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~Chapter Three of Junior High Love Story!!~



10:00 PM Tuesday, February 11th
“AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!” I screamed in despair as I threw out the last dress in my closet. No good outfits for the prom. I needed to buy one. But where?
I kicked my useless dresses into the corner of my room and flopped onto my bed. Dane had called at 6. Now it was 10. I had been searching for the perfect outfit for 4 hours. But no luck… I closed my eyes and dreamed about the perfect dress. Pink? No… What about a large gown? Nah, too Elizabethan…
Ping! My eyes fluttered open as the perfect outfit began to form in my mind. My dress would be black, strapless, and knee-high. My hair would be up in a bun with little pieces of hair flowing down by my ears, with my mom’s silver clip embedded with diamonds holding it all up together! And, I would wear my black choker with the blue sapphire in it that Grandma gave to me last summer, and with my brand new black high heels! I giggled thinking about how Dane would react if he saw me in that… And with that, my eyes slowly shut and I drifted off to sleep…
The next morning I ran to bus stop with toast in my mouth. I was still sleepy from last night’s perfect-outfit-hunt and was running late so I had to get breakfast on the go. Upon arriving there, I saw that the bus was about to leave. I waved frantically and yelled but, having toast in my mouth, my yell was sort of muffled. Finally, the bus driver waved back to let me know he saw me. I rushed onto the steps and said a muffled ‘hello’ to Mr. Toshita, our school’s Japanese bus driver, and walked on down the aisle.
Then came the problem. Dane and Tanner were already there and they were sitting across the row from each other. Tanner waved at me to sit next to him but Dane waved too. The world seemed to stop. I didn’t know which one to choose. Tanner or Dane? If I picked Dane, then Tanner might not be my friend anymore and I would be lonely. On the other hand, if I picked Tanner, then Dane might want to cancel the prom. I don’t know what happened. I just walked up to them, and sat next to Dane. I could see the triumph in his eyes as he stared at Tanner in a mocking way. I wasn’t looking at Tanner but I could sense his shock. I don’t know what had just happened. What was wrong with me?!
During the drive, Dane kept on asking me stuff, but I wasn’t listening. I was just staring at the seat in front of me…thinking about what I had just done. Finally, Dane gave up. But just to get on Tanner’s nerves, I guess, he put his arm around me and tilted me so I leaned on him. I could feel Tanner’s eyes piercing through me as he stared at us silently.
Finally, we drove up to school and I slowly descended the steps.
Dane just laughed and said “Feeling grumpy today, Jamie?” I didn’t answer. After a moment’s silence he inquired “Are you okay?”
When I didn’t answer at him, he looked at his watch and said “Well, look at the time, I gotta go!” and he rushed off.
Feeling guilty about what I did on the bus, I started walking to my first period class. I took small step by small step, going by a tiny pace, inching foot by foot. I stumbled into my homeroom class and sat in my usual seat. Hoping Tanner would forgive me, I started planning what I would say. But after the bell rang, And Tanner didn’t show up in his seat, I looked carefully around the room. There he was. Sitting in the front. Was he avoiding me?
I didn’t do much in homeroom. I was thinking about how I should apologize to Tanner, and that I was truly, sincerely sorry. I was just about ready to march up to him and set things straight when the bell rang for second period. I sighed. I gathered up my books and walked out.
I couldn’t find Tanner so I just started walking to Algebra class. I looked up into the clear blue skies and thought about what I would do to solve this problem. I wasn’t watching when I tripped on the top of the stairs by the Drama Club.
My arms flailed and I could feel myself dropping down. I squeezed my eyes shut but I couldn’t scream. I thought this would be the punishment for hurting Tanner when all of the sudden, I was caught. I let out a loud ‘OOF!’ as the arm wrapped itself around my stomach. I was saved. I collapsed on the floor and turned to see who it was but no one was there. Suddenly, in the corner of my eye, I saw one person walking away. It was Tanner. He had saved me from falling off the stairs and he had left without saying an “Are you okay?” That’s not like him! My heart started aching as I clutched the plastic heart on my neck. I felt this big pain inside of me but, why?
I hurried to Algebra because I was MAJORLY late. As I burst into the classroom out of breath, everyone turned to look at me. I gasped out a ‘sorry’ for disturbing the class. I slipped off my backpack and walked inside. Seeing that Tanner was not in his seat next to me in the back, I turned to see where he was. He was in the very last row, busy doing his Algebra assignment. I zigzagged through the maze of desks and plopped down next to him. He didn’t turn my way and say ‘hey’ like always. He just continued working out the problems. Seeing that he wouldn’t talk, I wrote him a note:

