SUMMER is ending, and that’s a fact. The moment that our new school year begins, it will be the end of our happy days and the start of our doom days. No more lazy stuffs, no more late night sleeps, and no more fun. That’s the meaning of summer’s ending for me.
But the fact that we’re going to be a high school students hyped up everyone. They’re hoping that maybe it could be a new and fresh start for everybody. But their wrong. It could be the best, yeah. But it could also be our worst nightmare.
“What are you thinking about?” Nathan asked me all of the sudden.
We are currently walking in the park, him holding the leash of his dog while me licking a stick of popsicle.
“Nothing... Just, you know. Thinking about the upcoming school year.”
“Why? Are you excited?”
“Nope. You wish. Who would be excited?”
“Everybody?”
“Maybe. But not me.”
“Are you worried that no one will like you?” he asked, raising one of his brows.
“Why would I be worried? I don’t need anyone. Besides, I have you.”
I saw a glint of red flush on his cheeks. I nearly laughed at his facial expression but I quickly composed myself and try to shook that thought away from my mind.
“So why are you thinking about school?”
“My manual. I need to create some fresh rules since we are starting a new journey... You know, high school.”
“Why do you need to follow that manual of yours anyway? It’s not like your life depends on it.”
“Of course yeah! I survived middle school with the help of that. And I’m going to survive high school too if I didn’t break those rules.”
“Yeah, your rules. You made it, so that also means that you can break it someday.”
“If I want to, but I don’t. Why don’t you make your own rules? Like ‘rule number one, mind your own business rule.’ Am I right?” I sarcastically laughed before throwing away the popsicle stick on the garbage can.
“Yeah. If ever that happens, I’ll only have one rule to follow. How about this? ‘Just freaking enjoy life and stop being a chicken who follows all the rules.”
“Whatever, Nat. Having a manual makes me feel comfortable, like you using a thick eyeglasses while reading academic books.”
He laughed before his dog started to bark at some squirrels lurking around the tall tree high above us.
“Pochii doesn’t like squirrels. Can we go and walk on another place somewhere else?”
“Sure, for your dog,” I agreed before kneeling on the ground to rub Pochii’s head.
He’s a very friendly dog. Strangers often fed and pet him because of his cute little eyes. Also, he’ll wiggle his tail to anyone except squirrels, of course.
Nathan and I walked towards the small hill near in our village. From up here, we can see the buildings and the setting sun beyond the corner of the city. I sat down on the open field, waiting for Nathan to sit beside me.
“Come, Pochii! Fetch!” he shouted before throwing a stick to the opposite direction.
His dog can run free in here. The ground is widely open and there’s a fresh air everywhere. Nathan chuckled as he watch Pochii roaming crazily around the field. He then sat beside me after that.
“Hey... Will you stop staring at me?” he asked before winking.
That’s when I realized that I didn’t bother to look away from his direction since we arrived in here. But, can you imagine a nerd winking? Unbelievable, right? And super, duper, undeniably gross.
“You’re gross! As if I’m staring at you!”
“I’m just kidding, you know.”
I scoot away from him, acting like I was about to puke or something.
“Is that how bad I look?” he asked.
“Maybe. You know what, Nathan, one of my manual rules was to never date a guy... I think it was listed on rule number nine or something...”
“Oh, is that so? Well I don’t freaking’ care. As if I’ll date a girl like you.” Now it was his turn to mock me.
“Jerk. I didn’t say a guy like you or anything. Any guy, Nat. I wouldn’t want to date anyone. That’s against the rules.”
“Who even invented that kind of rule?”
“Uhm... Me?”
He chuckled before reaching out his hands to me to pinch my left cheek. I swiped his hands off of my face.
“Stop it!”
“You know what, Nat? You’re not going to enjoy our high school life if you keep on sticking around and following the rules of your manual. Having that was... It wasn’t bad at all. But please learn how to enjoy as well.”
“Define the word enjoy, please,” I challenged him.
“Why do you keep on questioning every words that I say?”
He moves closer towards me and patted my head. I just rolled my eyes on him. After that, I stare at him for a moment, thinking what will I do without him in my life.
Besides of my manual, Nathan is one of the reasons why I survived middle school. Without him, it might had been hell going to school everyday. Having him as my bestfriend wasn’t that bad after all. And I’m glad that Aunt Jessica brought him to this world even though he often argues to me almost about everything.
“Nat... Summer is now ending... I’m glad you’re here. I hope high school wouldn’t be as bad as I expected it to be...”
“Of course it won’t. As long as you stay with me.”
He put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer towards his body. I felt uneasy, though I tried not to show it to him for I know that he’s going to tease me about this someday.
“As if you weren’t breathing anymore...” he whispered, making me shook my head as a sign of disapproval before I secretly smile to myself.
From that day forward, I realized that Nathan wasn’t just a simple friend for me. He’ll always have a special place in my heart whatever happens, and no matter what.
