Bereft

[Devroux]

Chapter 1: The Meeting

===

People say that spring break is going to be the best time of your life. College spring break gives you the opportunity to be your own person, to ignore the shackles of life and just live out your youth until school starts back up. Well, I can actually agree with that. Spring break was definitely the highlight of my life. However, it wasn't college; this was my freshmen year in high school spring break and ended up setting up the route my life would take.

But let's rewind a little to when it actually started: the week before spring break was to begin. Despite it being Monday morning, people were moving back and forth happily - or more correctly, ignorant - of what Mondays usually meant as a two week vacation was to start in five days. With the teachers not wanting to do work right before a vacation, it was just smooth sailing for the next three weeks. All was well.

I was going to my classes as usual, with nothing out of the ordinary until lunch time. Although our lunches were separated into three hours, A, B, and C, I was lucky enough to have most of my friends in the same our as myself. So today, more excited than usual, I was table hopping to greet and talk with all of my friends. Several tables, several cliques, I didn't really care. I talked to pretty much everyone.

I was sitting and talking with a full table while staring around the lunch area for my next conversational targets. The current discussion of politics was not to my liking and I didn't want to come down from my life high yet, so I had to move quickly. As I was staring around, I peered through the pillars that separated the table area from the surrounding hall and saw a friend that I'd barely talked to at lunch before. Knowing him from a daily run in gym, I felt like it'd be cool to hang out with him. He hung out with the more "goth" group of people, but today, that mattered even less than usual.

Saying a few quick goodbyes to the friends I had been hanging out with, I decided to go see him. Walking up behind him and gripping his shoulders tightly I said, "Hey, Phil," laughing a little. All his surrounding friends gave me awkward looks and he turned around and gave me a big hug. Compared to his mean looking clique, he was not so grumpy. Phil was shorter than me by a couple inches and had almost literal toothpicks for limbs. He always grinned and was overall a bony teddy bear, but that's why he was awesome. He stood out compared to the people he hung out with.

I waved at a few of the surrounding people who I had seen in various classes. Most of them were a grade or two higher than myself, but that didn't matter with our lunch periods, as everyone was mixed together and forced to get along. Luckily for me, I had an in with Phil and everyone quickly went back to doing their thing. A tall, heavy set guy and a thin, short girl kept coming over to mess with Phil as we talked and I just sort of laughed. Even a girl as small as her could push Phil around, so I teased him over it and greeted the girl.

She smiled at me and put her arm around Phil. "This guy is like my personal punching bag," she tells me, playfully jabbing him in the rib cage. He wheezed jokingly, smiling at me and pushing her off.

I replied, "Yeah, he does make for a great stress reliever." I smile at Phil and he laughed back, knowing I wasn't the kind of guy to raise my hand to anyone, let alone my own friend. The girl just laughed, punched him in the shoulder again, and went about her business with the rest of the group.

Phil and I went back to talking, but it didn't last very long. The bell rang and everyone got pushed back into their routine classes, a lot of grumbling being heard as the halls were filled. After lunch I had Spanish 3, which was upstairs. The teacher was nice and even if I was a few minutes late, she just waved me in silently, so I always stopped at my locker after lunch rather than carrying my books around the entire time.

With everyone going about their business quickly, I had no further interruptions and was able to make it to my class before the tardy bell rang. "Oh, on time today, I see," Mrs. Laury said, jabbing at my usual lateness. I smiled and took my seat, going about my day normally and just having fun. All though spanish I watched Danny, a junior next to me, draw. For the type of guy he was, the jokester, you'd never expect him to be so good, but he could draw anything with anything, whether it be a pencil, pen, stone, or otherwise. It always fascinated me.

Spanish ended quite quickly compared to every other day, so time really does fly when you're having fun, or in this case, not really paying attention to anything that actually matters. I walked out the class and down the hall normally, and as I turned the corner I saw the girl from lunch. I waved at her, she smiled and waved back, and we kept on walking to our last class of the day.

