MIXED

It all started back in 8^th grade. It was the golden year. The year everything was falling into place, and we finally felt something like happiness. But let me start at the beginning. The very beginning…

You probably don’t know my name. Of course, it’s not that you don’t know me. You just don’t know my name. But you've definitely seen me. I’m that girl who sits at the very back of the classroom every day. The one who never talks unless the teacher forces her to, and even then she’s so quiet you can only hear me if the world holds its breath for a minute or two.

Yeah, I’m that girl. The typical “shy” girl that everyone thinks of. But I guess we’re all really stereotypical. Except maybe Alex, but she’s stereotypical in her own, unique way.

And, by “we”, I’m talking about my group of friends, which everyone calls the “FREAKS”. But we don’t care. At least, most of us don’t care. I have a feeling it bothers Danielle sometimes, but it’s not a big problem. I know for a fact that it bothers Alex, but she tries not to let it get to her. Just like how she tries to block out everything else that hurts her in this world. It worries me sometimes, how she suppresses everything in her. But I guess that’s just how she works. She’s the tough one in our group. Just like how I’m the shy one, Danielle is the relatively girly one, Audrey is the sporty, athletic one, and Casey is the nerdy one.

Alex is the tough one in our group. Her full name is really Alexandra, but she hates it, so she doesn't tell most people about it. She’s sarcastic, sharp tongued, and can be absolutely cruel when she wants to be, which is about half the time. She can make a grown man cry, literally. She dresses that way too, all tough looking. She always has this brown leather jacket on, with some black t-shirt underneath it, and grey skinny jeans tucked into a knee-high black suede boots. She has long brown hair that she purposely used to cut it choppily, just to rebel against her parents. Now, she just leaves it super straight, but she always keeps it messily clipped up with a black metal claw hair clip. It reaches about halfway down to the small of her back, and smaller bits and pieces that are shoulder length always fall out of the clip, framing her sharp face. She has defined features, and piercing eyes that are this weird mix of grey and hazel. I've seen her get many second looks from guys when we walk down the hall, but they never tell her anything, because she’s so scary-looking. Too bad though. She could use a “Hey, you’re really pretty” once in a while. She’s like a porcupine. Always raising her quills, just because she feels threatened by the world. It’s a pity, really, since it stops the world from getting to see the real her. But again, I guess that’s just how she works.

Danielle is the girly one out of us. Not that she’s like any of the Queens. Nope, she is definitely a much better person than any of them. But she is girly. She’s one of those people who like spending an hour or so every morning fixing their hair into a new do, putting on just the right amount of make-up to look pretty, but not fake, and picking out their clothes to perfection. She loves to wear floral print, skirts, and Toms, and she has this strange rule that none of us understands. It’s something about never wearing the same outfit twice in exactly 17 days. Why 17, none of us know, but we don’t question her. She has flowing black hair that shines in the light, and she has sparkling soft robin’s egg blue eyes. She’s super skinny, but it’s a healthy skinny, and she’s one of those people that’s not really short, but at the same time, not tall either. She’s like a butterfly, or a canary or some other beautiful animal. Delicate looking and awfully pretty, but perseveres through life just as well as any other. She's super nice to everyone, except if you mess with one of her friends, meaning us. She can be almost as vicious as Alex when she gets mad, but that rarely happens. In fact, it happens about as often as Alex laughing, so pretty much zero to none. Danielle's always trying to get the rest of us to go shopping with her, and Casey usually goes along, and I do too, occasionally. But she has to beg and bribe Audrey to go along, and she literally has to drag Alex into the mall each time.
I met her one fall day after school. Alex had gotten a last minute call from her brother, saying she needed to walk to the high school and find him, meaning I had to walk alone. I was just kind of wandering slowly down the street, watching the autumn leaves fall from the trees. They were awfully pretty, and falling everywhere, and I wondered if I just stretched out my hand, would one fall right into my palm. I doubted it though.
I was zoned out a bit, I guess, because the next thing I knew, I had walked straight into a parked car at one of the small intersections, or crossings, whatever you call them. I backed up a bit, blushing and dazed, and noticed there was a girl inside, in the passenger seat, seemingly panicking and yelling into her phone. She looked extremely dressed up, so I assumed she was one of those popular girls, which caused me to start worrying. The car was small, elegant, white, and real expensive looking. Suddenly, she was getting out of the car, and walking towards me. By then, I was sweating a bit, and I started fidgeting, preparing to run away.

