I heard a knock on the door, and I jumped up from where I was waiting on the couch. I quickly opened the door and smiled at my best friend.

"Hey Lila!" I said. She smiled at me and came inside, hugging a textbook. We sat on the couch in our normal spots, her on one side, me on the other, our books sprawled in the middle.

"Okay, I have no idea how to do chemistry today," I admitted. She laughed at me.

"If you said you understood it, I would be more surprised," she replied.

"I guess that's true. I am pretty bad at all this," I said.

"Don't worry. It's pretty easy this time," Lila said.

"You say that every time," I grumbled

"Cause it's true!" she said.

We started working on the homework, and just like always, by the end I understood it. She should be a teacher. Like seriously, she could teach a rock to say please and thank you.

"Ugh. I hate chemistry," I moaned after doing the last problem.

"Agreed. And class today was boring," she said. "Who knew the loss of Ethan would make the class so quiet?"

"I know, right?" I said. "Hey, do you want to watch a movie?"

"Oh what time is it?" she said, as she craned to look at the clock. "I'm sorry Austin, I gotta run home. I have to babysit tonight."

I got up off the couch as she gathered her books up. I looked around and didn't see Gif, my family's little orange kitten.

As if echoing my thoughts, Lila said, "Where's Gif? I haven't even seen him yet!"

"I dunno," I said, as I started looking for him. We found him in the front room, chilling on the back of the couch.

"Hi bud!" Lila said. "I haven't seen you in a while!"

Lila loves Gif as much as my family, having catsit him for a few days. She says that he was the only reason she could stand to be in my house after dark. She claims my house is haunted. She's probably right.

We pet the kitten for a while, sitting on the couch, looking out the window toward her house. Lila has been my next door neighbor for a couple years now, and it feels like she's always been there.

"You know, the other day when I brought you candy corn, I was tempted to just tape it to your window and see how long it would take you to notice," I said. Lila looked at me and laughed. "But then I thought better of it. Cause of your siblings and all," I added.

"I probably wouldn't have noticed anyway," She replied, still petting Gif.

I looked at Lila. She has the most beautiful eyes, big and blue, but sometimes grey. And the way she was looking at Gif, so happy, it was entrancing. And her hair, long and chestnut. I realized I was staring and quickly looked away. What was wrong with me? She's my best friend.

"My brother is getting a puppy," I said.

"Awww!" she said, turning to me. Yup, her eyes are still gorgeous.

"And it only has three legs," I said.

.......................................................................................................................................

This is a story idea I wrote a while ago but forgot about it. Doja guys like it? Where do you think I should go with it?

The main characters are Lila and Austin. This is written from Austin's point of view.

I ran across our adjoining yards to Austin's house. I knocked on the door, then hopped from foot to foot. Apperently the ground is cold in winter. Who knew?

Nora, Austin's little sister opened the door.

"Hey Lila! Come in," she said.

I walked in the open door and awkwardly held my textbooks in my arms. Austin came over to me and smiled.

"Lila! I'm just about ready."

He walked over to our usual couch and sat down. I sat down on the right, like normal. I opened my textbook and started doing the homework.

My mind left me, and went to planet Math, where all the rules make sense, processes define everything, and there is only one correct answer. I love planet Math. Everything makes sense there.

I finished all the practice problems and closed my textbook. Austin looked over at me.

"How are you already done? I still have like five more problems!"

I shrugged. "It makes sense to me, I guess." I looked over at him. He hunched over the page, rubbing his forehead. His notebook was a mess of problems and solutions. I wonder daily how he manages to keep track of it all.

I decided to take pity on him. "What doesn't make sense today?" I shifted to sit sideways on the couch, facing him.

"Everything..." he said. His glance at me was pleading. How can I resist that?

I laughed a little. "I need a more specific problem."

I helped him understand today's chemistry assignment, then we both sighed in relief.

Austin looked over at me slyly.

"Do you want to watch some Gravity Falls?" He reached toward the remote, already knowing my answer.

