13

NOT FANFICTION

A+

By Sophia

1 - TESSA

I sit at my desk, doodling in my science notebook. We are supposed to take notes on Electrical Conductivity. Whatever that means. I quit two seconds in, focusing on the crinkly sheets of my notebook paper rather than my teacher Ms Briggs going on and on about stupid science.

I flinch slightly when a small paper ball hits me on the cheek and it falls silently onto my doodle-filled page. I grab it and open it up, careful not to be too loud. I unfold it and immediately recognize my best friend, Ell's hand writing. Help! This lesson is so boring! I look up at her.

She is sitting across the room, twirling her honey blonde hair around her finger. Her navy blue eyes find mine and she shoots me a sad smile. I smirk and shove the note into my desk to live alongside a pack of gum from two weeks ago, an overdue sheet of math homework from six weeks ago, several beat up erasers, a couple broken pencils, a collection of differently colored hair tyes, and a rubber band ball I made in math.

Something suddenly hits me in the side of the head. I look up boredly at Bradlee who is grinning next to an impressively large pile of pink erasers. The one he threw at me landed in my lap and I picked it up and examined it. It is not as beat up as mine and actually looks brand new. I mouth 'Thanks for the eraser' and shove it into my drawer.

He glares at me and I smile innocently back at him. I return to my science notebook and draw until the end of science. On my next science test, which is a week and a half from today (I only know that from the looming Test Countdown board at the back of the room), I will most likely get a bad grade.

My parents tell me to be more like my genius freak older sister, Aniliese, who aces every test she takes. She is in ninth grade and is a total nerd. She's in all the advanced classes and is smarter than all of the ninth grade and half of the tenth grade. Walking into her room is like walking into a library.

Our teacher, Mrs Jackson, reports it's time for lunch and to grab our jackets. On my way to my locker, Kaxton rams into my shoulder causing me to slam into the wall.

"Idiot," I mumble. I share a locker with Kiara, the most annoying girl in our class, and she is already at the locker fixing her makeup in the ginormous mirror she placed on the inside of the door (without my permission). I nudge her out of the way and grab my navy blue sweatshirt, my lunch box, and walk back into the classroom. Ell is already in line holding her lunch.

"Can I go in front of you?" I ask. She nods, moving back so I can go in front, then she grabs me and pulls me back behind her. We always do this when the line for lunch is long.

"Hey!" Cecelia screeches. Cecelia is one of Kiara's minions. She is standing in front of Georgia, Kiara's other minion, who is braiding Cecelia's hair back into a singular braid.

"Hi," I say plainly.

"You can't cut!" she screeches, nostrils flaring.

"Technically, I'm not cutting. I asked to go in front of Ell, and then I let her go in front of me," I explained. She huffs and turns to Georgia who has finished braiding her ashy brown hair and starts complaining about some makeup brand.

I check my watch which reads 1:12. We are already two minutes late to lunch. The line lurches forward and weaves through the halls, making its way to the lunchroom. In front of Ell, Bradlee, Kaxton, and Weston are shoving each other around, earning glares from Mrs Jackson. A class of first graders walk by and stare at us like some sort of attraction at the zoo.

I give a small wave to my neighbor, Kenzee who is jumping up and down with excitement when she sees me. Her big curly brown pigtails are bouncing up and down. I babysit Kenzee on days where her parents have to work late and she lives 4 houses down from me.

We enter the lunchroom and me and Ell slide into seats at the end of the table. Across from us, Bradlee and Lennon sit down. I roll my eyes and open my lunch. I grab my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and peek over to see what Ell has. She pulls out a bag of Lays and turns to face me. I hold my hand out and she places a few in my hand. I place them on my napkin.

"Did you hear what happened?" she asks, popping a chip in her mouth.

"What?" I ask, squeezing my sandwich so the jelly trickles out.

"Claire heard from Grant who heard from Maya's twin sister, Maeve, who heard from Leah who heard from Cleo that Tatum broke her arm at soccer so now soccer is banned," she exclaims really fast.

