It was late in the semester, nearly Christmas break. The weather was cold when Kennedy got out of the car and ran up the steps and through the doors of her high school, Washington Academy. Her back pack, always full of books and note pads, pulled heavily on her shoulder, but she kept walking. The halls were packed with students, the sound of locker doors slamming and the buzz of people talking almost overwhelmingly loud. The stench was unmistakably teenager; a mix of BO, men’s axe, and several fruity perfumes. Ducking her head so as not to bring too much attention to herself Kennedy made her way to her locker, #307. As she twirled the combination lock to zero, she felt a shiver run down her spine, the unmistakable feeling that someone was watching her. Turning her head to look over her shoulder, she spotted David, dark and mysterious, at his locker across the hall. His hazel eyes had obviously been staring at her moments before, but now they were stubbornly turned towards the floor. After a moment of awkward silence that only Kennedy appeared to sense, David looked up and caught her eye. She smiled and waved slightly, to which he nodded solemnly, but a small quirk of his lips said he was glad to see her. Turning away, Kennedy opened the door to her locker.

After organizing a couple of her books into neat rows, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Looking around, she saw Claire standing next to her with bright eyes and a smile that seemed so charismatic it made Kennedy want to smile, too. She was also bouncing on the balls of her feet, her hands determined to be anything but idle. Giving in to the smile, Kennedy exclaimed, “Hey there stranger! I see you’re a little hyper.” With a wave of her hand Claire continued bouncing on the balls of her feet and said, a little faster than necessary, “No. Yes. Kind of. Not really. I had coffee.”

Covering her mouth to smother her laughter, Kennedy rolled her eyes dramatically and gave Claire a hug to emphasize her next words, “Claire, I love you.” With a quiet “tehe”, Claire started walking down the hall. After realizing Kennedy hadn’t followed, Claire turned back confused. Kennedy raised her eye brow, pointing to her still open back pack and the unfinished work in her locker. With an exasperated sigh, Claire came trudging back and waited somewhat impatiently for Kennedy to finish organizing her books.

After pushing the last book into place, Kennedy turned to Claire. “Ollo,” she said with a smile. Claire rolled her eyes and started marching down the hallway. With one last glance around the hall, Kennedy followed. The warning bell rang right before she got to the classroom, and she darted in, grabbing one of the last seats available. Class began as Mr. Green walked in with his usual swagger, a grin on his face, and a book clutched in his hand. America: The Last Best Hope.

The bell rang. Claire hopped up, books already assembled, and booked out of the classroom, shouting “Thanks for class” over her shoulder, as she passed the teacher’s desk. As she fell into step with the hallway traffic, she pulled her Ipod out. The coffee had worn off and any remaining hyperness was killed by the looming thought of finals. Her one comfort was the notification: “One New Message from Wade Wilson”. Claire’s stomach flipped as she hit the “view” button.
Her thoughts flitted from Wade to their first date to the eventful day her parents had found out.

Defiance welled up inside of her. Who were her parents to tell her she couldn’t date, that she couldn’t have a life? What nerve did they have telling her she “didn’t have time for such things” between school and ballet. She laughed sardonically to herself. They couldn’t stop her. She didn’t care if she was fifteen. She was wanted a boyfriend, affection. Age meant nothing, right? She typed a quick response, sent the message, and stashed the Ipod back in her pocket, hoping none of the teachers that talked with her parents would notice the obvious texting capabilities she possessed, and hurried to literature class.

Finding a seat near Kennedy, Claire plopped down into the chair, pulling her notebook out. “Ello my dear. How are you this morning?”
“I’m alright. I didn’t finish the book, though.” Kennedy responded, looking guilty.
Claire laughed. “Honestly, the only people who finish the books are the ones with nothing to do. What else is Sparknotes for?”
Kennedy shrugged noncommittally, choosing not to respond as the teacher walked into the room.

Trying to make as little noise as possible, Claire tore a sheet of paper out of her notebook, passing it to Kennedy, after scribbling “So what’s the deal with you and David?” in the upper left hand corner. She then proceeded to look very interested in the lecture bullet points on the board about some book she could care less about. She loved Mr. Green and all, but to be honest, this all bored her to death.
Claire stole a glance at the lengthy paragraph Kennedy was composing on the sheet of paper. Sighing inwardly, she turned her attention back to the board. “Oh great”, she though inwardly. They were starting class discussion.

David immediately raised his hand and, when given permission to speak, proceeded to launch into some philosophical point that the book apparently made. It’s not like Claire disagreed, but she didn’t exactly care, especially when Kennedy was about to share some juicy details.

