you never did anything for me. I can’t believe I even took the time to forgive you and be friends with you…” Vanessa whispered.

     “Vanessa, but-“

     “Leave, Jake,” Vanessa said and turned away, fighting back tears.

     “What about the project?” Jake asked.

     “I’ll finish it by myself. I don’t need you for anything. I can do everything on my own. Now go. I never wanna talk to you again.”

     Jake left. Vanessa sighed and lay on her bed. Even though he was gone, she could still feel his presence haunting her.

    

     The date was perfect. Chris had put his arm around her doing the movie, just as Vanessa wished. They just hadn’t kissed yet.

     After the movie, they held hands as they walked through the park. It was dark, so the fountain's lights were on.

     "Wow, look how beautiful it looks. I've never seen the fountain during the night," Vanessa said.

     "I have. I'm always alone, though. This time I get to share the view with you," Chris said.

     "Awww," Vanessa said. Woah, déjà vu, she thought. The wind blew and Vanessa shivered. “Woo, it’s cold,” she said.

     “Here,” Chris took off his jacket and put it around Vanessa. He held onto it and pulled her closer. Vanessa blushed and smiled. “I love it when you blush,” he said. They kissed and all of Vanessa’s worries blew away with the wind.

 

     "Well, Samantha, I guess I win," Vanessa said and grinned. Samantha sat at her desk and looked at her with jealousy. Vanessa flipped her hair mockingly and walked away. She found Becky at the back table.

      "Hey, Becky!" Vanessa waved and sat next to her.

     "Hey," Becky said and smiled sheepishly, she was still bugged out by the whole ditching her for Chris thing. "How was the date?"

     "Absolutely magical!" Vanessa said and sprawled her arms across the table. Becky giggled. Vanessa saw Chris walk in and she automatically sat up. He scanned the room until her saw her and smiled. Vanessa smiled back. She turned back to Becky, "We kissed, too."

     Becky's eyes widened, "What?! Oh my God! You lucky w***e!" Vanessa giggled. She looked toward the classroom door and saw Jake. Her smiled dropped. He raised his hand to wave, but she turned away. Becky saw.

     "Woah, woah, woah, what's going on between you and jerkface?" She asked.

     "Nothing... it's just... nothing..." Vanessa shook her head.

     "Okay, class, everyone take your seats!" The teacher announced.

     "I'll tell you later," Vanessa whispered to Becky.

     Everyone sat down at their desks. Vanessa sat at her desk next to Jake and didn't look at him once.

     "First, let's start with this week's announcements. There will be a dance on Friday for grades sixth through eighth from 6:00 P.M. to 10:30 P.M...."

     Vanessa heard this and turned toward Chris. He nodded and winked at her. Vanessa blushed and giggled. She glanced at Jake. He shook his head. She flipped him off and turned back towards the teacher. Jake layed his head down on his desk.

     In the hall, Jake followed behind Vanessa. He couldn't hold it in any longer, he had to tell her. He just couldn't take it anymore. Vanessa turned the corner and went to her locker. Jake peered around the corner and waited for the right moment. But he was too late, Chris already was leaning against the wall beside her. Jake listened to every word.

     "Hey," Chris said.

     "Hey," Vanessa smiled.

     "So about the dance..." Chris said. He paused in the middle of his sentence so Vanessa would build up her anxiety. Which she did. On the inside, she was exploding colors of love and lit fireworks shaped like hearts. When each burst, they burnt the sides of her stomach, making her want to scream out, but she held it in and just kept smiling.

     "Wanna go with me?" Chris asked and smiled.

     "Of course!" Vanessa squealed and shut her locker. Then, she covered her mouth, embarrassed. Chris chuckled. He took her hands off her mouth and held them. Vanessa's face burned. He pulled her closer and kissed her again.

     Jake's heart shattered. He turned away wincing, as if Vanessa and Chris were fire and had accidentally touched them.

     I did this to myself, he thought. I'm such an idiot.

 

     Vanessa walked into her house. "I'm home!" She called out.

     "Mom and Dad went shopping!" Brandon called out from his room.

     “Okay!” Vanessa shouted back. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a soda. When she turned around, she saw Jake. She jumped and spilled the soda on herself.

     “Sorry…” Jake said. Vanessa glared at him and slammed the soda can on the counter. She went to the sink and grabbed a towel.

     As she wiped herself off, she asked, sternly, “What are you doing here?”

     “Guitar lessons… remember?” Jake answered.

     “And that gives you the right to come make me spill soda on myself?”

     “What? No!”

     Vanessa rolled her eyes and walked down the hall, heading to her room, “Just leave me alone.”

     She went into her room and shut her door, but Jake caught it. Vanessa opened the door back open slowly and didn’t look him in the eye.

     “Look… don’t go to the dance with Chris, okay?” Jake said.

     “Why not? Are you jealous?” she said in a mocking voice and grinned.

     “No! I just… I don’t know…”

     “Look, I don’t have time to listen to you sweet talk me out of it. I’m not falling for that s**t again.”

     “No, Vanessa, you don’t understand. It’s just hard to explain.”

     “Jake! I don’t care! Just go away, please! I have a project to work on… alone,” Vanessa shut the door.

     Jake backed away from the door. He sat down in the hallway and sighed.

 

     Vanessa walked into the dance with Chris’s jacket on. He let her keep it after the date so she decided to remind him that she still had it.

     “Vanessa!” Becky called out.

     “Hey!” Vanessa ran up to Becky.

