《Pedestal》 Prologue SENIOR YEAR "Why does he have to sit by me in every class we have together?" "Why does he always ask me to be his partner in every group assignment?" "Why can''t I ever focus when he''s around me?" He''s just a boy. A very tall, very nice, really cute boy. His hair is pretty messy today. I wonder... "Miss Henry?"A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Crap. I shake my head from my daydream and look around. The whole class is staring at me including Mrs. Meyers, who I think is waiting for me to answer some question she just asked. I smile and try to give her my best innocent face while silently apologizing. ''I''m sorry, what was the question?". My classmates snicker as Mrs. Meyers shakes her head and tells me to pay attention. I slump down in my desk feeling my skin getting hot from embarrassment. If I didn''t have a tan complexion, I most definitely would be as red as a tomato right now. When the bell rings, I slowly gather my things and watch as Jonah walks out of the classroom. "You have it bad, girl." my best friend Tessa says as we walk into the hallway. "I know, I know. But you know I''ve been crushing since middle school. Nothing new here." I say with a shrug. But she''s right. I do have it bad. I''ve had it bad for Jonah McCarthy since 6th grade. Sad thing is, he also knows it too. Chapter 1 I''m sitting in an over-sized bean bag chair at my best friend Kelly''s house discussing our upcoming college situation next month. Going through a brochure for The University of Tampa, I excitedly tell Kelly about my new dorm and roommates. "I''m so happy I get to do the apartment-style dorm. I don''t know if I could''ve handled being cramped into a normal small dorm with some stranger!" She gives me a side-eye " Hey, that''s what my dorm is like at LSU. I unlike you actually find it exciting to be in an actual dorm with just one roommate. I mean how are you going to handle 3?". I roll my eyes at her but she''s right. I am not that sociable and my track record on meeting new people has not been good. I go to her full-length mirror hanging on her bedroom door and take a look at myself. My skin is darker from the summer sun and my hair is a bit shorter. However, if you had known me a few months ago, you wouldn''t have even noticed those little changes. Over the summer, I decided I didn''t want to be the bigger girl anymore. I wanted to have a guy notice me. I wanted to feel good about myself. So right after graduation, I did a complete overhaul on myself. I went on a strict no-carb diet, gave up practically anything with sugar, and worked out at the gym every single day. I have currently lost over 60 pounds and I don''t plan on stopping until I''ve lost at least 20 more. I don''t need to be a stick but I figure 135-140 pounds range would be perfect for me. "I''ve been texting with my roommates and they all seem pretty cool. Besides, I''m going to need all the friends I can get with you being over 700 miles away and Tessa all the way in California." "Ugh, don''t remind me. All of us are going to different places this fall. Jamie will be in Boston, Mack in D.C., Josh will be all the way in Hawaii. I''m still so jealous of him by the way and Peyton will be at Texas State. I can''t believe we won''t all be around to hang out every weekend anymore." I can see the tears forming in her eyes and I look away before I start to cry too.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "I hate this. What am I going to do without my best friends?" "You will be fine. Look at you. You have been so focused on yourself this summer, it has paid off. You are absolutely gorgeous and all the guys in Tampa will be vying for your attention!" I laugh and roll my eyes. "You''ll be fine too. At least Ian will only be an hour from you so you''ll get to see him all of the time." Kelly and Ian have been together for the last 5 years. I''m actually surprised they''ll be an hour apart and not at the same school. "Actually, I think I''m going to break up with him." "What? Why?" "It''s college, Jazz. We''re supposed to meet new people and date. I love Ian, don''t get me wrong but I want to experience college life without a boyfriend. At least for a little while." I nod my head at her. I totally get where she''s coming from. I mean who wants to be tied down to their high school boyfriend? "The same goes for you too." I look over at her confused. "What are you talking about?" "You need to experience college life too. Go to parties, meet cute guys, have fun." I still have a confused look on my face and she must notice because she continues with "I mean, don''t just follow Jonah around like a puppy like you did the last 6 years." My jaw drops and I look at her wide-eyed but quickly recover. Jonah. I swear its a total coincidence that we''re going to the same school. I applied and was accepted long before knowing that was where he was planning on going to as well. Will it be amazing having him there too? Well duh. I haven''t seen him since grad night. He still hasn''t seen the new me. Will he like me? Will I like that? What am I saying? Of course, I would. Wouldn''t I? I shake my thoughts away and look over at Kelly. "Don''t worry, Jonah has no interest in me anyway and I''ve moved on." She gives me an "I don''t believe you look" and I just shrug. Maybe that was a lie but so what? I have no chance with Jonah McCarthy and I don''t plan on making a fool out of myself by asking him out. Again. Chapter 2 Senior Year One month before prom Prom. That last hurrah with your graduating class. A fancy party at some fancy place