"Hey, are you okay? Sorry I didn't ask earlier, I was a bit distracted. I saw you run into my car," the pretty girl asked me, looking at me curiously. I guess my nervousness was showing, because she smiled at me softly.

Biting my bottom lip, I shakily replied, "Y-yeah. I'm alright."

"Great! Just making sure. Anyways, I'm Danielle!"

"I'm...Nicole. You  can call me Nickie."

"Oh hey! Aren't you in my English class? You sit behind the stupid Queens and the mean jocks right?"

At this, my eyes widened, and I began smiling. So she wasn't one of them. And she seemed really nice, too. Plus, most people just don't notice me at school. I can't believe she actually knew who I was.

"Yeah. I am."

"Cool, so we have something in common! Hey, Nickie, you in for some smoothies or something? The mall is just a few blocks that way. We can walk there! I'm sure my sis won't mind."

I hesitated. I still had an hour or two before I was supposed to get home, and Danielle seemed nice enough. Besides, I had my phone if anything happened.

I nodded, and she gestured for me to get in the car. We ended up getting some iced coffee, and we hung out for an hour or so. I introduced her to Alex the next day, and Alex accepted her offer of friendship, but only because she "hates the Queens like I do", she says, and because "she's real nice, to the point of an overdose of niceness".

Audrey is the sporty one. She’s also one of the only people who will stand up to Alex. She has really light colored hair, so light that it’s almost blond, with streaks of light brown in it. You could say she's somewhat of a brunette. She has caramel colored eyes that have this spark to them, just like how she has sparks in her. She's like a bonfire, warm, inviting, and burning bright with energy. But you should never mess with her, or you will get severely burned. She's pretty tan, what with her running around in the sun all day, and she plays soccer. She dresses like you would imagine a typical athlete, bright shorts, often turquoise, and loose graphic tees. She walks everywhere with her head up high and a happy grin on her face. She’s the one in our group who tells most of the jokes. She also talks, a lot. She can talk on for hours without ever stopping. It’s pretty funny, how she and Alex are pretty much opposites, yet they get along so well. Of course, they do have quite a weird friendship. Audrey bugs Alex non-stop, while Alex glares at her and messes with her. Alex is always saying how she hates Audrey, but we all know she never means it. With Alex, getting her to say she hates you pretty much mean she cares about you a lot. Strange logic, I know, but again, it’s just how she works. Those two met during P.E., and it was partially because of me. It was soccer unit, and Alex and my team got sent to play against Audrey's. She went all out, of course, as this was her thing, I just sort of tried, but wasn't much good, and Alex, well, she just stood at the side, smirking as she watched the game. At one point, Audrey accidentally tripped me when she was stealing the ball, and I landed with a thud. Suddenly, Alex was yanking me back up, and was yelling at Audrey, who had just scored another goal.

“Hey! Just cause you wanna show off doesn't mean you can trip somebody!” she yelled.

This caught Audrey's attention. “Excuse me? It was something called an accident, for your information, and I'm not showing off!

“Really? Didn't look like that to me.”

Audrey snorted. “Yeah? Well I don't see you doing anything but pretending to be cool. What? Can't kick or scared of the ball?”

That was the breaking point. No one ever, ever, challenges Alex. She hates people taunting her, or doubting her skills. She says she gets enough of it from her stupid parents, and that she doesn't need some “stupid kids who don't know left from right” to tell her stuff that like that too.

Alex's eyes were smoldering with anger, and she said, in a low, dangerous voice, “Oh yeah? We'll just see about that. Game on.”

