Also, I kind of struggled with the end. I'm not sure I like it... (and I think that may because I didn't end with a cliffhanger 
) I'm really afraid of cliche's too. If you think there is one, please let me know, because I don't want this story to turn into one big cliche, you know? Anyway, any and all comments are welcome and I hope you enjoy this.
Happy Reading!
_________________________
Chapter One
There is a thing that nothing is,
A foolish wanton, sober wise;
It hath noe wings, noe eyes, noe eares,
And yet it flies, it sees, it heares;
It lives by losse, it feeds on smart,
It joyes in woe, it liveth not;
Yet evermore this hungry elfe
Doth feed on nothing but itselfe.
By: William Strode
Anna stared, horrified, at the paper in her hand, feeling her airway slowly constrict. She swore she was having a heart attack. At least, those were her symptoms. Her left arm was numb and she couldn’t feel her fingers. Weren’t those the signs of one? Or was that a stroke? Maybe she was having a stroke. Maybe she’d lose mobility on the whole left side of her body…
Or maybe she’d just drop dead.
Anna sure wished for that fate. The bright red F shimmered in the artificial light of the classroom, deriding her, mocking her. She could even hear its sinister laughter as the teacher finished passing out the test results.
An F? How could I get an F? She’d been studying for this exam for months, stressing over it for the past few weeks, driving her parents and older brother completely insane with polynomial inequalities and periodic functions for Math Analysis. And now, all that work was blown into oblivion with this simple letter of the alphabet soiling the top of her test. She wondered who picked the letter F to signal “Failure” anyway? Why couldn’t it be Z for “Zero” or L for “Loser” That sounded more appropriate at the moment, that’s for sure.
“An F. A freaken’ F!” Anna whispered harshly, unable to remove her eyes from the scarlet mark on her record. She could just envision her future. All of it going down the drain, everything she had worked for, wasted.
My life is over.
“Oh jeeze, Anna’s having meltdown. Whad’ya get? An A-?”
“Shut up, Carter,” Anna practically snarled, not in the mood for his antics.
He seemed momentarily stunned at her forcefulness before recovering with that annoying smirk painted on his face. Anna just rolled her eyes, the corners of her paper starting to rip at the strong hold she had on it.
“Come on, it can’t be that bad,” a new voice coaxed, one that surprisingly set her at ease. Turning to see Zeke sitting beside her, she moaned theatrically like a Soap star, and Zeke couldn’t help but smile. “Anna, stop complaining and let me see.”
She shook her head, shoving the paper into her folder. “No way! You’d just laugh.”
Zeke’s face grew serious. “You really think I’d laugh at you?”
“Yes!” She lifted her chin in defiance. He let loose a chuckle at her foolishness, and she sighed. “See, I knew you’d laugh.”
“I’m not laughing at you; just at how you’re acting. It’s just a letter, for godsake.”
“It’s not just a letter, Zeke!”
“Oh, here we go again,” Carter mumbled under his breath, leaning back in his chair, already bored with the show. But Anna was on a roll and continued to spew her ‘my life’s over’ tangents until there were only five minutes left of class.
Zeke grabbed her arm and yanked her around so she could face him. “Anna, its only the midterm grade. We still have half the trimester to bring your grade up. Now stop complaining and hand your test in before the whole class starts staring.”
Anna glared at him, but the color rose in her cheeks all the same. Zeke grinned at the high flush on her face as she handed the now-mutilated test into the teacher. He managed to sneak a peak and nearly had a heart attack himself.
An F? Since when does Anna Fisher get an F? He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and saw her put her face in her hands, her thick black hair tumbling over her shoulders, the artificial lighting bringing out the red-tint embellished in the dark locks.
Now that he thought about it, though, it wasn’t the first time that Anna struggled. Only last week, she forgot to turn in her lab report. Anna never turned things in late. Anna never failed a class.
Something was going on.
When class was let out, Zeke hung back, hoping to walk with Anna, but she was gone before he could even blink, leaving him stunned and confused. Carter clapped him on the back. “That one has finally gone over the deep end.” He shook his head like it was the biggest tragedy.
Zeke sighed. “I don’t know what’s up with her, man. All of a sudden, she’s running around like a chicken without a head. I don’t get it. She won’t even talk to me about it.”
“Ask Lana. She should know,” Carter offered, leading him to lunch.
“Yeah, I guess,” Zeke mumbled, not really listening. He was too busy watching Anna. It was hard not to. He had known her since the fifth grade when she used to roller blade by his house shouting ‘Boys have cooties!’ Looking at her now, she’d definitely grown out of her lanky, knobby-kneed phase when she used to have braces and a mullet. He couldn’t even admit to himself that he was attracted to her, though he saw the looks other guys gave her and knew it wasn’t just his imagination.
Her dark hair had grown out, wavy down her back, blunt bangs slicing across her oval-shaped face. Her body was lean and she had grown into her tall frame with just the right amount of curves. Her eyes were almond-colored with the force to send a guy backtracking.
He watched this exact scenario unfold as he leaned back into the lockers across from hers. Martin Remer, football running back was giving it his best shot. Anna was nodding mechanically, too busy rummaging through her locker for a notebook she swore was there. He said something, and Anna shot him a look that made him stumble backwards. Zeke couldn’t help but smile to himself, knowing what it felt like to get that look.