no normal person can actually afford. Hundreds of dollars spent on dresses, tuxes, shoes, hair, makeup, limos, etc. It''s all anyone has been talking about the last few weeks. Everyone is excited about who they''re going with and what they are wearing. Me? I''ve decided that if I don''t have a date, I''m not going. So far, no date. Looks like it''ll be a movie night at home for me then. "You have to go! It''s our last prom ever! You can''t miss it!" my friend Mack exclaims. "I told you, no date means no prom for me. You all have dates and I''m not about to be the only one showing up solo." "We still have a month. We''ll find someone for you." I roll my eyes but stay silent as we walk through the school courtyard. Sitting down at one of the tables, I watch the people around me excitedly talk about what they''ll be wearing to prom. I sigh internally, wishing I had a date because I honestly would love to be going. Just then a loud boom across the courtyard shakes away my thoughts. Jonah''s on-again, off-again girlfriend Grace throws her books on one of the tables hard. She''s yelling and flailing her arms as Jonah just stands there taking the verbal abuse. Grace. Oh, how I loathe her. She''s somewhat pretty, I guess. Clearly, to Jonah, she is but love is blind, so I''ve heard. She''s one of the smartest in our class and she never lets anyone forget it. She also thinks she''s this great basketball player but I don''t see anything special about her. Grace Telman is a grade-A bitch. She is the most conceded, obnoxious, all around wench. She also can''t stand me. Why? Because she knows I like Jonah. I honestly don''t care because the feeling is definitely mutual. I can''t really understand what Grace is yelling at Jonah about but I watch intently along with everyone else in the vicinity. After a couple of minutes, the yelling stops followed by a loud slap. I suck in a breath as I watch as Grace''s hand meets Jonah''s cheek. She huffs as she gathers her things and walks away leaving Jonah standing there. After a moment, Jonah rubs his face and looks over at the ongoing onlookers. His eyes briefly meet mine and I can see the hurt in them. I force myself to stay seated and not go over and ask if he''s okay. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. "Well, that was intense," Mack says. "Y-yeah," I stutter as I watch Jonah walk back inside the school. A few days later, rumors are still swirling about their breakup. I honestly couldn''t go anywhere without hearing at least one person mention either Jonah or Grace. It. Was. Nauseating. By Friday, things seemed to have calmed. Too bad it wouldn''t last long. At lunch, my friends and I are at Kelly''s house enjoying our hour-long freedom. Out of nowhere, Mack gets an idea that I really wish she hadn''t. "Jazz, you should ask Jonah to prom!" she says excitedly. "Dude, yes! I agree!" Kelly says with just as much enthusiasm. "I don''t know. I mean Grace just broke up with him a few days ago and who''s to say he even wants to go prom anyways?" I say with uncertainty. "It doesn''t hurt to ask." "Yeah, the worst thing that could happen is he says no," Tessa says encouragingly. Oh, how I wish that were true. I think about nothing the rest of the day except for asking Jonah to prom. I daydream about what it would be like to go with him and finally find the courage to ask him after school. I leave right at the final bell and rush to the parking lot. I stand by my car as I wait for Jonah to approach his. My palms are sweaty and I''m a nervous wreck but I tell myself that I would hate myself for not even trying. As Jonah draws nearer, I take a deep breath to calm myself. I notice him before he sees me and I walk up to him as he approaches his truck. "Hey, Jonah?" I say almost too quietly. He turns around quizzically. "Oh, hey Jasmine. What''s up?" I take another deep breath and quickly rush out my question. "IKnowThatGraceJustBrokeUpWithYouButIWasWonderingIfYouWouldWantToGoToPromWithMe?" Before Jonah could answer, we''re loudly interrupted by Grace. "Hey, babe. Ready to go?" she asks as she takes his hand. Jonah looks at her then looks at me then avoids my eyes as he says "Uh, yeah. Ready. Sorry, Jasmine, maybe another time." Grace looks between the both of us. "What''s going on here?" I look down at the ground. Crap. This is not going to end well. I slowly turn to walk away but Grace stops me. "I said, what is going on here? Why are you bothering my boyfriend?" Boyfriend. Of course, they''re back together. I should''ve known that breakup wouldn''t last long. "Nothing," I say and roll my eyes. "Didn''t look like nothing to me." "Grace, just drop it," Jonah says pleadingly. "No. I want to know what she wanted. You said "maybe another time". What did that mean? Did she just ask you out?" she demands. Jonah and I look at each other then quickly look away hoping Grace didn''t notice. But she does. "Oh my god. She did ask you out?!" she screams. Then looking right at me and even louder she continues, "How pathetic can you be? Everyone knows you like him but guess what? He doesn''t nor will he ever like you!" My hands ball into fists wanting to just shut her up but I''m saved from doing so when Jonah grabs her and pulls her away. I watch as they argue then shake my head and turn to walk away. Before I can get too far I hear the gut-wrenching statement from the boy I''ve liked for so long. "Baby, calm down. She means nothing to me. She never has and never will. I mean just look at her, do you honestly think I''d ever want that?" That. Not her. That. He just called me a thing. Chapter 