It's Never Simple

1. I Guess It's Just Fate


Time- 3:55 p.m.
Setting- Baseball Field


“ Okay, team,” the baseball coach said, “ go take your break. I expect you all to be back here in five minutes, though. We’ll be scrimaging for the rest of practice.”

The boys on the baseball team all fled from the field, quickly grabbing their water bottles. Most of them were gulping it down, thirsty from dehydration.

When the boys practiced some of the girls liked to watch them. Only the really brave ones - a.k.a. the cheerleaders - went up to talk to them during their break. One of those girls was Lindsey Giffen. She was the head cheerleader and literally ruled the school. She was with a different guy every other week, and this week her sights were set on Reid Vance.

Reid was a senior and the catcher for the school’s baseball team. He was popular because everyone loved him. Everyone loved him because he was a genuinely nice person. There wasn’t a single person at the school that didn’t want to hang out with him.

As he was drinking from his water bottle Lindsay decided to get up from her seat. She sashayed down the steps of the stand and stood behind the wire fence. She put her hand into the pockets of her sweater and cocked her hip, putting a smile on her face.

“ Hey, Reid,” she called flirtatiously.

Reid looked up and groaned quietly, reluctantly mumbling, “ Hi, Lindsey.” He hurried to set down his water bottle so he could get away from her. Starting practice early was a lot better than having to deal with her.

Lindsey was very well-known for her frequent change in boyfriends. Not one teenage boy that she’s come across wasn’t interested in her, except for Reid. That was exactly why she was set on making him her’s, even if only breifly.

As he started to walk away Lindsey pressed herself up against the fence and held onto it. “ Reid, wait!” she yelled.

Reid was a good guy. It was almost impossible for him to be mean to anyone, even a girl like Lindsey. So, he slowly turned around and walked towards her. “ Yeah?”

Linsey moved away a little and pouted saying, “ You don’t seem very happy to see me. Why?”

He sighed, really wanting to say, “ Because I don’t want to see you.” Instead he opened his mouth to say something a little nicer, but was saved.

“ Okay, boys. You’re five minutes are over! Let’s begin!” The coach clapped his hands twice and waited impatiently for his team to line up.

“ Sorry, I have to go,” Reid said quickly. “ Bye.”

Lindsey scoffed angrily, watching him as he all but ran from her. How could he do this to me? she thought. Why is it that he doesn’t find me irresistable like all of the other guys do?

She shook her head angrily, fuming. Turning on her heel, she stormed away from the baseball field and to her car. There was no reason to stay there if nothing happened yet. She’d have to wait another hour before she’d have another chance to talk to him, and there was no way that was happening.

Once she arrived at her car, a silver Chevy Impala, she stopped. Her twin sister, Sophie, was sitting on the hood, reading a textbook. Uh, oh, she realized. She’d forgotten that she was her sister’s ride home.

Slowly she started walking again and unlocked the car. Sophie jumped at the noise and looked up at her. At first she was shocked, but then her expression turned into an upset, but not quite angry, look.

“ You forgot about me again, didn’t you?” she asked, sliding off of the car. She closed her book and put it back into her bag, walking around to her door.

“ Yeah, sorry,” Lindsey said apologetically, climbing into her seat and starting the car. “ I got a little sidetracked when I realized Reid had baseball tonight.”

“ You’re still on that?” her sister asked, laughing a little. Lindsey started to pull out of the parking lot to head home.

“ Of course I am,” she replied. “ I’m not resting until Reid asks me to be his girlfriend. He’s one of the very few guys in this school I haven’t dated yet, so I have to make him mine,” she stated like it was the most simple and obvious thing in the world.

Sophie just shook her head in amusement, smiling happily. “ You do realize that he’ll never cave in, right? If there’s one thing you two have in common it’s how stubborn you are.”

“ And how do you know that?” she asked suggestively.

Sophie laughed and said, “ I’m friends with his sister, Kaitlynn. We study at her house sometimes, so I’ve gotten to know him a little bit.”

“ Wait, youre friends with him and never told me? You can help me get him to be my boyfriend!” Lindsey was practically bouncing in her seat from excitement.

On the other hand, Sophie was the exact opposite of excited. “ I don’t know...”

“ It’s perfect! Next time you go to Kaitlynn’s house make sure to say nice things about me. The sooner the better, too, so maybe you can talk to Kaitlynn tomorrow?You could ask her about your next study gathering?”

“ Uh...” Sophie mumbled. Her sister gave her puppy dog eyes, something she always gave in to. Defeatedly, she said, “ Fine, I’ll do it,” she said reluctantly.

