When I first stepped foot into high school my sophomore year, my father told me to never abide to those who believe they have power.

“You are your own person, Kane. If others want to follow you, let them, but don’t you ever change who you are to become friends with those who think they’re better than you.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice, dad; I don’t even care about people these days.”

“Now, you’ll find someone that you truly care about some day. You might even find someone that you might want to be with.”

“Not happening, dad; I’m worried about school right now. I’m trying to get into the top ten, and I don’t need distractions right now.”

Well, everything my dad told me that day came true a week later. So far, high school is a drag and I want to kill myself half the time, but when I met a girl named Miranda, something changed in my heart. She wasn’t normal at all, but that’s what made her interesting. I was walking down the music hallway to get my violin to take home, when I saw her arguing with a guy in the hallway. It wasn’t a bad argument, but it was about abortion, which was something I didn’t want to get involved in. I walked by them when I heard the guy say, “Don’t judge me because I’m a conservative!”

I stopped walking and faced him. He stared back at me and then Miranda faced me too. I responded with, “You guys are so weird.”

I continued to walk away, but then Miranda said, “Only weird people talk to weird people.” I stopped again and faced her. Ever since that day, she’s become a close friend of mine. We always stayed after school together, but what made me more happy was when I found out she took AP and Honors classes just like me. That’s where we spend most of our time talking. However, there was one thing about her that I never understood: her love life.

I closed my locker when I saw Miranda walk towards me. She had her hand on her chest and her face was awfully red.

“Hey Miranda,” I said. “What the hell is wrong with your face?”

“What is wrong with your face?” She exclaimed as she snatched her hand away from her chest. I raised both my hands up like I was being arrested.

“Well then, I’m just trying to have a conversation with you.” She gave me a face and I chuckled. “No seriously Miranda, what’s up with your face?” She sighed heavily.

“Alright, I’ll tell you. A certain somebody greeted me and-”

“Oh my God,” I said in an irritated voice. “If it’s about Xavier, I’m leaving.”

“You’re so mean to me Kane! You get annoyed every time I talk about my man.”

“You’re freaking crazy!  He’s not even with you and you call him that like its nothing.” Miranda grew annoyed and left, while I stood in the middle of the hallway, exhausted.

“Well, despite your arguments, I still group you guys together.” I rolled my eyes, but didn’t turn around to face my friend Kole. He had both his hands in his sweater pockets when he walked passed me.

“You just hate Xavier because he’s got Miranda’s heart in his hand, unlike you.” I scowled at him.

“Listen you idiot, I don’t have time for a relationship right now. I need to rack up all the credits and grades I can for college and to be in the top 10. Besides, Xavier sucks as a person.” Kole smirked at me, but I grew serious. “I’m not joking Kole, he’s really arrogant. I don’t think he’s ever asked Miranda how her day was once.”

“I think you also hate him because he’s smart like you. He might even become valedictorian with the way he’s going.” I started walking alongside Kole, but I kept my eyes forward. “Dude, we’re halfway through our sophomore year and here you are, worrying about school. I thought you had to worry about grades your junior year, not now.” What an idiot, grades are always important, but then again, I shouldn’t be a bore either. “Huh, oh look.” He grabbed my shoulder and pointed down the hallway. I looked where he was pointing and saw Xavier walking with five girls. “Wasn’t he uglier back in the day?” I snickered to myself and Kole released my shoulder. “Didn’t Miranda like Xavier before you guys met?”

“She told me she liked him since seventh grade.” Kole’s eyes widened with amazement. “However, he didn’t look like that before. Apparently, he was short back in middle school, he was a lot more skinner and his voice was high. He’s still short; I can step on his little ass if I really wanted to.” I continued to stare at Xavier, who suddenly left the girls he was walking with to go and talk to another girl. “That’s not good.”

“What’s not good? He’s just talking to Mercy.”

“He’s not just talking to Mercy, he likes Mercy.” Kole shook his head, but I gave him a look. “I’m telling you man, I’m going to hear this from Miranda tomorrow…”

The next day I was at my locker when I heard another locker smash from down the hallway. I looked towards my right to see Miranda holding her fist against a locker that wasn’t hers. I exhaled heavily.

“Miranda, what did I tell you about destroying people’s property? This is like the fifth time you’ve smashed-”

“You’re not going to believe what I saw!” She yelled angrily. I stood quiet and she walked over towards me. “I always hated her for acting so stuck up and rude to others, but honestly Kane, now I really don’t care what happens to her.”

“Let me guess, you saw Mercy and Xavier walking together in the morning.” She screamed, “Yes! I can’t believe he likes her!” Despite how annoying Miranda sounded right now, I expected this. I stood there and heard everything she had to say.