The game resumed, and the tables were turned. As the game went on, Alex and Audrey were head to head, making goal after goal. Eventually, class was over, and the score was tied. It had basically become one on one between those two, and the rest of the teams were on the sidelines, watching in awe. When the whistle blew, they stopped, sweaty, panting, and grinning. Or, at least, Audrey was absolutely beaming in delight, while Alex just smiled a bit. Suddenly, Audrey started laughing and began complimenting Alex, it seemed. Alex started laughing a bit too, then abruptly stopped, and twisted her smile into that grin of hers again. But even that was shocking. Alex barely smiled anymore, much less laugh at all.

For the next week or two, Audrey wouldn't stop pestering Alex about joining the soccer team. Of course, Alex said no every time, to put it nicely. It was more of a “why would I want to join a team with you?”, or a “Heck no, not in my entire next nine lifetimes”. Eventually, Audrey gave up, but by then, the three of us were all close friends. Once in a while, Audrey still brings up the topic, but Alex never says yes. I have a strong feeling she's just scared of having to be on a team, but she just hates to admit it.

The three of us met Casey at one of Audrey's games. It was a really important one, and she wanted us to be there to support her. I immediately said sure, but Alex had said she had better things to do. I still dragged her there, though, since I knew she didn't really. She was just scared of the crowds. But, like usual, she just didn't want to admit it. I know her well enough to just guess each time.

We got there, and after the game, we waited around a bit for Audrey. The three of us were going to the local coffee shop, which was, ironically, called Coffee Shop,  to celebrate her win. I was sitting on the bleachers, pulling my head further into my lavender coat. It was pretty cold out, as it was the beginning of fall, and there was an icy breeze that managed to penetrate cloth. Alex was perched on the fence-wall that separates the field from the audience stands. She was lounging like an alley-cat, with one leg dangling, the other bent, and flicking bits of ripped up leaves into the wind.

She pulled her leather jacket tighter, and muttered under her breath, “She owes me so much for this. You owe me so much for this. You all owe me so much for this.”

I just giggled and said, “Oh please, you know you wanted to come.”

“Doesn't mean I was gonna. It is way too cold out to be sitting on freaking metal bleachers.” Taking a quick scan of me as I was shivering violently, she added, “Stupid, you should've worn more. Buy a hot chocolate later or something.”

I smiled warmly at her. That was her own little way of showing she cared.

Just then, a shrill yelp pierced through the air a few yards down the field. It sounded like it came from under the bleachers. We shared a look, and Alex asked, “Check it out? Could be something worth amusement.”

I nodded, and we sprinted down the bleachers and circled around the back. What we met was a seen so familiar it gave me déjà vu.

A girl was cowering under the raised fists and disgusting, slimy smirks of two high school guys. They had a royal purple notebook covered in stickers of hearts and stars clutched in their hands.

“Please don't hurt me! I didn't do it, I swear!” the girl pleaded the guys. They just guffawed in return.

“Nerd, no one likes you anyways!”

I clenched my fists at that. I saw Alex tense from the corner of my eye, and she swaggered up to the slimy guys.

“So,” she drawled, eyeing them with contempt up and down, “Two freaking idiots who are bored like heck here hmmmmmmmm."

The guys shared a befuddled look and snapped back, “What do you want, emo?”

“Oh nothing, just for you two to GET THE HECK OUTTA HERE!”

At that, the two guys scrambled out with Alex shooting daggers at them with her eyes. Once they were out of sight, she turned to the trembling girl. I did too.

"So," Alex drawled, "You get bothered by idiots often?"

The girl just sighed, smoothed out her shirt, and replied, "Not daily, but close enough. The price of knowledge, the price of knowledge."

Alex just cocked an eyebrow at her strange response.

I decided to cut in with a quiet, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks by the way. Both of you. I'm Casey," she said with a soft smile.

"I'm Nicole, but you can call me Nickie."

We both looked at Alex expectantly, who had moved to lean against the bleachers with one arm, and a cool, uncaring look on her face. She just looked at us, and snapped, "What?"

I just shook my head in amusement. Typical Alex.

