Friends With Benefits

It's been 6 months since i started hanging out with the guys and girls i consider to be my best
friends in the whole world. It's our final month of school before we graduate and the guys have
started a band named Avenged Sevenfold. They had all decided to do some small tours and that
Val will be their tour manager. Our first day back after the summer prom...we have one more
just for us school leavers and thats it. we will all be going our seperate ways

On our first day back, i go into school as normal and notice Matt was missing from our class.
All of a sudden Matt bursts through the door, 15 minutes late. He walks over to his seat with
a frown on his face and ignores the teacher who is shouting at him about being late. he didn't
look like he cared what he was saying, he was in too much of a bad mood. i decided not to bother
him until he calms down.

At lunch i see all the girls and guys around our favorite table.
'Hey, you guys. i hate that fucking teacher in science class. i can't wait to leave this hell hole'
i say. they all laugh and do goofy impressions of the stuck up bitch. she's one of those kind of
women who look down their noses at you. Matt is missing from our group though. after a little
while, he was coming towards us and stopped when he looked at Val. He scowled and walked to
a table where he could be nowhere near her. I don't know what happened between them but i will find
out.

The next day, i head over to Matt's and knock on the door.
'Hi Marina. Matt's upstairs but he refuses to see anybody today and he said he's not going into school
either' Matt's mom Kim says.
'Can i just go up and talk to him? Please. I want to know why he is being istant all of a sudden with
everybody?' i say
She sighs and says i can go up but if he asks me to leave, i'll have to do as he asks.

I open his bedroom door to see him laying in bed with the duvet over his face.
I heard him groan 'Mom, i told you not to come in here uninvited' and he sits up and looks at me with
a blank expression.
'Sorry, i thought you were my mom. what are you doing up here Marina?' he says.
'I need to ask you something, why did you avoid us because Val was at our group table' he looks at me
sadly and sighs. 'Because she cheated on me, i can't be near her because i think i loved her and she
did that to me. i can't ever trust women again. why did she cheat on me? is there something wrong with
me?' he replies. he sighs and i get up and hug him as best as i can.
'It's okay. you'll find somebody way better than her and forget she ever existed. trust me' i say and he
looks at me like i'm crazy. 'I told you Marina, i don't ever wanna feel like that again. From now on i
don't do the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing...I'll just get laid when i need to and forget about them'

He stayed true to what he said for the remainder of school.

WELCOME TO THE GRADUATION CEREMONY FOR THE CLASS OF 1999

There we had finally graduated. Time for the talent contest. I'm going to be singing a song i wrote
with Matt. He hasn't heard me sing it though. I hope everybody likes everybody including my friends
like it.

NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE 1999 TALENT CONTEST

'please welcome, Marina Lewis singing the song 'I forgive you' says the teacher. I start to get nervous
as i hear the crowds cheering and i hear Matt and Brian's voices chanting my name and i giggle over
to my spot on the stage. I sit at the piano and start to sing....

'I love you, but I hate you
And I’ll never know why you did those things to me
But I’m not going to vent
I’ve sung too many songs……for you
Nothing mattered anymore
‘Cause I love you, I hate You
But I know you too well
I’ve grown know
I’ve let go
I’ve returned from my solitary hell

And I forgive you
It hurt but it’s over know
And I forgive you
And if we started again then I’d know how
But I’ll never loathe you the same way again

It wasn’t my fault, was it?
But guess what
I forgive you

So maybe I have some regrets
But I don’t know whether I’d do it different anyhow
Maybe I’m thankful
’cause if it wasn’t for your
Maybe I wouldn’t be as strong as I am now

Cause I love you, I hate you
But I know you too well
I’ve grown know
I’ve let go
I’ve returned from my solitary hell

And I forgive you
It hurt, but it’s over know
And I forgive you
And if we started again then I’d know how
But I’ll never loathe you the same way again

That wasn’t my fault, was it?
But guess what
I forgive you
I forgive you

I love you, I hate you
But I know you too well
I’ve grown know
I’ve let go
I’ve returned from my solitary hell

And I forgive you
It hurt, but it’s over know
And I forgive you
And if we started again then I’d know how
But I’ll never loathe you the same way again

That wasn’t my fault, was it?
(Guess what)
Guess what
I forgive you

It hurt, but it’s over, over know
And I forgive you
And if we started again then I’d know how
But I’ll never loathe you the same way again

That wasn’t my fault was it?
But guess what
I forgive you'

The crowd start cheering and i take that as the song being good. I look over to my friends and they
are all smiling and cheering. i take a bow and leave the stage and jump up and down.

THE WINNER OF THIS YEARS TALENT CONTEST IS - MARINA LEWIS!

i hear the cheering again, and i am stood in shock. i shake it off and i walk out to get my award.

time flies by and we have graduated. time to move onto the real world.