"Of course!" He smiled and turned the TV on.

I don't have Disney+ at my house, so I have to go over to his house when I want to watch anything besides VHS's. His family is really nice about it, and actually encourages me to come over and watch things. I'm pretty sure Austin's mom ships me and him, but I've never been able to comfirm it. I'm also not quite sure how it makes me feel. Austin is just my friend, after all.

I curled into the couch cushions and focused on the episode. Gravity Falls is awesome.

Austin started jiggling his leg, like he normally does. Instead of annoying me, it always soothes me. I smiled and looked over at him. He was completely zoned on the TV. He had no idea he was doing it.

I took a deep breath and let the vibrations relax me. I wish I could always stay with Austin. Somehow, he makes me relax.

The episode ended, and I looked over at the clock. Quarter till 6. I really need to get home. I stretched, then picked up my textbook and notebooks.

"Oh, are you leaving?" Austin asked.

"Yeah, we're gonna have dinner soon," I said. I sat up and walked to the front door. Austin followed me.

"Bye Lila! See you tomorrow!"

"Bye Austin!"

Then I stepped off the porch into the twilight.

I pulled up in front of my house and smiled as Austin pulled up in front of his a few moments later. I waited in the car for a few seconds, just to make sure we would run into eachother.

"Hey Austin!" I said. I grabbed my backpack out of my car and walked closer to him. He looked exhausted.

"Do you want to do chemistry today?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"No..." He said, running a hand through his hair. "I'm really tired and I have piano tonight. Maybe at lunch?"

"Okay!" I said, then turned away before he could see the smile drop off my face. We hadn't had a study session in weeks. Normally this would be fine, but Austin had got a job and so now we never hung out.

"Bye Lila!" He called before going into his house.

"Bye Austin!" But he didn't hear me. I was too far away.

I trudged into my house and sat down on my bed. I needed to write an essay, but I didn't feel like it. I knew I wasn't gonna end up finishing it until midnight no matter how much I tried to finish it now. I collapsed.

Why did I take so many hard courses? I barely was keeping up with my homework, let alone having any semblance of a social life. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and texted Austin.

"I need memes."

He responded immediately. "Here ya go."

I smiled.

I went into the library at lunch and looked for our normal table. Instead of seeing the normal two people, the table was entirely filled up. I cautiously walked up to it. There was no seat for me to sit in, so I awkwardly stood at the edge. I met Austin's gaze and he shrugged.

"Hey Lilac!" one of the guys said. I recognized him. He lived close by.

"We decided to come say hi to Austin," another guy said. He was unfamiliar to me. He was wearing thick glasses that obscured his eyes. He looked a little like Austin, if you squinted.

"Lila, this is Gavin, Josh, Murray, and you know Jake, David, and Sam," Austin said. He had found a chair for me and drew it up to the table next to him.

"Hey guys!" I said, gripping my backpack straps nervously.

They went back to whatever conversation they were having before. I sat there, in the group, but feeling a million miles away. The bell rang, and I walked away unnoticed.

.........................................................

I looked out my bedroom window towards Austin's house. His car was there, and normally he would have gone to work by now. I smiled and was about to go over to his house when I saw Gavin's bike on the driveway.

I groaned. Why was Gavin always over there? Everytime that I thought about going over there either Austin wasn't home, or he was busy. Now Gavin was there.

I thought about going over anyway, but decided against it. I know Austin didn't mean to, but whenever Gavin was around, he wouldn't talk to me. And I'm fine with having different friends, but every single day? I haven't had a decent comversation with Austin in a month. And we used to talk every day!

I wish I knew how to fix this.

Austin's front door opened and I watched as he and Gavin walked over to Austin's car and drove away.

I cried.

The stress of the past weeks caught up to me. I broke down and bawled.

How can I survive another year of school? How can I do this anymore? I can't keep pushing myself to be perfect. Sometime, I will crack.

I forced myself to stop crying and pulled into my driveway. My parents and siblings all came to welcome me home.