Government would always bore me to death, so my mind was able to wander better than it could anywhere else. All through the 50 minute class, I kept thinking about that one girl. I've gone the same way every day all year long, so why was this the first time I've seen her in the hall? Why did I, as unoutstanding as I am, get her attention so easily? Why'd I meet her today of all times? I mean, if I was able to make something happen, it'd take more than four days for it to work out. Slow and steady wins the race, after all.

The bell rang, startling me from my self-induced trance. I packed up my books and headed out to the bus, meeting no one until I stepped on board. Phil and I usually sat together if it were a day like today, so I sat next to him and we started talking normally. Being weird, we kept feeling the fuzzy hood of the guy next to us, who kept giving us awkward glances, but otherwise ignoring our existence completely. When we got bored, we went back to our normal discussions.

"Prom is coming up," Phil starts telling me, excited.

"Yes, I know," I say, uninterested. Dances weren't my thing, so it didn't really matter. It especially didn't matter since Prom was only for juniors and seniors, which I expressed to him justly.

"It's off limits to us unless we go with a junior or senior," he says. "I plan on asking Peyton to go with me."

"Oh, a girl? I didn't know you had a crush on anyone. Who's Peyton?"

"You met her today," Phil says, giving me the glance that say 'how can you not know this?'.

"Oh!" I shout, causing the furry hooded guy next to us to look over. I touch his hood and he promptly turns back to ignoring us, which makes us laugh that much more. "Yeah, I saw her today going to 6th hour. She's cute."

"Yeah, so I may ask her to Prom if my balls don't shrivel up and disappear before I can." I laugh and the bus rolls to its stop at the middle school, where all buses gather at the end of the day. We get off and go our separate ways, with myself going to my mother who usually waits parked on the street and Phil going to his next bus, which'll take him home in the country.

Having heard Phil express his feelings for this girl, she didn't come up in my thoughts much that night, letting me go on my way without distraction. The rest of the day was smooth, easy, and nothing worth stating. I went to bed without any issues.






===





Okay. First time writing in awhile. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it again quickly.

[Maikeru D. Shinigami]

So, Dev has discovered the joy of writing an entire chapter of a fanfic. Fascinating.

[Devroux]

Actually, this will be an original story.

I'd write more, but the computer is at an awkward angle.

[Maikeru D. Shinigami]

Whatever, the point remains.

[Devroux]

Chapter 2: Forward Motion

===

Tuesday was just as simple as Monday, maybe even more so. First through sixth period were easy as cake (or pie if that's what you prefer). The lectures were either short or non-existent. Most of the time, people were talking or texting even more so than on a regular basis. Biology was movie time, but that was also just a good way of saying 'nap time' to any high schooler, including the energetic freshmen.

When lunch rolled around I silently made my way back towards Phil. Since yesterday was so easy and fun, I decided to go back and hang out with him and his friends again. I already had chatted with a few of them, so I may be able to make some more friends.

Phil was as smiley as he always is. He again greeted me with open arms and we fell right back into a conversation like we'd been talking for an hour already. Every now and then Peyton would come back, punch him, and walk away. I just laughed, knowing that it was already tough love and may turn into more love soon.

Once a few other people joined the conversation, I felt more free and started walking around the group. I'd sit by someone I didn't know to begin a conversation and make jokes like I did. They'd look at me like I was deformed or something for a second, but ease up and reply. Within a few retorts, we were talking normally. I always loved seeing how easy it was to make friends and a tactic as straightforward as this one could never fail. This ideal was only proven further as I swapped person to person afterwards, just messing around with the group as a whole eventually.

Within two lunches I had made some pretty cool friends. Over the rest of the day if I happened to see them in the hall, it'd become a short conversation until the bell rang. Everyone was so relaxed, so it's no wonder why Phil hung out with them. They all felt like a family.

After seventh hour ended, I walked through the hall to eighth and and saw Peyton again. She smiled, waved, and we talked a little bit. I felt more relaxed with her because I knew Phil and her could eventually become a thing. There was no reason to impress her, even less that there were with others of the same group. When the bell rang, just as I had done with everyone else, I said my goodbyes and went to class, never to see her again for the rest of the day.