But then Martin suddenly reached in and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, and Zeke watched her freeze, seeing him for the first time. She smiled shyly, and Zeke felt a metallic tang enter his mouth. He grimaced when she suddenly placed a hand on Martin’s shoulder, laughing softly at something he said.
“Man, stop staring!”
Zeke jumped at the sound of Carter’s voice and quickly shifted away from the scene in front of him.
“I’m not staring,” Zeke defended, opening his locker and stowing away his books.
Carter sighed. “Dude, come on. You should have made your move ages ago. Anna’s not gonna wait forever.”
Zeke forced a laugh. “Carter, be serious. It’s Anna we’re talking about. The same Anna we used to tease about her buckteeth. We’re just friends.”
“Yeah, but she sure doesn’t have buckteeth anymore.” Carter gave her a thorough glance that sent Zeke’s blood pressure rising. He shook his head, taking a deep breath. Carter was right. If he wanted Anna, why hadn’t he made a move yet? Because he didn’t want her. It was as simple as that. Yeah, she might’ve suddenly become good-looking but that didn’t mean he was in love with her or anything.
Zeke smiled, happy at the conclusion he came too. Pushing Carter towards the cafeteria, he rubbed his stomach. “Let’s go get some grub.”
“Right behind ya’, man.”
* * * *
“I was wondering, Anna, if you’d wanna come to my game on Friday.” Martin was so focused on her that she forgot all about her other worries and for a moment, felt normal.
“Umm, sure,” Anna said, smiling warmly at him.
He smiled back, white teeth contrasting with his dark complexion in a way that sent her pulse fluttering a bit. “Meet me before the game?”
“Okay.”
“I’ll see you then, Anna,” he murmured, leaning in quickly before she could register what he was doing and brushing his lips against her cheek. Then he was gone, books tucked under his arm, swagger confident and relaxed. She felt oddly good to know that she was the cause of his sudden boost in ego.
Anna touched her cheek cautiously, not really knowing how to react. Martin was like an alien to her. She had never spoken to him before this. And suddenly, they were talking and… kissing. Sort of. It made her smile, leaving her even more confused at her rush of emotions.
Glancing back at her locker, a note fell from the folder in her hand and she stooped to pick it up, still dwelling on Martin’s bright smile and brazen way he had kissed her cheek. Then she saw her mother’s loopy handwriting and it all came rushing back—Don’t forget about your appointment this afternoon, at four. Love, Mom.
Anna squeezed her eyes shut, wanting back the moment only seconds before. She didn’t want to think about this afternoon. She didn’t want to know what the doctor had to say. She already knew nothing was wrong. Why did she need a specialist to say the same thing?
Slamming her locker shut, she moved slowly through the halls, the bright lights making her eyesight blur a bit. Blinking rapidly, she picked up the pace and entered the lunchroom just as the room started to fill. Glancing around the room, she quickly pinpointed where Lana was seated and made her way over.
“Anna!” Lana waved her over, all her petite spunkiness washing over her, making her feel ten times better already. “How did the test go?” Anna grimaced at the reminder, and Lana sighed sympathetically. “Next time, girly, next time.” Her confidence in Anna helped renew the happiness at seeing her, and Anna smiled.
“I hope so.”
“It’ll be a piece of cake for you. You’re like gonna be the next Einstein.”
Anna couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s foolishness, Lana’s outrageously dyed orange hair glinting in the sunlight streaming through the room’s big windows. The cafeteria’s vaulted ceilings made the noise reach a high crescendo, the familiar buzz making Anna’s nerves calm even further.
“Are those carrot sticks?” Anna suddenly noticed the veggies in Lana’s hands.
“I’m on a vegetarian diet, now. I’m supporting the animal right’s movement in D.C.”
“By only eating rabbit food?” Carter asked, plopping down beside her.
Lana stuck out her tongue at him, showing her a good view of her chewed up food. Carter frowned and then kissed her playfully under her ear. She smiled and kissed him back, smack on the lips. Anna grinned, still amazed at their obvious affection towards each other. She remembered back three years ago when Lana was introduced into her life. She was new then, the girl with the blue hair and punkish clothes. And Carter fell hard for her, turning into a little schoolboy with an enormous crush. Anna still found it astonishing to this day. Carter, with his lavish lifestyle and designer duds dating the girl with the hand-me-down clothes dyed and cut to her taste.
Today, she was in bright baby-blue skinny jeans and a white tee shirt with slits across the stomach, a florescent yellow tank peeking through. Black bangles matched her black fingernails and clanked as she munched on celery now.
Carter, on the other hand, was dressed from head to toe in Ed Hardy, including the cologne he was wearing. White-rimmed sunglasses perched precariously on his head as he bit into a huge hamburger. Lana scolded him, telling him all about animal rights. He just shrugged and took another bite, prompting her to hit him playfully on the arm. They pushed back and forth until he pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her orange head.
None of it mattered, though they got plenty of looks, still after all these years being together. They were happy and it was enough for them. Anna found herself craving that comfort level with someone else. They were free to be themselves around each other.
And it was pure magic to watch.
Flow & Punctuation
) There's just something about her that you want to go up to her and give her a huge hug. See what I mean? You made her out to be huggable. (That's not a bad thing) Oh, and I really think Carter and Lana are too cute together.