When Claire passed her the note, Kennedy wasn’t surprised. Everyone seemed to be asking the same question. With a sigh she glanced around carefully and started writing tentatively.

“It’s…complicated. But what in life isn’t? See…we met at a series of seminars last year and early this year. My cousin and I were somewhat infatuated with him. We wrote a poem about him and my cousin older cousin Keira “liking” each other. Him and I hadn’t talked since then, and I had no idea he was coming to WA. You know how Addison and I have become friends, right? Well, she’s crushing on him, and she’s the one who gave me his number. We started texting. And we kept texting…and texting…and texting. All hours of the night, about anything and everything. I’m kind of crushing on him, but David’s 15, and I’m 13, and he’s not Mormon, and I can’t date non-members (not to mention he can’t date members) and I can't date til I'm 16…like I said, it’s complicated.”

With one last look at the note, Kennedy quickly slipped it to Claire, and suddenly became very interested in the chalk board, turning about three shades of red.
Claire snatched the note, reading it with great interest, giggling slightly until Kennedy kicked her in the shins. As she read on, Claire’s face became more somber. She chewed on her lip, trying to think how to respond.

"What is it with this school and Mormons?" she thought.

“Aww that is so cute!! Slightly tragic, but cute.” She scribbled. Chewing on the end of her pen, she glanced up. David was done talking, finally. She looked back down at the paper, thinking.

“So what are you going to do?” she wrote. She didn’t know what else to write. Honestly, what else could she say? She passed the not back to Kennedy.

Glancing around the room to make sure both the teacher and any possible tattletales were distracted, Claire slipped her ipod out of her pocket. Again her stomach flipped as she saw that Wade had texted back. Sure, he wasn’t perfect. Gosh, he was far, far from it. But he loved her. That was all that mattered. Claire tried to brush away the already smothered feelings of guilt and regret. Running her fingers through her hair, she attempted to distract herself. Only 30 minutes of class left.

Kennedy slid the note onto her notebook, and looked at it sadly. A feeling of helplessness was knotted in her stomach. She grabbed her pen, sucking on the end of it. A quick look at Claire and she stopped, realizing they were doing the same thing.
She looked over at David sprawled in his chair, looking so confident. He was staring intently at Heather, who was giving her somewhat snotty feelings about the book they were discussing. Kennedy gulped, blinking her eyes rapidly. She was being stupid, and she knew it. He wouldn’t ever notice her, not the way she wanted, and it couldn’t work out. And plus, what about Zack?

Still confused, Kennedy wrote the words “I don’t know” slowly and then carefully tossed the note into Claire’s lap. With a short sigh, she started jotting down a couple notes; only 20 more minutes of class.
Claire glanced down at the note and sighed. Giving Kennedy a sympathetic look, she tucked the note back into her binder and returned to pretending to pay attention.
Fifteen excruciatingly boring minutes later, Mr. Green brought up what the whole class had been dreading.

"So class. Next week is finals week. You'll be receiving the list of essay topics in class tomorrow and on Friday we'll be having a review on what we've covered this semester. Any questions?"

Five more minutes of stupid questions dragged on until finally the bell rang. Claire had already gathered her books and was standing up.
"Have fun in your next class. You should Facebook me or something when you get home." Claire said to Kennedy. "We can discuss 'this'".

Claire waved the note teasingly in Kennedy's face.

Kennedy laughed, with slight edge of discomfort in her voice, wondering where David had gone now. He did not seem to be in a hurry to leave the classroom...
Kennedy shook her head, trying to focus. "Uh, yeah. Sure" she mumbled, smiling weakly.
"I have dance 'till 8 so I'll be home around 8:30. Talk to you then?" Claire responded, trying to sound encouraging and failing.
Kennedy mustered up another smile. "Yeah. Talk to you then."
Attempting to give a cheery smile, Claire picked up her bag and left the classroom, leaving Kennedy to her thoughts.

Walking down the halls, Claire scrolled through her recent conversations with Wade. Staring at the screen, she ignored the ciaos around her. She missed him. It had been weeks since she had seen him last and physical contact had been limited.
Receding further into her own little world, Claire's mind was going 95 miles an hour.
It was funny, think about things frankly. She was in love. This was supposed to be amazing, to make her life complete. But she still felt hallow. "I miss him so much. I wonder if he's thinking about me. I wish he'd kiss me again. When am I ever going to see him again." Numbly, Claire opened her locker, exchanged books, and walked towards the study hall classroom. "Ittle all work out. We're in love" she kept telling herself.

