~~~~UPDATE!~~~~ School's been goin' pretty slow and it's only the fifth day! I stopped wearin' dresses to school 'cause I apparently am considered a boy. I don't have any friends in class, but I've got Zach. He walks me to every single class and sits with me at lunch. Shelly has been tryin' to get in the way, but every time he calls her by the wrong name, she walks away lookin' like a sad kitten. Danny is the MVP baseball player; maybe he will be a legend, but I still doubt it. Drew kinda drifted off into the outsiders sorta group. The ones with the colorful t-shirts, long hair, and flower crowns. Zach's been talkin' to me only; I haven't seen him talkin' to anyone. I'm guessin' he doesn't like makin' new friends. Girls do go up to him though, tryna make small talk with him 'cause he's "cute" or whatever. I don't understand the whole datin', liking boys thing yet. When will I start likin' a boy? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I close my locker and drag my bookbag out. The fifth day of school and I've already got so many assignments. I walk to the front doors where Zach waits for me to walk home. I immediately see him, and walk towards him. "Darla, I'm tryin' out for the football team. You should go to the track team meeting today; we can walk home after," Zach says. "Coach'll say I'm a girl and that I'm not allowed on the team," I say sadly. "He will if you're better than all the boys, which you are," he smiles and puts his arm around me. "I guess you're right. My red chucks are my lucky runnin' shoes," I point down at my feet, "Why do ya wanna try out for football?" "I dunno. Just somethin' to do, I guess. Don't worry, Darla! I won't be makin' new friends and leavin' you behind! I'd miss your pretty face too much," he holds my chin up with his knuckles. "Ya better not leave me! I'd march right over to your house and..." I pause, because I don't know what'd I do; he's my only friend. "You'll never have to do that, darlin'," Zach, still holding my chin up, kisses my cheeks, forehead and nose. "I hope not," I smile and give him a bear hug, "you're the best, Zach." "You're better though, Darla." "It's eight to three! You gotta get to the meeting! Hurry!" "Good luck today, Darla, beat 'em out," Zach smiles, kisses my nose again, and walks away. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Zach's POV I don't understand how she doesn't see how much I like her! I liked her ever since the mall day when she came out in that black dress with her lovely, little, red curls. She's real too, not like Shelly, who acts all girly and annoying. I even kissed her entire face, but not her lips. Noooo. I could never do that. I'd get so nervous and she'd probably widen her eyes and run away. Does she really have no clue about how I feel about her? Her perfect, warm brown eyes, her little freckles sprinkled across her nose, and her smile... Her beautiful smile, makes me want to just squeeze her into a tight hug. Does she really have no clue about how I feel about her? I guess there's one way to find out... I gotta ask her how she feels. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Still Zach's POV) I walk back towards Darla, who is still standing' in front of the school. "Darla, aren't ya going to the meeting?" I ask. "I haven't made up my mind yet," she giggles slightly, "What's wrong, Zach, I thought you were going to the football meeting!" "Well, I kinda need to talk to ya about somethings," I awkwardly shift back and forth from my heels to my tiptoes. "What is it? You've only got five minutes! The meeting starts at three o'clock sharp," she responds. "Well, this is more important. Darla, I think you're really pretty and real," I say nervously. "You tell I'm pretty all the time though, Zach! You don't need to miss your meeting to tell me again! And I'm glad I'm no Shelly," she laughs and smiles at me. Does she know?! She can't! I never said anything to anyone! Gosh, her laugh and her smile. Makes me want to hug her... "Za-ach? You okay? You were saying something?" she says confused. "Oh ummmm... Well, I don't know how to say this... but... Darla, I really like ya," I stutter. "Aw, Zach! I like ya too! Actually, I guess I love you!" she responds smiling. "Really?!" I get excited and smile. The butterflies in my stomach go away. "Yes! You're like the brother I never had! I love Danny and stuff, but he's never as nice to me as you are! You're such a great friend ," my face fell, but I pretended to be happy so she won't notice. She smiled and pulled me into a long, tight hug. A friend. Just a friend or brother... That's all I am to her, a friend. We may look like we're linked, but on the inside, our relationship broke up into millions of pieces. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So, this is kind of where everything starts! This is part of the hint of romance in the story before everything starts downhill from there . Thanks for reading!
I needed the readers to understand her immaturity at this state and her tomboy-ish personality . You'll see how she slowly matures .