Wednesday was pretty much the same as Tuesday, but with different conversations. Throughout the day, I'd stop and talk to people from lunch or really just anyone I knew well enough to converse with. The conversations were longer, which contributed even more to my lateness than they usually did. None of the teachers cared though, as the break was coming soon. They didn't want to punish just as much as we didn't want to be punish. It was a nice student-teacher equilibrium.

That lunch was quieter though, as Peyton, who was normally the liveliest of the bunch, went outside to play Hacky Sack with others from the group. This gave me time to talk to Phil about her though, so I wasn't against it in the least. We sat a little away from the rest of the group so they couldn't hear over their own conversation and just started talking.

"So what's the plan," I ask. "When are you going to ask her out?"

Phil looked at me like I had asked him a trillion times already, which I may have, and said, "I don't know. Prom is still a couple weeks away and I've gotta grow the balls to do it. At least if worse comes to worse, I may just get out of it with a bruised arm. Well... Another one, at least." We laughed, knowing the almost sad truth behind that.

"Alright, alright. She's nice though, so good luck."

"Hey, man," he says, jokingly. "Don't get any funny ideas now."

I raise my arms and eyebrows, smirking. "A stud like me can have any girl I want. Why take yours?" We laugh again just as the bell rings.

We sit quietly and watch Peyton come back in, staring at her intently. She stared back at us, watching our staring with her own. As she neared, she slowed up a little and when she was totally in front of us, she screams, "What!?" Phil ad I just break out laughing, Phil to get punched in the arm.

I just laugh harder because I know she won't come after me. The last couple days, no matter how many times she hits Phil or anyone else, I go unbruised.

"What about him!? It was his idea!" Phil yells, laughing as he rubs his newly sore arm. Peyton just shrugs and we walk off. I smile at him, grab my books, and take off too.

That day after seventh hour, I decided to be late for eighth. When Peyton came around the corner, I draped my arm over her shoulder and winked at her playfully saying, "Hey, baby." She just glared at me, which I ignored.

"Hey," she says after a minute. I let go of her arm and walk next to her.

"I'm going to walk you to class, alright," I ask, not caring for an answer. She nods in response and I go on, "So why do you hit Phil so much?" I smile, again not really caring for a reason, but wanting to know anyway.

"I told you! He's my punching bag," she loudly blurts out, confident in it being the truth.

"But he's so flimsy! You could break my poor Philly Willy..."

She gives me an odd look and I laugh, not caring to be serious at all. "Fine," she says as she stops in the doorway of her class.

"Fine you'll stop? I mean, you shouldn't, because it's funny, but you can."

"Fine, he's your 'Philly Willy'. Like I'd stop hitting my punching bag!" She smiles and sinks back into her class. I watch her for a moment until she sits down and take off quickly down the hall. Surprisingly, I still make it to class by the time the bell rings. Luck is in the air!

The rest of the day was boring and I rode the bus with Phil again. When I sat next to him, I talked to him about the conversation I had with Peyton. He smiled and didn't really care. He told me that as long as he could get close to her, he'd take the pain. I thought it was cute, but my masculinity forbid me from stating it.

[Maikeru D. Shinigami]

[Devroux]

Chapter 3: Clever Tactics

===

All of Wednesday, no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't get Peyton out of my head. I figured I liked her almost like Phil did, but it was weird since I didn't know her that well. Plus, I wouldn't try to act on it. Phil liked her and out of respect, I would try not to. I had done it plenty of times before, so it shouldn't be too hard.

Thursday morning I went to school just like I had done every other day. Groggy, I walked through the halls to class. First and second period were averagely boring. Third period, I had gym. Phil was in that class with me, but we usually hung out in different groups. His friend was gone that day, so we ran together during the warm up jog.

"So how's it going with Peyton," I ask as nonchalantly as I can muster.

"Same," he replies, the concentration on running taking a toll on the usual enthusiasm.

