Skylar

We finished grocery shopping. It was dark out, but the headlight of cars allowed us to see. We were walking out of the store, when a car was coming towards us. But it was slowing down because there was a stop sign. My mom however, stayed rooted to her spot even after the car fully stopped. "Mom. There's a stop sign" I informed her.

"But they don't always stop, Skylar!" she snapped at me whilst crossing the street. The car was already stopped though. I frowned, but quickly followed after her with my head down. We put the bags into the backseat before slipping into the front seats. We had to go to another store because my dad wanted some Vaseline. The car ride there was completely silent. I honestly didn't want to talk to her. Who wants to talk to someone who just yelled at you?

When we got to the store, I got out the car and followed my mom inside. We went straight to the correct aisle and got what we needed. In and out. Back inside the car, she began telling me some story about one of her coworkers. I didn't have any comments, so I simply nodded my head and hummed in response. "So what?! You're just not gonna talk to me!" she shouted while driving.

I cringed and opted for not saying anything. In my opinion, staying quiet is better than saying something wrong. I really wasn't in the mood for her yelling anymore. I held back my tears for the rest of the drive. I have the tendency to cry when I'm angry, nervous, scared, put under pressure, and of course when I'm sad. So I refrained myself from crying a lot. And it was not fun.

Mom huffed and turned up the radio for the rest of the ride. At least it filled the silence in the car. We arrived at home and got out the car. I waited for her to pass me before I took in a deep breath of air and followed after her with the groceries in hand. We entered the house and I set all the groceries onto the dining table for them to be put away. I saw Phoebe sitting on the couch, so I knew the bedroom was safe for me to go inside.

Walking away from my family, I went to my bedroom. With another deep breath, I tried to let all of my frustrations leave me. If only it was that easy.

***

It was the day of the plan. I'm not a hundred percent sure that it'll work; but I knew that Lucas would probably casually bring up Devon if I didn't do so. Either way, this plan will be set in motion today. I hopped out of the car once Mom stopped. My siblings quickly split up to walk towards school; but I trailed behind, prolonging the inevitable. However, a car slowed to a stop right next to me. The closest window was rolled down and Carson leaned over the center console to look at me through the passenger's front window.

He told me to get in the car. We weren't far from the school. Only a block or two. My mom liked to park farther so she could avoid the traffic. "Come on, Skylar. Would you really rather walk?" he questioned rhetorically. Showtime. I slid my bag off of my shoulders and placed it on the floor as I got into the car. "How was your-"

Carson was cut off by the sound of my phone. I gave him an apologetic smile while taking the device out. It was Devon.

Call me tonight

Three words that could have a lot of meaning. Rolling my eyes, I let out a small laugh and responded by explaining my current situation. There was no text back. I was about to turn on my phone when it started blaring with Devon's name in big letters on the screen. Carson glanced over at me and I apologized before answering the call. "Hello?" I said hesitantly.

Carson continued to glance at me as he attempted to find a parking spot. "Do you prefer a casual or a formal date?" Devon wondered as he answered the phone. He knew that I always had my call volume up. Anyone around me would be able to hear my phone call. And at the moment, the person around me was Carson. Avoiding his eyes, I told Devon that I liked casual dates. "Restaurant, delivery, or my fabulous cooking?" he listed off.

Laughing, I reminded him of his nonexistent cooking skills. "Definitely delivery, so we could be at my house or-" I mused before getting cut off by Carson.

"Skylar" I got my thoughts out of this fake date and turned to Carson. "Come on. We're gonna be late" Carson stated.

We had almost fifteen minutes before the bell rang- Devon even pointed that out. But I still said goodbye to Devon and promised to call him tonight. I could almost see the devious smirk on his face as he said his farewells. "I'll wait by the phone, babe" Then the line when dead. A blush made it's way onto my face. I wasn't flustered by Devon. But I was embarrassed. That whole conversation just seemed so forced. I bet Carson even knew it was fake.

Getting out of the car, I put my bag onto my shoulders and slid my phone back into my pocket. "You have a boyfriend?" Carson inquired as we walked towards the cafeteria.

It didn't seem like a good idea to make 'Devon and I' official. That would put me off the market, and I don't think Carson is the type of guy to steal someone else's girlfriend. "There's not a label on it. It's just dating- getting to know each other better" I explained. My heart was beating seventy thousand beats per minute. Over exaggeration- I know. I needed to be calm to answer his questions, or else he would know that I'm lying.

