WRITING
Throughout my school life I have been acclaimed by my teachers for having exceptional English work, mostly in writing. Because of this I have been inspired to write a story of some kind, and from the start of Grade 8 I have been brainstorming story ideas. In June of 2017, I was inspired to write a story based off real events that happened in school. The short story is called "How I Lost a Friend" and a lot of it is fiction, but the first few paragraphs are pretty close to the source material.
Below is the short story. Enjoy!
How I Lost a Friend
By CyberBanana
Monday
Social Studies is boring. All we learn about is the history of Canada and some explorers that I have zero interest in. But in Socials I was lucky enough to get a seat right next to the window, and I could gaze off in the distance since I was in the very back of the room where Mr. Bealoton wouldn’t notice me daydreaming, anime protagonist style. The class was also on the second floor giving a nicer overlook of the area outside. I looked out and admired the perfect, fluffy, white clouds spread across the sky. It was nice, until a small, black figure with wings swooped past my line of sight, dropping a white dielectric material from its behind onto a car below. Birds must have a nice life being able to defecate whenever and wherever they want.
Today in Socials we are getting arranged into groups for a group project. Mr. Bealoton handed out the worksheets and I quickly wrote down my name on the top right corner of the page; “Bryan”. There is one person I wish to be within the Socials group. That person is Kevan. Kevan and I were partners in crime. The way I met Kevan was somewhat cool. At some point I made the lock screen wallpaper on my phone a picture of my favourite show that was airing at the time, and Kevan noticed and recognized the show when I left my phone on the lock screen. Since then we’ve been friends, and I abandoned my old, annoying friends. He has been my only real friend, because nobody else in this school is as interesting or trustworthy as he is. Only sometimes he can be a bad student and come close to falling asleep in class. Like right now.
“-so that is how Canada became a country. Any questions?” Mr. B asked. Nobody raised their hands.
Mr. Bealoton started calling out the groups we were in. I could tell the class was tense, and so was I, hoping I got in a group with good people.
“Bryan, Kevan, Alexis, and Sabelle.” Mr. B said. I sighed with relief. But my thoughts were interrupted.
“NOOO!!” erupted a voice that everyone was familiar with. It was Cara.
“I’m not with Kevan…” she said with disappointment. For some odd reason this Cara was completely open about stating her love for Kevan. And this led to many “shipping” the two together. I guess I shipped it too but I wasn’t too involved in it. Most people called it “Cara x Kevan”, and Kevan usually just ignored the shipping. (wise thing to do) But today I noticed Kevan seemed somewhat sad that he wasn’t in a group with her. Is it possible he likes her now? I suspected and hoped so.
We were introduced to the project, and I sorta slacked off, perplexed by the idea of a Cara x Kevan actually happening. I could find a way to get them together, but I still wasn’t sure.
The class finally ended, and I got basically no work done on the project. Lunch break was right after Socials, so Kevan and I walked over to our usual bench which was conveniently near the Socials classroom. I sat down and sighed with relief.
“Finally out of that class.” I said as I stretched my arms out.
“Yep, these projects are extreeeeeeeemely boring. I saw you looking out the window. At least you got something to look at to keep you awake. I was falling asleep.” Kevan replied.
“Haha, I noticed.” I said back. I took out my lunch and started eating. I was considering asking Kevan who he liked, but was it really worth it? He might ask me who I like in exchange, but who would I say I like? I took the risk and asked him.
“Hey Kevan, may I ask who you like? Like as a crush?” I asked politely.
“Uhm…” Kevan said with a bit of nervousness in his tone. He came over and whispered in my ear:
“I like Cara.” He said carefully. Well that was definitely much easier than I thought it would be. I wasn’t convinced he was telling the truth.
“Alright, look at me in the eyes. Tell me if you are telling the truth.” I said. He turned to look me in the eyes and said:
“I am telling the truth about liking Cara.” Huh. It worked, I thought.
I was definitely convinced. The school day ended and I meeted my girl Reina at the same spot near her locker. We aren’t dating or anything, she is just one if the lucky few that is able to drive in our grade and happens to live a couple houses away from mine. Because of this, she lets me catch a ride with her home, which is great since I play the French horn in our school’s band and I hate walking it home. After all the rides she has given me she has become a pretty good friend.
