Friends in Love

Chapter 1: Early Days

He looked in her direction and smiled. She lightly nudged her best friend on the shoulder.

"Hey, look Anna. I think he just smiled at me!" she said with a cheery and happy look in her face. "Did he?" Anna asked looking up from her R.E. book. She knew that her friend had fancied the guy for 2 years. Now that they were in year 11, she wanted to go to the prom with him. "Yeah. I wonder if he's already got a date?" she said with a wondering expression. "I'm thinking of asking him to go with me." Her friend Anna looked at her surprisingly and then quickly looked away to hide her sad and disappointed expression. "Anna, Are you listening?" she asked annoyingly. "Huh, what?" she said acting as if she was listening to the teacher. She sighed. "I said, what do you think about me going to the prom with Chris? Do you think he'll say yes if I asked him?" "Anna, Kate, will you please stop talking and do your work!" she said looking very annoyed at the two girls. "Sorry Mrs Ashton!" said the girls. Anna then leaned next to Kate and whispered in her left ear "Yeah, I think you should ask him. He'll definitely say yes." Kate looked at her and giggled. "Really, do you think so?" she whispered back to Anna while still giggling. "Yeah, of course. I've seen him looking at you most of the time." she said with a smile. "Alright then, I'll ask him today after this lesson." she said blushing. Anna turned back to her R.E. book and started writing.

She stopped after she finished and packed her book and pencil case back in her bag. As she sat on her sit waiting for the bell to go, she thought about talking Kate out of asking Chris out. Would it make me a bad friend if I asked her not to go to the prom with him? She sighed. Maybe I should just give up on him. I mean a friend is more important anyway right? Especially if it is a childhood friend. She was startled as she heard the bell go and she quickly stopped spacing out before Kate noticed.

"So, how are you going to ask Chris out? I mean you can't even stay still when he walks pass you or even look at you. You get all happy and act weird." she said. "Shh Anna, he'll hear you. Keep your voice down will you."

'"Me and Kate have been friends since childhood. We were both borne in the same year and month but on different dates of the month. Not only that, but we were also born in the same hospital and town. Our parents became best friends in the hospital and since both of them were planning to live in the same town we where born in, they decided that Kate and I will be playing together since they apparently didn't plan to have more kids. So Kate and I grew up playing together and went to the same kindergarten school and primary school. Now we are in the same high school. After we finish our exams this year, we will be going to collage. We will probably go to the same collage too. '"When we started high school, we were put into different classes. I met Chris in the class I was put in. My gosh, I thought that I was dreaming. He was so cute and good looking that he looked unreal…but then again that might have been because it was love at first sight or something like that. I've had a crush on him since then. Anyway, I thought that my first day in high school was going to be crap since me and Kate weren't in the same class. But it was okay when I heard the teacher say that Chris and I will be sitting together. I was so happy that day because we then had to stay with the person we were sitting next to for the whole day so that we don't get lost, and if we do then we can help each other find our way around the school. Don't get me wrong, I didn't forget about my best friend. I was just happy that my first day of high school wasn't going to be as boring and scary as some people say.

'"Hi, my name is Christian Valentine. But you can call me Chris." he said smiling. "Hi. My name is Anna, nice to meet you Chris." I said blushing. "Yeah, same here." he said coolly.

'"We started talking about our hobbies and I found out that we actually had a few things in common. We both like sport and listening to music with different genres and travelling. Ever since that day, I've always fancied him. At first, I used to think that it was just a crush that would eventually go away. But I kept liking him more and more every year…up until now. Kate used to like someone else. But he moved schools. And when we started year 9, she told me that she's gotten a crush on Chris. I was so surprised and angry, but I didn't show it. Instead, I said to her that he was cute and that he probably liked her too. That's when I decided to keep my feelings for Chris to myself because I didn't want our friendship to end, or for us to get into a big fight. She was the only best friend I had and she still is."'

"Anna? Anna, stop spacing out. You've been doing that a lot today. Is something bothering you? You can tell me you know." she said worriedly to her friend. "Oh. It's nothing. I'm just tired that's all. Didn't really get much sleep yesterday." she said. "Well thank god it's Friday. So make sure you get enough sleep tonight okay." she said cheerfully. "Yes ma-am" she said sarcastically.

"Alright everyone. That's all for today. Don't forget to do your homework."

"What's the homework?" someone asked.

Mrs Ashton sighed. "And here I thought I was actually teaching people." she said sarcastically. "Your homework is to do a research on any of the religions we've studied. And don't copy or paste the work from the Internet, I expect you to have the work in your own words. I will be grading it, so I expect to see at least two pages from all of you." she said seriously. The whole class moaned in disagreement and then started leaving the classroom. "Have a good weekend." the teacher quickly said. "That's impossible to do when we have this much school work miss." Chris said as he left the room slowly. "Oh I'm sure you'll manage." the teacher finally said as she sat back to her sit and started arranging what was on her desk.

