"I am in pre-calc rn tho 😬"
"Pfft get to work jeeze"

Ash: ITS MIDNIGHT, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE
Me: HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE

After a few minutes of no response I begin typing but Ash beats me to it.

Ash: or not
Me: have fun sleeping or whatever, I'm going to go to sleep 😂
Ash: night!
Me: Goodnight, I love you
Ash: I love you too!!

In the morning as I'm getting ready for school- which is mostly grabbing my clothes and getting ready to head to the bathroom to get dressed since I had laid my clothes the night before- I pull out my phone and jot down a few notes for something I have been writing. I've always been big on note taking, each work of mine had at least a couple thousand words in notes behind it. When taking notes on paper, I use highlighters like my life depends on it.

Jake: hello friends
Me: pfft happy birthday
Ash: happy birthday!!
Zack: happy b-day!
Jake: thank you all
Jake: now if you'll excuse me, I have breakfast cake to eat
Me: pfft

Ash: Lanaaaa
Me: hm?
Ash: I drew something :D
Me: Oooo may I see?
Ash: mhm!!

She sends an image and once it loads I begin to study it. It's a drawing of the four of us at a lunch table at school holding a cupcake in front of Jake.

Me: that's awesome! And I love my outfit btw

In the drawing I'm wearing a pastel pink sweater and ripped blue jeans with paint splatters on them. Ash stands beside me in her pale blue hoodie from the school choir. She had worn it so much that the schools Cedar branch logo with the cones on it had begun to chip away, though that didn't show in the drawing.

Ash: thank you!!
Ash: have you made anything recently?
Me: I mean, I've been doing some writing 🤷‍♀️
Ash: Oooo
Me: do you wanna see?
Ash: if you'll let me!
Me: sure!

I send her the entire first chapter of the book I'd been working on for the past few months; a romance story about a twenty year old in med school.
With my father being a doctor, I had occasionally thought about becoming a doctor after high school, though I still can never decide if it's right for me. Back home, I figured I'd go to the community College to figure it out, take some basic classes for a bit and eventually I'd decide, but here, I don't know much about local schooling. I've heard of a nearby college, but I can't even remember the name, let alone what classes it offers.

Ash: whoa

I feel warm inside as she responds. I had never shown this book to anyone until now, though I'd mentioned doing some writing, just not extra what I'd been working on.

Me: I've been working on this for a few months, that's the first chapter. I have twelve written out
Ash: WAIT really??
Me: mhm
Ash: can I see more then??
Me: yeah!

I feel excited and even proud of myself as I copy paste a few more of my chapters into my messages app.

Ash: DUDE
Me: hm?
Ash: I'm invested
Me: Heh, thanks
Ash: mhm
Me: Here's one more chapter and then I have to get ready for school 😅

"Morning Lana," Rider says after greeting Clyde as we walk into the building.
I blink, "what's wrong-?"
"Nothings wrong," Rider laughs.
"You used my name though-" I break off and look at him.
"You've been here since August, you're not really a newbie anymore. Plus," Rider waves across the commons, "we have a different new girl now- who is already hanging out with Amber-" he races across the commons toward the girl.
"He's hoping to get to her before Amber 'taints her'," Clyde laughs, "if I hadn't made friends with you first, he'd have been doing that with you," he motions to Rider, one hand leaning on a table while he talks to the new girl, a wide smirk across his face.
I laugh, "I'm so glad you found me first."

As I'm walking between my first and second periods, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket.

Ash: HE ALREADY HAS SOMEONE NEW
Me: WHAT
Ash: HES WITH SEARRA
Me: Jake's friend??
Ash: YEAH
Me: Oh Jeeze- I'm sorry
Ash: yeah- I walked into the lunch room and THERE THEY WERE
Me: jeeze-

I wait a moment for a response as I walk into my class, but when I get none, I slide my phone back into my pocket.

After school I get home and go straight to my room to start on math homework.
I open up my backpack and hesitate as I notice my journal. I figure I write a few lines in that and then I do my math homework. I pull it out of my backpack and flip to the most recent page to begin writing.

12-8-2020

I showed you my book this morning and it made me really happy to see you liked it! It made me more motivated and I actually finished a thirteenth chapter after school. Thank you for being an amazing friend and for supporting me ♡
I'm sorry about Danny and Searra, that's awful. He barely even waited before moving on. I can't believe he's doing this to you.