"Fine, fine, geez. I'm Alex, etc. Don't call me anything else."

Casey stuck out her hand and I shook it lightly and shortly, giving her a small, hesitant smile. She turned to Alex and also stuck out her hand, but Alex just stared at it with that look that she always gives on her face. It's a look that says "I'm too cool for that and you" mixed with "Are you kidding me?". After a few seconds, Casey just grinned and withdrew her hand.
Instead, she put a finger on her chin, tilted her head a bit to the right and asked, "Is Alex your full name? I simply must know..."

Alex just flicked her side bangs, and replied, "Don't push it, kid."

And that, was the start of a wonderful friendship, at least, most of the time. 

Casey has caramel colored hair that she leaves down and plain, with royal purple glasses always perched on her face. She's petite, frail looking, and kind of pale, considering she's always inside, studying. When she's reading, her glasses slides down a bit, and she just lifts two fingers and pushes them back up. She claims she does it almost unconsciously now, since she always has her nose stuck in a book. She's one of those people classified as a nerd, and it's kind of true. She has an A+ in all 6 of her classes, she never misses a day of school, much less be late, and her grades is the most important thing in life. Anything below a B, and she'll consider it failing, which Alex and Audrey always scoff at, but in different ways. Audrey scoffs because she says Casey worries too much, since she's supposedly "born to be smart and a total bookworm". On the other hand, Alex scoffs because she considers a C+ a passing grade. Of course, Alex's standards for grades aren't very high. I'm not saying that Alex doesn't try at school. She just doesn't like sitting in class, especially the sitting, and in class, while listening to lectures and reading a "bloody boring textbook" parts. Casey, though, loves class. It's where she absolutely shines. All the teachers love her, and she's been getting honor rolls and stuff like that since elementary school. (Audrey jokes that she probably got awards in Preschool too.) Every time finals or exams come along, you can expect not to see Casey's face for weeks, all the way until after she takes the test, because she'll be studying and panicking like crazy. I get along well with her, but she and Danielle are best friends. Danielle encourages Casey, and calms her down when she panics, and Casey tutors Danielle in Science, seeing as Danielle completely blanks on that subject. Casey's kind of like me, meaning she's sort of shy, but when she's with our group, she's not afraid to talk. It doesn't mean she bothers Alex the way Audrey does, but she does tease Alex sometimes.

As for me? Well, I can't say much except that I have pitch black hair that I loosely tie up into a low ponytail, and bangs that are long, and can hide my face. I'm about the same height as Danielle, but just a tiny bit shorter, and Casey says I'm skinny, but I honestly don't know. I don't pay much attention to how I look. I don't like to stand out in the crowd, so I dress plainly. I always have an all black hoodie on, and it's kind of faded, since Alex gave it to me in the 6th grade. I've been wearing it everyday to school since. It makes me feel comfortable, like I have a piece of home with me. I still remember the day Alex handed it to me. It was my birthday, and no one besides my family members had bothered to congratulate me or even remember. Of course, I tried not to let it get to me too much, since that was how it had been since forever, but it still stung a bit. I can't help it. Alex says I just feel too much. I never say that she feels more than me. It would probably set her off.
I was sitting on my front steps like every morning since 3rd grade, waiting for Alex to come strolling casually down the road. Then, I would get up, and walk with her. We rarely talked in the mornings, but we didn't really need to. I'd known her since 1st grade, so silences were never awkward.
That morning, however, she threw something dark and soft at my face when I went up to her. She had already started walking away before I could even react. Catching it, I opened up the crumpled bundle to find that it was a black sweater with a large hood. It looked a few sizes too big, but it looked really comfy.
"Wear it. It's plain, since you don't like showing off and all that jazz. Decided to get it for you, since it's your birthday and all," she called back without looking at me. I grinned, tossed on the hoodie over my clothes, and ran up to walk with her.
I told her in my usual, shy voice, "Thanks Alex. I love it."
She just grunted and replied, "Whatever. At least now you can hide under that hood instead of behind me."