"I think I like her. I bet she wants me." I'm joking, but I'm serious too.

"Peyton's a different kind of girl. Go ahead and try if you want, but I've known her for a long time and she's dated," he pauses, running a few different words through his head. "Different guys..."

I nod, figuring he was probably right. Since I didn't know her that well, it wasn't putting me down any. I wished him good luck and we ran in silence for the rest of the time, making odd jokes and comments along the way. When the whistle blew, we separated to our different teachers and when on with the class.

My group had the weight room today, which meant that all I had to do was sit on the bike and pedal for as long as I wanted. I had a couple friends in my group, so we all sat together and talked. Brandon, Tony, and I always hung out together and we had a few running jokes, so we just sat on the bikes and laughed about different things, talked about video games, and discussed other obvious freshman boy things.

Tony got sick of the bike after a short while and left to go work out with another group of friends. Since the bikes were easy and we didn't feel like doing anything else, Brandon and I just sat and talked. Brandon was a heavyset kid and a true farm boy, but he was one of my very best friends. Since it was only him and I, I decided to confide in him.

"I like a girl that another friend likes. What do?"

He looks at me and jokingly says, "What? Another girl? Sheesh. Slow down." He rolls his eyes before going on, "It's not cool to steal a girl from a friend, but when it comes down to it, you've got to make yourself happy. If she's worth it, go for it."

"That's the thing," I slowly reply, thinking through my words. "I haven't even known her a full week, but we get a long. It's weird."

"You don't really choose who you love. You're just kind of forced into it. Still, if she's worth it, go for it."

I nod and try to slip passed that conversation by bringing up Call of Duty. Whenever I went to his house, we'd play, so it was an easy subject to bring up. We joked about how his little brother could kick my ass in any map and how he could sit in one spot and wreck us both, with total truth.

With the conversation having moved from the serious stuff, time seemed to fly. The class was over in no time and we went into the changing rooms, swapped back into our normal school attire, and went about our day. I'd see Brandon again at lunch, so we just waved each other off.

Fourth period went by quick with no issues. It was biology, so yet another movie. A boring one, but a movie. Unluckily enough, that drowsiness carried on over into my math class. I sat in the back of the class and I tested spectacular, so my teacher didn't hassle me when I fell asleep.

I half-slept the entire hour. Every now and then I'd kick myself awake and once I even had a crazy nightmare that woke me up. I was squirrel sized and a squirrel ate me. Freaked me out, but it gave me a story to tell at lunch, which came not too long after my nightmare scared me awake for good.

That day, I wasn't very talkative. The group had dimmed down and everyone that was left did their own thing. Phil and I sat together while Peyton walked back and forth between punching Phil and discussing some random classwork with her other friends. Today, I really took notice to her. She was shorter than I was by a couple inches and really thin. She was the classic goth girl with less make up. Her shorts had chains and her red and black striped socks were hiked up to her knees.

I wanted a reason to talk to her, so I pulled out my phone. It was a dinky little replacement phone. Cheap, but it had a camera. I swiftly pulled it out and took a picture of her legs in the socks while she was standing in front of Phil and I. As soon as I did, a teacher yells from a few feet away for me to put my phone away.

As I'm shoving my phone back in my pocket I hear, "Oh! You have a phone! Here." When I look up, Peyton is digging through her backpack to rip out a small piece of paper. She scribbles something on it and hands it to me. I look up at her, smiling. She smiles back and turns around quickly. My eyes dart to fill as a smirk lights my face. When I uncurl the scrap of paper, it's got a phone number written on it.

"Dude," Phil says, totally shocked. I just smile at him and stick the number in the pocket with my phone. Luckily, I didn't have to sit through an awkward discussion about it because I was saved by the bell. I just laughed and took off before he could say anything else.

I wasn't able to see Peyton that day when I went to eighth hour though. I later found out that she was stuck in the computer lab finishing up a project for the day after. After school, my mom was able to pick me up, so no bus. She dropped my sister and I off at home, leaving to shop without even coming in the house.