"Repeat? Slower this time?" I suggest. She sighs.

"Claire was told by Grant who heard from Maya's twin sister, Maeve, who was told by Leah who heard from Cleo that Tatum broke her arm at soccer yesterday at recess so now soccer is banned," she repeats slower.

"It's true," Bradlee jumps in, earning a side eye from me and Ell. "I saw it happen. Issac tripped Tatum and she put her arm out to stop the fall and somehow it broke. She was on the ground for 10 minutes before someone was able to lead the recess monitors over. Mr Fitzroy called Nurse Carters and she arrived and helped Tatum. Turns out she also twisted her ankle when she fell so Luke and Finn had to help her walk to the nurses office with Nurse Carters. Troy said she isn't at school today. Oh and also Kiara was talking about how she thought Tatum faked the ankle injury so Finn could help her to the nurse's office. "

"That's just.. Wow. What happened to Issac?" I ask, licking the jelly off my finger.

"He got suspended for 3 whole days!" Lennon exclaims, throwing his hands in the air.

"This is why I don't play soccer," Ell says, taking a bite of her ham and cheese sandwich.

"I leave for a dentist appointment one day and someone breaks their arm and someone else gets suspended!" I huff. Bradlee and Lennon laugh. I finish my sandwich and grab my Dorito bag and open it.

"Yo Tessa," someone calls. I turn and face the all too familiar voice.

"What Harper?" I ask exasperatedly. He smirks to his friends.

"If I could rearrange the alphabet I would put U and I together," he says smirking. "Wanna date me?"

"I actually like the alphabet just the way it is," I say.

"Why?" he asks stupidly.

"Because N and O are next to each other," I say. His face falls and I smirk and turn back to Ell, Bradlee, and Lennon who are snickering along with the entire cold lunch table.

"Good one Tess," Ell says in between laughs.

Harper has had the biggest crush on me since Kindergarten and in second grade he started finding ways to ask me out. It's disgusting. In third grade, Harper was in my class and on Valentine's day he brought a literal bouquet of daisies (probably picked from the back of the school) and a chocolate bar (our Hyvee gives out free chocolate bars on Valentine's day). I took the chocolate bar because it was a KitKat, my favorite, and I shoved the flowers in his face and told him no girl wants flowers, especially not me. Ell thinks it is the most hilarious thing when Harper tries asking me out.

"Hey, can I have half of your KitKat?" I ask Bradlee, who is getting ready to open his.

"If you give me half of your chocolate chip cookie," he bargains.

"Deal," I agree. We swap and I snap off one of the KitKat bars and pop it in my mouth.

"Who do you think is going to get the concert solo?" Ell asks me, chewing on her Oreo's thoughtfully.

"You, obviously. It would be a crime if Ms Duncan didn't choose you," I answered immediately.

"Thanks, but I mean, if it isn't me, who do you think will get it?" she asks.

"Well, whoever it is, I will have a new person on my Need to Punch list," I say. Ell laughs.

"5 minutes!" Ms Jaspers calls out. I throw my trash away and close my lunch box.

"Who do you think will get dismissed early?" Bradlee asks. "My bets are on O'Donnelly."

"I bet it's Hemmings," I say.

"I'm with Tessa," Lennon agrees.

"I'm with Bradlee," Ell says. I fake gasp and put a hand to my heart.

"Traitor!" I exclaim.

"Whoever wins splits my extra chocolate muffin in half?" Lennon suggests. We all nod.

"Hemmings! You may go," Ms Duncan calls out.

"Told you," I sing. Lennon breaks his muffin apart and hands the other half to me.

"Cold lunch, you may go," Ms Duncan says to us. I grab my lunch box and follow Ell. I throw my lunch in the basket and push open the door. The cool breeze hits me in the face. I follow Ell and Lennon who are talking about a Netflix show along the path that leads to the playground.