I haven't stopped wearing that thing since. Whenever I felt embarrassed, I would flip the hood up, and just hide from the world. I do that a lot. Danielle says I have confidence issues, but Audrey just waves it off saying I'm just overly shy. Casey once asked me if I have Anthropophobia (I had to check the dictionary later that day. Apparently it means a fear of people.), and Alex just scoffed. I'm not scared of anyone, except maybe those really mean guys and girls in school. I just don't like to stand out in the crowd. Alex is the one who's afraid of people.  Or, at least, she doesn't like meeting new people a lot.

We’re all different. But we’re also all friends. I know cliche. But it’s just how life turned out. But it sure wasn't an easy road.

It was a Friday, so, like every Friday, I knocked on the dusty grey front door of the Hayde house. And, just like every Friday, Andrew, Alex’s older brother, who’s about two years older than us, would open the door, and smile at me. Then, he would say a friendly “Hey, Alex in her room”, and he would say, as I’m walking up the first three steps of the winding wooden staircase, “Knock, pass code”, or, on one of those really bad days, “Locked”. This way, I would know what mood Alex was in that day. Most of the time, it was “knock”, but lately, I've been getting a lot more “locked”. I haven’t heard an “Open” in a few years now. It’s like a faint memory of the innocent days. Or at least, when Alex was still innocent.

 It was a system that I was comfortable with, and we were all comfortable with it. I would spend all of Friday afternoon with Alex, and often times she’d end up staying at my house over the night. Then she’d spend some time with the entire group on Saturday. Then, she’d go back home, late Saturday night, and spend Sunday at home, in her room, or out with her brother.

You see, Alex doesn't have the best relationship with her parents. They feed her, they give her a place to sleep and call “her house”, but it’s never really been her home. No, they don’t beat her or anything like that, but they are really mean to her. I don’t know how many times I've heard Alex tell me, in that fake, nonchalant voice of hers, “They called me a disappointment again. A delinquent. Whatever.”

They verbally beat her down with their “disappointment at their failure of a child”; while she purposely tries to make them even more mad. It’s a vicious cycle, really, but Alex doesn't want to be the one to step out of it. She says it’s like surrendering to them, and she won’t be the weaker side. She hates losing.

This time though, it was different.

As I walked into the door, waving to Andrew, he said with a grimace, “Hey Lynn. Locked. Pretty bad too. This time, they were comparing me to her again.”

Shoot. Those were some of the most painful fights for her.

I walked up the stairs, secretly took out the hidden key Alex keeps, just for me, and slid inside. Alex was lounging on her bed, eyes closed and music blasting out from her headphones so loud I could hear it.

“Lock the door behind you,” she spoke in to the silence. I did as she said, and sat down, cross-legged, on her bed. She slid her headphones off as I got comfortable. She kept her eyes closed to whole time.

After a few moments, I decided to break the ice.

“What did they say this time?” I asked softly.

“The usual. Plus accusing me of smoking,” she replied, scowling.

“But, you hate smoke and cigs’.”

She snorted.

“For parents they sure know me well don’t they.”

I hummed in agreement.

She sighed, and got up. “Come on, I wanna get outta here.”

Here, she stopped, and began to smirk. Her smirk is a twisted, devious smirk. It’s the kind of smirk that makes adults check their wallets, and other kids in school to raise their eyebrows and wonder “What is she planning?”.

She walked over to her window, pulled it open, and leaned out of it, asking me, “I figured out a new escape path through this window, and down this tree. You wanna try it?”

Of course. Leave it up to Alex to think up something like that.

“No thanks. You know I’m afraid of heights. And I'd rather not have broken bones.”

“Aw come on, it’ll be fun! It’s safe, relatively. Sort of.”

I rapidly shook my head. “You know you can just use your front door Alex.”

“No way, I don’t wanna see those stupid adults I’m stuck with for life, unfortunately.”

“Please? For me?”

At my begging, she softened visibly. “Fine, but it’s your fault if I get into another argument.”

I just gently grabbed her wrist and began walking out her room. She followed with a struggle, except for the occasional mutter of "I still wanted to use the tree." as we walked down the staircase.