By the time I got inside, my hand was already digging out my phone and Peyton's phone number. I quickly put in the number and opened up the box to send a text. At this point, I stopped. I didn't know what to say. I needed to sound cool, but I didn't know how.

My sister was a girl, so I went into the living room and sat in the chair opposite to her. "How do I start a conversation with a girl," I ask bluntly.

"A girl? You?" she says, being crabby as usual.

"Yes. Me. A girl. How?"

"I don't know."

I just glare at her, knowing that she was too intent on her Lifetime movie to help me out. I just decided to dive in head first and send my first text:

To: Peyton

Hey.

I waited a few minutes and got nothing. It was like I had crashed and burned before I had even taken off. The wait was killing me. But it was all for naught when I received a phone call from her less than five minutes later.

"Hello," I say, almost afraid to speak. Phones were not my friend, especially with words. I enjoyed a face-to-face conversation much more.

"Hey," I here her say happily. "Do you want to hang out?"

"Umm.... Uhh.... Let me as my mom." Before she could reply, I hung up. In a split second, I jammed the phone into my forehead. I have to ask my mom? To hang out with a girl? What a loser! My chance was ruined. But despite that, I called my mom in a rush anyway and asked. She flat out told me that I could do whatever I wanted as long as she was informed, so I hung up and called Peyton back.

"How's this going to work," I ask, nervous.

"My friend has a car. We can come pick you up when we're at the bank." This kind of shocked me. I had no idea how she knew where I lived, but I wasn't worried about it at the time.

"Oh. Alright. I'll go wait. Just text me." I hung up again without waiting. Phones were awkward. No use saying goodbye when it'd only be a few minutes.

I walked out to the bank across the street and sat on the curb. It was kind of chilly for a spring afternoon, but it didn't really bother me. I was too busy being nervous about hanging out with a girl. I didn't have too long to get my thoughts straightened out before a bright red car pulled up to the ATM behind me.

"Get in!" I hear from behind me. I turn around to see Peyton standing on the outside of the car, the front seat pulled forward to let me in. I smiled and ran over to her, sliding into the back seat. She slid in next to me and her friend, now known to me as Tri, and her mom finished up.

We took off and they made me aware that we were only going to drop her mom off and then we'd go hang out. So I sat quietly, my conversational energy taken away with my breath. I was sitting next to Peyton with only the middle seat between us, less than a week after meeting her. I could do this.

We dropped Tri's mom off and Peyton jumped into the front seat. When she moved away, my confidence came back a little, but it killed me at the same time too. By this point, with the excitement of just being here with a girl two years older than me, in a car with kids, and just with Peyton in general, I knew I'd have fun; I knew I liked Peyton.

Before we drive away, Tri turns around to me and says in a loud, happy voice, "Hi! My name's Katrina. You're the random kid Peyton brought into my car."

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Just a random kid. I'm Danny." She nods, puts the car in drive, and floors the gas pedal.

Peyton turns around in her seat and smiles at me. She leans towards me and my heart skips a beat, but her arms extend downwards and she picks up an oversized book from the floor. When she unzips it, a plethora of CDs is exposed. Her fingers flip through the pages as she discusses what she should put in with Katrina. They decide on a Metro Station CD, which was the new one they had gotten not too long ago.

"We're going to pick up someone else now," Peyton says to me. I shrug and agree, just sitting there quietly. This 'someone else' turns out to be two others and is almost heartbreaking. When we pull up to a house, two guys come out.

Peyton lets one in back next to me and puts her seat back on the other, punching him in the thigh. Katrina yells, "Hey! Just let him and let's go!" Peyton pouts for a second, but agrees and gets out. She pushes the chair forward and shoves her way passed the guy next to me to sit in the middle, right next to me.

I can't breathe. One second, I'm nervous that the guys we picked up are their boyfriends, but the next, I'm nervous that she purposely shoved herself right up against me. I'm confused, but happy. Is this good or bad for me? Should I stop worrying and just be happy?

"To Rue 21!" Peyton yells, punching the guy next to her.

