I Never Promised You A Rose Garden

“So… I heard you and the redheaded Wolves player have a thing,” Alanna teased me as soon as I sat down at the lunch table. We would sit outside but it had gotten really cold this past week, so even though it was the end of October it felt like December but without the snow.
“That’s bull, and you know it,” I rolled my eyes at her while she laughed.
“Oh come on, at least he’s cute,” she pushed, until I raised an eyebrow at her.
“If he’ so cute why don’t you have a thing with him?” I asked, and she let out a snort.
“Me? Pft, like that would ever happen Kass, don’t be stupid!” she was laughing so hard she couldn’t seem to catch her breath. It wouldn’t be that hard to see; Alanna was tall, smart, and really pretty; even if she didn’t seem to know it.
“Sure, sure, whatever you say,” I rolled my eyes, continuing to eat my lunch as we talked.
Alanna had been my best friend since the seventh grade, when I moved to Sudbury. Until then I’d lived in a little town called LeRoy in Saskatchewan. Imagine my shock at moving from the middle of the prairies to the rocky terrain of the Sudbury area. It’s grown on me though; it’s picturesque in a way, but sometimes I still miss the prairies.
After lunch the classes seemed to fly by; Biology, which I’m surprisingly good at, and then Art class. Without a doubt my favourite class ever.
As soon as we were given our assignment I put my iPod on, and the hour seemed to fly by in about fifteen minutes. Not that it mattered; Ms. Friesen always let us stay later and finish up if we wanted to, as long as things were cleaned up and put away properly.
I jumped and let out a squeak as I felt a hand on my arm, and when I whipped around found Alanna laughing at me. I pulled my headphones off, shooting her a dirty look as I did so.
“Oh come on, you have to admit it was funny,” she elbowed me playfully, still trying to control her laughter. I rolled my eyes, not wanting to give in and crack a smile or there would be unending surprises such as this one.
“Whatever you say Alanna.”
“Whatever. Anyway, it’s like four thirty, so I figured I better come and snap you out of your trance,” she smirked as I cleaned out my brushes.
“Thanks. How was gym?” I asked. Needless to say she’s the more athletic of us.
“Good. Except we played floor hockey and that one Wolves player was a total ball hog,” she complained, hopping up to sit on the drawing table next to me while I cleaned up.
“Jared or the other one?” I asked.
“Jared’s the red-head, right? Like not a blondey colour but legitimate red-head?” I nodded. He wasn’t easy to miss with his bright hair.
“Then it was definitely the other one. Cocky bastard thinks he’s all that,” she huffed, obviously unimpressed. Growing up with three older brothers she’s extremely competitive and can definitely hold her own against guys.
“He plays for the Wolves, remember,” I reminded her with a smirk as she laughed.
“The All-Mighty Wolves, pft, doesn’t give him the rights to be an ass,”
“Agreed, but he doesn’t seem to know that,” I shrugged.
“That’s probably why they don’t show up to school,” she continued, not noticing I felt a little uncomfortable. I mean sure, that guy was stuck-up and pretty self-assured, but that didn’t mean all hockey players were like that, right? At least Jared didn’t seem to be. Why I was suddenly trying to defend him I didn’t know, but something told me he wasn’t the stereotypical hockey player kind of guy.
“Hello? Anybody in there? What’s with you today girl?” Alanna asked.
“I don’t know,” was my honest response. Even when I woke up this morning I felt out of it.
“Well, Tim Horton’s should help,” she suggested, my stomach rumbling at the thought.
“I think someone here agrees,” I laughed, patting my tummy as if I were pregnant. We both began laughing as I packed up a few things into my backpack and we left the art room. As we approached my car I unlocked it, and then threw my backpack into the back seat while Alanna got in. We headed to Tim Horton’s the drive only taking about three or four minutes.
“Cheddar Cheese bagel please,” I ordered, along with a hot chocolate before finding Alanna and going to sit with her. Tim Horton’s was kind of the place to hang out around here, but they were building a Starbucks not far from here, so it would be short-lived.
“Hey!” Alanna’s eyes widened before she suddenly became interested in her cell phone. I looked up to see Jared walking over, that sheepish little grin on his face, looking like he was unsure whether or not he should be walking over but he’d committed to it and that was the end of it.
“Hey Jared,” I nodded politely. I had no idea why he would come over and talk to me outside of school.
“I thought I’d seen you come in but I wasn’t sure. Did you guys wanna come and sit with us?” he asked, and as both Alanna and I looked over we sat Marcus another guy who must play for the team and a few girls off the Volleyball team trying to hang off of the guys’ and get their attention.
“Um, that’s okay; thanks for offering,” I told him, seeing Alanna nod.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, looks pretty squished over there, we’re good thanks,” Alanna seconded, and he nodded.
“Okay, I figured I’d come and ask. Sorry, but I don’t remember your name,” he apologized to Alanna, who just shrugged it off.
“I’m Alanna,”
“Jared,”
“I know,” she rolled her eyes at him, even though I gave her a kick under the table. He was trying to be nice, she didn’t need to be rude to him.
“O-okay then. Talk to you later Kassidy, nice to meet you Alanna,” he said before turning and heading back to his friends.
“What was that for?” she demanded a second later.
“He was just trying to be nice, you didn’t have to be rude!” I hissed, looking back over in their direction. Marcus was quite noticeably the center of attention there; Jared and their other friend sitting back and taking everything in without being separate from the conversation.
“So what, you and Jared are best buddies now?” she asked, eyebrow raised.
“Nope, not at all. But still, he was just being nice,” I insisted, and she sighed.
“Fine. Next time he tries to be nice I’ll be civil, I promise,” she rolled her eyes overdramatically, as if I was asking her to do something terrible or difficult.
“You are such a goof,” I told her, and she huffed at me before laughing.