By: Sophia Wynn

Being a nobody is something Kenzie was always good at. Jake on the other hand, is the most popular football player in high school. While Kenzie tries to hide her feelings for Jake, they only grow stronger. Jake tries to make Kenzie like him by getting her jealous. This for obvious reasons creates problems. Will they ever be a couple? 

    I remember 8 years ago today, we laid on the playground together looking up at the sky. He was looking up at the clouds memorizing their shape until they formed new ones. Not only was I staring at him. I tried to memorize every little detail about him. The way his face was chubby and his brown eyes dazzled as his pupil grew and contracted when the sun hid behind the clouds. In the middle of memorizing his profile he caught me staring at him. I looked away faster than any other embarrassed 3rd grader. We were always so close, but things changed the next day. Mainly because school started and we had different interests which then put us in different cliches and that grew us apart. It was like a football and sketchbook determined our paths and I lost my best and only friend that day.

Now every detail I remember became great inspiration for my art project. Jake was now  the center of my honors 1 art class portfolio. Everything I drew was based upon that memory. As I color in his face using a tan crayola colored pencil the bell rings and I clean up and head to lunch. When I get to the cafeteria I see him radiating as the sun in his little solar system, surrounded by other jocks and populars. Of course he doesn’t notice when I walk in because while he’s too busy trying to get enough leg room between the girls, I sit at an empty table in the corner of the room watching the whole “can you scoot over?” conversation going on. I was particularly excited for lunch today because I had packed the leftover pad thai that I had for dinner last night in a thermos. I forgot a fork that day so I had to walk all the way across the cafeteria just to grab a fork and believe me. Walking through the tables of populars is not fun when they prefer to joke on you over every other loser in this hell hole. Sierra, the ringleader of the bunch particularly has a special name for me and trying not to say something back to her one liners is so unreasonably hard. For example she’ll say “Hey Maddie. When’s the baby due?” and just to clarify no, i’m not pregnant and no i’m not fat and no, i’m not a slut, but yes, she’s making fun of me for all three of those things. The things I would say to that would be like “I don’t know ask your boyfriend.” or “Hey Sierra. When’s dad coming home?” but I would never say those things, or not until I work up the courage to. For now I just keep looking down until I finally reach my seat. Even with our history, Jake acts like he doesn’t know me until we are safe within our Calculus walls where he’s forced by assigned seats to sit next to me.