My fingers are touching the cold metal of my combination lock. I need it open to get my math books for my next class. I am surrounded by my fellow students here at Lion Hills High School (LHHS). I glance away from my locker to look at them for a second. Everyone but me is wearing shorts. I don't wear shorts to school because they reveal my fat thighs. My friends tell me I'm skinny even though I weigh like 120 lbs. Anyway, it's also the middle of June. My first year of high school is almost over.

Ah ha, my locker is finally open. I pick up my books and turn to my mirror. In the mirror, I look past my wavy light brown hair and light blue eyes, past my look of disgust to the dry flakes that are always present on my face. I hate dry skin. I close my locker and turn around. Standing in front of me is my best friend at LHHS. I am surprised that I hadn't noticed him standing behind me at 6 ft 2"; he is exactly a foot taller than I am.

He looks nervous. "Hey Hermione, you know we've been friends since we met and... do you want to be my girlfriend?" Oh my god! What should I say to that? We've been friends since school started in September. I don't think of him that way! But if I say no, it might ruin our friendship. What am I supposed to do? "Uhhhhh...." I'm so lost in my thoughts that I lose conscious control over my mouth. "Kkkkaaaayyyyy," Oops! "Great, uh oh I'm going to be late for class," he says while looking at his watch. Uh oh is right.

Two weeks later:
I'm about to paint my toenails in the bathroom of my camp cabin when I hear: "Ash, Ron's here to see you." I abandon the toe painting, "coming Ginny." I arrive on the porch and see Ron waiting for me on the porch swing. My stomach can't help but flutter. He smiles, "hey." I sit down next to him. Our hands are almost touching. I can feel the sparks emanating off him. He turns towards me. His turquoise eyes looking deep into mine. I can't help but stare. In fact, I'm so lost in his eyes that I don't hear him when he starts talking but the following words brought me right back down to earth. "... I love you. Will you be my girlfriend?" At this, I completely forget everything: Harry, my boyfriend; Ginny, my best friend; my own name... All I know is that he loves me. I say yes immediately, without even thinking.

Later that night, I'm curled up into a ball, nearly sobbing on my half of the bunk bed when Ginny finds me. She had been heading to the top bunk when she saw me and immediately stopped. "Ash? Are you okay?" She crawls onto my bed. I don't move. "What happened?" I uncurl myself and start talking, "There's this guy at school, he asked me to be his girlfriend, I said yes." My words become incoherent, "Ron...me... girlfriend..." "What, you have two boyfriends?" she asked, unsure. I am unable to say a word so I nod.

When I've calmed down, a few minutes later, I start explaining everything. Ginny wants to be a psychiatrist one day and is smart. I know I can trust her. "Well, Harry asked me to be his girlfriend and I was afraid that he wouldn't want to be friends anymore if I said no. I said yes by accident and then..." Ginny interrupts me. "Who's Harry?" I reply, "Harry is my boyfriend. He was new at LHHS and since you changed schools, I figured I could use another friend and we got very close. He's tall, funny and he has very short hair. I don't want to ruin our friendship."

I look at her. She looks concerned "What happened with Ron?" "Well, you know I met him when camp started and I really like him and he likes me. When he asked me to be his girlfriend, I couldn't say no." Ginny looks at me expectantly. I don't know what she wants. "What are you going to do?" I frown, "I don't know." "Well I think that if you don't want to ruin your friendship with Harry, you're going to have to tell him." I sigh, I had been afraid of that.

The camp cabin doesn't have a telephone so I decided to wait to tell Harry about Ron. It would be better to tell him in person. Camp was almost over anyway so it wasn't a long wait...

"What do you mean you have another boyfriend?" I am on the verge of tears. I had been completely convinced that Harry would understand. "I'm sorry; I don't want this to ruin our friendship. What can I do?" " The only thing you can do is break-up with this guy." His answer hits me like a ton of bricks. "Yeah, okay."

I'm holding the telephone in my hand; my fingers are poised to dial. I start pressing buttons. I wait apprehensively during the first three rings hoping that no one will answer. Ron picks it up. "Hello?" His voice is like melted butter. "Hey Ron, it's Hermione." "Hey Ash," I can almost hear the smile on his face. "Ron, I have something I need to tell you," I can't do this. "I have another boyfriend, but I don't really like him." I'm waiting nervously for his answer. "Are you going to break-up with him?" "Yes, of course."

The next day:

I'm checking my e-mail the next morning when I receive an IM from Harry:

S. You didn't break up with Ron?

A. How did you know?

S. I checked his facebook and his status is still "in a relationship with Hermione Summers"

K. I thought you broke up with him.

A. I'm sorry, I couldn't break up with either of you.

S. If you don't break up with Ron, I'm not going to be able to stay your friend.

K. I can't stay in a relationship with someone who's also dating someone else.

A few hours later:

I'm at the mall with my friends Luna and Pavarti but I can't bring myself to enjoy it. After a while, I can't take it anymore, I lock myself in a change room, and start to cry. "Ash? What's going on? Open the door." I open the door and let Pavarti in. Luna was in the bathroom. "What's wrong?" I start talking but am interrupted by Luna joining us in the, now crowded, change room. "I heard you guys talking, what's wrong?" I restart telling my story. They are both concerned. Pavarti gives me a much needed hug and says, "I don't like Harry, break-up with him." Luna starts questioning me, "if you choose Ron, will you be happy?" I think about this for a minute. "No because then Harry would stop being my friend." "If you choose Harry, will you be happy?" Pavarti lets go of me. This question is easier, "no because then I wouldn't be able to see Ron at all." "If you choose neither, will you be happy?" think about this one for the rest of the day and most of the night.

2 months later:

It's been two weeks since I broke up with both Harry and Ron. Harry was mad at first but finally decided that we can stay friends. I think it's because I broke-up with Ron too. He lives too far away for us to have a real relationship. I think everything is going to be okay. I'm very happy.