After Claire left, Kennedy made her way through the crowds in the hallway to her next class: Personal Leadership. Mark was the second best teacher at Washington, George being the first (in her mind, at least). David had slipped away right after class, again. Kennedy let out a disappointed sigh. He never talked to her during class, and she never got a chance afterward. It was her opinion that someone’s computer/tech self wasn’t their true self.

When she reached the classroom, it was empty. Smacking her forehead, Kennedy realized it was Wednesday, not Friday. She turned slowly around and headed back to her locker. The halls weren't as busy now, and Kennedy heard the warning bell ring, seeming distant. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out. Her heart gave a little flutter when she read the name. David. She opened the message, nearly dropping the phone in her haste; “hey”.

How lame

Kennedy thought, and she quickly responded with it. She placed the phone back in her pocket, knowing that he wouldn’t respond for at least another five minutes. She practically ran to study hall, barely making it in time. A stern look from the teacher made Kennedy quail, and she positioned herself at the back of the classroom. As she pulled out her notebooks, her phone buzzed in her pocket, making her jump a little. Looking furtively around, she stuck the phone under the table, and read the text: “whats up?” Rolling her eyes, slightly annoyed, she responded. “What do you think?” Sometimes, Kennedy thought, he can be a real idiot.

Another buzz from her phone, and the message “singing opera while balancing on a beach ball holding a gold fish?” served to make Kennedy go bright red from trying not to laugh.
His messages made her laugh far too often, and sometimes, or really, she thought, most times, they weren’t that funny. Her stomach flipped when she thought about him, and she texted him whenever she could. He just understands me she thought.

The same frequency….that’s what he’d said. “There’s this girl, and she and I just seem to be on the same frequency”…thinking about the morse code message made her stomach flip again. He’d said he loved her. In an indirect way, avoiding it, because when you’re texting someone, you can do that. But he'd said it.

Her thoughts were so uncertain. Was he telling the truth? It just seemed so…fake. With a jolt she realized she’d been lost in thought and hadn’t responded to David’s message. Her hurried response (“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m doing.”), made her feel uncomfortable. Why did she always answer him so fast, like a dog to his master?

Claire slammed the door. "I'm home!" she yelled over her shoulder, kicking her shoes off. "How was dance?" her mother called down the steps. Tossing her bag down the steps, in front of her door, Claire trudged up to the kitchen. "It was fine" she mumbled, heading straight for the refrigerator.After some more dull, painful conversation and some dinner, Claire escaped down to her room, pulling out her computer and Ipod, after shutting the door firmly behind her.She send a text to Wade, while shoving the crap on her bed over enough for her to sit down. "He had better respond quickly" she thought to herself while turning her computer on.Staring blankly at the computer screen, she was soon lost in thought. Tomorrow was dress rehearsal for the recital, then Friday would be dress rehearsal for the show and then the recital. And then came Saturday.

She smiled slightly. Wade was coming to the show. Everything would be perfect. He would get to see her in that little black dress and shove it in Carmen's face that she had a boyfriend and could care less what everyone else thought of him. Her stomach twisted slightly at the last thought. Nobody's perfect was her constant anthem. She proceeded to remind herself again. The Ipod dinged. Wade had responded. "Hey baby" was all it said. "He could be a little more original in his responses..." Claire thought. She wasn't in the best of moods. That duet was not looking good, no matter what the teacher said. Nobody was ready for this show and none of the more advanced people even had the excited giddiness to make it fun. It wasn't going to be fun. Allowing herself to wallow in her bitterness, Claire opened Facebook and her homework, focusing her attention on the former. Finals could wait.

Within the hour, Claire was caught in conversation with Kennedy, David, and Wade. There was no hope of finals studying now. But honestly, she didn't care much at all.

Yawning and stretching, Kennedy walked up the stairs to her room, making sure that the curtain she used for a door was completely closed behind her. Abigail, her baby sister, was lying in their bed already, sleeping. Dinner had been delightful, Kennedy thought with more than just a hint of sarcasm. Just perfect. Why they had insisted on having that conversation was completely beyond her. Okay, she thought to herself as she grabbed her lap top and flopped onto the bed, not completely beyond her. She understood why her family continued to tease her about David, despite her insistence that they were just friends. But thinking she was crushing on Gavin, too? Sheesh, who did they think she was? She wasn’t even over Zack yet.

She turned to her computer and quickly logged onto My Washington Community, the new forum the school had set up for the students to communicate and discuss things. She had a new message from Claire, making her smile. As Kennedy waited for Claire’s answer, she wondered if David thought about her as much as she seemed to be thinking about him.

