A Teen's World by Joanna Johnson (knowledgeable books to read TXT) 📕

Liam slapped his back. “Alright dude!”

As we ordered another pizza and more drinks, I sat staring at Matt for a minute. He was my best friend and he hadn’t even told me about this girl. He didn’t even hint to me that he even liked anyone. Wow, what was up with that?

Monday morning came around nicely. Not nice enough seeing that my laptop wouldn’t boot up on Sunday so I had to carry it to the Computer Store, where I met the guy fixing my computer, who was extremely cute and really nice. His name’s Luc and he goes to Frankfield High. As I got ready for school, I heard my phone ping! and I went to check the message before I grabbed my sweater. It was from Jaden.

Displaying 1/2

From: Jaden

Received 5/7

07:30 am

Car won’t start. Pick me up.

_________________________

I sent back a quick response before I rushed out of the house. We were so going to be late for school. I reached Jaden’s house at eight on the dot and as he hopped into the front seat and buckled up, we started our journey to McMillan.

“What’s wrong with it?” I asked Jaden.

“I don’t know. I didn’t even check it, it just won’t start,” He said as he settled down in his seat.

I grabbed my granola bar from the cup holder and as I was eating it, I remembered Isabelle.

“Hey Jaden, what’s up with Isabelle?” I asked. I was sure he would tell me. He hated when we had secrets between each other.

“Uhh... I’m not supposed to say,” he said hesitantly.

“Come on Jaden, spill. I’m really worried about her and I can never get her alone to talk to her and you know something, now spill!” I demanded.

“Hey! Watch the road! Alright, I’ll talk, geesh,” Jaden said as he released his choke hold on his seatbelt.

“So when she came back from spring break, there was this party that was happening. She texted me and told me she was back and bored and I was at the party so I told her to come. I didn’t text Sarah because, well, it’s Sarah. She can be lame at times. Anyway, she came and we were there chilling and then Liam shows up out of nowhere, drunk as hell, and he kept spilling his beer on us. Izzy and I brought him over to a bench and I told Izzy to keep his company while I went for a glass of water or some coffee,” he said in a final note as if I would believe that’s where the story ended.

“I know it didn’t end there, continue,” I said as I rolled my eyes. We were two minutes away from school and I wanted to know everything before we got there.

“Well, umm, I went for the water and when I came back, I found them kissing. I was shocked and after they broke it up, I carried them both home. First I dropped off Liam because I wanted to talk to Izzy. So it turns out she has liked Liam since middle school! Can you believe that? I mean, holy cow,” he said in amazement.

“Wooow. How come she never told him or any of us that?” I asked as I pulled into the school’s parking lot and shut off the engine. We were already half an hour late, might as well make the best of it.

“Well, she said we were all already kind of good friends and she didn’t want to ruin that in case she and Liam didn’t work out and she says she’s pretty sure he doesn’t like her that way,” Jaden replied as he picked up his book bag from the floor.

We both got out of the car and headed to our first period. We had already missed registration anyway.

“So what’re we going to do?” I asked. I was already trying to formulate a plan, but Jaden’s input counted as well.

He stopped and stared ahead for awhile before he finally responded. “I have no clue. Maybe you should try talking to her and I’ll try to see if Liam likes her,” he said finally.

“Ok, deal. Try to get it before lunch. See you later,” I said as I entered English class.

Micah was already there in his usual seat before my desk and Isabelle and Sarah were sitting across from us.

“Hey guys,” I said to all three of them as I sat.

“Hey.”

“Sup?”

Hey.” They all said together. As I pulled out my English book, Ms. Hepburn entered the class. As she opened her mouth to speak, we all cut her off.

“It’s ok Ms. Hepburn,” the whole class said in unison. She blushed crimson as she placed her bag on her desk and began class.

By lunch, I had already had my answer from Isabelle. I had pulled her and Sarah into the bathroom after English class and we had a heart to heart. She would tell Liam she had liked him since Middle School IF he said anything about actually liking her and we agreed to that plan.

We all sat at our usual table when lunchtime finally came around and started unwrapping the cafeteria Monday horrors. Micah was late, so instead of him sitting beside me, Jaden took his space. As I picked up my chicken sandwich and thanked the heavens that it looked edible, Jaden nudged my leg.

“What’s up?” I asked as I continued to survey my sandwich.

“Well Liam’s not interested in Izzy,” he whispered.

“Why not?” I asked confused. I mean Isabelle is likable. She’s petite with hazel eyes and nice light brown hair. Plus she has a great personality and she’s smart too.

“He said you girls are like sisters to him. Dating one of you would just be weird and wrong,” he said as he threw out the lasagne from his tray.

As I turned to tell Isabelle what Jaden had said in a more sugar-coated way, I realised she had already heard. Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears and as she pushed her tray away and left, I went after her with a chocolate bar in my pocket.