Anna waited for her friend outside the classroom in the hallway. "Hi Anna." said Chris. She quickly turned around thinking it was Kate. She was surprised to see that it was Chris. He was smiling and looked shy. "Chris. Hi." she said coolly. "How's it been?" he asked coolly as well. "Okay I guess." she replied. "Just a guess?" he said raising an eyebrow. She smiled "I'm just tired actually. Yesterday's match kept me awake. I had to watch the replay at night, because I missed it in the afternoon." "Ha, you watched it too? It was good wasn't it?" he said cheerfully. "Yeah, it was great." Kate finally came out of the classroom. "Hey Chris." she said calmly this time. "Hey." he said slightly blushing. He then turned in her direction. "Got any plans this weekend?" he said still blushing a little and trying not to show it. He looked down to the floor and pretended to scratch the back of his head after asking her. Kate looked at him surprisingly before giving him her answer. Oh my god, this is so cool, he's actually asking me out. This must mean that he doesn't have a date for the prom yet. Wow. "I mean, err…it's not like a date or anything. But I…maybe we could do that R.E. homework together this Saturday or something like that." he said quickly. He scratched the back of his head again. Kate was still speechless and she stood there with shock and excitement. "You don't have…"

"I'd like that." she said quickly before he changed his mind. "Cool! You know where I live right? 24 bucks street." how can I not know. "Yeah." she said and nodded her head. "Okay then. I'll see you tomorrow?" he said smiling. "Sure." she said returning his smile. Just when he turned to go, he heard Kate call out to him in a high-pitched voice "Wait." she blushed after realising how loud her voice sounded. This was almost the first conversation with him and she didn't want it to end so quickly. "Yeah?" he turned around and waited to hear what she was going to say. He was already thinking that she was going to change her mind about meeting up with him tomorrow. "Um…what time? I mean what time should I come to your house?" She's so excited that she struggled a bit to try to keep her voice calm. She closed her eyes and quickly took a big breath in and out. Now she felt calm and relaxed. She heard a phone ring. It was Anna's phone. "Hello?" she said answering her phone. She then walked a little away from Kate and Chris for privacy. She can't believe that Chris asked Kate out right in front of her. Like she wasn't there. Kate said yes too. She sighed. I guess it's because neither of them knows how I feel. Still, that was somewhat rude of them. Ignoring the fact that I was there, gees. Almost everyone in school was gone now. "Hmm, come around 4 in the afternoon, yeah." he said coolly. "Alright!" she said grinning. "…Want to walk home together?" he asked a little nervous. "Yeah, sure. I'd like that." she said with a smile. "Let me just tell Anna." He slid his hands in his pocket as he waited for her. 'She won't mind me going home with Chris today will she? She'll be happy for me right? I mean, I know that she also likes Chris. I've seen the way she sometimes talks to him and looks at him when they're talking about sport and stuff…but she keeps it to herself…so it's not as if she's ever told me that she likes him. It should be okay for me to go out with him, shouldn't it? Haha what am I thinking. I'm sure that she'll be happy for me because she's always encouraging me to ask him out, so she should be okay with it….' she thought to herself.

Kate saw Anna put her phone back in her pocket as she walked toward her. Anna stood there and waited. "Anna, do you mind if I walk home with Chris?" she asked. "Whoa, and I waited for you this long. I can't believe it." Anna said smiling sarcastically. I knew this would happen soon or later. She and Kate had always walked home together since childhood. Neither of them had ever walked home alone. I guess I'll miss not being able to walk home with her…even if it's just for a day. …No, not only a day. If things go well for them tomorrow, then I'd probably have to get used to walking home alone from time to time now…unless I find new friends. She sadly thought to herself. "Don't worry you can go. I know just how much this means to you babes." she said sounding happy. "So I'll see you on Monday?" she said a little disappointed at the fact that she won't be able to meet up with her best friend on the weekends for the first time. "Aw, thanks." she kissed Anna on the chick and then hugged her. "I knew you would understand. I'm so lucky to have you as a friend." she said cheerfully. "Yeah, me too." Kate then walked back toward Chris and told him Anna was okay with it. He waved to Anna as they started walking away. When they got out of the school building, he complemented on the weather to start a conversation. "Nice weather today isn't it." "What are you talking about, it's winter and freezing." she said smiling. Anna decided to take a short cut way to the bus stop because she didn't want to meet up with them. The bus stop isn't far from school. I'm sure that they're going to walk instead of catching the bus, so I might as well get the bus. I don't want to catch up with them…and with the cold wind blowing now, I doubt that I'd make it home fast by walking anyway. They should be fine though, because they'll probably be too busy talking to notice how cold it is. She smiled and then sighed. When was the last time I actually caught the bus from school? On my own as well!

Chapter 1 - End