“Karl? Karla!” she heard her name being called and blinked her eyes and turned from staring at the wall to her friend who had been calling, “Hey Karl! What were you staring at?” he asked as he came closer, dressed in his boys school uniform, shirt untucked, tie crooked, dark rimmed square glasses slightly askew on his artful nose, long dark blue slacks so long that the hems dragged on the ground, shiny black leather shoes, light green eyes, and messy short glossy black hair, with a daggy school bag slung over one shoulder. Karla smiled at her friend and shrugged, finally grabbing the rest of her work books out of her locker, stuffing them in her slightly battered school bag, set the lock, and swung her bag onto her school uniformed shoulders walking over to meet her friend.

Together they walked out of the school grounds, school finally over for the day, and Karla listened to her friend Carl talk about his day. Carl and Karla - who liked to be called Karl for short - had been friends sense the start of high school in year eight, but for them it had felt they had known each other sense forever! They walked steadily together through the crowd of hurrying kids trying to catch busses and running home, but they walked easily down the streets, having walked them for about five years now, and they knew they didn’t need to hurry home.

Karla’s short brown hair curled and spiked from under her bucket hat she had shoved down on her head, shading her face from the many crowds, and her square dark rimmed glasses framing her bright blue eyes, her girls school uniform all wrinkled from the days activities, and her faded black leather shoes slapping the concrete as they walked. Karla remained quite, listening and letting Carl talk as much as he liked, Carl was the type of person who always had something to talk about, but Karla didn’t mind, and Carl liked people who listened - so really they were quite a pair!

“So Karl! You gotta go home straight away? Or are you free for a chocolate sundae from Wendy’s!” Carl asked as they walked, suddenly changing the subject from how the science teacher slipped on chemicals in period four. Karla shrugged and replied in a depressed air, “Whatever’s going Carl. I really don’t feel like going home just yet.” Carl looked to Karla’s face to see her eyes beginning to fill with tears, and quietly handed her a tissue from his pocket discreetly so she could wipe her eyes, and asked once she had cleaned her face, “Life not going so well at home huh?” Karla merely nodded her head, and Carl put his arm around her shoulders and said, “You know what? This time it’s my turn to shout the drinks hey?” he said trying to cheer her up and was rewarded with a smile and Karla saying, “Oh yeah? If you have enough money for it though! That’s another thing altogether!”

“You really don’t need to walk me home Carl! I can find it on my own!” Karla joked with Carl as they walked back from the shopping mall, both holding chocolate sundae’s.

“Ah yes! But a proper lady such as your self should have a gentleman escort her!” Carl said, playing around, springing ahead of her and holding his arm out like a man would a woman. Blushing Karla took his arm and walked along with him, arm in arm. She couldn’t help herself from peaking under the rim of her bucket up into Carl’s face, looking at his pure green eyes, smooth tanned skin, long black eyelashes, and full light red lips, and couldn’t help a fluttering feeling in her chest and suppressed a sigh.

‘He truly is the most beautiful guy in the world! So nice, so calm, so funny! I can’t believe it - but - I like him! I really like him! My best friend!’ Karla thought quietly to herself as they walked down the street, slurping on their chocolate sundae’s in time, shoulders literally rubbing each other, ‘I - I wonder if he knows I like him!’ she thought for a moment terrified, glancing at his smiling talking face, ‘I wonder - if - if he even likes me?’

But she never got to ponder the thought much more as they came closer to her house she heard a woman’s screaming and a man’s angry yelling, and she blushed even more and hung her head in shame, for she knew exactly who they where and which house they were coming from - it was her parents.

Carl gave her a worried look and gripped her arm tighter as if he didn’t want to leave her with her parents, but she shook her head and shrugged as she replied, “Might as well go home.” and she let go of his arm and moved toward her house and the angry voices, but turned around to face Carl to say, “I’ll text you! Have your mobile ready!” and waved goodbye to him, which Carl replied, and with a sad glance he headed off to his own place.