I sit in the back of the small car pushed up against the side quietly. My ears are still filled with conversation, music, and wind blowing in the open windows. The older kids were loud! Luckily, the mall we were going to wasn't very far and we got there in no time.

Once Katrina parked, we all spilled out of the clown car. The two guys, now known as Chris and Chase, were still joking around. They were just friends, so all was well. I followed Peyton silently, making odd comments when I felt the need.

Rue 21 was well lit and colorful. I had been here a few times, but most of the stuff wasn't my style. I didn't think it was Peyton's either, but whatever makes her happy. I was here for her anyway. Though, we weren't looking at regular clothes.

I stopped immediately and acted like I was looking at shirts as soon as I realized that Peyton and Katrina was making a bee-line for the pile of thongs. Is this a date? Thong shopping the first time we hang out? My heart was racing and after a few minutes, I manned up.

I walked over to Peyton and put my hand on the edge of the table, not keeping my eyes in one place to look weird. "Do you like this?" Peyton says, holding a black and white striped pair up and looking at me.

"Ummm...." is all I can get out as my eyes catch on the bow in the middle. I nod and look back to her eyes. I focus on them for a minute to distract me from what she was holding and realizing how deep they were. Just brown, but they were dark and deep. Beautiful eyes.

She smiles and says, "Okay!" Her and Katrina walk to the counter, I myself following quietly behind. I stand and wait with them as they purchase their items. I'm slightly embarrassed, but this sounds like a good thing for me. Maybe this was an in.

When we got back to the car, Tri lets everyone know that she's got homework to do and that she's got to take us home. Chris and Chase whine at her jokingly, which causes Peyton to smash her fist into both their arms. I just nod, still quiet and award.

On the ride back, I look at Peyton's thighs. No, it's not as perverted as it sounds though. I'm being pushed into the side of the car, so I'm quietly checking to see how much room the others have, even though I wouldn't mutter a word if they had more. To my surprise, Peyton is actually leaned towards me. I'm okay with this, so I smile to myself and look back out the window, listening to the rowdy conversations of the others.

I get dropped off first because I'm the closest. I'm not against it, as I'm already kind of tired and ready to get out of the cramped car. Tri takes off quickly, but I don't even get to the door before I get a text from Peyton.

From: Peyton

Thanks for coming. Did you have fun?

To: Peyton

Yeah. Thanks for bringing me.

From: Peyton

Alright. I'ma going to do homework. See ya tomorrow.

[Maikeru D. Shinigami]

Well, things be getting serious.

[Bacon]

I might read this later

[Maikeru D. Shinigami]

You should Bacon, and you should read my stuff.

[Devroux]

Chapter 4: Pre-break

===

Friday morning when I arrived at school, I immediately began scouting for Phil. The night before with Peyton was something I couldn't keep from him, out of respect for our friends and, admittedly, excitement over having been on an alleged date with an older girl.

I walked past a lot of friends, but with my mind set on finding Phil, I gave little more than a greeting to each person I met. To my dissatisfaction though, the bell rang before I was capable of finding him. That meant I'd have to wait until lunch before the possibility of giving him the news would present himself.

I spent the morning going about my classes as usual. Since spring break was about to begin, all the teachers decided to let their classes roam free. People were free to speak with whomever they chose and bathroom breaks were easy to achieve. I bragged to every friend I could about my psuedo-date with Peyton and sadly, they were all pleasantly surprised that I had gone on my first date with someone. As if I couldn't have achieved it with other girls had I decided to try.

Finally, the bell for lunch rang and I was set free to find Phil. While classes were fun, the pent up excitement made it hard for me to focus on other conversations with people. I just felt too good from the night before and wanted to not only tell Phil, but see Peyton again. Lunch would be good.

Walking into the foyer of the skill, the place was filling up fast with students. Books were already scattered across tables and the lunch lines were growing. Luckily, since I rarely ever ate at school, I wouldn't have to deal with such a horrific incident as getting lunch. I was just able to walk over to where Phil and his friends gathered and chill out right away.