Dear Tanner,
I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not sitting next to you on the bus. But when you saved me from falling off the stairs, why did you have to walk away without saying anything? Why? Am I an invisible little ghosty? I’m going to haunt your little soul forever!!

Jamie

I put a little humorous sentence at the end, but when he unfolded it and read it, he didn’t laugh. He merely wrote down his reply. I grasped the plastic heart again. I was still hurting inside. Then I saw Tanner fold the slip of paper and set it on my lap. I opened it and read:

Dear Jamie,
I’m sorry, but I can’t forgive you. Why do you like Dane so much anyway? He’s gonna stab you in the back one day and when he does, I can’t save you from him. Especially if you’ve fallen for him already…

Tanner

As I read this, my heart would have broken in two. He can’t forgive me? I felt the tears pricking at my eyes. When I rubbed them away, I heard Tanner look my way. He knew I was crying. I tried to stop the flow but my emotions were streaming out before me. He looked away as I slowly wrote my reply.
As each and every tear slid down my face, it decorated the note with little droplets of water. When I was about to slip it into his desk, he looked back at me. I looked up into his eyes. They were no longer the soft sincere eyes that I knew so well. These were faded, clouded-up eyes. The eyes of a stranger. This was not the Tanner I knew.
Through the hypnotic eye-contact, the bell rang. I tore my eyes away from his, threw the note at him, and turned away. I rushed to get my things and I hurried out of the classroom. I couldn’t look into his sad grey eyes any longer. I blinked as another tear made it down my cheek.
My hair flew out behind me as I ran to Science. I shook my head over and over again, still not believing that Tanner couldn’t forgive me. Then I tripped over a water bottle that was probably there months ago, and fell to the ground. My stuff lay scattered around me. I gathered up my stuff. As I was double-checking to make sure I didn’t forget anything, I just remembered something. My hand shot up to my neck. The plastic heart was gone. Did it fall off? Dropping to my knees and searching on the ground again, I frantically looked for it when a hand holding the plastic heart appeared in front of me. I looked up to see who it was and saw Tanner. He was still the same person, but his eyes were still cloudy. I reached for it but before I could get it, he pushed me against the wall. I was shocked.
“Jamie, will you go to the prom with me?” he asked.
I could see the pleading look in his eyes, but as much as I wanted to say yes, I cautiously said, “No…I’m sorry. Dane asked me-”
His eyes shot back to its normal color. He punched the wall. “Why do you always have to be with him?! Why?!”
I was getting angry now. I couldn’t take it any longer. I slapped him. As hard as I could. Yeah, I know it was a stupid thing, but I did. His face was struck back and when it turned back to me, his left cheek was red. His eyes were even cloudier than before and he let his hand drop. He backed away letting the plastic heart slip from his hands. It clattered on the tiles of the floor. As he turned to let his back face me, two tiny tears glistened from his eyes. He ran away. All the way to class without once looking back. I was left there alone…
I suddenly realized why I slapped him. It was to hide the fact that I loved him. Yes, I loved Tanner. I just didn’t know it then. I hid the fact from myself when I thought I liked Dane. But now it didn’t matter because I had broken Tanner’s heart. What had I done?
I picked up the plastic heart. It had a large crack down the middle of it. That was how it was. Our friendship and love was broken apart…