I waved to her as soon as she came into sight and she proceeded to open her locker.
“Ughhh, why did I choose Product Design for my elective?!” She questioned. Reina ranted on about how dumb product design is while she finished grabbing stuff from her locker. We walked outside and over to her car and I sat in the passenger seat.
“Wanna head over to the mall to eat?” Reina asked me.
“Yeah, sure.” I replied.
The drive to the mall is short, only a couple minutes from our high school to the mall. We went to the food court and got our food. I got a beef yakisoba from a Japanese restaurant and I met with Reina at a two person table. She bought a McChicken from McDonald’s.
We talked for a few minutes about our day while eating and I realized I could do something. Something great for Cara and Kevan.
“Hey, are you good with relationships?” I asked her.
She finished chewing. “Why you asking?”
“I want to set up a couple. You know Cara and Kevan?” I replied. I saw her face grow a bit red and she looked down.
“Something wrong?” I asked. Was it something I said that made her sad? She wiped her face with her forearm and looked up.
“...my eyes just got watery. So Cara and Kevan like each other, right?”
“Yeah. And I was hoping you could help me set them up.” I said
She put her hand on her chin and there was a moment of silence for a minute or two.
“So if the ultimate plan is to get them together, it usually starts with the guy. And since you are best friends with Kevan, you should be able to easily tell him what to do.”
I nodded in understanding.
“So first, you need to get Kevan to be friends with her. It may not be easy, but just get him to talk to her often throughout the day. Then, once the time is right Kevan needs to ask Cara out on a date. Just a really low-key date that you call a “hangout” or something, but with only the two of them. Once the date is finished he has to ask Cara if he can be her boyfriend… And hope she says yes.” She said. I couldn’t remember everything she said.
“Sorry, could you repeat that again please? I’ll write it down this time” She repeated the steps and I quickly typed it down on my phone.
“Thanks Reina, I think this might work.” I thanked her many more times and we headed home.
That night I contemplated for a while, thinking whether the plan would work or not.
Tuesday
Lunch time! It was my time to tell Kevan about how he can get Cara. I sat at our usual bench and waited. Kevan arrived and settled down.
“Hey Kevan, you want to date Cara, right?” I asked him. I was smart and didn’t yell it out, to make sure Kevan wouldn’t get mad.
“I mean, I don’t really feel like dating her. I just like her.” He replied.
“WHAT?! What do you mean you “just like her”?? What kind of person are you?” I yelled.
“I dunno… I just don’t feel like doing it.” He replied.
“WELL I DON’T CARE! I WORKED HARD JUST TO FIND WAYS TO SET YOU TWO UP SO YOU BETTER BE WILLING TO BE WITH HER NOW” I yelled.
“Oh.” He said calmly. A couple moments passed before he said something.
“Alright fine, I’m willing to date her.” He finally said. I sighed with relief and told him the plan.
“Huh. Talking to Cara will be hard… maybe if-” I cut him off.
“Hey look! Cara is right there alone, go talk to her!” I said to Kevan as she passed by. Kevan immediately got up and went to talk to her. I saw him talk to her and they continued walking together until they faded out of my view. I hope he’s doing alright, I thought.
Kevan came back twenty minutes and had a happy face.
“I haven’t told you this, but I’ve been doing a lot of research online about how to approach girls and start a conversation. It went great! We talked about our family and life and all sorts of stuff. I also got her email and phone number.” He said with joy.
I smiled. Maybe this plan will work…
“It seems you wanted to date her after all…” I said with a sly tone.
“I guess I never realized it.” He said as he shrugged.
Later that day I reported to Reina about the current events and she was surprised the plan was coming along well.
Kevan started talking to Cara a lot. Apparently he started texting her, too. I could tell he was happier every day too, which was fantastic. It is time to initiate the second phase of the plan.
Wednesday
“Hey Kevan, how is Cara?” I asked him.
“It’s actually going pretty well, and I think we are pretty good friends now.” He replied with a happy tone.
“Great. You think it’s time you ask her out?” I asked. He looked away at the ground for a while.
“You expect me to be able to ask her out?”
“Well yeah, just ask her to go to that art gallery that just opened near the mall or something.”