Bradlee walks next to me, eating the half of my chocolate chip cookie. His fluffy brown hair is blowing over his hazel colored eyes. A lot of Ell's 'preppy' friends have ginormous crushes on Bradlee. Whenever I walk up to Ell in her group of friends I overhear them squealing about how hot he is. Revolting. Disgusting. Traumatizing. Disturbed. I feel all of the above when I hear that.

"What are you going to do during recess? I mean, now that soccer is gone," Bradlee asks. I shrug.

"Probably follow Ell around so I can annoy her weird friends," I answer honestly. Bradlee laughs.

"Can I join?" he asks.

"Sure I guess," I say. He pumps his fist in the air. Bradlee and I follow Ell over to the left playground.

We have two playgrounds, a field, and a concrete like area here at Suncreek Elementary. The left playground is the one to the left (obviously) and the one that is larger and farther away from the school.

Lennon breaks off from us and runs over to his nerd friends from Ms Hemmings class who are playing four square.

Ell's friends are... super annoying... obnoxious.... and they are mean too. They are also some of the few people I'm taller than.

Samantha Pickett is the "leader". She is like 4 ft 2 (AKA VERY SHORT, LIKE SHORTER THAN ME SHORT) and has waist length, blonde-ish brown hair. She has piercing brown eyes and is the most annoying out of the three. She and I used to be like best friends in 3rd grade. Then she became the annoying brat she is today.

Sofie Carter is the "sidekick". She is also on the short side and is about the same height as Samantha. Sofie is very tiny and has dark brown hair that goes just above the waist. Her dark-brown-almost-black colored eyes shine bright along with the freckles dotting her cheeks and is also annoying. She is the "voice" of the group. When no one else has the guts to stand up and fire something back, she tries to be the hero. Key word: tries.

Lillie Maxwell is another "sidekick". She is taller than Sofie and Samantha and has red-ish brown hair. She has blue eyes and is also pretty annoying. One second she's your best friend, the next she absolutely hates you.

And lastly, there is Brooke Johnson. She is the same height as Sofie and Samantha. She has brown hair that falls just below her armpits and blue eyes that are behind her glasses. She is also highly annoying. She acts all nice and sweet but is just too much. Samantha, Sofie, and Lillie absolutely hate Brooke but she is literally oblivious. I even tried to tell her once in gym because I truly felt bad for her and she just said they were probably on their periods and were acting differently and to bother someone else.

I honestly don't see how Ell can even be around them for five seconds, let alone be friends with them. I smirk, as does Bradlee as we strut over to where Ell has run over to.

"Sup ladies?" Bradee calls with a tip of his head. They all squeal and start making hyperventilating sounds. I elbow Bradlee in the side. "What was that for?!" he hisses at me.

"You aren't annoying them, you are making them do their lovey dovey eyes!"

"Ooooh, is somebody jealous?" Bradlee sneers.

"Of them? I'd more likely be jealous of a rock covered in bird poop," I say, folding my arms.

"Sure," he says back, smirking. I'm about to retort back when I hear the most annoying voice in the world.

"Hey Tess!" Harper calls out, half jogging, half running towards where me and Bradlee are standing before the preppy girls. I mumble a not so nice and surely not school appropriate word under my breath and Bradlee snickers.

"You go, I'll distract them," he says, flashing me a thumbs up. I nod and whisper a quiet thank you back and run in the opposite direction, grabbing Ell's hand on the way, towing her behind me.

"What are you doing Tess?" she yelps as she stumbles into a jog next to me.

"Grabbing my emotional support. My executor is going to be after us in 5...4.....3......2......1.....," I trail off. From around the large rock wall, which I fell off of in 3rd grade and broke my wrist, comes Harper and his gang of weirdos. "Run," I say, breaking into a dead sprint towards the right playground.

They start running behind us which only makes me and Ell go faster. I move to go past the fenced in right playground, knowing we'll get trapped if we enter but Ell yanks me inside the enclosed prison. "ELL WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She ignores me and closes the fence trapping me inside the right playground.