Because they were awesome, my parents let me go to my cousin's house by myself. I stayed for a whole week, and made some new friends.

But now I am home. And I have to go back to school. And I have to get all A's and be cute everyday and on top of all that, still talk to people. Though to be honest, I had basically stopped talking to people the last few weeks.

I hugged my mom, and started crying again.

...............................................................

I sat in my counselors office, not believing the words he was saying.

"Wait, I only have a half of a required credit to graduate high school?" I said.

"Yes. You could either take the last class during the rest of the school year, or you could do it over the summer," he said. He looked like he had done this a million times before. "I can set this all up for you now, if you wish."

He looked at my Dad, who was sitting next to me.

"Yeah, do it," my dad said.

I sighed, and relaxed for the first time in years.

Maybe I will get through this, after all.

I don't know what I'm doing. Why am I writing this? There is no point.

I groaned and pushed away the notebook in front of me. Why am I trying to write a song? I'm no good at rhyming. I write free verse.

But I picked up the pen and kept writing.

------------------------

"I wasn't avoiding you

But you thought I was

I didn't talk to anyone

I know you tried to reach out

But I was unreachable

How long till you gave up?"

--------------------------

I cried. I hadn't talked to Austin in months. I knew it was my fault. I stopped talking to people. I stopped being social. I stopped talking to my best friend.

I strummed my guitar, feeling the chord vibrate me to my core. I had written a song. It wasn't great. It was actually pretty bad. But I had written it. My emotions, my thoughts, my pain was on this page.

I took a deep breath, and sang.

"Lila! Are you coming?" Austin's mom came in my house. She looked stressed.

"Where?"

"The rainstorm has made several people's houses flood! They need people and shovels," she said. She ran into my mom's room and informed her of the situation. I grabbed my shoes and a coat and headed out the door after her.

--------------------------------

Several houses and hours later, I stood waist deep in freezing cold mud in my friend's room. Tears rolled down my face as I pulled all of her life's possessions out of the muck. I couldn't believe that this had happened.

"Lila, is there anything else?" Austin was here. Actually here. I shook my head and turned away to hide my tears.

"Lets go to Chelsie's room," I said. Austin led the way down the hall.

I stared at the walls. The line of mud was higher than my head. I looked away before my tears started again.

Austin and I worked side by side for hours, putting possessions in baskets, pulling out the dry wall, and finally sweeping up all the mud from the floors.

We headed home in the wee hours of the morning, completely exhausted, yet happy with the work we did.

"Bye Lila!" Austin said.

"Bye Austin," I said.

--------------------------------------------

I stood in the shower, fully clothed. Streams of murky water poured off of me, mixing with my tears.

The Johnson's house had flooded. Chelsie and McKenna are my friends. I couldn't believe what had happened. I let the warm water soak into my freezing bones. The water was waist high at one point and as cold as ice.

Even though I had spent literally all night working next to Austin, I had felt so far away from him. The conversations we once had, where we would talk for hours about nothing, had dried up, leaving awkwardness in its place.

I don't know how to fix this.

I stood in the middle of a river of muddy water. I stared at my feet as the water parted around them, the drops glistening in the sun. The rains that had flooded the Johnson's house had returned, covering one street over entirely in water.

I glanced behind me. Still no sign of Austin. One second we were talking, then he was gone.

Someone called out to me, asking if I wanted a ride home. No, I didnt. I wanted to wait here and see if my best friend would come back to me.

I stood there for a long time. My feet grew numb from the constant pressure of the water. I lifted up a foot and the current pulled it downstream.

I looked behind me again. Nothing but an empty street. I guess I should have figured. We hadn't really spoken in months, why would today be any different? But he had looked like he wanted to talk to me. We had had a kind of conversation. But then he had walked away with Gavin and left me behind.

The sky ahead of me grew dark. Lightning crackled across the sky.

I reluctantly headed for home, holding my shoes in my hands as I walked through the gutter. Maybe we weren't supposed to be friends anymore. Maybe I've been too stubborn to see it.

