"You're going to love him. He's my bro!" Swaghunter tells me over the phone.
"You just met him…"
"Hey, we're both on the same football team. Besides, Lee convinced Coach to let me play as a starter! How cool is that?! Cmon it's just one afternoon then I'm all yours."
"Fine. You're paying for my food, though." I wasn't thrilled to have extra company for lunch, but I didn't want to disappoint Swaghunter. Making the football team had been such a big deal to him.
"That's my girl! Alright, I'm heading off to practice now. I'll see you at the Pancake Forrest." Swaghunter says before he ends the call.
Swaghunter and I had planned to get lunch and hang out at the park today. No one knew what was going to happen in high school, so we wanted to be sure we had one more day to hang out. But apparently, he's already made friends on the football team, including the sophomore quarterback, Lee Page. In fact, Swaghunter thought it was a good idea to bring him along to our lunch date. Not that it's a date. Swaghunter and Swagmanda? Unthinkable.
We've been friends for two years since I moved to California. Since the seventh grade, he has been my competition. No one else has had test scores as high as ours. We studied together a lot, even though I used to think he just wanted my notes. But we have different interests. He likes football. I'm passionate for music. When we weren't studying, we weren't seen together. Since we both wanted to be at the top of the class, we were almost always studying.
That changed in the eighth grade when Swaghunter decided to ask out Raya Quinzel. I'm friends with her sister, Harley. Though they're twins, they're nothing alike. Raya is flawless. She has flowing strawberry blonde hair, she dresses well, and she has a sense of righteousness. Harley is naturally smart, but she tends to goof off a lot. Unlike Raya, Harley has short blonde hair and only likes to wear red and black. People think she's odd, but she's really kind at heart.
Anyway, Swaghunter would always text me for advice, but he wouldn't respond to my texts. I did get frustrated, but I understood how much he liked Raya. I mentioned his behavior once and he practically begged for forgiveness. Everything's fine now. Swaghunter and Raya are still dating, and Swaghunter and I are just really good friends.
I walk into the Pancake Forrest at 12:15. Swaghunter is always late, so I didn't have to go at 12 like we originally planned. I'm surprised to see Swaghunter at a table across from a brown haired boy.
When I approach their table, Swaghunter looks up and grins. The brown haired boy turns around and flashes a smile.
"Hey Swagmanda, I'm Lee." The brown haired boy extends his hair. I feel my cheeks heat up as I shake his hand. Lee is the most gorgeous guy I have ever seen.
"You're early, Swaghunter." I say after realizing Lee and I were still holding hands.
Swaghunter grins. "I'm never late!"
I scoff at his comment as I sit next to him. "Yeah, and I'm going to be the next Miss Universe."
"I don't see why not," Lee adds. Swaghunter is taken aback when he hears this, but then he smirks. Before either of them see me try to suppress a smile, I grab a menu and tilt it to cover my face. I didn't know how to respond to that. Usually I'm pretty good with accepting compliments. Why not take the kind words of others? But this is different. This is Lee Page. Brown haired, green eyed, white teethed, dimpled ,and football playing Lee Page. I'm just black haired, brown eyed, average looking, constantly studying Swagmanda Vicari.
"Well, for starters, I'm 14 and I don't do pageants. I'm studying all the time. If not, I'm working on music or hanging out with this goon," I nod at Swaghunter. "As a matter of fact, Swaghunter's girlfriend Raya is more of a Miss Universe than I will ever be."
"Seriously?" Lee looks surprised.
"Seriously," I reply solemnly.
"I thought you and Swaghunter were dating."