May 12, Tuesday

I made it to school, and as soon as I entered, everyone around me started complaining about the finals. Some people said that it'll be easy, and other people were completely terrified. I mostly just wanted to get them over with so I could enjoy Summer break with a gaming controller in my hands, with yummy snacks and no nagging teachers bothering my every move.

I wasn't worried, but I knew I had to study because I was struggling at the one subject everyone hated: Math.

I opened my locker to take out binders, when suddenly a small scrap piece of paper fell out from it. I picked it up, thinking it was trash, but as it turned it around, I saw a letter, so I read it.

Dear Greg,

Hi! This is Nikki Maxwell, and I was wondering if you'd like to join my study group. I will be there including Theo, Marcy, Brandon, and Chloe + Zoey! If you can't go, I understand, these last days are really really busy and tiring, but it'd be cool if you could come!

We're meeting at the CupCakery anytime after school! We'll only be staying around until, like, 6:30;

~Signed Nikki Maxwell

I smiled.

Well, now at least I have that studying-thing planned out! I'll probably get Brandon to drive me there since I don't know where the CupCakery is.


School passed by surprisingly fast. Brandon and I were walking to the CupCakery, and Brandon constantly stared down at his watch.

"Oh great!" He muttered. "We're gonna be late!"

He started picking up his pace, and I quickly caught his hand. "Dude, chill. We won't be too late."

Brandon looked down at his watch again. "It's 5:00. Nikki would've wanted us to be early, since we leave the CupCakery at 6:30!"

"Why are you worrying so much anyway?" I asked, getting irritated.

"Because I have a crush on Nikki and I know she likes me too!" He admitted. "And I've never been late for anything involving Nikki! I can't let her down like that. Don't you know the feeling of liking a girl?"

I instantly thought of Holly Hills, the most popular girl in my old school- and what's cool is that she wasn't a rude popular girl. She was the sweetest girl anyone could possibly meet!

Images of her blonde-wavy hair flashed in my mind. Everything about her, like her beautiful and sparkly green hazel eyes, shining as she smiled, was just perfect. She was perfect in every way. I was transfixed in thoughts of Holly. I couldn't stop thinking about her for some reason. And the weird thing is... Nikki reminded me a lot like Holly too...

Nikki wasn't nearly as popular as Holly, but their appearances were strikingly similar, and I'm shocked how I never noticed till now.

Although Nikki normally wears her hair in dorky pigtails, she does indeed have blonde wavy hair- just like Holly's! And their eyes are almost the same color, Nikki's being a brighter green than Holly's, though. Nikki doesn't wear the most expensive clothing like Holly did, but if she did, there would hardly be a difference between them. And they even had similar personalities, both of them nice and sweet. Outgoing and charming... wait... was I falling for Nikki?!

I don't like Nikki... do I?

I started blushing, thinking about girls was frustrating.

"Greg... Greg? Greg! GREG!" Brandon broke my thoughts.

"Huh- wha- what?" I shot my head up, blushing a little bit.

"Are, you ok man? You look a little red. Are you sick? You suddenly stopped talking, and I was getting kind of worried."

"Sorry," I stated, "I'm just thinking about this girl I liked where I used to go to school. So, yeah, I know how you feel." I admitted to him as well. "And I sure do miss her." I sighed.

Brandon paused. "Well, sorry." We both sighed together, staring at the ground, thinking about our crushes.

"Alright, come on, we should be there by now!" Brandon said, getting impatient. He took my arm and pulled me to the CupCakery.


We finally arrived, walking towards the table Nikki and all her friends were at. Nikki looked up from her work, and smiled brightly. She waved her hand wildly. "Hey Brandon, Greg, over here!" I heard her shout, obviously excited to see us.

We grabbed chairs, and sat down next to everyone. I said hi to everyone and then turned to Nikki, looking right into her eyes, I told her, "Thanks for inviting me, Nikki."

I could've sworn I saw her blush a bit. She quickly recovered, smiled, and said, "Y-you're welcome."

After that we all just sat and talked, laughing about embarrassing stories people told of themselves, chatting about the news and important stuff that has been happening around us, all while studying!

I had NO idea studying could actually be... fun.

But then, everyone kind of stopped talking. Everyone stared at me. Or I thought it was me. Instead, I heard a high-pitched, snotty voice behind me say, "Um... Brandon, is that you?"

I turned around in my chair to face the girl, and.. hey... was that the girl I sold chocolates to a while ago? What was her name... I know it began with a M... Marry? Madison? ...

"Hi... Mackenzie..." Brandon groaned.

Mackenzie!

As if Mackenzie heard me call out her name in my head, she zipped her head around at me, remembering me. "OMG! You look familiar! Are you who tried to sell chocolates with that younger kid yesterday afternoon? You were the nice one... the other kid was just annoying." She sneered at me. I could tell she was just pretending to be nice, and honestly, I don't think she liked me either.

"Hey, no one gets to call my brother annoying except me." I shot back, hoping that would make her walk away.

Everyone behind me gasped, and I knew I did something I probably shouldn't have done.

"Mackenzie, we're kind of busy right now," Brandon added. "We're trying to study and...-"

"Brandon can we talk?" Mackenzie shouted angrily. Her shrill voice hurt almost everyone's ears around us. She just glared her icy-blue eyes at everyone.