     “Is that the jacket Chris gave you?”

     “Yup!” Vanessa giggled and hugged herself.

     “Awww! Come on, let’s go dance!” Becky suggested.

     “Wait, have you seen Chris?”

     “Um…”

     “Is he here yet?”

     “Uh…”

     “Where is he?” Vanessa walked passed Becky and scanned the room.

     “Vanessa!” Becky grabbed Vanessa’s shoulder and turned her around.

     “What?”

     “Stop it!”

     “Stop what?”

     “It’s always about Chris, Chris, Chris! You ditch me for him all the time! I mean, once is fine, but over and over again? What kind of best friend does that? You’ve changed and I don’t like it. I miss the old you. Even if you were nerdy and stuff.”

     Vanessa was speechless. She knew Becky was right. She was so in love with the idea of being the eighth grade couple with Chris that she was completely forgetting about her all the time.

     “Fine. Don’t say sorry,” Becky said.

     “No-“

     “Oh and by the way, Chris is here. He’s just too busy enjoying himself,” Becky said and looked over at the snack table. Vanessa looked over, too.

     Chris was talking to Samantha and some other girls. They were flirting with him and he flirted back. He didn’t even try to ignore it. He just played along, smiling and winking, just as if they were Vanessa.

     Vanessa looked down at his jacket she was wearing. She ripped it off and stormed toward him.

     “Hey, man-w***e!” She shouted. All the girls and Chris looked at her. “Here’s your jacket!” She threw it at him with full force. It hit him in the chest and he struggled to catch it.

     As she walked off, she heard Chris say, “Harsh.”

     Vanessa walked faster, getting closer and closer to the front door of the cafeteria. Her vision started to blur as the tears started to form in her eyes. Then, she ran full speed through the room and out the door. She heard Becky call after her, but she ignored it.

     Vanessa kept running. She had no clue where she was going; she just wanted to go somewhere far, far away from here. That was until she ran into someone. He caught her.

    “Woah, there. What are you doing out here?”

     Vanessa looked up. It was Jake. She buried her face in his chest and cried hard.

     “It was a lie! It was all a lie! He said I was the only one for him! Bullshit! I knew it was too good to be true. I was so caught up in him, too, so I completely ignored Becky. I’m such a stupid b***h! She doesn’t deserve me! No one deserves me!”

      Jake hugged Vanessa, “You’re too young to feel this way.”

     Vanessa sighed.

     “I deserve you,” Jake whispered.

     Vanessa looked up, “What?”

     “This might sound stupid but… ever since I broke up with you, I’ve been regretting it. Not because you changed and stuff, but because I realize I’ll never have something like we had ever again. I was stupid for breaking up with you. Even though you changed, it still made no difference because you’re still beautiful either way. I was glad to find out my desk was next to yours. I took guitar lessons again just so I could see you. I told Mrs. Pickles to choose you and me as partners because ‘I need special help in social studies and know you’re smart with it’, but I really just wanted to be next to you working on it every day. I knew that you didn’t like me anymore, though, so that’s why I treated you like crap… because I didn’t wanna look like an idiot,” Jake explained. Vanessa gave him a look. Jake shook his head, “But that’s not the point. The point is… I still like you. I told you that Chris liked you and hooked you up with him just so I could see you smile and be happy.”

     Vanessa blushed and smiled a little, “Really?” But then she frowned, “Now Samantha’s gonna beat me again… the eighth grade couple is supposed to last all year.”

     Jake held her face in his hands, “Maybe I can help you with that.” He leaned down and kissed her softly. It was just like their kiss before, except this time Vanessa let it last. Until she pulled away and smiled. Jake smiled back.

     “I’m sorry for being such a jerk…” Vanessa whispered.

     “No, it was I, who was the jerk,” Jake said. Vanessa giggled. “Hang on,” Jake said. He pulled out his cell phone and looked through his music. He picked a song. Vanessa listened. It was a slow acoustic song. “I made this all by myself… it’s dedicated you.”

     Vanessa laughed, “Oh my gosh, you’re so corny.”

     “Well prepare yourself because it’s gonna get cornier,” Jake laughed. He put his phone in his pocket, still playing the music, and bowed. He held out his hand and said, “May I have this dance?”

     Vanessa curtsied, giggled, and said, “Why, certainly!” Jake put his hands on her waist and she put her arms around his neck.

 

     On Monday, at school, Vanessa saw Becky at the back table again. She walked over quietly and slid in next to her.

     “Hey,” Vanessa said.

     “Hey…” Becky said.

     Silence.

     “I’m sorry for what happened on Friday. Best friends shouldn’t do that to each other,” Vanessa blurted.

     “It’s okay, I understand. I’m sorry that Chris turned out to be an a*****e,” Becky said.

     Vanessa smirked, “Thanks for pointing that out to me, though.”

     “No problem. You’re my best friend; you should know the truth,” Becky said and smiled.

     Vanessa smiled and hugged her, tightly. “Ohhh! I love you so much!”

     Becky gasped, “You’re… hurting… me!”

     Vanessa let go. They both laughed together.

     “So you don’t like Chris anymore?” Becky asked.

     “No… I have someone else in mind,” Vanessa said and looked over Becky’s shoulder. Becky turned around and saw Jake smiling.

     Becky spun back around and her jaw dropped, “No way!”

     “Yes way,” Vanessa giggled. She stood up and walked toward Jake. “Come on, we have a class photo to get ready for,” she said to him and smiled.

Author's Note

ignore grammar problems