“It’s not that easy to just ask someone out you know…”
“Maybe start a conversation with her and fit in asking her out somehow, like “Hey, you know that art gallery that just opened?” and so on.”
“Alright, alright. That may work.”
“Are you going to see if you can ask now?”
“Y-Yeah, sure.” He said unsurely. He walked away and disappeared into the hallways.
I played some games on my phone until Kevan came back.
“Hey, how’d it go?” I asked.
“Perfectly. I slid the question in right into the conversation and she accepted.” He replied.
“Yay!! Congrats dude, one step closer and you’ll have her.”
“We scheduled the date to be on Thursday after school.”
“Wait, tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, I didn’t think you’d be able to schedule it so quick and last minute, but whatever works for her I guess.” I said.
Thursday, after school.
I told Kevan to make sure he asks her out right before they separate at our high school. This way I could spy on them and make sure Kevan does alright. I was camping out near a bush and a tree giving me a nice view of where I assume they would separate. I brought my 3DS and played some Monster Hunter.
It took an hour or so of waiting until I saw the two walking together. Kevan had it going! He was wearing an outfit that wasn’t too formal, and it sure looked good on him. And Cara was very pretty in her white dress. I saw Kevan’s lips moving, and watched as Cara used her hands to cover her mouth and listened. She removed her hands from her mouth and said something that looked like “Yes! I will”. Kevan continued to say something, and instead of walking separate ways they walked together, while holding hands.
“Holy poop!” I thought. Reina’s plan worked! I quickly got out of my hiding spot and headed home, with a big smile on my face.
Friday
Kevan and Cara were now a nearly inseparable duo and everyone was pretty happy that they got together too. Kevan told me how he asked her if she wanted to go to Dairy Queen with him and she said yes and just grabbed his hand and walked away. It was fun for a while, but after school I found Reina and we went to her car and started driving home. I noticed there were a few tears going down her cheeks.
“Something wrong, Reina?”
“That p-plan I gave you wasn’t supposed to work” She said with an unstable voice.
“It was supposed to make Kevan fail to get Cara so I could get him instead.” She continued. Holy poop! That was why she looked down when I mentioned Kevan and Cara for the first time at the mall.
“I’m sorry Reina, I didn’t know…” I said sincerely.
And from that day on, she never talked to me and never gave me a ride home again.
Below is the short story. Enjoy!
How I Lost a Friend
By CyberBanana
Monday
Social Studies is boring. All we learn about is the history of Canada and some explorers that I have zero interest in. But in Socials I was lucky enough to get a seat right next to the window, and I could gaze off in the distance since I was in the very back of the room where Mr. Bealoton wouldn’t notice me daydreaming, anime protagonist style. The class was also on the second floor giving a nicer overlook of the area outside. I looked out and admired the perfect, fluffy, white clouds spread across the sky. It was nice, until a small, black figure with wings swooped past my line of sight, dropping a white dielectric material from its behind onto a car below. Birds must have a nice life being able to defecate whenever and wherever they want.
Today in Socials we are getting arranged into groups for a group project. Mr. Bealoton handed out the worksheets and I quickly wrote down my name on the top right corner of the page; “Bryan”. There is one person I wish to be within the Socials group. That person is Kevan. Kevan and I were partners in crime. The way I met Kevan was somewhat cool. At some point I made the lock screen wallpaper on my phone a picture of my favourite show that was airing at the time, and Kevan noticed and recognized the show when I left my phone on the lock screen. Since then we’ve been friends, and I abandoned my old, annoying friends. He has been my only real friend, because nobody else in this school is as interesting or trustworthy as he is. Only sometimes he can be a bad student and come close to falling asleep in class. Like right now.
“-so that is how Canada became a country. Any questions?” Mr. B asked. Nobody raised their hands.
Mr. Bealoton started calling out the groups we were in. I could tell the class was tense, and so was I, hoping I got in a group with good people.
“Bryan, Kevan, Alexis, and Sabelle.” Mr. B said. I sighed with relief. But my thoughts were interrupted.
“NOOO!!” erupted a voice that everyone was familiar with. It was Cara.
