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He’s just another popular kid. He has friends surrounding him, and even more girls just fawning over him for shallow reasons. I don’t get why people even like him! He’s just a crummy dude who thinks he’s better than everyone else due to his status in school. Everyone is going to forget him anyway. Who actually cares about popularity after high school?
My pencil comes to a stop on the piece of paper I was busy drawing on because of familiar voices. My face twists into an expression of disgust. It's Ivan, the “admirable” guy I was just thinking about, and his equally bummy friends. My curious eyes made me stop everything I was doing to observe him. Usually, he’d be laughing and goofing off with whoever he was with from his football team, but he’s just trailing behind his friends as they talked amongst themselves. I thought he would've been the loudest. How weird. I ignored it, my mind thinking of better things, such as finishing this page of my sketchbook. My pencil once again glides through the paper, drawing a character I made years ago. They have pretty and bright chartreuse eyes as vibrant as a sunset. My daydreams abruptly came to an end as a familiar voice called for me. It’s Mizi and her best friend, Sua, who happens to be Ivan’s older sister.
“Till! I’ve been looking for you!” Mizi started, her face glowing with joy, “Sua and I wanted to see if you could hang out with us after school like usual? We missed hanging out with you, Till.” She said, her face pouting like she was trying to do puppy eyes.
I’m glad I can talk to her. Mizi is someone who makes me feel better. I’m glad I have her as a friend, a buddy, I’d say more if I had the words to do so. She and I have been friends since the end of elementary school. We used to hang out all the time every summer until she started to get caught up with Sua in the summer of 9th grade.
“Sure thing, bro,” I say as I put on a forced smile. I wasn’t feeling it today, but I couldn’t say no if it were to hang out with Mizi- and Sua as well.
My mind thinks about Sua. She’s okay, I guess. Sometimes, she’ll be a little rude to me, but Mizi brushes it off as meaning well. I don’t get what Mizi sees in Sua; it’s like she’s just as bad as her brother.
“Also, another thing, someone else is going to hang out with us, too. Sua said so, but she won’t tell me who it is!”
“That’s because I want it to be a surprise. They’re someone you know well, is all I’m going to say.” Sua faintly smirked at Mizi, her expression having a devious meaning to it.
“Is that even necessary? What if it's one of those friends that Till doesn’t like?! Especially that one time you decided to bring Luka along to one of our hangouts, and made Till cry?” Mizi scoffed.
“Then he’ll have to suck it up. Till is not a baby, Mizi. He won’t die if he meets a new friend.”
“What if it does?! I’m just saying, I don’t want him to go through another incident where he gets picked on to the point of tears! I’m trying to be careful.” Mizi's voice rises at Sua, clearly affecting her.
“Don’t be so stubborn, just trust me this once. I’m very, very close to them. In fact, they asked if they could hang out with us after school. They said they want to meet Till or something?”
When my name was mentioned within that sentence, I finally stopped zoning out and paid attention to their argument. Who the hell wants to meet me? Before I could even open my mouth, it was suddenly time to go back to class. The free hour is over.
The school day has come to an end, and it's apparent cause I could hear Ivan loudly chattering to his fellow friends (the entire class but me). I guess he's fine now? It’s like he’s still him since elementary school, never knowing how to shut his damn mouth.
The mystery person has yet to be found out, thanks to how stubborn Sua is. Mizi would’ve started bickering with Sua about the thing again, but I guess she’s just dealt with it. Or maybe she just knows who’s coming along and neither of them will tell me.
As I zipped up my book bag, the last bell of the day rang. I have to go to the parking lot to meet up with Mizi and Sua so we can hang out, and possibly see this new person as well. I am personally annoyed at this! I don’t get how Sua has friends when she acts like a little shit to me. I guess she thinks I’m annoying since I don’t like her brother. I’m not sure. Neither of them has been that appealing to me. I also don’t understand Mizi. She’s attached to Sua like a branch to a tree. Whatever, maybe I don’t even need to talk to them tonight.
My thoughts come to an end as I see Mizi’s car in the Junior parking lot. It’s just a regular white car. Nothing special to it. The driver’s window rolls down with Mizi inside it.
“Till! Sit in the back! We’re gonna hang out at Sua’s house tonight!” She yelled out, her voice echoing through the sea of cars.
Sua's House? I thought to myself. Why are we going to Sua’s house? Why are we going to her and her brother’s stupid, rich house in their stupid, rich neighborhood, and their stupid- I have to stop using stupid to describe her house.
I give Mizi a reluctant sigh, this time not hiding how I felt about this hangout. I only stopped hanging out due to how busy school has me, and that I simply didn’t feel like talking to Mizi every night, or Mizi and Sua gossiping amongst themselves while I just sat and listened. I take my last steps to Mizi’s car, my hand on the door handle.
“By the way, the new person is in the back!” Mizi explained to me before rolling up her window.
I start to feel quite anxious, but I have to go with them. It’s too late to run away and just be alone like I wanted to be. As I pulled the car door, I thought of who it could be. To be fairly honest, I couldn’t think of anyone at all because I don’t talk to anyone other than Mizi and Sua, and I also felt scared since Mizi was right about the last time I met a new person. When I met Luka, he kept pestering me about my appearance or how I talked. It was so overwhelming, and I’m relieved I'm not friends with him. My face turned into disgust as I saw who I had to sit next to. A boy with black hair, black eyes, and a red varsity jacket, who is clearly Sua’s little brother, appears inside the car: Ivan.