The girls had just arrived at their house, the car completely stopped. That allowed Lindsey to safely scream, “ Thank you, thank you, thank you!” while tackling her sister.

Sophie laughed, though it was slightly forced. She really didn’t want to do this.






Time- 6:27 p.m.
Setting- Sammy’s Pizza


As Abby and Spencer walked into the pizzaria, smiles automatically spread on their faces. Sammy’s was very famous for their pizza, so most teenagers went there once school was over.

Every Wednesday after Abby was finished with her dance classes her and Spencer went there to eat and make fun of the populars. It was easy for them to do since all of them were so dramatic.

Abby and Spencer were good friends, but nothing more than that. They’d been friends for years, but unknown to Abby, Spencer had feelings for her that were definitely beyond the friend zone...

The two sat down at their usual table in the back corner. As they sat down a waitress only a few years older made her way to them.

“ Hello, I’ll be you’re waitress tonight,” she said, grabbing a pad of paper from her apron pocket.

Abby laughed and said, “ Trish, you know you don’t have to do that with us. We’re practically family.”

“ I know that, but this is what I get paid for. If my boss saw me not greet a customer properly I’d get fired.”

That made Abby and Spencer laugh out loud. They both knew that Trish was exaggerating, it’s just what she did.

“ I’m guessing you want the usual?” Trish asked.

They both nodded, smiling, and Trish left to get them their food. As she left a crowd of teenagers came into the restaurant, laughing and talking obnoxiously.

“ Oh, no! He’s here!” Abby whispered. “ Hide me!” She frantically started to look around for a hiding spot, oblivious to Spencer’s reddening face.

One of the teenagers that walked in was Austin Blake. He was very odd, but that was part of his charm. All of the girls loved him. He was the captain of the soccer team, and the most popular guy in school. Even more popular than Reid.

For the last few months Abby had started to like him, but never did anything about it. It made Spencer jealous and irritable every time she saw or mentioned him. Somehow she didn’t notice it which annoyed Spencer even more.

“ Abby, you don’t need to hide from him!” he cried.

As she started to crawl under the table she exclaimed, “ Yes, I do. I’m in my dance clothes and look disgusting. He cannot see me like this or I will be mortified.”

“ You look fine,” Spencer tried to convince her, though he couldn’t even convince himself. She was really sweaty and wore a leotard, tights, and a pair of cloth shorts with an old sweater. It wasn’t a very pretty sight.

“ No, I don’t. I look terrible,” she said. She was sitting cross legged under the table, hoping that he’d already passed.

“ Abby, he can’t even see you. We’re all the way in the back of the restaurant, and they’re sitting on the other side near the door. You have nothing to worry about.” He was leaning over and looking down at her, a little upset. Lying through his teeth.

She peeked out and looked in the direction her friend had spoke of. They weren’t sitting there, they were sitting right in front of them. “ You liar,” she said. She rested her head on her hand and stared at Austin.

He was sitting with his friends, facing her. Somehow he saw her and scrunched his eyebrows together, obviously confused. Abby’s face started to heat up in embarassment, and she scrambled to get up, not seeing him get up and walk over to them.

She sat down in her seat, still blushing. Spencer had a scowl on his face, already aware of Austin approaching their table.

“ Why were you under the table?” a voice asked.

Abby looked up and saw him. Her face reddened even more, and she started stuttering, trying to get something out. “ Uhh... I’d lost um... a ring. It was my... my aunt’s. She got it from Saudi Arabia and gave it to me a few years ago, so I had to find it. Sorry if that looked a little weird.”

Austin laughed, not believing her. “ Really, a ring from Saudi Arabia? Yeah, right.” He shook his head a made his way back to his table.

She was probably just one of those girls that tried to impress me because I’m popular, he thought. A ring from Saudi Arabia? Come on.

As he walked away Abby started at him in disbelief. Her mouth was open and her eyes not staring at anything in particular. She hadn’t noticed Spencer stifling a smile, which was a good thing. If she had she would’ve blown up at him for sure.

“ How could this happen?” she muttered.

Spencer shrugged, trying unsuccessfully to look sympathetic. “ I don’t know. I guess it’s just fate. It didn’t want you two to be together, so it made you look stupid in front of him.”

“ Hey!” she yelled angrily. “ It’s not like I lied or anything. You know that my aunt gave me that ring, and it was from Saudi Arabia. That one with the gold in a loop and the diamonds in a formation that looks like a cursive s?”

He looked confused, then suddenly realized what she was talking about. “ Oh, yeah. That one that you wear every day, right? That was from Saudi Arabia?”

“ Yeah. She got it as a gift from one of her customers. Didn’t I already tell you this?”