"Are you just getting to know him?" Carson asked as we got closer and closer to the cafeteria. He was hinting at any other possible guys in my life. I wondered if he was just curious or if he wanted to know for a specific reason. I shrugged in response and lead him to our usual table. Once again, I was stuck between Lucas and Carson. "Did you guys know that Skylar is getting to know someone?" I rolled my eyes at him as Lucas secretively poked me under the table. I had to explain that Devon randomly texted me and that we were setting up a date.

Holly was ecstatic because she has always 'shipped' us. If only she knew it was fake. More questions about Devon were asked. I answered each one. Everyone wanted to know more- correction, almost everyone wanted to know more. Carson was quiet. He barely talked and looked at bit zoned out. Is the conversation boring him or does it bother him?

Eventually, we had to split apart to go to our respective Homeroom classes. "It's working" Lucas informed me once we were inside the classroom. No one else was there except the teacher. It was safe to talk about it. "He might be a bit angry right now since he's jealous. But I promise that it'll work out in the end" he assured me.

I nodded my head in understanding as I saw Allen entering the classroom. "Why is my cousin all bummed out?" he blurted while plopping into the seat next to me.

Lucas answered for me. "Sky started talking to Devon again" Lucas sang while lightly bumping shoulders with me. He just has to go all out with this thing. "They're planning a date" he informed Allen excitedly.

Allen raised his eyebrows. "Really? You're not worried about that long distance stuff?" Allen inquired while looking at me. I shook my head at him in disagreement. Even if I was really dating Devon, the long distance wouldn't bother me. Technology exists. Long distance is possible between couples if both parties put in the effort. "And you think this is a good idea?" Allen asked slowly.

Nodding, I gave him a small smile. He hummed in response before the teacher called him to his desk. "So keep going along with this for a few days" Lucas stated, keeping his eyes on Allen in case he came back. I nodded my head in agreement as we both watched Allen stroll out of the classroom. "What happened?" he wondered.

I shrugged in response with my eyebrows furrowed. Allen looked like he was in a hurry. It worried me. He rarely missed school; and he never walked straight out before it even started. I didn't have much time to think about it because the bell rang for our next class.

***

The day went on normally; except for the fact that Allen was gone all day along with Carson. I began to get even more worried. It must be a family thing. I thought about their parents. One of them might have gotten hurt. In Art class, I was sitting alone.

I had an urge to call Allen or Carson. But I didn't want to pry into family matters, so I left it alone. I didn't try to contact them. It is their private business. If they want me involved, I would be glad to give some advice or just be part of their support system. But until they give me permission to stick my nose into their business, I'll back off because there's nothing I hate more than invasion of privacy.

I'll admit, sometimes giving your friend a little push to get them to open up is very efficient. It is for your friend's best interest. But sometimes, you gotta wait a little while before giving them that push. Sometimes, you should let them go at their own pace and let them decide when to open up to you without any pressure. It needs to be when they are comfortable to open up.

Considering the urgency that they left at, I knew this was something very big. So I would have to wait- no pressure, no pestering. I also have to push these thoughts out of my head so I can tutor. Focusing on math, I walked up to the first desk with a student waiting for a tutor.

"Hi, I'm Skylar" I introduced myself while sitting next to the person. She looked like a lower classmen, but I could never be too sure.

She glanced up at me and her face instantly contorted in disgust. She looked around the room before her eyes scanned me again, from head to toe then back up. "Can I get a different tutor?" she asked loudly, not caring.

Keeping my professional attitude, I nodded my head and grabbed one of the other tutors, Kieran. "She doesn't like me. Wanna switch?" I whispered to him. He gave me a worried look as he nodded in agreement. "Thanks" I went over to his table, where Bart was sitting. I smiled at him and sat down. "Still doing trig functions?" I guessed.

Bart nodded his head and groaned as he glanced down at his work. "When will I ever need to figure out the side length of a goddamn triangle?" he muttered. I let out a small laugh and began to read the directions to his work. "I can do the math. I just don't know which formula to use at which time" he explained.