“I’m not with Kevan…” she said with disappointment. For some odd reason this Cara was completely open about stating her love for Kevan. And this led to many “shipping” the two together. I guess I shipped it too but I wasn’t too involved in it. Most people called it “Cara x Kevan”, and Kevan usually just ignored the shipping. (wise thing to do) But today I noticed Kevan seemed somewhat sad that he wasn’t in a group with her. Is it possible he likes her now? I suspected and hoped so.
We were introduced to the project, and I sorta slacked off, perplexed by the idea of a Cara x Kevan actually happening. I could find a way to get them together, but I still wasn’t sure.
The class finally ended, and I got basically no work done on the project. Lunch break was right after Socials, so Kevan and I walked over to our usual bench which was conveniently near the Socials classroom. I sat down and sighed with relief.
“Finally out of that class.” I said as I stretched my arms out.
“Yep, these projects are extreeeeeeeemely boring. I saw you looking out the window. At least you got something to look at to keep you awake. I was falling asleep.” Kevan replied.
“Haha, I noticed.” I said back. I took out my lunch and started eating. I was considering asking Kevan who he liked, but was it really worth it? He might ask me who I like in exchange, but who would I say I like? I took the risk and asked him.
“Hey Kevan, may I ask who you like? Like as a crush?” I asked politely.
“Uhm…” Kevan said with a bit of nervousness in his tone. He came over and whispered in my ear:
“I like Cara.” He said carefully. Well that was definitely much easier than I thought it would be. I wasn’t convinced he was telling the truth.
“Alright, look at me in the eyes. Tell me if you are telling the truth.” I said. He turned to look me in the eyes and said:
“I am telling the truth about liking Cara.” Huh. It worked, I thought.
I was definitely convinced. The school day ended and I meeted my girl Reina at the same spot near her locker. We aren’t dating or anything, she is just one if the lucky few that is able to drive in our grade and happens to live a couple houses away from mine. Because of this, she lets me catch a ride with her home, which is great since I play the French horn in our school’s band and I hate walking it home. After all the rides she has given me she has become a pretty good friend.
I waved to her as soon as she came into sight and she proceeded to open her locker.
“Ughhh, why did I choose Product Design for my elective?!” She questioned. Reina ranted on about how dumb product design is while she finished grabbing stuff from her locker. We walked outside and over to her car and I sat in the passenger seat.
“Wanna head over to the mall to eat?” Reina asked me.
“Yeah, sure.” I replied.
The drive to the mall is short, only a couple minutes from our high school to the mall. We went to the food court and got our food. I got a beef yakisoba from a Japanese restaurant and I met with Reina at a two person table. She bought a McChicken from McDonald’s.
We talked for a few minutes about our day while eating and I realized I could do something. Something great for Cara and Kevan.
“Hey, are you good with relationships?” I asked her.
She finished chewing. “Why you asking?”
“I want to set up a couple. You know Cara and Kevan?” I replied. I saw her face grow a bit red and she looked down.
“Something wrong?” I asked. Was it something I said that made her sad? She wiped her face with her forearm and looked up.
“...my eyes just got watery. So Cara and Kevan like each other, right?”
“Yeah. And I was hoping you could help me set them up.” I said
She put her hand on her chin and there was a moment of silence for a minute or two.
“So if the ultimate plan is to get them together, it usually starts with the guy. And since you are best friends with Kevan, you should be able to easily tell him what to do.”
I nodded in understanding.
“So first, you need to get Kevan to be friends with her. It may not be easy, but just get him to talk to her often throughout the day. Then, once the time is right Kevan needs to ask Cara out on a date. Just a really low-key date that you call a “hangout” or something, but with only the two of them. Once the date is finished he has to ask Cara if he can be her boyfriend… And hope she says yes.” She said. I couldn’t remember everything she said.
“Sorry, could you repeat that again please? I’ll write it down this time” She repeated the steps and I quickly typed it down on my phone.
“Thanks Reina, I think this might work.” I thanked her many more times and we headed home.
That night I contemplated for a while, thinking whether the plan would work or not.
Tuesday
Lunch time! It was my time to tell Kevan about how he can get Cara. I sat at our usual bench and waited. Kevan arrived and settled down.
“Hey Kevan, you want to date Cara, right?” I asked him. I was smart and didn’t yell it out, to make sure Kevan wouldn’t get mad.