Brandon looked back at us, and then back at Mackenzie. He sighed, got up, and walked up to Mackenzie. "What the heck?"He muttered sarcastically as he left with her.

Once he was gone, chaos erupted from our table. Nikki was in shock that Brandon just got up and left like that. Everyone was talking all at once, it was difficult to make out exactly what they were saying, but eventually I heard Nikki say, ""OMG! All I wanted was for all of us to study, and now everything's ruined!" Someone reassured her, and then Zoey was the last one to speak.

"Hey guys, he's back!"

Brandon slowly walked back to our table, staring at the ground when he headed towards us, with a solemn look on his face. He pulled out his chair, and plopped down. Once the silence subsided, everyone in our table starting shouting at him, asking him random questions. It was like a dam just burst, and the water was Brandon's worst enemy. I looked at everyone questioning him, then turned to face Brandon, and there was something off. It looked as if his eyes were misty, like he was thinking of crying.

I was going to silence all my friends until Chloe did. "Shhh!" Chloe rose her hands up. "Let him him talk!"

Eventually everyone settled down, staring at Brandon, clinging on to every word that would come out of his mouth.

"She didn't say much," Brandon explained, "All she asked is if I'd go to the Summer Dance with her."

Everyone started laughing like crazy, even me! What? I've only JUST met Mackenzie and she's a real annoyance. WHO would go out with HER? Especially someone as nice as Brandon...

"The weird thing is... I'm actually kind of thinking of saying yes..."

What?

"Just kidding." Brandon faked a smile.

That made us laugh even louder.

"Guys! It's getting really late! Do you want to grab some cupcakes and leave?" That was Nikki.

"YEAH!" We all finished our snickering and headed toward the line to buy cupcakes. In front of me stood Nikki, and I saw her search all around her pockets. She went through her front pockets, then her back pockets. She even untied the hoodie that was around her waist and checked those pockets too. I could tell something was off, and her facial expressions weren't helping either.

"Oh no, guys, I lost my money!" She groaned.

I opened up my wallet, took out some money, and poked her shoulder. "Ay, don't worry about it." I said. "I have some extra money. It's on me."

Nikki smiled, but before she could say something, her friends starting looking through their pockets, they started complaining on how they forgot their money too! I stood there awkwardly.

Were they hoping for me to pay for them?!

Nikki quickly helped them find their money. "Here it is, and Chloe, I'm pretty sure your money is in your front pocket." Nikki smiled, smugly.

Chloe stared at Nikki, then blinked, snapping out of her thoughts. "Wow, Nikki, ugh... t-thanks."

We finally bought are cupcakes and sat down at our table, talking for a while more. Unfortunately, Brandon poked me, whispering to me, telling me we should be getting home early. He said he had something private to tell me on the way home. I nodded, and got up with him.

"Hey, Brandon and I will be heading out. Bye guys!"

"Bye Greg!" Nikki smiled an adorable smile. She waved goodbye. "Thank you so so much for the cupcake!"

I smiled, nodded, and walked outside with Brandon.


It was slightly foggy outside, the sun was just setting, a red aura around the hills lay out, expanding with its magnificent beauty. Brandon and I walked on the sidewalk, it shimmered a grey color from the sun's red aura, and it was a pretty sight. We were walking for a while, Brandon had is head down, staring at the glistening grey concrete. He was acting oddly weird for his usual self. His hands were in his pockets and it looked like his mind was revolving and cranking crazily, like a clock ticking ever second. I wasn't sure if would scream in any second or burst into tears.

He finally spoke: "Greg, can I tell you what.. what really happened with Mackenzie and I..."

I looked at him with a questioning face. "You lied to all your friends?"

"No- no of course not. I didn't lie about what Mackenzie said..." Brandon replied. "I just..." He paused.

"What?"

".. I didn't tell them what I said to Mackenzie." He stopped walking. "I told Mackenzie I would go to the dance with her."

"WHAT?"

"I know, I know," He said, putting his hands up, trying to reassure me. "It sounds crazy really... I-I I don't know what I was THINKING, just..."

"I thought you'd ask NIKKI!" I shot back. "You like her, and she likes you!"

"Man..." Brandon put his hand on his temples, rubbing them, getting stressed out.

"Why?"

"I felt bad for her. She is now in this new school, and now SHE'S treated like the weirdo. She gets bullied online, she hears terrible gossip about herself, and it's all because she moved to a new stupid preppy school. I know she probably deserves karma, especially for all the bad things she's done to Nikki, but, she's desperate Greg. She cried in front of me. And I feel like... like she was honest. Like she really actually HATES herself..."

I butted in. "Look, I just met her and I KNOW you SHOULDN'T date her!"

"Well, maybe I won't DATE her." Brandon said. "But, I am going out with her. Just to the dance."

I really didn't know what to tell Brandon. If this was his decision, well... it was a stupid one, but it was his choice. I sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing." I then paused. "What are you going to tell Nikki?" I asked him.

"I don't know yet." He sighed.

The sun slowly evaporated away. We stood in silence, thinking about the situation for a while, until Brandon finally started walking forward, going home. I followed him, and he dropped me by my house. I waved goodbye to him, and he left.

I hope everything well be alright for us.