"Al, going out?" Andrew called out just as Alex was about to step out of the front door after me. 

She just sighed, rolled her eyes, and shouted back, "No duh, genius!", and slammed the door.

I stared at her while she dusted off her hands with a faint, satisfied smirk.

I decided to break the tense silence by asking, "So, where do you want to go?"

"Who cares. Wherever. As long it's not here," she shrugged. The way she said "here" was with utter contempt. I would feel sorry for anyone if she ever talked about a person that way. You could just feel the hate dripping from her like venom.

"The park?"

She just shrugged and said, "Sure, why the heck not."

We started heading down the street towards our town's small park. It's a nice, peaceful grassy meadow with a little metal play structure in the middle. There's a grove of willow trees and an old sliver of a creek to the east, and various oak, pine, and maple trees circle the rest of the park. This is what our group consider's "our territory". At least, to Alex it's ours. The five of us always hang (in Audrey's case, literally) out on the play structure. We all have our own little spots. Alex always chills at the top of the playground, in the tall tower that leads to a long, sleek metal slide. She usually stands and leans over the balcony created by the metal rods, letting the breezes flow around her, staring into the distant view of the town. I curl up at the bottom of the net ladder that leads up to Alex's tower, and Casey sits by me, in the empty square platform that leads to the monkey bars to the right, metal twirling ladder to the left, and steps to the front. We both like hiding there because it's comforting, with all the others around us. Danielle always, always sits daintily on the front steps, because she's afraid of dirtying her clothes too much. Audrey loves to swing around on the monkey bars and sometimes, when she's bored of the bars, she moves over to the twirling ladder to amuse herself for a while. She's just too energetic to sit still.

Today was no different, even though it was only the two of us. Alex swiftly pulled herself up onto her balcony, while I sat down at my usual place slowly, looking up at her. She leaned up against the bars, staring at the far row of trees and houses. There was a slight warm summer breeze, so it was blowing her hair and jacket behind her. 

"I want to get out of here. Someday. Soon," she suddenly spoke, shocking me.

I just stared at her steadily.

She continued, without turning to me, "This town's dragging me down. Heck, it's dragging all of us down. We could be so much more than all this, don't you think?"

I was lost. "I guess, but, Alex, I like our town."

She scoffed. "Of course. Everyone but me likes this stupid place."
She finally turned to look at me, gazing down at me coolly. She was poker-faced excellently, but her eyes were dark, stormy, and disappointed. But not at me. No, she didn't look disappointed at me. She was disappointed at something else.

"Alex.....there has to be something you like about here...."
"Like what? You guys are fine, but other than that, what's good about this?"

"Alex....."

She turned back to look far into the distance. Compared to the warm streams of air and the summer sun beating down on us, she looked like a cold shadow, distant and lost.

"Alex, do you miss Britain?"

At this, she tensed visibly.

You see, Alex goes back to England every single summer, from the day after school's out to two days before school starts again. She lives with her Aunt Maybelle and her Aunt's boyfriend Sam during her stay, and she gets along fabulously with the two of them. Her aunt's a young, optimistic lady who knows just how to cheer anybody up, and always encourages Alex. Sam is, from how Alex describes him, a kind, tall guy who "rocked at soccer" (he was the one who first taught her how to play), "rocked the guitar", and "rocked overall". From what it sounds like, those two act more like her parents than Alex's real parents do. Even though they're across the sea from her, they still cheer her on by sending emails and cards. Every fall, Alex returns with a wild grin (sadly it only lasts a few days at most, then it returns to her usual smirk), a happy look on her face, and a really strong British accent (that lasts for months). 

"There's only a few more months left of school. It's not too long right?"

She continued staring into the distance, then said,“You know, I wonder what’s out there in this world. Out of this town. There has to be more to the world that I can discover.”

I didn't respond. All that could be heard between the two of us was the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the trees around us.

“All I've ever known was London, and this old place. Same old, same old. No change. It’s like I’m stuck. You know what I mean?”