Spencer laughed and said, “ Yeah, probably. You know me, though. My memory is nonexistent.”

She laughed in agreement and said, “ You got that right.”

Just then Trish came back with their food. She set down two baskets of mozarella sticks, a basket of fries, a root beer for Abby and a Coke for Spencer. “ Anything else? No? Got it,” she said, then left.

The two teenagers just stared after her then burst out laughing, shaking their heads in amusement. “ She is something else,” Abby said. They both grabbed a mozarella stick and dug in.

About twenty minutes later Spencer let out a huge burp, which got Abby laughing again. “ You’re lucky that I don’t care about your burping. Most girls would find it disgusting.”

“ Yeah, well, I have to deal with stuff you do, too. We’re even.”

“ What exactly do I do that you have to deal with?” she asked, curious. He’d never complained about her before, so why now?

“ Well, for one, you crack everything all the time.”

“ I have no choice, I’m a dancer. Everything hurts, and cracking it makes it feel better. That doesn’t count.”

“ Yes it does. You also sing off pitch all the time. It’s really annoying.”

“ Well, then I’ll just stop singing,” she replied, acting like she was offended. “ Not everyone has a great voice, as I’m sure you know.”

“ You did not just say that,” he said, mimicking a teenage girl.

She laughed and nodded, saying, “ Yes, I did. Another thing you’re going to have to deal with.”

He laughed loudly, stopping their conversation. They sat there for a moment in a comfortable silence, then Spencer started to stand up. “ I have to use the restroom, so I’ll be right back,” he told her. “ Make sure Trish doesn’t come over here and steal you away from me like she did last week. You’re my friend, not her’s.”

Spencer was smiling and said it playfully, but he was actually serious. Abby didn’t realize that, but he did. He’d known for a while how he felt about her, and it was more and more painful every day when he saw her staring dreamily at Austin.

He knew he couldn’t do anything about it, though, in fear of ruining their friendship. He’d rather have her as just a friend than not at all. He wasn’t willing to lose her, knowing she didn’t feel the same way.

He left the table and headed over to the restrooms. A few minutes later he was opening the door, ready to get back to his best friend. As he walked down the hallway something bumped into him from the front.

It was a girl, he noticed. “ I’m really sorry, miss,” he apologized. “ I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“ No, no,” she said, grabbing the hand he’d offered, letting him pull her up. “ You don’t need to apologize. It was my fault. I shouldn’t be running in a restaurant filled with people.”

The girl looked up and he realized it was Kaitlynn Vance, a girl in his grade. He’d never talked to her, but had her in a few classes. He’d also seen her walking with Abby sometimes. She was a nice girl, but kind of loud at times.

When Kaitlynn realized she’d just bumped into Spencer Holmes her face went really red. She’d liked him for years, but he’d been so swallowed up in Abby that he never noticed her. She had nothing against Abby, she just wished that he didn’t like her so much.

Spencer laughed softly and said,“ It’s fine. You’re not the only one that likes to run in restaurants. I like to do that from time to time, especially when I’m hungry. Just ask Abby.”

Kaitlynn forced a smile at him, blushing a little bit. She pulled her hand away from his slowly as she said,“ Well, I should go. It was nice talking to you...”

“ Yeah, you, too. Bye.” He smiled at her, making her heart almost stop, then left. He walked over to his table where Abby was waiting for him, Kaitlynn watching them.

They looked happy, but Abby just didn’t realize how lucky she was, Kaitlynn thought. If only Spencer would realize that he was meant to be with me. We had to be, or I wouldn’t be feeling this way.

Kaitlynn sighed sadly, running a hand through her black hair. As soon as she’d bumped into Spencer her memory had left her, so she had no clue what she’d been about to do. She grabbed her backpack from the ground, slung it over her shoulder, and left the restaurant.

Why couldn’t things be simple?

It turned out Harry was thinking the same thing as he walked into the restaurant through the other door. He made his way down the front aisle, then started to walk up the stairs. Right in front of him was... her.

It was the first girl he’d seen this morning when he got to school. He’d been at this school for almost two years, yet he’d never noticed her before. She was really pretty, but didn’t know he existed.

It definitely didn’t help that she was glued at the hip with that one guy. What was his name? Uh...oh, right. Spencer.

It would be a lot easier if they weren’t so close, because then he could start talking to her more. Unfortunately, the friend obviously had feelings for her, too. It was easy to tell since it only took him a day to figure it out. He also realized that it would be a tough obstacle to go around.

“ Darn it!” he said out loud. Everyone in the restaurant looked at him in shock, including Abby and Spencer. He paled, a little embarassed, then left the pizzaria.

This was going to be a lot harder than expected, Harry thought as he drove away.