Story: A Life Like This (ch. 1)

Since I already told you I was writing a story, I decided to post it. I'll be posting it in this world just because. :d
The story is about Rick, Dare, and Tim. Chapters are written in each of their point of views. Tim starts it off.
...Uh... that little poem thing in the beginning is something random. It has the title in it. So there. Okay, here. Yeah.

Warning: there is cursing. (Not that it's really a shocker to most of you when people curse...)

***

It's not really a story,
It's mostly just thoughts.
Life doesn't really
Have much of a plot.
I live how I want to
With only one wish.
When you're happy, I'm happy
In a life like this.

Ch. 1
8th Grade
Timothy

Even from the beginning, I've never really had many close friends. I didn't know anyone who liked the same music as me, the same movies as me, the same whatever. Hang-outs? Nope. Sharing secrets? Out of the picture. Honestly, I didn't really care to have a social life. But I could fake it pretty good.

Back in elementary school, I hung out with the same group of kids that I do now. They were different back then, though; I understood them. They talked about things I wanted to talk about. They laughed at things I’d laugh at. But when we reached middle school, it all changed. Suddenly, it became cool to date. Suddenly, cussing was “in” and perverted jokes were hilarious. Suddenly, I didn’t know the people I hung out with.

Obviously the problem was me: I didn’t act like them. They were all I had, so I had to change… or at least fake it. And honestly, it wasn’t hard. All I needed to do to stay in their “posse” was laugh at their lame-ass jokes, listen to their pop music, dress in their overpriced clothes, etc etc… I passed myself off as one of them in no time. Even though we had next to nothing in common, I was “in.”

My “friends” are what you would call the “cool kids.” Or preps. Whichever term you prefer. You know who they are: the kids who always look like they’re having a good time, chillin’ and whatnot. That’s the group I got sucked into. I never intended to be popular, it just happened. You are who you hang out with, apparently.

The school day started with its usual ordinance: I arrived 5 minutes before class started. Mom never drove me, so I walked to school. This won’t be a problem when I get my license… unfortunately, that won’t be for a few years.
I breezed through the hallways and made my way to my locker. As I fiddled with the lock on my locker, someone hollered from behind me.

“Heeey, Tim! What’s up, bro?”

“Not much, Jake,” I replied while pulling my binders from my locker.

Jake was the coolest kid in the school. Well, as cool as a 13-year-old boy could get. His rowdy attitude and skater boy style made him popular, especially with girls.

“’cept Mrs. Kelby’s giving a quiz today. So I’ve got that to look forward to,” I continued.

Jake leaned casually on the locker adjacent to mine. “Ah, that little bitch. Sucks for you, man!” He patted me sympathetically on the shoulder. I guess that topic bored him, because he took a turn on the conversation and said, “Yo, you’ve got another thing to look forward to. I heard Clair’s thinking of asking you out.”

My locker door clattered violently as I shut it. “Are you serious?” I asked and shifted my green eyes toward him. Clair was like, the hottest girl in the 8th grade. Supposedly. She hung around me a lot, but I never imagined she’d be so forward.

“Hell yeah, I’m serious!” Jake whooped. That boy had so much energy in him. “Damn, Tim. You’re one lucky boy.”

Just then, the one-minute warning bell rang overhead. “Shit… I gotta get to class. See you later,” he said.

“Yeah, later,” I shot back. I doubt he heard me though; he was already halfway down the hallway, sprinting.

I pulled anxiously on a piece of curly red hair hanging in front of my eyes.

Clair wants to ask me out?

***

I made it to my classroom about thirty seconds before the late bell rang. Even thirty seconds before school started, the room bustled with energy. I took my seat while the English teacher Mrs. Kelby wrote directions for her quiz on the blackboard. I sounded upset earlier, but the quiz didn’t concern me much; English class was a cinch. So instead of listening to Mrs. Kelby, I focused my attention on doodling on a scrap piece of paper.

“Don’t sweat it, Rick. You’ll be fine,” I heard someone say.

My vision shifted over to the area the voice came from.

“Easy for you to say, Dare,” groaned the one named Rick. He adjusted the red hat on his blond hair slightly. “You actually get this stuff.”

“It’s not that hard, you just have to find the verb in the sentence first, which makes it easy to find the subject,” lectured Dare while gesticulating rapidly. Assumedly, they were talking about the English quiz we were about to take.

I grinned to myself. To me, those two genuinely looked like real friends. As strange as it sounds, I’ve always kind of admired their friendship. Rick and Dare had been friends since the 4th grade. They eat lunch together pretty much every day, and I always see them together in the hallways. I’ve talked to Dare a couple times; He got along well with everyone, mostly because of his happy-go-lucky and energetic personality. I don’t think I’ve talked to Rick, though. He seemed a bit shy. Now that I think of it, Dare may be his only friend.

The bell rang, and students gradually drifted back into their seats. Mrs. Kelby passed the quiz down the aisles.

As expected, the quiz was a cinch.

***

Clair was standing by the doorway as I exited Mrs. Kelby’s classroom.

“Hi, Tim,” she smiled, and brushed her fingers through her wavy blonde hair. “Can we go talk somewhere? I have something to ask you.”

I shrugged, and followed her down the hall. When we reached our destination, she cleared her throat nervously and adjusted her white-and-pink American Eagle t-shirt.

Clair wasn’t labeled the hottest girl in the 8th grade without reason; for a 13 year old, she had a pretty shapely body. She wore a black rose hairpin in her light, sandy hair. On her long legs was a jean mini skirt with a white belt across the top, while her feet were dressed in pink sandals with two-inch heels.

“Tim,” she started, “I really like you...” She gave me her sweetest smile. “Will you go out with me?”

Looks like Jake heard right.

I wasn’t one for dating. Personally, I thought it was a little stupid because everyone knows nothing serious happens in middle school relationships. Plus, it seemed like too much of a hassle. There’s too much drama involved and too much time wasted. I seriously didn’t need that in my life. And why was Clair asking me this? I barely knew her. We talked sometimes, if you would call it that. Mostly she did all the talking.

Before I could even think of a reason to say yes, I found myself nodding.

“Of course.”

***

Next chapter: [Click]

End