"Oh boys!" She sings to Harper and his gang who have caught up to us and are walking up behind Ell. I do a quick 360, taking in all escape routes and turning back to the front.

"What do you want Harper?" I say, taking small steps backwards which go unnoticed by the boys and Ell.

"I need help with something Tess," Harper says, slowly opening the gate causing me to quicken my backsteps slightly.

"What?" I replied, ice laced within my tone.

"I lost my number, can I have yours?" he says in an attempted flirtatious tone. News flash: It didn't work. He has the gate all the way open now and has begun his journey toward me.

Before he even notices, I have turned on my heel and dead sprinted towards the opposing fence line. My legs not even touching the fence, I vault over it and into the field where I run to the left playground. Once I complete the short distance between the left and the right playgrounds, I vault over the fence enclosing the whole playground and land on the wood chips right beside where Bradlee is on his phone, which he isn't supposed to have out here but tons of kids bring them outside and go unnoticed by teachers and staff.

"You suck at distractions bro," I say. He flinches slightly at my voice. I sit down next to him deciding that we are hidden enough by the looming rock wall to be spotted by Harper and his gang and pull out my phone.

"I didn't know you had a phone," he comments.

"Well I do," I say, rolling my eyes.

"She's always had a phone. And that phone is soon to have my number on it," Harper says, strutting out from behind the rock wall.

"Oh my gosh," I say, burying my head in my hands. I don't try to run this time, knowing it is futile. "Why can't you just leave me alone Harper? I don't like you!" I exclaim.

"Oh Bradlee!" I hear some kids squeal. I internally groan, still bothered by the jealous comment Bradlee made.

Bradlee and I are officially surrounded by idiots. As they close in on us I try to will the whistle to blow signaling the end of recess but checking the time on my phone, I see we have 10 minutes left still.

And then all of the sudden we are saved by the bell, aka, my friend Natalia who runs over and tags one of Harper's minions and yells "YOU'RE IT, NO TAG BACKS!" before sprinting off.

Of course, since we are fifth graders, everyone sprints in opposite directions immediately and I shove my phone into my sweatshirt pocket before vaulting over the fence. Out of the corner of my eye I see Bradlee vault over behind me and Lillie gets tagged right away. Lillie then tags Sofie and runs away and Sofie is quick to tag Brooke before sprinting after Lillie.

I reach the right playground and vault over that fence and sprint across the playground and vault over another fence. I spot Brooke all the way over by the right playground hopping up and down, trying to reach Harper on the monkey bars.

Bradlee, catching on to where I'm going, follows me behind this large electrical box and I slide the door open. I remember back in second grade, me and Ell discovered this hiding place during a game of ultimate hide and seek. I'm sure if the teachers found out we hid in there we would surely get in trouble but the recess monitors don't seem to care.

As I step inside and slide the door shut again after Bradlee follows me inside, I plop down on the floor, leaning against the wall and Bradlee takes a seat across from me. We both stretch out our legs but they don't hit each other because I'm way shorter than him.

I pull my phone out to text Natalia to ask who is It. I know for a fact that she has her phone on her, she is never separated from her precious phone. She responds with a flash and says that Samantha is it.

"Samantha's it," I report back to Bradlee. He nods as he texts rapidly on his phone, probably texting one of his stupid friends. I text Natalia to come to the Socks Box.

This electrical box earned that name because it was a classic spot for trading socks. It was tradition that you and your best friend would trade socks on the first of every month at the Socks Box. At the beginning of this month I traded with Ell.

Natalia's all the way on the other side of the playground and texts me that she'll be there in five minutes. I'm so tired I swear I could fall asleep right now but I don't, only because I would just have to be woken up soon when the whistle blows.

Instead of taking a nap, I settled on scrolling through TikTok as me and Bradlee sat in an uncomfortable silence, waiting for Natalia to arrive.

