Hey everybody,
this will be my first fanfic. I hope you like it. English is my second language, so please correct my grammar if you notice some errors. Any other comments (and ideas) are welcome as well.
Hope you enjoy!
After a long day of school, TJ could finally relax and play some videogames. He started his computer and checked the messages on his cell phone. A text from Mikey appeared on his screen. It was an invitation to his 17th birthday party next week. He answered Mikey with a short text, saying that he would be there. While opening his game, he wondered if the whole old gang would show up. He hadn't seen them a lot lately. Since they went to High School, they began to grow apart.
Mikey met some new friends at the drama club. TJ had seen him play and sing a few times and he thought Mikey was really good. Sometimes he joins Mikey, Gus and a few other guys during lunch. But other than that, they hardly speak to another.
Gus grew up. He is now a tall gangling boy. He doesn't look very strong, but thanks to his father's training program, he is. He usually hangs out with Mikey. They share most of their classes and they sit together at lunch with their other friends. He has been dating a girl named Bailey for almost two months now. She is cute, shy and very sweet. Just like Gus.
Gretchen skipped two years and does a lot of extra activities. She is considering going to a special school for geniuses like her. She is too busy for friends, although she already befriended a genius girl from her probably new school. They text and Skype all the time. Last time TJ talked to her was a few months back at Vince´s party. She told him all about her new friend, school and a project he didn't understand.
Vince and TJ shared a few classes and played both in the baseball team. They also saw each other regularly at parties, as they both associate with the same people. But they didn't hang out anymore as just two buddies. Vince was too busy with sports and girls. He has been dating the same girl on and off again for over the past year. Stacey, his girlfriend, is a cheerleader. She is kind and pretty hot, but a little spoiled. They mostly fight about Vince flirting with other girls, or Stacey flirting with other boys.
And then there is Spinelli.
First of all, most kids called Spinelli just Ash or Ashley. TJ was the only left to call her Spin. They never got together, although everyone expected they would all trough Middle School. But TJ never had the guts to ask her out, afraid to ruin their friendship. And Ashley, well she started to get more attention during freshman year. Manly because she started dressing a little less tomboyish. Instead she now wore clothes that emphasized her curves, but still looked rough. Most of the time she was dressed in a tight ripped jeans, sneakers and a top. She wore her hair down and she had dip dyed it multiple times with blue or pink dye.
After boys took interest in her, she started dating the wrong type of guys. Although Ash didn't really fight anymore, unless it was necessary, her boyfriends did. The first was a guy named Steve. He drank, smoked, skipped a lot of classes and was always looking for a fight. When the two of them fought, Ashley would often show up with bruises. This angered TJ, knowing that she easily could overpower him with the fighting skills she learned at kickboxing and taekwondo. But Spin just told TJ to back off; he had no right to interfere in her relationship. Steve got dumped and beat up the moment she saw him punch an innocent girl, instead of a tough guy who had it coming.
Then there was Eric. He was a quiet kid, who came to school to learn, not to socialize. He always looked sad and every few weeks he just disappeared for a few days. When he came back, he always looked even worse, covered in bruises and other wounds. It turned out the poor boy got beaten by his dad. Once when Ash came over to his place, she took a few hits to protect Eric's little sister. A few months later Eric and his sister moved in with their grandparents. Spin and Eric broke up, but remained friends. TJ asked about the break up once, Spinelli just said they never were in love, just close friends.
Thereafter she didn't date for a while. A few times she kissed a boy at a party, but nothing more than that, at least that was what TJ hoped. After her 16th birthday Ashley started acting strange towards TJ. A few weeks later she started dating a jerk called Dean. He cheated on her multiple times and then suddenly broke up with her, nobody really knew why. Dean just said that the sex wasn't good enough for him. That happened two months ago. TJ remembered feeling peevish she didn't tell him they broke off. He heard it during lunch when Ashley A. made fun of Spinelli. When he asked her about it she just ignored him. TJ had no idea why she was behaving so angry towards him.
TJ hoped Ash would come to Mikey's party. Maybe he could make amends with her. And maybe he could finally tell her how he felt, before it was too late. Before they both went to different colleges.