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Staring into the TV’s perpetual static even after the film ended, thoughts seemed to brim his mind. He’d been zoned out on the imagination of a certain girl, and would’ve stayed there if it weren’t for Jafeer wringing him out of it.
“Earth to Sam— We gotta get this done, we’re talking Weasels’ here!” Rolling his eyes halfway, he lifted up the magazine draft. The first few pages were cluttered with conceptual sketches, phrases, and other cutout newsletters they’d stolen from the local Blockbuster. Gabe would insist the maximalism made it more appealing. That was debatable.
Sam, quickly shaking his head, looked back at the two boys blankly before moving in closer. “My fault, guess I’m just out of it.” He awkwardly chuckled, picking at the nylon carpets instinctively. “Yeah? Well, you’ve been out of it for a good couples of weeks,” Gabe added, as the two waited on Sam for an explanation to his weird behavior. He furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief, but then the silence just became too much. “It’s just Maya. Now can we move on?” It was easier said than done, as his mind could not have been any more occupied. He gulped, exhaling in relief as they shrugged and continued on with their illustrations. A smile slowly crept from his lips to ears at a last thought of her, finally joining his friends on their collaborative zine.
Four hours, they rotated between laughs and sharing ridiculous ideas. It was witty yet informative, based upon Gabe’s obsession with Weasels; it was humiliatingly geeky at first, but it was worth spending time with them regardless. They questioned if using the family computer was worth the extra creativity, but its booting would wake the entire house.
If only it wasn’t the only thing, except for watching pornographic movies, the guys did.
“Jafeer, We should probably head to bed, man- First day of eight grade is tomorrow.” Sam concerningly suggested, as he watched him take a big gulp from the bottle of Fruitopia the boys had been sharing. Simultaneously, everyone turned to look at the digital clock, eyes widening as it read 1:00 AM. The rest was hazy memory as it quickly got wrapped up, and a moment later, all laid in the dark, trying to get the best sleep they could’ve. Sam sighed, whispering something before he threw the blanket over himself.
BEEP BEEP—!
“Hey pervert! Get in!” Sam stared as Anna yelled, head peaking out of the car window. It was obnoxiously loud for seven in the morning, but he couldn’t complain with a free ride. He swiftly walked towards the door, backpack slung on one shoulder, a bitten piece of toast in his other.
Thankfully, his friends were able to catch their own rides from parents way earlier. Definitely saved the possibility of squeezing five kids in one van.
Today, Anna sat in the middle row, leaving him a space at the back next to Maya. The seat itself was far cleaner than the front half, to his satisfaction. Gladly accepting the vacant spot, he sat his bag down on the floor, slouching. Sam turned his head to Maya who smiled awkwardly back.
Suddenly, all background noise muffled as he took in her appearance. That moment froze in his mind. He noticed how her hair grew down to her shoulders since last school year. Since then, she also switched to a clear retainer that lessened her lisp. Not that it bothered him to begin with. She wore a striped camisole with her low rise jeans and new pair of Etnies that everyone raved about getting. The strap of her push-up bra stuck out, which her mom would’ve scolded her on in a heartbeat. It was difficult to not admire her. “You look… amazing.” He finally uttered out, to which Maya stammered a thank you.
“Well, I-I’d hope so! Totally would hate to get UGIS for third year in a row…” Ouch.
Even if the popular kids began to warm up to her and find her humorous, it was still a very much lingering anxiety. She laughed, looking away sheepishly, but he softly grasped her hand “Why give two shits about them? They’re lame and predictable.” To those words, she backed into his touch in agreement. It was accurate. Their ego inflated their heads more than inhaling computer cleaner.
“I guess you could say that…” Giggling, her eyes drifting down to Sam’s pursed lips. The corners of his mouth curved into a coy smirk. He gradually leaned closer until their gap was nonexistent. As the two stared into each other’s eyes, foreheads pressed up, the car came to a screeching halt.
“Have a good day at school!—“ Confused, Maya looked out the window to see they’d already arrived at school, and slowly shuffled her way out as Sam guided. “Not even a quick one?” She whined, tugging at his arm lightly. They stumbled out, waving their goodbye’s to Anna’s mom before exchanging laughter again.
“Na! I’m gonna walk with Sam, you gonna be okay?” Waving both hands at Anna who was way ahead, the taller girl grinned widely. She gave a thumbs up in return and yelled, “See you in 2nd, Mai! I’ll be upstairs!” He watched as the two blew kisses at one another waiting patiently until she turned back.
“So, like… This is really it before we go to high school, huh?” She murmured, and Sam sighed. Sure, the nostalgia did play a factor in his emotions, but the school itself was mediocre at best. Amazing at having fake people, if anything. “Yeah, seems so. I doubt I’ll miss here, but hey, make the most this year?” Eyebrows raised in question, nudging her shoulder to see if he could lighten the mood; he did not. Maya, in fact, had glossy eyes and her body slumped forward. “Yeah, sure…” She changed the subject, “But I’m like SO not ready to see who else is in my classes.” She groaned loudly, falling further into Sam in despair. “Yeah, yeah, you’ll be fine, Bowl Cut.” Reassuring her, both looked at the time.
“We can meet at lunch as usual, sounds alright?” Catching her off guard with a kiss to the cheek, he asked. She nodded attentively. Hands slowly slipped off her waist as he swiftly excused himself; Maya kept watch until the door behind him shut as he walked.
As he left Maya to her own antics, he very slowly made his way upstairs. Everyone else in tha halls had their friends to catch up with; the most Sam had was watching paint chip off the walls. Fingers gliding across the handrail as he stepped, be got tapped from behind. Head snapping back, he noticed the persons familiar chestnut hair and cologne.
Brandt.
Honestly, it was like seeing a ghost. Last time they talked was weeks ago on AIM. “What’s up, Zablowski?” The guy greeted with an off putting expression. “Yo! Guess you haven’t found the guys?” Sam felt genuinely concerned why he’d be coming up to him of all people on the first day. Shouldn’t he be terrorizing people with his friends like hyenas? Perhaps gossip or boxing talk again, he assumed. Either topics would be interesting if Brandt didn’t ignore him. “Heard you’re dating Ishii-Peters,” He bluntly stated, glancing around before staring back. No nicknames. No Laughter.
Just the two boys standing at the corner of the stairwell.
“I mean… yeah. It’s been a couple of months,” Sam was able to say with a bit of pride in his relationship. The confirmation only made things more uncomfortable. Stepping back, Brandt palmed his reddened face. Eyes fixating on the ground, his posture refusing to fully face Sam.
“That’s chill, man. She looks happy,” Under his hand, he muffled. At this point, Sam just stood in confusion. Maybe appreciation? Brandt wiped his suddenly runny nose as his friends loudly barged up, smiling.
Sam couldn’t comprehend the overwhelmed and shaky tone in Brandt’s voice.
“Aye! What’s happening?” Dustin playfully poked at him, Alex trailing behind “You good?” To which the other nodded. “Yeah, just talking about how Zablowski here is dating BSB!” He announced, laughing condescendingly. The others pointed towards Sam with bewildered eyes and comically large grins before bursts of humiliating chuckles from the three erupted.
This was gonna be one hell of a year.