It's Not Always Easy
1953 Words
As Diane and Abby walked into Mrs. Walker's psychology class, it appeared to be a normal Tuesday morning. The girls sat side by side in the right front corner of the room. Mrs. Walker put them in the front because she thought they wouldn't talk so much.
Everyone makes mistakes – even teachers! Actually, Mrs. Walker could have put them on opposite sides of the room and taken away their cell phones and they still would have communicated by using sign language.
The bell to start class echoed through the school. Diane and Abby were having such an involved conversation with two of their classmates, Matthew and Mike, that they didn't see the new student walk into the room.
After speaking with Mrs. Walker, he took an empty seat two rows away from the girls. They finally noticed him when Mrs. Walker hit Mike's desk with a yardstick, causing everyone to stop talking and look around the room to see what had caused the startling noise.
The stranger glanced in the general direction of the girls. One can only imagine what was going through their minds when they saw that he resembled a popular teen movie actor.
Diane wrote C-U-T-E in her notebook and showed it to Abby.
"I'll find out his name and digits," whispered Abby.
"Not before I find them out," Diane whispered back.
"If you two don't terminate this conversation, you'll have plenty of time to discuss your findings after school," interrupted Mrs. Walker.
When the bell to end class rang, Diane and Abby were ready to pounce on the new student. Mike and Matthew figured out the girls' intentions so they detained the girls on purpose.
Mike took Diane's psychology textbook and Matthew grabbed Abby's phone. They threw the items back and forth forcing the girls to play monkey in the middle trying to retrieve their belongings.
While this commotion went on, the new student slipped out of the class as unnoticed as he had come in fifty minutes earlier. By the time the girls recovered their stuff, it was too late.
The guys thought the whole thing was quite humorous. They could barely control their laughter as they walked down the corridor toward their next class. However, the girls were not amused.
"Boys can be so immature," declared Abby.
"No kidding. I don't even know why we put up with those two," answered Diane. "The one day we want to get out of class quickly and they hold us up."
"I bet they did it on purpose."
"Definitely," Diane agreed. "I guess it was sort of funny with the silly faces they made while they were trying so hard to catch my psychology book when the papers almost fell out of it."
"They were a little funny." Abby smiled. "But don't tell them that."
"Of course not," her best friend agreed.
"Back on track...we still haven't talked to the new kid. I suppose life isn't always easy."
"Abby, you're sounding so philosophical ever since we've been taking this psychology class."
"Shut up!" Abby said with a laugh. "We're still going to the mall tonight, right?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Diane promised.
On Wednesday, psychology class was the last period of the day. Diane and Abby had decided the night before at the mall that they wouldn't let the guys get in their way this time when it came to meeting the new kid.
It wasn't like the girls couldn't get dates and had to rely on the attention of someone who didn't even know them yet. In fact, each had broken the heart of a young man or two. They just enjoyed an interesting challenge.
When class began, Mrs. Walker spoke first to the new student. "Jack, let's try you sitting over there today," she said pointing to the empty desk directly behind Diane. As Jack moved to his new assigned location, Abby and Diane exchanged glances. The newcomer's name had been revealed.
While Mrs. Walker wrote on the board and explained the three Freudian divisions of personality, Diane turned around and introduced herself.
"Jack St. Pierre," he told her.
"When did you move here?" Diane asked.
"I'm not new to the area, I used to go to St. Mary's. I just got sick of Catholic school and decided it was time for a change. Here I am."
Diane got right to her point. "Do you want to see a movie on Friday night?"
Jack smiled. "Sure! Sounds great."
Mrs. Walker gave Diane one of her trademarked stern teacher looks. "We'll talk after school," Diane whispered and turned back to her note taking.
It was Abby who talked to Jack St. Pierre after school. Diane had forgotten her geometry book earlier in the day so she was on the receiving end of a lecture on responsibility from her overbearing math teacher.
After dinner that night, Abby went to Diane's house to "study" as she often did. They always intended to study, but they ended up sitting on the couch engrossed in long, involved conversations. That was understandable since best friends tend to share even the most minute details of their lives with each other.
Diane beamed with pride. "Jack and I are going to the movies on Friday night!"
"You're wrong," Abby told her friend with a surprised tone. "Jack and I have plans – we're going to a concert on Friday night."
"What are you talking about? I asked him about the movie during psychology class today."
"Too bad, I asked him about the concert after school at his locker."
"That means I asked him first," Diane said over-emphasizing the words to add an air of authority.
"Well, when he got my invitation, he obviously changed his mind. He can see when a better offer comes along," Abby replied with a smug look on her face as she leaned back against the arm of the couch.