“I mean, I don’t really feel like dating her. I just like her.” He replied.
“WHAT?! What do you mean you “just like her”?? What kind of person are you?” I yelled.
“I dunno… I just don’t feel like doing it.” He replied.
“WELL I DON’T CARE! I WORKED HARD JUST TO FIND WAYS TO SET YOU TWO UP SO YOU BETTER BE WILLING TO BE WITH HER NOW” I yelled.
“Oh.” He said calmly. A couple moments passed before he said something.
“Alright fine, I’m willing to date her.” He finally said. I sighed with relief and told him the plan.
“Huh. Talking to Cara will be hard… maybe if-” I cut him off.
“Hey look! Cara is right there alone, go talk to her!” I said to Kevan as she passed by. Kevan immediately got up and went to talk to her. I saw him talk to her and they continued walking together until they faded out of my view. I hope he’s doing alright, I thought.
Kevan came back twenty minutes and had a happy face.
“I haven’t told you this, but I’ve been doing a lot of research online about how to approach girls and start a conversation. It went great! We talked about our family and life and all sorts of stuff. I also got her email and phone number.” He said with joy.
I smiled. Maybe this plan will work…
“It seems you wanted to date her after all…” I said with a sly tone.
“I guess I never realized it.” He said as he shrugged.
Later that day I reported to Reina about the current events and she was surprised the plan was coming along well.
Kevan started talking to Cara a lot. Apparently he started texting her, too. I could tell he was happier every day too, which was fantastic. It is time to initiate the second phase of the plan.
Wednesday
“Hey Kevan, how is Cara?” I asked him.
“It’s actually going pretty well, and I think we are pretty good friends now.” He replied with a happy tone.
“Great. You think it’s time you ask her out?” I asked. He looked away at the ground for a while.
“You expect me to be able to ask her out?”
“Well yeah, just ask her to go to that art gallery that just opened near the mall or something.”
“It’s not that easy to just ask someone out you know…”
“Maybe start a conversation with her and fit in asking her out somehow, like “Hey, you know that art gallery that just opened?” and so on.”
“Alright, alright. That may work.”
“Are you going to see if you can ask now?”
“Y-Yeah, sure.” He said unsurely. He walked away and disappeared into the hallways.
I played some games on my phone until Kevan came back.
“Hey, how’d it go?” I asked.
“Perfectly. I slid the question in right into the conversation and she accepted.” He replied.
“Yay!! Congrats dude, one step closer and you’ll have her.”
“We scheduled the date to be on Thursday after school.”
“Wait, tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, I didn’t think you’d be able to schedule it so quick and last minute, but whatever works for her I guess.” I said.
Thursday, after school.
I told Kevan to make sure he asks her out right before they separate at our high school. This way I could spy on them and make sure Kevan does alright. I was camping out near a bush and a tree giving me a nice view of where I assume they would separate. I brought my 3DS and played some Monster Hunter.
It took an hour or so of waiting until I saw the two walking together. Kevan had it going! He was wearing an outfit that wasn’t too formal, and it sure looked good on him. And Cara was very pretty in her white dress. I saw Kevan’s lips moving, and watched as Cara used her hands to cover her mouth and listened. She removed her hands from her mouth and said something that looked like “Yes! I will”. Kevan continued to say something, and instead of walking separate ways they walked together, while holding hands.
“Holy poop!” I thought. Reina’s plan worked! I quickly got out of my hiding spot and headed home, with a big smile on my face.
Friday
Kevan and Cara were now a nearly inseparable duo and everyone was pretty happy that they got together too. Kevan told me how he asked her if she wanted to go to Dairy Queen with him and she said yes and just grabbed his hand and walked away. It was fun for a while, but after school I found Reina and we went to her car and started driving home. I noticed there were a few tears going down her cheeks.
“Something wrong, Reina?”
“That p-plan I gave you wasn’t supposed to work” She said with an unstable voice.
“It was supposed to make Kevan fail to get Cara so I could get him instead.” She continued. Holy poop! That was why she looked down when I mentioned Kevan and Cara for the first time at the mall.
“I’m sorry Reina, I didn’t know…” I said sincerely.
And from that day on, she never talked to me and never gave me a ride home again.