Best friends or Enemies?

Chapter One Monday

I escaped algebra as soon as the bell rang. No way was I facing Chad again. Running down the main hall at school my heart beat frantically. I couldn't wait to tell my best friend Kennedy the good news. Her blond hair peeked from behind her locker door and I skidded to a stop almost knocking her over.

“Watch it Phebs,” Kennedy groans righting herself.

“Sorry Kenny, I was just so excited to tell you the good news!” I squeal bouncing on the tips of my toes.

“Tell me later, we have to get to class and you still have your algebra book,” said Kenny slamming her locker shut with a roll of her bright blue crystalline eyes.

“Yeah, sorry,” I whispered opening my locker and exchanging my books before quickly following behind her in my squeaky shoes all thoughts of changing them forgotten.

Although we’re best friends Kennedy has always been the one in charge. She was built to be the leader since we met in pre-k.

I was just plain old Phoebe Mathers a follower who stuck to her like glue. I wasn’t the prettiest with my mousy features and the eyesight of an elderly woman. My large glasses hid most of my face and my hair was a mass of stray curls that never seemed to flow right. Even my teeth needed fixing and the braces seemed to be taking forever to work.

“Why do you smell like mildew?” Kenny asked when we sat down in chemistry class.

“I stepped in a puddle this morning. My shoes and pants are soaked,” I explained.

“Gross,” she said wrinkling her button nose.

“Yeah, tell me about it. I meant to change my shoes at my locker.”

“That would've been a good idea,” she agreed.

“I know but I was so excited to tell you what happened I forgot.”

“Tell me after class, Mr. Hottie just walked in and you know I've got to give him my full attention,” Kenny teased l*****g her lips and winking at me.

Our new chemistry teacher was a young handsome bachelor with dark hair and bright blue eyes. His body was tall and toned, and all the girls lusted after him.

“I'd like to take a bite out of those lips,” Kenny whispered as she stared at his perfect luscious lips that any woman would be jealous of.

“I'm sure you would,” I laughed nudging her with my elbow.

“Would you girls like to share with the class?” Mr. Jones asked his eyes landing on our table.

My face flushed and I lowered my head hiding in my embarrassment where Kenny was unashamed of having been caught and met his eyes with confidence.

“I'm sorry Mr. Jones, I was just saying how much I love your class,” Kenny said smoothly a brilliant smile on her pink lips.

“Care to explain why?” He asked taking a step closer.

“Oh, because you teach it of course,” Kenny replied and I sunk lower in my chair.

She really knew how to make a scene.

“That's quite enough for today Miss Smith,” Mr. Jones said cutting off her flirty banter and returning to the front of the room.

The rest of class goes by in a blur of test tubes and science-y things I've never understood. Looking at us you would never expect Kenny to be the smart one and me to just be well average when it came to grades but that's exactly how it was. Kenny was the star student, she had never got lower than an A in anything while I struggled to make a C.

“Kenny, I’m so failing the exam on Thursday,” I pouted.

We were walking to our lockers before heading to gym class and I was dreading it.

“You're not going to fail, well study Wednesday night at my house, and I will make sure you're ready like always,” she replied flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“This is why you're my best friend,” I joked.

She was the best tutor and boy did I need a lot of tutoring.

“Like that's the only reason,” Kenny laughed stopping in front of our lockers.

“Only one of many,” I agreed.

I remembered shoved all my books into my locker and shut it turning to face my bestie.

“Why the sour face?” she asked.

“You know I'm not a fan of gym class,” I said sticking my tongue out.

“It's not that bad, you didn't even trip when you were running on Friday,” she giggled.

I couldn't run in a straight line if my life depended on it. I had not been blessed with any athleticism.

“Oh so I don't fall once and now I'm a track star?” I groaned sarcastically.

“Yea right,” Kenny started laughing. “We're going to be late, come on.”