2 - BRADLEE

The only person who knows about my crush on Tessa is my best friend, Weston and I'd like to keep it that way. No one can ever know that, especially not Tessa. There is little to no chance she likes me back and telling her would just be embarrassing, especially if she rejected me.

So, I sit here, inches away from her and say nothing while I text Weston that it's an SOS moment. I told him to come help me but he was being annoying and said that we should have our time to ourselves, just the two of us.

My eyes can't help but trail over to where Tessa sits, scrolling through TikTok in her navy hoodie and gym shorts. She has her knees pulled to her chest and her head rests on her chin, her brown hair falling to her feet.

I don't really remember when I started crushing on her but it was between third and fourth grade. I realize I've been staring and quickly avert my gaze to my phone where Weston is telling me to stop spamming SOS or he'll block me.

Suddenly, the door to the Socks Box slides open and I fear for a moment that it's Samantha, the person Tessa reported to be It, but it's just Natalia who stands there with shorts and a t- shirt somehow even though it's only 30 degrees out. She's out of breath when she slides down into the spot next to Tessa.

"Hi," she says, in between breaths.

"What took you so long?" Tessa asks.

"I said five minutes, Tess," Natalia says.

"Yeah, but it's been like ten!" Tessa cries.

"It's been four Tess, chill out," says Natalia, laughing.

"Shut up," Tessa says, smiling at her friend. I think Natalia and Tessa play on the same soccer team but I could be wrong. "Is Samantha still It?" Tessa asks.

"No," says Natalia. "Samantha somehow got Harper."

That's crazy. I think to myself. Tessa and Natalia laugh and I blush, realizing I must've said that out loud. Thankfully it's dark in the Socks Box so they can't see the pink flood to my cheeks.

Out of the blue, I hear the whistle echo through the Socks Box and Natalia, Tessa, and I hop up and exit the Socks Box and venture back into the cold breeze. Natalia leaves the two of us to go to her line on the other side of the playground, Miss O'Donnelly's line.

Great, she just left me alone with Tessa. I shove my phone and my hands into the pocket of my sweatshirt as we walk to Mrs Jackson's line.

"I hope we get soccer back soon," Tessa comments, fixing her hair after it got ruined by the sudden burst of wind.

"Me too," I reply, running my hands through my hair.

We reach the line and I head to the back of the line towards Weston, and Tessa heads to the front of the line by Ell and Rilee. Weston spots me coming and smirks.

Weston has been my best friend since second grade when we got partnered together on a group project. If you thought boys were secretive, oh wow are you wrong. Weston and I tell each other everything. He knows that I have a crush on Tessa, and that I am secretly scared of stuffed animals, and I know about his enormous crush on Natalia and his obsession with different kinds of noodles.

"So?" Weston says slyly. "How was your little date with Tessa?" He is respectful and lowers his voice so Kiara and her minions don't overhear us but I still jab him in the side with my elbow. He yelps, earning a judgemental glance from Kiara's minion, Cecelia.

"You should've come bro," I responded. "Your little girlfriend was there." Weston turns a deep red shade and I laugh. He shoves me playfully but it still sends me backwards into Kiara.

"Ugh!" she screeches. "Mrs Jackson! Bralee pushed me!" Wow, way to change the story. I hadn't even noticed our teacher strolling up to us.

"No, I didn't!" I lied.

"He did!" Kiara insists.

"He did!" Cecelia and Georgia repeat. I realize I am outnumbered and don't retort back.

"Bradlee, let's not touch others, and Kiara, maybe we shouldn't overreact like that okay?" Mrs Jackson says, pinching her nose like she received a headache from us. She probably did.

"Yes Mrs Jackson!" Kiara replies in ehr goody two shoes voice. As soon as Mrs Jackson turns her back to lead the class inside, Kiara starts complaining to her friends about how she wasn't overreacting. I roll my eyes at the two of them.

"What if I just went," I motioned to Weston. "Snip, snip, to Kiara's hair?" He laughs out loud earning a side eye from Georgia.