Kids in a Library

"Becca, wait up!" Demitri yelled ahead at the human shaped blur in front of him.

"Demitri, hurry up!" Becca yelled back at the audible speck. Demitri crossed his arms in front of his torso and pouted, knowing that he could not catch up even if he tried.

"You do this every morning! Slow down!" Demitri shouted. Becca smiled at the loud words, then looked back to see Demitri standing still. Her smile faded as her feet slowed to a stop. She let out a heavy sigh and gestures for Demitri to follow her. She waited for Demitri to catch up and started walking at his pace.

"Just because you're the track team captain doesn't mean you need to show off." Demitri muttered under his breath, his arms still crossed. 

"It's not too late to join. Who knows? Maybe you could be faster than me with my help." Becca teased. Demitri laughed and shook his head.

"Maybe I don't want to stay after school every other day." Demitri argued.

"Yeah, because the library is SO much better." Becca argued back, rolling her eyes. 

They had known each other their entire lives; They were basically siblings. Demitri and Becca's mothers had a bond just as strong, if not stronger. They ate dinner together most nights, studied for the same tests, and lived similar lives. The only current difference was their enthusiasm.

While Becca always jumped into new situations head first, Demitri liked to be more... cautious. While Becca was picking out a perfect outfit for the first day of school, Demitri was memorizing the floor plan to avoid looking stupid. Becca was the type to show off her intelligence by raising her hand in class. The only time Demitri ever rose his hand in class was when he needed to go to the bathroom.

Both of them were smart, athletic, and decent looking people. They each possessed a multitude of skills and took part in several hobbies. They settled fo co-presidentship on their student council, so naturally they are best friends.

"Actually, the library is kinda nice. I like the quiet." Demitri said.

"Yeah, but wouldn't it be cool to switch it up every once and awhile? I know you're good at badminton, so this will make you better when spring rolls in." Becca encouraged, as she had done several times before. Secretly she is terrified with the way she navigates her life, but her best friend always made it easier. She didn't know if it was the urge to protect him... or the urge to impress him.

"Maybe... but shouldn't you take your own advice?" Demitri asked, smirking.

"What?" Becca asked, hoping to clarify.

"You're telling me to switch it up, and you're making fun of the library, but you either stay for track or go home. You don't have many other clubs right now, why don't you stay at the library for a bit after school?" Demitri inquired.

"What would I do? You know I finish my homework at lunch and do my studying at home alone." Becca whined. She says that, but really she just studies using emarassing methods that seem to work. Can't really study in your underwear at the public library.

"I'll make you a deal." Demitri said, "if you stay at the library and do some extra studying with me, I'll tryout for your dumb track team." He smiled as Becca's face twisted from a frown, to a smile, to a glare.

"Fine! And my team isn't dumb!" Becca yelled and punched Demitri's arm lightly.

"Hey! Abuse!" Demitri joked and they both laughed.

They eventually arrived at their school and found their friends. Kendra, the shortest blonde girl you'll ever meet, was sitting in her partner Steve's lap. Steve was an odd choice for a 4'10" girl, because he stood at 6'2". Even though they look awkward standing next to each other, they look cute when they sit down together. Kendra always wraps her arms around Steve's neck and Steve always kept an arm around her shoulders. You would almost be jealous of them if they didn't fight all the time.

"Well I THOUGHT you said seven thirty!" Kendra yelled at Steve.

"I'm sorry! I don't control the bowling alley." Steve said, making Becca and Demitri tune in. Kendra saw Becca and pushed herself off Steve. Steve sighed heavily as Kendra stormed away.

"Becky, How are you!" Kendra called out.

"Kenny, You look great, I'm amazing!" Becca called back and left Demitri to go ask about the dispute.

Demitri hated when she did that, but she did it all the time. It was as if he was no longer a priority. Then he heard a car horn, but he knew who was behind the wheel before he even looked.

"DEMITRI! LOOK, I'M HERE ON TIME!!" Demitri's only other friend Kyle exclaimed from his truck. Kyle got out of the parked Truck and chugged the rest of his breakfast energy drink.

"You could be on time every day." Demitri said, rolling his eyes. Kyle laughed and threw an arm around Demitri's shoulders.

"What's the fun in that?" He asked and pulled another energy drink out of his hoodie pocket. 

"How many of those have you had today?" Demitri inquired.

"UUUuuhhh.. this is the third." Kyle said before taking a long sip. Then the bell rang to signify they should get to class. Kyle ran ahead and waved at Demitri.

"SEE YA IN CHEM!" Kyle screamed before getting lost in the crowd. Demitri sighed at the familiar feeling of a friend ditching him, then continued to his locker. He opened it and went to the top bin that held all his Monday materials; His math and chemistry binders were packed with revised notes and completed assignments. He put his pen case on top and carried on to his homeroom class. 

He entered to see Kendra, Steve, Kyle, and Becca all already seated around his seat. Usually the first ten minutes of class consists of the three peers stealing notes from Becca and Demitri. At first it made Demitri uncomfortable, but then he started taking the time to compare his notes to Becca's.

Between the two, Becca definitely had the better handwriting. She was creative in a strange way that was admirable. She always put the most important stuff in cursive, and dotted all her "i"s with little hearts. It was art when she copied a bit that she missed from Demitri, like how it was impressive that Demitri never needs to copy notes.

Maybe that would have been enough for Becca and Demitri to realize they have chemistry, but since it was chemistry class they had some unwanted buffers.

"Ionic.. do you mean Iconic?" Kyle asked as he scribbled down what he could read off of Demitri's page.

"No.. Why would I-?" Demitri started, then stopped himself when he realized Kyle was kidding. Kyle let out a fake chuckle as he got the rest of the note down. Becca let out a giggle as well.

"Something funny?" Demitri asked. Becca smirked and shook her head, helping Kendra copy her notes.

"Just that you're so grumpy." Becca said and everyone held back their laughs.

"I am not. Its just," Demitri rubbed his face, his eyes especially,"morning ya know." Demitri bluffed and closed his binder.

"Cheer up, we're gonna study together later and I don't want you to act like an ass." Becca said.

"yeah, sure. We'll see." Demitri said.

The rest of the class was uneventful. Just more notes and more homework pages. The other classes were all the same. For other students, this day may have seemed tedious or even frustrating. For Demitri and Becca, this was a typical good day of productive learning.

The school day was eventually over and Demitri automatically started to make his way to the library. Becca was already there with a book off the shelves. When she saw him she smiled big and waved. Demitri smiled and sat down next to her, opening his laptop and heading to the course study material for his history and english tomorrow.

Becca lowered her book and looked at Demitri's screen. When she saw he was still on the school website, she put her book down.

"Why are you stressing about your classes so much? You're almost as smart as me." Becca taunted. Demitri sucked his teeth then smiled slightly.

"I'm not stressing I'm just taking a quick look at the material before learning it." Demitri defended. Becca held the power button on his laptop until it turned off. Demitri glared at her.

"If you're not stressing, then you can easily take a break and read a book." Becca said with a huge smirk. Demitri's eyes narrowed, then he got up and walked to the non-fiction part of the library. He picked up a history book about the cold war and sat back down. He opened the book and stuck his tongue out at Becca.

Becca smiled and returned to her own novel. It wasn't as factual, but she loves fantasy and romance novels. To her, it was like dipping her toe into a whole different lifetime. A lifetime where she is known as the smartest person in the world, the strongest woman alive, and she has someone to love. She always wanted someone to love.