Isabelle had finally managed to stop crying when I pulled out her favourite chocolate bar. She sniffled as she ate the chocolate in silence.

“It’s okay you know Izzy,” I said quietly as I sat beside her behind our emotional rock, as we call it. This was where we came when one of us needed to cry or just get angry.

“I know. It still hurts though that he doesn’t even like me,” she said as she bit into the chocolate.

“There are other guys out there, you’ll get over it eventually,” I said firmly.

She smiled at me as she wiped her eyes. “I know, thanks Jaime.”

“Anything for you,” I replied as I hugged her.

We sat in silence as she finished up the rest of her chocolate bar. Chocolate really does work wonders on a broken heart.

Chapter 5

“Live a little, smile a lot.”-Jaden

By Tuesday, everyone in the group had known about Isabelle liking Liam... except Liam. We didn’t want him to get involved because Isabelle wasn’t comfortable with him knowing that she actually had a crush on him. As we headed out for lunch, Matt caught up with me.

“How is she?” He asked.

“She’s coping. I mean, it has only been a day but she’s coping,” I tried to explain.

“Oh, Liam though? Wow,” he said as he grabbed a tray of food.

“I know. Hey, who’s that girl you were talking about at the Korner Kafe? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about her,” I said in open disapproval.

“Oh, that,” he blushed. “Well, honestly, it’s actually-” before he finished I cut him off. I had just gotten a brilliant idea.

“Do you think you could like take her out or something on Saturday? I mean, I would, but I have stuff to do and Sarah’s babysitting and Jaden has JoAnne and Liam is a definite no-no,” I said as I steered around a group of jocks who were doing something stupid, as usual.

“Yeah, of course, but I think I should let you know-” he tried again.

“Thanks, you’re the best,” I said as I cut him off once more.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” he replied as he walked pushed ahead of me. I raised my eyebrow at his back but didn’t bother to say anything to him. A girl wasn’t more important than our friend at this point. We reached our table and I sat beside Micah who was already eating his lunch.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey,” he smiled as he placed his sandwich back on his tray. “Are you busy after school?”

“Uh, yeah, I have to go pick up my laptop. Why?” I asked.

“I wanted us to just, you now, hang out, but you’re busy, so I guess maybe tomorrow,” he shrugged.

“Okay,” I replied as I picked at my sandwich. He was finally asking me out, I screamed at myself in my mind. Finally! I was honestly starting to believe he genuinely wasn’t interested in me. I hadn’t paid the fact that he hadn’t made a move on me much time. I was too busy comforting my friends, dealing with my annoying siblings and keeping my best friend on his good side to even bring it up to him or anyone and they claimed I ‘mooned’ over Micah. Yeah right.

As we finished lunch, Mr. Bell’s voice came booming over the PA system. Mr. Bell was our school principal and was probably cooler than all of our parents combined, even though he was like, fifty-four.

“All students listen up. We’re having a venting problem and the technicians say it won’t be fixed until Friday. We have to close down the school for the rest of the week because they’ll be using chemicals that are hazardous to fix the problem.”

The whole cafeteria erupted in cheers.

Mr. Bell chuckled before he continued. “Yes, yes, oh happy day. I now want you all to shut up and report to your homerooms. God’s speed.”

We honestly didn’t get why he kept saying that at the end of everyone of his announcements. Like honestly, we weren’t going to get hit by a bus while we crossed the road or hacked to death by Michael Myers. We emptied our trays and quickly headed back to our homeroom. We were actually getting the whole week off basically. No homework, no teachers and no horrible school lunches. Life was good. We took our seats as Mr. Martin marked his register.

“So what are we going to do for the rest of the week?” Jaden asked.

“I guess just hang out,” Matt said.

“Cool. Everybody good with that?” Liam asked the group. We all nodded our heads in agreement.

We continued talking about our plans for the week and the as the rest of the class filed out and headed to their various non-school related destinations. We decided that tonight, we would spend with our families, Wednesday would be movie night at Matt’s place, Thursday would be the beach and then the Korner Kafe and Friday, we would go down to the shelter and help out. We had the time and we wanted to actually do something productive as youths. Our weekend was filled because we all had plans on Saturday and Sunday was chores day. As we headed out to our cars, we saw Jessie, leader of the welcoming committee coming toward us.

“Hey guys,” she said as she stopped in front of us.

“Hey,” we all said in unison.

“Liam, can I talk to you for a sec?” she asked as she switched her books in her hands.

“Sure. I’ll catch up with you guys later,” He said as he stepped aside with Jessie. We all said our goodbyes to them and headed to the parking lot.

“What was that about?” Isabelle asked.

“We don’t know, but let’s not dwell on that. You still giving me a ride? ” Matt said as he swung his arm around her.

She smiled as she swung her hand over his backpack. “Sure you big lug. See you guys later.”

“Later,” I said as we left them at Isabelle’s