“I can’t believe I’m here”, I thought as my hands started to sweat and my face turned a deep shade of red. I remember it all as if it had been yesterday. It had been my junior year when I’d met Lucas for the first time. We’d been put in the same math class and the alphabetical order of our last names had put him right in front of me. We became friends over the course of the year, as we got to know each other a little better. From the start, our friendship was strictly platonic, but a Friday afterschool changed that for me. I’d missed the bus and he had offered me a ride home. As I got into his red truck, I remember noticing for the first time how nice he was to me, how he always looked me in the eye when we talked, and how sometimes he’d hold my books on our way to class. After that, I could stop thinking about him. So when he asked me to meet him in the front steps of the school after the bell rang, I couldn’t resist my curiosity and decided to go and meet him there. So right now I’m just waiting to see what he has to tell me. I think I’m getting my hopes up for no reason.
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“Lauren came” I thought. I was so glad and relieved when I saw her there, at the bottom of the school steps waiting for me. I knew that she knew that I liked her; I was trying to be subtle, trying to drop hints just in case she felt the same way. I couldn’t get her out of my head. Her shiny, silky brown hair made me wants to reach out and touch it, her smile made me smile, even in my saddest days, and her eyes brightened my mornings. Today was a critical day for me. I was going to tell her how I felt. I was so nervous I almost backed out and ran away from the scene, like a shoplifter about to get caught stealing. My heart beat accelerated and my hands started to sweat. I think I’ve loved her since that day in kindergarten when I’d fallen on my face in the playground playing monkey bars and she had been the one to extend a hand to help me up. I’ve never mentioned it to her, but I don’t think she remembers that little scrawny boy with the dork glasses who used to be me. My best friend Hannah hates her. She thinks she’s just playing with my emotions to get to her old boyfriend. I seriously doubt that. She never talks to me about him or if she misses him, like any other girl would if they wanted their ex back. Maybe she thinks that I might replace, but I’d never do that. She was always there for me when I needed her the most, and I’ll be there for her when she needs me.
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I can’t watch Lucas do this. We’ve been best friends since the fifth grade and even though I’ve never shown it, I’m in love with him. I know he’ll never break our friendship, but if I tell him the truth, nothing will be the same. It’s better to come with a small white lie, to distract him from meeting up with her. She’s just so irritatingly pretty that I feel I’ll never measure up to her. I can’t bear to lose Lucas to her, it would kill me and I would end our friendship either way. Maybe I should let him know before he tells her. I think about this as I call Lucas to come to me before he reaches her. He starts walking in my direction and I start walking towards him, what I’m about to do might have two results: end our friendship, or begin our romance.
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As Lucas makes his way towards Lauren, Hannah catches up to him. Hannah gives him a hug and kisses him in front of Lauren…