Raindrops hit my head and rolled down my neck, causing me to shiver. I turned my face up to the sky, letting the rain run down my face, mingling with my tears.

All the days are blurring together. Wake up, go to work, come home, sleep. I don't talk to anyone, no one talks to me.

I thought that graduating a year early would help me, that it would stop the stress. But it hasn't. I still have the weight on my chest that caused so many breakdowns and broken relationships.

But the worst part is that I never see Austin anymore. I see his car gone when I get home from work, and when I'm home, Gavin's bike is in his front yard. He never answers his phone. I never walk over there. He never walks over here.

We even work close to each other! We work at a local pizza place that has two different locations. I work at one, Austin works at the other.

It seems like fate has come together to pull us apart.

-----------------------------------

"Hey Lila!" Gavin was standing at the register.

"Hey Gavin! How can I help you?" I started into my employee shpeal.

He smiled and handed me some papers. No. THE papers. Gavin was now my coworker.

"So which store are you working at?" I asked him, already knowing the answer.

"Oh, the other one," he said. He had the audacity to look contrite too.

"I'm gonna go give these to the boss, but if you want to hang around that's cool." It wasn't cool.

"Oh, no. I'll head out. Good to see you though!" He turned around and walked to the door.

I was so annoyed. I try so hard to like Gavin! But then he goes and puts his nose in everywhere.

I gave the papers to my boss and went to toss a pizza.

I guess it's time to give up.

I am cute today. I twirl around in front of my mirror, happy with my costume. There is a Halloween dance today, so I dressed up like a bee, and my costume turned out so adorable! I twirled around one more time, then grabbed my keys and ran out the door.

----------------------------------------------

I love stake dances. My church holds region wide dances every month or so. In my humble opinion, they are way better than school dances for the one important reason that the DJ doesnt play rap.

I danced with my group of friends, happy and smiling. I turned around and saw Austin. My heart dropped. I didn't think he was going to come. He hates dances. Why is he here? My mind starts spinning, and my heart drops. I grabbed my friends arm and pulled her into the hallway.

"What are you doing Lila?" Raina said. She got a good look at my face." Are you okay?"

"No. I'm not okay. Austin is here, and I wasn't mentally prepared for this," I said.

"Well, go talk to him!"

"I'm so mad at him!" I said. And I found that it was true. I never get mad at anyone, and if I do, its mostly just annoyance. But right now I was seething mad at Austin. How dare he show up and ruin a perfectly good dance for me!

Raina gave me a hug.

"Its okay. You don't have to talk to him. Just go back out there and have fun."

I took a deep breath. "Okay."

----------------------------------------------

I feel so bad. My best friend is right there, right across the room, and I haven't even said hi yet. But he hasn't looked for me either. He doesn't know I'm here. I have to go say hi, or I'll beat myself up about it for weeks.

"Raina, I'm gonna go say hi," I said. She nodded.

I walked across the room.

"Hey Gavin. Hey Austin!" I said. "Where have you guys been?" I tried to sound happy to see them, but I sounded really mad instead.

"At work," Gavin said. Oh. Of course.

"You guys should come dance with my group! Its just all the guys from work, you know them," I said.

Austin looked at me. I could see exhaustion all through him.

"I don't want to be here," he said.

With that comment, my anger solidified.

How dare come, messing up my emotions, ruining a perfectly good night, and then say he doesn't even want to be here? I was beyond mad. I was furious.

"Well, if you guys end up wanting to dance, my group is right over there," I said. Then I turned around and walked out the door.

--------------------------------------------

I drove around in circles after the dance ended, not wanting to go home.

I tried to stop them, but the tears started flowing. Hot tears, heavy tears. Tears that felt like my soul was coming out with them.

I was so mad. So mad. I'm never mad, so it felt weird, wrong to feel this dark, evil emotion about someone I cared about so much.

I finally pulled into my driveway. I sent off one quick text before going inside.

"Austin. We need to talk."