The Buddies Rule | ✓

Chapter 9

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© 2016 Shay Spencer. All rights reserved.

The Buddies Rule

Chapter 9

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Silence. That was one aspect of life I had always dreaded the most. With every passing second, the air seemed to grow thicker between me and whoever else refused to speak. At times, I was able to find the courage to speak up, start a conversation. But lately, I wasn't able to do just that. I'd lived in the silence for far too long at this point.

This very silence had consumed my time with Chase. With our every encounter, came awkward stares and unspoken words. Neither of us had the gumption to say what we really wanted to, and it was starting to get on my nerves.

After our encounter on Friday, I had tried my absolute best to avoid him. Any time I came near him, I could feel a change in the air. So much had gone on in such a short time between the two of us. And why, you may ask? Chase wanted something, and he was evidently willing to compromise our current friendship for it.

But of course, the compromised relationship between Chase and me, only strengthened my bond with Alan and Lewis.

"Come on, Bree," Alan whined. "We need to have this done by third period tomorrow!"

"I know," I hissed back at Alan. His eyes went wide with fear as I sent a glare his way. "I've had writer's block all weekend. It's not like it's easy to crank out an article for this stupid newspaper every week." My heart was beating so loud that I could barely hear the words coming out of my mouth. I was nervous, to say the least. I was nervous that I wouldn't have this article done by tomorrow, that I would fail and get kicked off the paper.

With my luck, I'd probably get Alan kicked off as well.

"That's the problem, then," Alan announced cryptically as I pushed my laptop aside. I was currently sprawled out on the living room floor of my apartment, while Alan had sat himself up on the couch. With one quick movement, he was down on the ground next to me. "You don't care about it. You think that it's stupid, and not worth your time, so you don't really care if you get it done."

I rolled my eyes with his words. "Yeah, right," I scoffed. "I care that I get this done. I just think the paper is stupid."

"Exactly," he sighed. "You don't care! Not about the paper's success, anyways. You're only worried that you'll get in trouble for not getting it done, that there'll be some sort of repercussion for it." I pursed my lips together as I finally allowed myself to think over Alan's words.

I hated to admit it, but he was right. Everything he had said to me, was true. I didn't care about the paper, not one bit. So much so, that I was willing to fail just so I wouldn't have to worry about it any more than I already had. My heart just wasn't in it, and I was starting to think that it has never been.

"Okay," I whispered. "Maybe I don't care about the paper anymore."

"And why is that?" Alan asked as he slid down closer to me. His face was mere inches from mine as we both had our stomachs pressed down against the ground. "Why don't you care anymore? I know for a fact you did before."

"It just seems like a waste of time," I admitted. "I'm starting to think that this stupid paper, isn't going to help me be a published author one day. Just because I'm published in a college editorial, doesn't mean that any higher rank novel publishers will take me any more seriously than they would if I wasn't."