~~~~UPDATE!~~~~ Zach Harrison is my best friend. I've only known him for a couple months, but I know he's my best friend. He always calls me pretty and real; that's what best friends do right? I walk to the first gym where the track meetin' is and see a large crowd of boys. I take a deep breath and walk right in front of them to sit down for the meeting. "What the hell are ya doing here, girl," a boy shouts. "This is the track team, not the cheerleadin' team," another says. "I'm here for track, not cheerleading," I respond and try to ignore them. They all start laughin' at me and yellin'. They started throwin' stuff at me and callin' me names. "You think you can beat all of us in runnin'?" the boy shouts. "Girls are supposed to stay home and make us whatever we want, not runnin'," a new boy yells. "Just leave, boys are better than girls, simple," the first boy shouts again. I turn around and look at him. He's tall and obviously a loudmouth. He's laughin' and looking at his friend next to him. "HEY. You over there," I shout at the boy getting his attention, "yeah, you, loudmouth. Lemme tell you somethin', I am just as good as everyone here, so why don't ya shut your mouth and use some manners towards girls. Or did your momma not teach ya that?" His face got very red and his expression angry. The other boys includin' his friends start laughing. I smile innocently, and turn back around. "What is all the commotion?" Mr. Stein, the track coach says loudly. "That girl, over there," the first boy points at me, "is tryin' to join the team." The coach starts laughing at me, "My, she wouldn't survive a day, would she now, Nathaniel." "I'm just as good as everyone else here," I fight back. "No you're not," the coach snickers at me, "now, go join the twirling team like you belong." "No. You haven't even given me the chance," I fire back. "Alright, fine. If you think you're better than every boy in this room, you'll have to prove it to us," the coach says, "I already have every members' mile time, since they are all returning members. Let's see yours. Four laps around the track." "Now?" I ask. "Go for it," the coach snickers at me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I tie my red chucks extra tight, so the laces don't come out as I'm runnin'. The boys inside the gym hurry out to see me runnin'. "Take your mark, get set, GO!" the coach screams and I'm off. I inhale and exhale as I run, so I don't cramp up. The smooth, red track is much easier than running up and down my street. I pass the coach and the boys. By the second lap, the coach and the team are lookin' me, shocked. I pass them again. My sweat is dripping all over my face and soaking into my shirt, but I don't stop. I gotta prove them wrong. On the final lap, I give it my everything. I sprint the fastest I could to the finish line. The coach has his right hand shaking, shocked at the time on the timer. I go into the girls' locker room, take a nice shower, and put on my spare change of clothes I keep in my locker. I walk outside of the locker room to where a large crowd of track boys are standin'. They're starin' at the piece of paper taped onto the wall. Probably the times after my run... I thought. I push all the boys outta the way and look at the list. FASTEST ATHLETE IN ORDER 1) Darla Platt: 5:26:32 I'm number one! Wow! Five minutes and twenty six seconds! I have to go tell Zach! I look at the name under me: 2) Nathaniel Rogers: 5:26:34 I beat him by 0.02! I beat Nathaniel! Nathaniel walks up to the list and looks defeated. I smacks his lips together and walks away. Score= Darla: 1; Nathaniel: Big, fat 0. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I walk toward the coach's office and knock on the door, "Hello, sir." "Your run today... was amazing," he admits. "Thank you, Coach! I promise I'll work hard and get better!" I say excitedly. "About that-," he starts. "I won't let you down, Coach! I'll get better!" I continue. "Ummm, but-," he starts again. "Thank you so much for letting me join the team!" I exclaim. "But... Darla, I'm not lettin' you join." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm sorry . I had to include this slightly boring scene because remember I needed to include historical facts from the time period! Women were not allowed to join sports teams before the late '60's. The next update is all ready, and highly dramatic, get your tissues ready .
Correction, the next two updates are highly dramatic . I think I'm going to post the next one later tonight, leaving it with a slight cliffhanger. I'll watch you lovies, suffer . MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Bye. Much love .
~~~~UPDATE!~~~~ I walk outside to where Zach is, deflated. He's sitting on our usual bench waiting for me, but instead of looking for me and smilin', his head is slumped over. I finally get to the bench and plop down next to him. "Rough meetin'?" he asked me. "Yeah. I beat out all the boys, but he still wouldn't let me join," I respond sadly, "you?" "Yeah, the girl I like doesn't like me back," he responds and looks at me with hurt, sad eyes. "Who wouldn't like ya, Zach?! You're so nice and sweet and fun to be around!" I respond smiling. But he didn't smile back. "Can we just... go home?" he sighs. We walk home in silence and when we part ways, he doesn't hug me or kiss my forehead like he normally does, not even a smile. What did I do wrong? Is it even me? Did I do somethin'? Little did I know, this would change my life, forever. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the past couple months, I've been goin' to all the track practices, only to be kicked to the sidelines. The coach just shoves me off and he locks the fence, so I can't come inside. The track wraps around the football field, where I see Zach almost every day, and the cheerleaders practicing. Zach. We're startin' to drift apart. I miss his smile and hugs; they always brighten my day. Occasionally, I see him flashin' a smile to his team, but it's not the kinda smile he used to me. It seems kind of... Fake. He still sits with me at lunch, but we don't talk. We eat in silence and when he finishes, he leaves. I miss my best friend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More months pass, now, it's March, and Zach is just another face in the crowd. I see him walkin' with his football friends or his cheerleader friends, and if he ever sees me, he looks away. He doesn't sit with me at lunch anymore, and I end up alone, just like last year. I keep trying to go to the track practices and try to compete, but I just get pushed to the corner. What has happened to this marvelous year? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I walk outside for lunch, because the cold, March weather forces everyone to sit inside. What sissies. I sit outside just to get away from e'erybody. I start walkin' to my bench and I surprisingly see Zach sittin' there. I continue walking towards him until he looks up and smiles, a real, Zach smile. He gets up and walks towards my direction. My insides start feeling warm for some odd reason; I guess I'm just happy he's ready to talk to me. He walks closer and closer, his smile getting happier and happier until... He walks right past me... And into the arms of another girl. I walk away, not looking back, and tears wellin' in my eyes. And in this moment, I knew, I just lost my only friend... Completely. Honestly, I don't know how to feel at this point. Angry that he has another girl to talk to, one that he actually likes? Sad that I lost my only friend? Or heartbroken because I think I might love him... Score= Darla: -9999; World: 9999 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dramatic scene part 1! I wanted to leave it at this sort of cliffhanger . So in my first post, the way I said I'd update it was the write the update after it before posting it. So for example, I'd post update 4 after I finished writing update 5. I just started the next update after this and totally broke my rule, so I could see your reaction to the cliffhanger . Dramatic scene part 2 will be up tomorrow!