FicWad

I remember when we were lost in innocence and then innocence was lost.

"Bye Mom!" I yelled as I heard Pete honk his horn at the end of my driveway.

"Have a good first day!" I heard my mom say from the kitchen. I slammed the door shut and walked down the driveway.

It had hit me at that moment, that I couldn't believe that it had already been two years since I moved away from my home, or what was my home. I couldn't believe that Pete and I had been best friends for 2 years. It will be 2 years to the date in a month, but who is counting. Pete and the rest of the gang were extremely nice and took me in with no questions asked. Pete and I were practically inseparable, working on getting to know one another better, helping each other out with our horrible choices in fashion, and giving each other an insight to different music genres. Now Pete, Joe, and I were starting our Junior year in high school. It seemed like it all was beginning only yesterday.

"What is going down?" Joe asked from the front seat of Pete's Mustang that he got from his father for his 17th birthday this past summer.

"Do we really have to go to school?" I asked looking in the rear view mirror at Pete's eyes. He just shook his head.

"Izzy, it's not that bad," he said laughing and pulling away quickly. I just sat back and took a deep breath. I may have been there for two years, but according to everyone at that school I was still the new girl. That is everyone except for Pete and Joe. Andy had graduated earlier that spring, Ady was home-schooled, and Carrie made sure I felt like the new girl for the four years of being there.

We sped through the parking lot with the radio blaring something Joe had picked out from Pete's collection.

"See ya guys later!" Joe yelled jumping out of the car and going by the rest of the kids who smoked before school at the edge of the property. I slowly got out of the car and grabbed my bag.

"Well, Peter, are ya ready for another year?" I asked turning to look at him. He had that look in his face again. He seemed almost distant and sad. I just paused and waited for him to reply holding the breath I didn't know I was.

"Sure," he said simply.

Pete had started to act like this about six months ago. I wasn't sure what was going on exactly. One moment he was fine. He would be smiling and laughing with me, then he would be gone. Somewhere where he wouldn't let me in. I had never confronted him about it since I thought it was a thing everyone goes through in high school.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I sure am glad that we have Physics together this year," I said linking my arm with his. He smiled now looking down at me.

"What do you think we could start on fire this year?" he asked snapping out of his mood and talking about the time Freshman year when we started the counter on fire. Mr. Sour was not impressed.

"I don't know. I'm going for the teacher's copy of the text book," I said laughing as we walked into the building still linking arms.

"We'll see what we can do," he said laughing as well. I looked up at him before we parted for our lockers thinking to myself that I always wanted to remember Pete like that. Smiling and joking as if we had no cares in the world.

"See ya second hour," he said not noticing me staring and letting go of my arm.

"Bye," I said and walked to my locker which I had occupied for two years now.

I smiled shaking my head slightly to myself. I can still recall the first day we met as though it were yesterday. Pete was so preppy looking. He definitely has changed. He now had a little bit longer hair that he styled slightly in his face, and his clothes continued to get tighter and tighter. I remember one time last year he had borrowed a pair of jeans from me. It took me a month to get over that depression.

"HEY!"

I jumped a mile at the person who broke me out of my thought.

"Jesus Joe! Put a bell on so I know you are coming," I said irritated. Joe was successful in scaring me about three times a day.

"Whoa, totally not my fault you are jumpy," he said holding his hands up in defense. He reeked of cigarettes.

"Let's just go to Geometry," I said not thrilled that my first period class was mathematics.

After Geometry, I practically skipped to Physics because I got to see Pete. When I walked in however, I was ready to walk out of the door. First, Mr. Sour was teaching Physics this year due to the past teacher quitting, and second, Carrie was in this class and already sitting next to Pete. My face dropped immediately.

"Hey Izzy!" Pete said waving at me with a smile, which faded when he looked at my face.

It had become very apparent through the two years of me being here that Carrie and I did not get along.

"Um Carrie, this is Izzy's spot," Pete said quietly as I walked up to the table.

"Really, I don't see her name on it," she said looking me up and down. I continued to done the look of jeans with wholes in them, but my shirts had gotten tighter along with Pete's. I rarely ever went with out a hoodie as well.

"Carrie, come on, I told you," Pete said still very quietly. He was avoiding a fight at all lengths possible.

"What ever," she said in a snobby way and picked up her books and moved.

"Apparently someone thinks she is from the valley," I said rolling my eyes. Pete just shook his head slightly and looked at me not amused.

"What?" I asked shocked.

"I don't see why you got to rag on her so much," he said trying to keep his voice down since Mr. Sour had begun his lecture about safety in the classroom. That could possibly be the reason we always seem to start something on fire or blow something up because we are rarely listening.

"What about her? She is constantly trying to make my life a living hell. You are just backing her up because she gives you some," I spat at him. We had had this fight many times before. Pete usually doesn't have much to say to that argument, so he would just back away or change the subject.

Pete's pencil in his hand snapped in half which caused me to sit up straight. I wasn't expecting that reaction from him. He seemed extremely upset. He looked at me angrily, pushed his chair back, and stormed out of the room. I really wasn't expecting that reaction from him.

"Is there a problem?" Mr. Sour asked upset that his time was being interrupted.

"He said he wasn't feeling well," I said covering for Pete. I looked over at Carrie who was giving me an evil smirk. Bitch.

Pete didn't return for the rest of the hour. Mr. Sour stressed that I was to catch him up on lost time. I grabbed Pete's and my books and left looking for him. He was standing by my locker looking down at his feet.

"Pete, what the hell?" I asked handing him his books. He looked up at me and seemed so sad.

"I'm sorry if I upset you," I said softening my tone now. I didn't think he would take it so personal. He never had before.

"Izzy, you know Carrie and I haven't had sex in about half a year now. So why you gotta keep bringing it up?" he asked more sadness than anger in his voice.

"Jeez Pete, I'm sorry, really. I didn't think you would get so upset. But you know what hell she puts me through and yet you continue to defend her. Why?" I asked now saddened by our interaction.

"I don't know. Let's just drop it," he said starting to walk away.

"No, why do you defend her?" I asked not wanted to just forget about this fight.

"Izzy, drop it," he said angry and turned to leave. I watched him walk away confused as to what was bothering him so much. He had been getting moody lately, but this was ridiculous.


At lunch, Pete acted as though nothing had happened, so I decided to play the same game. He was joking around with Joe and, laughing and smiling with me. I just marked it down as being stress of the first day of school and soccer.

"Hey guess what!" Joe said excitedly shoving Pete's fries into his mouth.

"What?" I asked laughing at his enthusiasm.

"Ady was telling me about a rave on the outskirts of Chicago on Saturday. Do you guys want to go?" he asked with his eyes large and filled with mischief.

"Fun!" I said excited. I looked at Pete who had his skepticism in his face.

"I dunno. If I get caught, you guys, I'm off the team," he said looking down at his plate.

"No way will that happen because it's not around here. No one will know but us," Joe said using his successful persuasion skills on Pete.

"Come on, Pete," I said nudging his arm slightly. He looked over at me and smiled. He may not have known that I had picked up on the fact that he can't say no to my eyes. I used it against him all the time.

"Alright, but first sign of getting caught and we bail," he said giving in. Pete was never one to pass up a party.