More trees ruffled their sharp green hair in question.

“We’re all trapped in this, this, this loop! It’s a cycle! A circle! Like one of those black holes in outer space. We get born into it, and only a few of us manage to escape.”

All I could say in response was “Mmmmm…”.

She continued staring out into the distance.
"Hey! You guys!!! HEY!" a voice shouted from a distance. Scrambling to stand up, I saw Audrey racing down a grassy green hill towards us, with Casey hot on her tails, panting, and Danielle delicately stepping downhill behind them, cautiously making her way towards us at a snail's pace. Even from this far away I could see her sour face, and I could almost hear her whining to me about the grass stains on her new shoes.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Alex turn on the top of her tall tower to watch the others speed over to us, or, in Danielle's case, gingerly walk towards us.

Audrey was the first to reach us, of course. She took a huge leap into the air, and landed with a loud "Bam!" onto the steps.

 Up above, Alex slowly and casually leaned back on her elbows against the metal balcony, and rolled her eyes, saying, "Some people are just too loud."

"Oh come on Al! Live a little!" Audrey laughed in reply. Alex just flicked her bangs out of her face and gave a little scoff.

By then, Casey had reach us as well, and was breathing heavily, trying to say something. However, it was always cut short by her wheezing, so it came out sounding like, "Aud-, don't ru-, so, fas-, now I- troub-le-, ca-ing, m- breath."

Audrey grinned sheepishly and apologized, "Sorry Case! Can't help it! I'm hyper right now!"

"You're always hyper, idiot!" Alex shouted to us. The four of us started laughing, as Danielle finally got to the play structure, gently shaking her foot.

"Look! Now my new flats have grass stains on them!" she began whining.

Alex rolled her eyes again, and swung down to the lower decks, saying, "That's why you buy black shoes, not white."

Audrey nodded her head fervently, like a bobble-head toy.

"It's not white, it's cream! And cream matched more of my dresses! I don't always dress in gothic colors, or the same kind of black shading all the time."

Alex smirked. "Beats worrying about stupid grass stains all the time."

"Black is dreary!"

"Black is bold."

"If black is a bold color, the why does Nickie always wear it? She hates standing out."

"Black is bold, but also represents the shadows. It is a double sided color, which gives it depth and a personality."

"Preach it Alex!!!" Audrey shouted to the sky. She started pumping her fist and chanting Alex's name on repeat while she started swinging around on the monkey bars.

Casey turned to me with a pitiful gaze and whispered, "She had coffee this morning."

Ah, that's why she's even more energetic than usual. Of course.

"So, what brings you guys here?" 

Snapping out of my amused thoughts, I raised my head to see Alex once more leaning coolly against the metal bars, eyeing the other three curiously.

Audrey, of course, was all but too happy to shout back, "We got bored! So we figured we could come to the park! Then I saw you standing all dark and gloomy at the top, so I decided we could all hang out together!"

Casey delicately pushed up her glasses, and added, "The bored part is true. However, I must disagree with the last part. I'm pretty sure only Audrey finds making Alex angry is amusing."

"Hey!  What's that supposed to mean? And, yes, it is fun!" Audrey called back. She was in the middle of a flip on the monkey bars. Impressive.

Danielle and Alex sighed in unison, looked at each other with raised eyebrows, then spoke, at the same time, "Seriously?" and "Well. Looks like I have a mimic after me."

We all shared a small laugh, with Audrey being the loudest, bellowing out guffaws, and Danielle and Casey more quiet, amused giggles, and me, with a slight, three second like snicker that could barely be heard over Audrey's noise. Of course, all Alex did was just smirk a bit, and cross her arms across her chest in a smug manner.

A silence came over us after we all quieted down, or, should I say, waited for Audrey to calm down, before it was broken by Danielle asking, "So, did you guys hear about the new transfer student yet?"

The rest of the day was spent laughing, shouting, gossiping, trading stories of what had happened the few days or hours we hadn't seen each other, and telling Audrey to knock it off (which only Alex had to constantly do).