3 In the book "The Wild Palms", William Faulkner wrote, "Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain." I believe many of us would choose pain as well. We would rather take the risk of getting hurt than to be left wondering what if. Sometimes though, I wonder if I''m just a sucker for wanting the pain or just a sucker in general. It''s a hot sunny day in Tampa, Florida. The humidity is almost unbearable and as someone who was born and raised in the south, that''s saying something. I pull into a parking space near my apartment and watch as other students move into their dorms. After a few minutes, my older sister Danielle pulls into the spot next to me. "Ready to move into your new room?" she asks. "As ready as I''ll ever be," I say to myself but instead smile and nod at her. We grab some boxes and head inside the building. I''m so thankful that my apartment is on the first floor and near the entrance. I unlock the door to the apartment and take in my new home. A furnished living room comes into sight as we walk in. There''s plenty of room for lounging around and a decent size kitchen just a few feet away. I walk around and notice two bedrooms to the right and another two to the left. Luckily no one else is here yet so I have my choice in rooms. I decide on a room right across from the bathroom since there is only one. Sharing a bathroom with three other girls is going to be a nightmare. After a few trips back and forth from my car, I finally have everything in my room. I decide to take a lunch break before unpacking so I can spend a little more time with my sister before she has to drive back home. We find a burger joint nearby and sit and talk about my college checklist making sure I have everything I need. Before long, it''s time to say goodbye and I watch my sister as she drives off back to our home state of Georgia. Back at the apartment, I notice I''m no longer the only one there when I walk in. The room next to mine has pop music blaring and I see a tall girl with long blonde hair and tan skin unpacking. She notices me as I walk by and screams excitedly. "Hi! I''m Allie Thomas!" I smile at her perkiness. "I''m Jasmine Henry." We talk a little while longer as we both unpack our rooms. We seem to have a lot in common and I notice right off the bat that she reminds me so much of Kelly. I''m so grateful for that considering I''m missing my best friends like crazy. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. A few hours later, our other two roommates show up. They introduce themselves as Tiffany Rogers and Izzy Mason. It turns out that they are best friends and are thankful they will have the rooms next to each other. We all sit around and talk about our new school. Both Tiffany and Izzy are Art majors while Allie and I are both going for our teaching certifications in English and math respectfully. I learn that Tiff and Iz, who are adamant that we call them that, are both from Georgia like me while Allie is a Floridian from Pensacola. We are all single except for Izzy who''s boyfriend Mitch also attends UT. She lights up as she tells us about him and insists that we all go over to his dorm later and meet him. After a while, Allie and I decide to take a walk through campus to familiarize ourselves with where our classes are. Not even five minutes into our walk, we are handed numerous fliers about freshman activities going around all week long. I see all these mixers to get to know people, sororities looking for new recruits, and the soccer game this coming weekend. I kind of dislike that this school doesn''t have a football team but I guess I can learn to like soccer. I''m just glad they have baseball or I''d probably have to transfer schools. We find the buildings our classes are held in. Luckily, we have all but one class together this semester. As we walk back to our apartment, we get stopped by a cute guy decked out in school colors. He talks fast about a party at his frat tonight and quickly rushes off to tell more people. When we walk into the apartment, Iz runs over to us and asks if we want to go meet Mitch. We agree and walk the ten minutes to a small dorm building. Izzy pulls out her phone to call Mitch to let us into the building when we see someone walking out and quickly grab the door before it closes. We head down a hallway as Izzy runs ahead of us and starts knocking on a door. A guy, we assume is Mitch, opens the door and she practically jumps him. We stand there awkwardly as they kiss for what seems like forever before breaking apart. Iz introduces us to Mitch, an average height guy with very pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. I look between both and notice how different both of them look from each other. Izzy is very petite, I''d say no taller than 5''1 with long black hair, dark skin, and dark brown eyes. We are introduced to Mitch''s roommate Kyle who says hi and bye to us all in the same sentence. After another ten minutes or so I silently plead with Allie and she quickly understands. "Well, I''m sure you guys would like some privacy so I think we''ll be heading out," Allie says as we start walking out of the super small dorm room. I''m so thankful for our apartment after seeing how small these dorms actually are. Allie, Tiffany and I leave the dorm and start heading back towards the entrance. I walk ahead of them, talking with my new friends and not paying attention to where I''m going. I run into someone coming out of their dorm and fall flat on my butt. "Ouch," I say to myself. I look up straight into very familiar green eyes. "Jasmine?" Shit.