"Better offer?" Diane laughed and talked at the same time, "Assuming you're telling the truth, the only reason he would ever agree to go out with you is if he felt bad for you."
"And let me guess, when you asked him in psychology class, he was blinded by your beauty," Abby said sarcastically. "Wait, maybe he was just blind."
Diane couldn't believe her friend would say that. Abby knew how sensitive Diane was about her looks. "Oh, no you didn't, girl," Diane said standing up and putting her hand on her hip.
Abby rose from the couch and mirrored her friend's body language. "I did. And I will. With Jack. At the concert. While you stay home alone."
"I have better things to do than waste time with you, like go shopping for a new outfit for my date with Jack." Diane gestured towards the door. "Get out!"
"Excuse me?" asked an astonished Abby.
"Should I speak more slowly?" Diane took a deep breath. "G-E-T O-U-T."
"Fine! We'll settle this tomorrow in class with Jack." Abby gathered her school books and slammed the door dramatically when she left.
On Thursday afternoon, the girls walked into psychology class without even acknowledging each other's presence. It was obvious, even to a casual observer, that something was wrong.
Mrs. Walker wondered what was going on, especially when she noticed Matthew and Mike give each other the thumbs-up signal and smile. Just then, another teacher knocked on the door. With Mrs. Walker busy talking to her colleague, the girls had their chance to close in on Jack.
Abby and Diane stood in front of Jack's desk, each trying to block the other's view of him. Abby started, using a phony sweet voice saying, "Jack, dear, will you please tell Diane that we are going to a concert on Friday night?"
Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Diane interrupted with, "Jack, honey, will you please tell her..." She glanced at her former best friend, not even wanting to say her name aloud. "Tell HER that we are going to the movies together on Friday night."
Jack sighed and began apprehensively, "I'm sorry, ladies. I'm not going anywhere with either of you. It was a test."
Diane was turning red. "I'll give you a test, you creep. I wonder how well you can breathe with my fist permanently attached to your face." Diane clenched her fist and held it up to reinforce her point.
Abby could feel the muscles in her neck tightening. "Listen, you little weasel. You made two dates for the same night and now you're trying to get out of a bad situation. Make your choice."
Jack sat up straight while mumbling something to himself about good posture. It was nothing more than an excuse to back an extra inch or two away from Diane's fist which seemed ready to pop him at any moment. "I'm sorry, girls. Let me explain. I've known Mike and Matthew since kindergarten. We went to school together then."
"What do they have to do with this?" Abby asked while rapidly tapping her nails on Jack's desk.
Jack continued, "When they found out I was transferring to this high school, they said they wanted to play a joke on both of you. Matthew said that the two of you had a discussion with him and Mike about friendship a couple weeks ago. The debate was about who is more loyal – guys who are friends or girls who are friends."
"I remember that talk," Diane told him.
"Me too," Abby confirmed.
Jack went on, "So anyway, Mike said that you girls were absolutely positive that you were better friends than him and Matthew. They simply wanted to prove that contrary to what you might think, when life throws these situations at you, it's not always easy."
Jack gulped and continued, "I'm really sorry. I can see that I ruined your friendship playing their stupid game. I hope you two will get over it and maybe someday we can all be friends."
The girls looked over at Mike and Matthew who were sitting in their seats staring straight ahead with their hands folded on their desks.
"They look so angelic," Diane observed.
"More like fallen angels if you ask me," Abby joked.
Mrs. Walker finished her conversation with the other teacher and came back into the classroom. She told the girls to sit down and announced it was time to put away all papers as she was going to pass out the tests on Freudian psychoanalysis.
"Oh, no, the test...I forgot," Abby said.
"Me too! I was so involved with this stupid Jack problem," Diane agreed.
Abby and Diane looked at each other. They both laughed when they realized how foolishly they had been acting. Abby tried to sound uncaring about the test. "Well, I think we learned a more valuable lesson than if we had studied this psychoanalysis stuff anyway. I'm sorry," she told Diane.
"So am I," Diane admitted.
"Friends?"
"Forever!"
The class took the test and it turned out to be pretty simple. After the test, there was some extra time in which Mrs. Walker allowed the students to talk quietly.
Diane turned to Abby and said so only Abby could hear, "I've got a great idea, but we'll have to clear it with Laurie first. I'll tell Mike that Laurie likes him, but she doesn't want to say anything because she knows that Matthew likes her."
Abby smiled. She was impressed. "You're a genius! And I'll tell Matthew that Laurie likes him, but she doesn't want to say anything because she knows that Mike likes her."
"Exactly!" Diane confirmed.
Abby summed up the goal perfectly. "Hey, the boys have to learn that when it comes to friendship – it's not always easy."
- Writer
