If Only

Tracey

8-Tracey

She was mad at me. She wouldn't talk to me unless it was important. She stopped playing football and avoided coming swimming with us.

And I missed her. She may have been annoying, but I could feel the difference without her little remarks and teasing.

A month after that trip, when the snow began to melt and winter began to fade into chirping birds and small flowers, Jared invited the whole class to a party. It was his sixteenth, and it was wild.

"Here," said Jared pressing a drink into my hand.

"What is it?"

"Beer," he said. I hesitated at first. I had only tried beer once before from Haze's dad's mini fridge and it wasn't pleasant. The smell was revolting and we chucked the can away after one sip. But Jared was watching and waiting, so I gulped the can down.

"Hey, I want you to meet some people," he said, with a smile. He lead me to the front lawn, with unfamiliar people.

"They're from Gennady," Gennady was a school nearby, which was a lot bigger than our local school. And the students there were more experienced in partying, drinking and other stuff.

"Wassup, man?" asked an older an with a hint of a beard.

"S'all good. This is Josh, Josh, that's James,"

I nodded at him and soon they were talking about something I wasn't part of. Haze was somewhere in the party with a girl he liked, and I didn't want to interrupt him making any progress. Suddenly I wanted Hannah there, making fun of some of the girls' dresses or overly done makeup.

"Hey," I heard someone. I turned to see a beautiful girl. She was the kind you would see on hair adverts, the kind that barely wear much makeup but looked stunning. All my thoughts of Hannah were replaced by this girl.

"Hey," I smirked back. "I'm Josh,"

"Tracey, " she smiled. "So how do you know Jared?"

I shrugged. "Classmates. You?"

"I dated him a few months back,"

I couldn't imagine her dating Jared and then being dumped by him. She just wasn't the type to let someone play her.

"Did you dump him?"

"How did you guess?" she smiled back. And soon, Tracey became my girlfriend.