I took a few examples and taught him more about the formulas. A few minutes later, Kieran was waving me to the side. I excused myself from Bart's table to walk over to the other tutor. "I can't work with this girl" he complained. I asked him to elaborate. "The past five minutes, she hasn't even taken out a pencil. All she's done is talk about you and your new boyfriend" Kieran whined.

"Boyfriend?" I repeated.

He nodded his head. "This isn't true. But she was saying that Carson is out of your league" Kieran informed me, hesitantly. I glanced at the girl, who was typing on her phone. I don't think I've even talked to her before today. Bringing my attention back to Kieran, I questioned what else the girl said about me. He cringed and refused to tell me.

It couldn't be that bad, right? "I'm a big girl. Just tell me" I urged.

Chewing his lip, he let out a sigh. "She called you a slut because of Carson and Allen. I know you and Allen are just friends; and I told her that. But she said- and I quote- you can't be just friends with a guy like that" Kieran stated.

At high school, you have the closed off people- those who don't think about sex or dating or any type of relationship. There's the people in the middle- they don't care about it, but it occasionally comes into conversation. Then there's the outgoing people- it seems as if relationships, gossip, and sex are all they think about. I have a feeling that this girl is one of the outgoing people. I'm pretty sure she didn't want me as a tutor because she thinks lowly of me. People either think that I'm a two-timer with Carson and Allen or that I'm not good enough for either of them and they just pity me.

"You okay?" Kieran wondered.

I quickly nodded my head in confirmation. "Girls can be drama sometimes. I know that; every single girl in the world knows that. It doesn't bother me. She can think what she wants" People will always have their opinions on others. Her opinions are built off of a bunch of rumors. But that is her problem- not mine.

The rest of tutoring, I stayed away from that girl. I was in my workplace, I had to be professional. I kept her out of my mind until we all got to leave. "Do you need a ride today?" Kieran asked. I shook my head no, then he got in his car and started the engine. Taking out my phone, I saw a text from Uncle Trent.

Got called into a work meeting. Can't pick you up. Sorry.

"Crap" I muttered. "Kier-" I cut myself off with a sigh as I saw his car pulling out of the parking lot. Tilting my head back, I looked up at the sky. "At least it's not raining" I mumbled as I began to walk home. I would get home around 5:30 p.m.- the same time my mom usually gets home. I stuffed my earbuds into my ears and kept walking.

The first song to play was "Blue Dream" by Jhene Aiko. I turned the music up and kept walking. I would never have the music loud enough to where I couldn't hear the outside world. Whenever I walk alone, I need to hear everything around me. I need to be aware of my surroundings; I feel safe this way.

Because I was aware of my surroundings, I was extremely creeped out when I spotted a car following me in my peripheral vision. I discreetly glanced at the car and stopped as I recognized it. "Carson?" I called out. He had his window rolled down, so I could see the smile on his face. I looked both ways before crossing the street to get to his car. "You stalking me now?" I asked jokingly.

He shrugged and unlocked the doors before signalling me to get in the car. "I'm kidnapping you" he deadpanned. I chuckled and rounded the car to get into the passenger's seat. "Why are you walking home? I thought your uncle picks you up after work" he wondered.

I nodded my head as I placed my bag onto the floor. "He got called into a meeting" I explained. "Why are you driving around school?" I inquired.

"I came to pick you up" he stated. I rolled my eyes, assuming he was just passing by and happened to see me. "Do you mind if we detour for some food?" he questioned. Shrugging, I reminded him that he was the one in change of the vehicle.

"We're going out for lunch" he announced.

_______________

"You can be happy or you can be right"

-Steve Harvey

Guys! It's been so long. And I'm so sorry. These updates are long overdue. Today was my last day of school. Which means I'm free for the summer. Unless, I'm working. Then I'm not free. But I'll still be trying to write very often. So lemme talk about this quote now.

I have a boyfriend! A really really good boyfriend. And I'm freaking crazy about him. And he says he's crazy about me. So that's good. And scary. But very very good. And very very happy.

But here's some advice for anyone in any type of relationship whether it's a marriage, friendship, or romantic relationship. Sometimes you have to let the other person win the argument. Don't be stubborn about it. Because the outcome can possibly be losing the argument or losing someone you love. And I sure hope no one chooses the latter.

I love you guys!

Like always I'll be reading your comments and messages. And I hope you guys enjoy the rest of this story.

Kayyyzz Byeeezzz

~A.J.