Three hours later, Claire stared at the blank document, shoving the feelings of failure and defiance aside. She had to get good grades on these finals, or else she would get bad overall grades and if those were below 80%... Claire tried not to think about the consequences. Switching windows back to Facebook, Claire typed a quick response to Kennedy.

Claire liked Kennedy. They had only been talking a few days, but Kennedy was sweet and cute and funny. Sure, she was a little younger, but they had fun conversations. Plus, she got learn more about David.

The obnoxious thing about Washington Academy was, yes you got a “stellar” education, and yes, you had a flexible schedule. Most of the kids only had classes in the mornings. But it didn’t leave a lot of social room if you only took a few classes, like Claire did. And when you added dance on top of that, the whole “social life” thing kind of died a very quick, yet painful death. The whole idea of having friends at Washington Academy had been considered, but not put into practice.

But now that she was talking with Kennedy, there was just a tiny bit of acceptance that Claire had been missing. And it was nice.
Claire shook her head. This essay needed to be done, like, now. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock. 12:30. Claire groaned. Tomorrow was chaperoning for the ballet recital. Tomorrow was not going to be a good day whatsoever. She wouldn’t be able to text Wade at the stage.

“Stupid parents” Claire mumbled, grabbing her Ipod. When they had found out about Wade, they had taken away her cellphone AND Facebook. Not like that would stop her. Thanks to the security features on Facebook and the texting app on her Ipod, Claire was golden, just so long as her parents weren’t looking over her shoulder and she had internet access. But tomorrow, she wouldn’t have internet access.

Claire cursed. This essay could wait. She needed sleep. Sending one last text to Wade and one last message to Kennedy, Claire closed her computer and turned off the light.

Chapter Two

“Finals,” Kennedy groaned, laying out the multitude of papers that might help her get through it. The worst part about it all was that her birthday was in a couple days. Right smack dab in the middle of finals. At least she had something to look forward to, she thought wryly. Kennedy, Claire, David, and Gavin were planning on going ice skating the Monday after finals. She was, quite frankly, nervous out of her mind. Kennedy hadn’t seen David since May, and it hadn’t been on exactly civil terms. Every time she heard someone singing 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall it was a painful reminder of her escapade with Jamie at Dan’s seminars.

With a sigh, Kennedy opened a Microsoft document, intending to write her essay. It wasn’t that she didn’t like writing. On the contrary, writing was one of her favorite pass times, right next to reading, and she thrived in this environment where she got to do plenty of both. But the time she spent on her essay would take away from the time she could spend talking with her friends; Claire and Gavin…and David.

Kennedy was intrigued by Claire. She was a ballerina, and Kennedy’s mind came up with the thought, “I’ve never met a real ballerina before”. This was silly because Kennedy had taken dance before and her teacher was a “ballerina”. Plus, one of the Sisters in her ward was a ballerina, but really, she’d never talked to someone who wanted to work for a ballet company. Claire was also very willing to goof around with Kennedy, making her much more appealing. All the other 16-year-olds in her class looked down on her since she herself was only 13.

Then there’s Gavin. Kennedy had met him at Dan’s seminar too, and had written him off as not very cute and slightly annoying. But on closer inspection this semester, Kennedy had found him to be not only cute but funny and entertaining. She wouldn’t dream of crushing on him, though. He was too…older brother-like. And then there’s David. Attractive, funny, smart, and he never looked down on Kennedy. They could talk for hours, like she’d told Claire, about nothing and everything. Her heart suddenly gave a not-very-small flip flop. With a shake of her head, Kennedy willed herself not to think about David and quickly began to type. In another hour she’d stop and rest, maybe check MyWC for new posts in the Random topic she and David had created.

Chapter Three

Flushed with the left over energy from telling Jamie about David’s Morse code text and the discussion (or, more appropriately, the argument) that ensued about whether or not he really liked her, Kennedy sat on her couch listening to her brother go on about couplets and quatrains. He was great and all, but the class seemed a bit boring because she already knew all this, having taken the class last year. She was only in it for the second semester, where they'd be performing Twelfth Night.

After a few minutes of getting her hand ignored by Alexander, Kennedy gave up trying to answer any of the questions. A soft buzz came from her jeans pocket, and Jamie quirked her eyebrow with a slight smirk. Assuming an innocent look, batting her eyelashes and looking surprised, Kennedy subtly held her notebook up and grabbed her phone. Keeping it low so no one could see what she was doing, she swiftly texted David back, wondering how much longer class was going to take.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 11.11.2011

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