The gym was downstairs on the back side of the school and we had to walk down the main hall to get to it. The hall was always crowded and Kennedy slipped her arm through mine to keep me next to her. She maneuvered through the student body way easier than I could with her long legs and conscience and I couldn't help but admire my best friend. She could make anything look graceful.

Teaching the states she let my arm go and I grabbed the handrail. Looking down I checked my shoelaces and began taking the steps one at a time. Falling down them one freshman year was enough for me to never want to do it again.

“The steps still have you paranoid huh?” Dean said from behind me and I jumped almost losing my footing.

“Don’t scare me like that,” I yelled holding my hand over my heart and swatting at him.

Dean was in my gym class and he was friends with Chad and Kennedy. We had never really been friends but we often ran in the same circle so we managed to get along.

“Whoa there you don't have to go all kung fu ninja on me,” he laughed holding his hands up in mock surrender.

I finished making my way down the stairs and caught up to Kennedy by the water fountain. One of her cheer team friends Mikayla was with her. Dean was right behind me and scooped Mikayla into a hug. They had been dating for a few months and were inseparable.

“See you inside,” Kenny told Mikayla leading me away from the two. We never stuck around to watch them suck face.

As we got closer to the gym doors the noise from the students already inside grew louder. Laughing could be heard along with the sound of balls bouncing and feet running on the wood floors.

Kennedy pulled the door open and walked inside. I went to follow and someone yelled duck. My brain took forever to register what they mean and a basketball smacked me right in the face sending me falling backward onto the hard floor.

“Sorry,” someone yelled but I couldn't make out the voice.

“Is she okay?” Someone else asked as I struggled to clear my head.

My eyes were fuzzy and my head spun as I sat on the floor. My glasses were knocked away and even without the fuzziness I knew I wouldn't be seeing clearly.

“Phebs, hey Phebs, can you hear me?” Kenny asked waving her hand in front of my face.

Her hand came into focus as much as it was going to and I could see her worried face hovering inches away.

“Yeah, I can hear you, do you see my glasses?” I answered while asking my own question and blinking the fog away.

“Yeah, they're broke,” she said handing me the bent frames and broken lens.

“We should probably get you to the nurse's office,” she said bending down and helping lift me to my feet.

“Good idea,” I groaned.

I stood still until my vision cleared again and saw Chad walking toward us.

“What happened?” he asked.

“She got hit in the face with a basketball,” Kennedy told him.

“Lucky me,” I chuckled trying not to look directly at him.

I had almost forgotten he had health class next door. I just had to get hit in the face.

“Here Kenny, let me take her, no way can she walk up steps when she's swaying just standing here,” Chad said reaching to tug me away from Kennedy.

I looked at my best friend and swear I saw her roll her eyes before she covered it with a smile.

“Yeah, you're probably right,” Kennedy agreed.

Chad slipped his arm behind my back and then the other slipped beneath my legs lifting me into his arms bridal style. I'm sure my face became a deeper shade of red. Hopefully, the redness from the basketball injury hid it.

“Put your arms around my neck and hold on,” Chad instructed walking back toward the stairs.

I did as he said and leaned against his chest enjoying the way his warmth felt. He was like a knight in shining armor and he was my knight.

The nurse's office was near the front entrance so he had to carry me for a while and I began to wiggle in his grasp.

“Stop wiggling so much Phoebe,” he groaned.

“Oops sorry,” I yelped burying my face in his chest.

“It's okay, I didn't want to drop you though,” He said.

“Thanks, I don't want to be dropped either,” I told him refraining from wiggling anymore.

We made it to the nurse's office and he knocked on the door. The nurse answered taking in Chad holding me in his arms and ushered us inside.

“Place her on the bed,” She instructed.

Chad placed me down and I felt cold the second he stepped away.

“What happened this time?” She asked shining her little light in my eyes.

“A basketball hit her in the face,” Chad replied answering for me.

“Did she lose consciousness?” She questioned while continuing her exam.

“Not that I know of,” He said.

“I didn't,” I cut in.