When I got to the usual meeting place, the group was still growing. People were getting lunch, including Peyton, but Phil was standing around talking to people. Since she wasn't here yet, it was the perfect time to talk to Phil.

Taking my chance, I walked up to him and with a blank expression, starting rattling off his name. "Phil, Phil, Phil, Phil," I continued to say until he gently placed his hand over my mouth, staring at me. I grab his shoulder and pull him away from the group, turning my face from his hand at the same time.

"What's up?" he asks, acting just as you'd expect the average Phil to act - nonchalant and unworried. He just looked at me with his light smile, waiting patiently for a reply.

"Well..." I began, not really knowing how to say it. Phil was my friend and he liked Peyton, so I was unsure of how he'd take it. I just decided to go for it and started, "I hung out with Peyton last night. We went thong shopping." I smiled innocently at him, waiting for his response.

His light smile turned to an even bigger smiled and to my surprise, he let out a big laugh. "That's hilarious," he tells me. "I didn't even know you guys talked."

I looked at him blankly, shocked. "Well, we didn't. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. You're not mad? I thought you liked her."

"I do, but it's alright. If you want her, go for her. I won't stop you. You may be better for her than I. If I'm meant to be with her, I'll end up being with her."

His overlying tone of not caring settled the situation for me. All my doubts and feelings of regret were, from that point on, expunged. If he didn't care, then I wouldn't. I'd date Peyton.

"Alright," I tell him. "I'm going to see what happens." He smiled at me and we rejoined the group just as Peyton was walking up with her tray of food. She gave me a smile before setting it down and I walked over to her, smiling.

Before I was able to breath a word, she happily asked, "Do you want to hang out again tonight?" She made things easy. I didn't have to say a word, but what I wanted was still going to happen. For some reason though, whenever I happened to be around Peyton, I was at a loss for words.

I spent lunch doing what I'd normally do. I'd hop from group to group and chat with anyone that I could. I interacted with Peyton a little more, but it was only head movements and the bare minimum of words. When lunch ended, I said my goodbyes and went to class as usual.

The rest of the day went by just as easily as the first par had been. I talked with friends, went to the bathroom far more than I had to, and pretty much just enjoyed my day as I was meant to right before going on a long break. All the while, I kept my eye on the clock. Minute by minute, I got closer to hanging out with Peyton.

By the final five minutes of the school day, I had begun to ignore everyone around me, although they were pretty much doing the same thing. Everyone was quietly watching the clock, excitedly waiting for the break to begin. When the minute hand finally hit 3:00 pm, we burst out of the doors and I went looking for Peyton.

[Hidden Ninja45]

Originally Posted by Maikeru D. Shinigami

So, Dev has discovered the joy of writing an entire chapter of a fanfic. Fascinating.

HAHA, When I saw this thread, the first thing I thought was "wow, a lot of people here start new stories a lot without finishing old ones".

Yeah, that post was like a month ago, but so what? I don't keep up with things.

[Maikeru D. Shinigami]

I have so many ideas that I have to write things down before I forget them.

This chapter was short. Okay, but short.

[Devroux]

Originally Posted by Maikeru D. Shinigami

I have so many ideas that I have to write things down before I forget them.

This chapter was short. Okay, but short.

Yeah, I know. I was going to include the night, but I figured I'd just shorten it and bulk everything into the next chapter. It's a short story anyway, so it won't last much longer anyhow.

[Maikeru D. Shinigami]

It's almost over? Shitdamn. How do you do that?

[Devroux]

Originally Posted by Maikeru D. Shinigami

It's almost over? Shitdamn. How do you do that?

It's a short story. Not meant to be long.

[Maikeru D. Shinigami]

They can be short? Shitdamn.

[takuya]

More please?

[Devroux]

Yessir. ASAP. I think I'm going to be "rewriting" the last chapter, but I'll basically just add on to it because it's all one day. I just couldn't decide if I want day and night separate for that one.

[takuya]

Eh, just hurry it up please. I have no life.