FIRST day of school, it was a total hell. First, Nathan and I got late because of that very simple and unacceptable reason... We woke up late. Our school bus didn’t wait for our lazy ass and it just left without even asking our parents if we are ready or not. Aunt Jessica was left with no choice but to drive us all the way to school.“Bye, Mom! See you later! Love you!” I almost cringe as I saw how Nathan kissed his Mom’s forehead. I find it sweet but I didn’t let him see that, of course. Aunt Jessica waved at me and I did the same. Nathan and I got inside of our new school, Jackson High. I was fascinated by the towering buildings and stuffs, causing my adrenaline to hyped up that fast. I excitedly pulled Nathan, him looking shocked at what I just do.“Look!” I pointed at every little pretty things that I
HOW I wish Nathan and I would have the same classes together. Ever since our teacher started our class, I couldn’t bear to listen out of frustration. I badly wanted to see him, for I wasn’t used to being alone. I nearly jumped off of my seat as soon as the bell rings, indicating that classes were over and it’s time for us to have some lunch. That’s when I remembered Nathan’s promise. He’s gonna be there, he said. My rule number eleven was to never believed in anyone. But I break that one right now. For I knew that Nathan’s promises wasn’t meant to be broken. I was walking down the hallway when my gaze saw someone at the corner of my eyes. Tyler Smith and his gang. I didn’t know that much about him, and I don’t want to know either. He’s mysterious, yes, but I’m not a detective so I don’t care.
TODAY is the last day of the first week of school. It wasn’t that much but, it felt nice knowing that I could have some free time during the weekends. The passed few days gone very well than I expected. No problems and communication to any my classmates. As long as I stay low key, they wouldn’t mind me.“So, one of my friends told me that what if we change our hairstyle? Like some Hollywood actors or whatsoever,” Nathan stated, almost making me choke on my own food. We are currently at the Cafeteria, eating lunch together like what we always do. I’m very thankful to my bestfriend because he always finds some time to join me during our breaks. Even though he have some new friends, he still didn’t abandon me. Though sometimes, I felt surprised to the words coming from his mouth.“Where the heck on Earth did you get that worst idea? From your friends? Natha
FOR some reasons, I didn’t enjoy weekends like how I supposed to be. Maybe it’s because of the fact that I wanted to give this bracelet back to Freeda, hoping that I could make friends with her or something. But it wasn’t that easy, right after knowing that Tyler is following her around like some creepy stalker. “Hey, Nat! Did you even understand what I’m saying?” I came back to my senses, my mind suddenly focus onto the reality when I heard Nathan snaps his fingers. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” “I thought you wanted to watch some movies over my house later?” “Uhm... Maybe next time, Nat. I need to do something.” “And what exactly is that something, huh?” “Nothing...” He stared at me, causing me to become uncomfortable. That look in his eyes is urging me to tell him the truth. “What I mean is... School works, Nathan.” “Really? But our teachers doesn’t
JINX. I don’t know if that’s the proper word to describe my day... Or my whole life, maybe. Today is supposed to be the day I’ve been waiting for. It’s Freeda’s birthday, and she wanted me to come. Mom already let me go, just because I lied. I told her that I need to go there for a school project. And maybe that was the reason why I’m on my bed right now, laying with an aching head. Karma strikes that fast and bad. Now I got to add another rule on my manual, and that is, “Never lie to your Mom.” After denying my bestfriend, lying to my Mom, and wanting to be popular instead of being a goodie-goodie student, I can now conclude that I’m a sick person. And yes, that statement is both metaphorical and literal. I’m sick, literally. “Nat? Why aren’t you waking up? Are you going to school or what?” I heard my Mom shouted from the other side of the door. “Mom... I’m not feeling well...” I tried
IT’S been two days since I got this stupid fever. And ever since that day, I haven’t gone to school. Mom wanted to bring me to the hospital on my second day but I begged her not to. That’s why yesterday and the other day, Aunt Jessica came here to check me up. Luckily, she didn’t pursue Mom to bring me to the hospital. I don’t like going to school but I feel like I’ve missed a lot about it. I wanted to tell Aunt Jessica that I like to see Nathan, but every time that I tried to, I remember the last day that I saw him. He looked furious, and I don’t want him to visit me here looking mad. I feel guilty, not having a chance to apologize to my bestfriend. Also, I’m wondering what happened to Freeda’s birthday party. Did she tried to find me? Did she got worried when I haven’t gone to school? Or does she even care? I can’t help but to think about it. Maybe she’s mad at me becau
MONDAY. Mom finally decided to let me go to school again. I came with Nathan, and I haven’t seen Freeda yet until lunch. It’s becoming clear to me now what Nathan’s been talking about when he visited me at our house. I could still remember his same, exact words as I walked through the hallways of our school. “Groups are starting to form, Nat. And what I mean by that, literally. Everything is starting to change.” “Why?” I asked innocently I him. It’s only been a week so I highly doubt that it will happen that fast. “I don’t know. Freeda is now talking to some girls in our school. Popular girls, to be specific. And they are calling her queen or whatever...” “Then I’ll still talk to her.... But this time I wouldn’t deny you as my bestfriend anymore. I’ll tell her the truth.” “Well, that’s good to know. But I don’t think that you could still talk to her just like that. She was surrounded by different boys and girls who
NOW is Nathan’s turn to be absent. It was already been a week since Tyler threatened me about that thing that I did to his relationship with Freeda. We are now on our third week of school but thankfully, Tyler didn’t do anything to me about that certain thing... Yet. Maybe because I’m always having Nathan around but I still didn’t tell him about it, of course. If there is one thing that I learned about the events last week, that is on rule number seventeen of my manual which is to “never meddle in anyone’s life.” Well, that rule is more like minding my own business here at school. Back to the top, as I’ve said earlier, Nathan isn’t going to school for days now just like what I did before when I got sick. Because of that, I can’t help but to think that maybe, just maybe, I passed a fever into him. I should take it back if only I can. So I decided to visit him later af