“I'm going to give you some Tylenol and monitor you until lunch, your vitals seem normal however that doesn't mean you don't have a concussion. Keep this ice pack on and hopefully, the swelling will go down,” she explained passing me a cloth-wrapped ice pack and a packet of Tylenol.

She walked to the sink filling a small cup with water before returning to hand it to me and I took it quickly swallowing a gulp with my Tylenol.

I placed the ice pack on my face and winced when I felt the sting of pain.

“You can return to class, Mr. Hart,” the nurse said returning to her desk.

“Actually can I stay with her?” Chad asked.

“I suppose so,” she sighed turning away from us.

“I was expecting a no,” Chad mouthed facing me.

I couldn't help giggling. He hopped up on the bed beside me his arm brushing mine at his proximity.

The rest of the period went by quickly and soon the bell rang. The nurse approached me and removed the ice pack. Checking me over again she decided I was good to go.

I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror as I exited the room and boy did I look rough. My nose was still swollen and a little bit of blood was on my upper lip. Beneath my eyes had purple rings and I wished Chad hadn't stayed to see me like this.

“I'm going to pop into the bathroom real quick,” I said as we reached the restrooms.

“Okay, I'll be here,” he told me.

I looked much worse up close where I could actually see myself a little more clearly. I pulled some paper towels from the dispenser and got them wet wiping the blood stains away and then splashing my face to get rid of the sheen that had arisen. The purple marks remained and the swelling didn't change but getting rid of the blood helped.

Kennedy was next to Chad when I came out of the bathroom and when her eyes met mine I was worried she was angry with me.

“How are you feeling Phebs?” Kennedy asked as I closed the distance between us.

“Sore,” I answered.

“I bet, you look horrible,” She said giving me a small smile.

“That bad huh?” I laughed trying not to cry.

“It's not that bad Pheobe, your always beautiful,” Chad commented making me blush.

“Thanks,” I said and hear Kenny scoff.

Why was she acting so weird?

“I've got to detour to my locker and get my spare glasses I can't see anything,” I said changing the subject and walking away.

I heard footsteps behind me before Kennedy said anything.

“So what's going on with you and Chad?” She asked.

“Oh, that, it's what I've been trying to tell you all day,” I whispered hoping he wouldn't hear.

“And?”

“He asked me out this morning, we have a date Friday night,” I squealed.

“Really?” she asked her voice incredulous.

“Yes really, is it so hard to believe?” I question feeling even more self-conscious.

“I didn't mean it like that. You two are just so different and you don't look like his exes,” Kennedy explained.

She was right his exes were all tall, beautiful, and well they looked like Kenny.

“I guess you're right,” I whispered stopping by my locker.

“I'm going to head back to the cafeteria, see you there, yeah?” She asked.

“Yeah, see you there.”

I didn't really want to go to the cafeteria after that. What if everyone thought it was weird for Chad to like me? Heck, I thought it was weird.

I grab the spare pair of glasses from my locker and slip them on adjusting to the slight difference between them and my new ones. These ones weren't as strong. My vision was still kind of blurry even with them on.

I walked toward the cafeteria my mind running a million miles an hour with all the negative thoughts that seemed to come from nowhere. How would I ever compare when I was average?

I entered the cafeteria and spotted my friends. My heart plummeted. Kennedy was sitting almost on top of Chad. Her arm was draped around his shoulder and her lips whispered into his ear making him laugh.

Kennedy's eyes met mine and she smiled.

I knew I looked like a deer in headlights standing there watching them. So I turned and ran away. My next class was art and neither of them took art. It was the one thing I was good at and my one escape.

I dived inside the art room hiding behind a canvas and painting until my hands ached. The school bell rang signaling the end of another period and the start of the next class and I ignored it focusing on the canvas in front of me. No one spoke to me and I liked it that way. So what if I skipped my last two classes it's not like I was missed.

When the last bell rang I placed my brush down staring at my artwork. On the canvas was my heart dripping with blood and torn to shreds the same way it felt inside my chest right now.