Chapter 1:

Waiting

Motto High School was typical. Home to many undefeated teams, it reigned over almost all sports. Everyone was on a team or else you risk being social leprosy, as it is in many schools.

Any one knows that everyone has a “click” or group or what ever they want to call it. Naturally, every one stays in theirs’, but that would be naturally.

Terri Kay, Maya Sancta, and Lena Sage were the rebel friends. Terri was a soccer jock girl; she had gotten suspended six times for getting into fights, and she wasn’t exactly the promising student. Maya was your fashion filled valley girl. With numerous trophies for dance and cheerleading, she was your dumb –fake- blonde or as dumb as they can get. Terri and Maya were popular, wonderful, and rich. Cliché? Well it’s true.

The last member in their group was the one that shocked everyone. Lena Sage was their little unknown follower. They didn’t treat her bad or anything, but she just wasn’t seen. Socially invisible. Lena Sage was Maya or Terri’s friend, that’s what people knew her as.

“Sorry for making you guys wait,” gasped Lena.

“No problem Lena,” replied Terri.

“Kind of, I still gotta’ get ready for the pep assembly,” complained Maya.

“Go then, don’t wait on our account,” replied Terri.

“K, bye then,” waved Maya, and off she ran. Meting her boyfriend along the way they French kissed a hello.

Seeing that Lena was sweating hard Terri asked, “Had to bike again?”

“Yeah, my bro slept in,” admitted Lena. Her seventeen year old brother, Zack, could drive, but often didn’t get up in time, “Don’t you have to get ready too?”

“No, come on the bell’s about to ring.”

After school she waited until all the popular kids had left the circle around them. Maya had warned her since middle school to stay away until they were all gone. Soon it had become routine. Lena didn’t question her routine.

“See ya tomorrow then,” waved Lena.

“Yea,” replied Maya.

After this she went to the bike rack. Unfortunately for her, there were lots of drop outs near her school who thought it was funny to pop her tires and melt her lock. Now she was left to borrowing someone’s cell phone and telling her brother. He would come in about half an hour; Zack was clock work to her. Sleep came first.

She waited between the two sets of doors in front of the school. A boy sat across from her on the floor, she glanced at him over. He had dark brown wavy hair that almost covered his deep brown eyes. From what she could see he had a medium build maybe a head taller than her. He didn’t look like the talking kind of person so she stared back out the window.

Squeeek. Quickly she glared questionably at the boy. He just smiled.

“What was that?” she asked still looking at him. He shifted to reveal a blown up balloon, he was slowly letting out. She gave him a look that half skeptical, half amused, “okaaay.”

Again and again he would do this.

“Ok, now that’s seriously getting annoying.” He just laughed and kept doing it. Thoroughly annoyed, she walked over to take it, but he just let it go.

A teacher walked through as the balloon landed. Lena took a casual pose of leaning against one of the doors. When the teacher left she gave him one of those “come on” looks. He just laughed again. Normally, she might have thought that it was rude that he kept on laughing at her, but she was starting to like his laugh.

“Hey what’s your name?” he asked.

“Lena, why? What’s yours?”

He looked as if he was thinking it over, trying to remember or something. “Drake.” She would look him up in her year book once she got home.

The balloon thing kept them amused for a little while as they talked nonchalantly. It turned out that he was in one of her mixed classes. Drake was pretty cool; he was fun, crazy, weird, all the things that people here were afraid to be. She realized that she wouldn’t have met him if her brother wasn’t so lazy. All the fun had to end when it was 4:00p.m. and she finally had to go. She’d waited long enough.

She wasn’t even 30 yards away when Drake came running up behind her.

“My house is this way too, so I’ll walk with you,” he said.

“Thanks.” she smiled. They walked on laughing and running around. Lena loved it. She couldn’t even remember the time she had this much fun with Terri or Maya.

When it came time that they had to part Drake asked, “Are we friends?”

“Of course,” it seemed liked a silly question to ask.

“I just wanted to know,” he smiled. Lena thought she might have been blushing, but she wasn’t sure because she didn’t do it a lot.

“See ya,” he waved.

“Yeah, bye,” cooed Lena. As she walked away she swore she could have seen a shimmering light around him. Of course that was just her head spinning.

Despite the fact that her house was about three miles away, she still felt wonderful. The walk was a beautiful daze.

As soon as she got home she called Terri, Maya was at cheerleading practice. Though Terri was an avid listener, she him too and said he was a great guy.

At school he never looked at her, not even a glance. It was like they never met. She told her friends; Terri said that he was just shy or nervous. Maya said to flat out tell him that she liked him or she would, but she made her promise that she wouldn’t.

She didn’t mind waiting.