Three months passed and I managed to obtain good grades. Every class of mine I had earned a grade of 95 and higher, and I couldn’t be happier. I was walking with Kole and another friend of mine named Paxton, when we saw Xavier walking by himself. In front of him was Mercy, and she was talking with her friend, Silvia. I found it strange that Mercy and Xavier weren’t walking together. Not only that, the look on Xavier’s face was strange.

“Oh, so the rumors are true,” Paxton said. Kole and I looked at him, where he started laughing. “Oh my god! What are the chances?”

“What the hell are you talking about, Paxton?” I asked in annoyance. He looked at me while trying to hold down his laughter.

“Mercy found out that Xavier liked her. Ever since then, she’s been avoiding him and he’s been all butt hurt about it.” He continued to laugh. I felt the urge to laugh also. “Dude, he’s been so butt hurt that he can’t stop following her. She even ignores him when he tries to talk to her. There was this one time she said hi to his friend Travis, but not him!” We all started laughing really hard. Alright, I was happy to hear that, especially since Xavier has done that to Miranda for such a long time. He raised his head and noticed us laughing. He scowled his face at us and thought we were annoying, but he was too stupid to know that we were laughing at him. What can I say? I hate Xavier with every inch of my body. I immediately told Miranda about it, but she took it with no surprise.

“I’m not surprised this happened. He did it to me before a lot of times. Not only that, I’m talking to someone else now.” She said in a quiet voice.

“Wait, what?” Miranda told me that she’d been talking to a junior named Geo, which she had a lot of interest in. Xavier was out of the picture for now, but now my issue was with Geo.

Geo is the complete opposite of Miranda, but I’d never expect her to go for a guy like him. He wasn’t smart at all, he only cared about girls and he flirted with any girl he thought was pretty. However, when he had an idea that Miranda liked him, he started to ignore her and treated her like a kid. It angered me a lot, but nothing ever changed.

At the end of our sophomore year, Geo made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Miranda. He even switched seats during the Regents’ exam so he wouldn’t be near her. As disgusted as I was, I couldn’t help but feel some satisfaction knowing that he didn’t want to be with her. No one ever said love was easy.

Miranda came in her junior year with awkward confidence. I was annoyed to know that she had classes with Xavier, but her look changed towards him.

“What’s up with that look?” I asked Miranda while she was writing. She looked ahead at the chalkboard with a frustrated look. “You know, I’ve noticed that you haven’t been talking to Xavier as much. Not only that, you seem to want nothing to do with him.”

“I’m giving him what he’s always wanted…” I raised an eyebrow. “I’m giving him space.” She kept her word that entire year. She never acknowledged him in any manner, however, she still had feelings for him. You don’t understand how much I supported her on her decision, but something still wasn’t right.

In February, I overheard her friends talking about her. I’m going to be honest, she has good friends, but I didn’t like half of them. Marie and I are in the same boat, she’s smart just like me, but she’s too positive around Miranda. She’s known Sandra the longest, but I never understood why she considered Marie a closer friend than Miranda. Eliza annoys me the most because she’s always up Miranda’s ass for favors. I told Miranda to stop being friends with Eliza, because I knew it was just going to lead to trouble, but she wanted to keep her friendship with her. I know deep down, Miranda cares about them, but she could end their friendship in an instant and treat them like an enemy. One of them mentioned that Miranda doubted herself. How she didn’t want to be a writer anymore. I gasped in horror when I heard them, and I took off running down the hallway to look for Miranda. I found Miranda at her locker by herself, where she held a sorrowful look across her face. I glared at her angrily and walked over towards her.

“Miranda!” I exclaimed angrily while clenching both my fists. She faced me, but her expression didn’t change. I hovered over her and stared down at her. “Why the hell are you telling everyone that you don’t want to be a writer anymore? Did you hit your head or something? Did Xavier say something to you, because I swear to God if he did-”

“It’s my own choice, Kane,” she said softly. “I feel like I won’t be good enough, that I’ll become a failure. I’ll just be in a lonely house with books that no one will ever read. I think I should go back to the medical field and become a veterinarian again-” I punched the locker right next to her head, but she didn’t flinch or jump up, instead she lowered her head. “I’m not like you Kane, I’m not smart and no college would ever want me. Why should I be something I won’t succeed in?”

“Are you even listening to yourself?! You love writing! Not only that, you’re good at it! Everyone who reads your work loves it, even that idiot Xavier liked your writing when he used to read it back in middle school. You don’t want to be a veterinarian anymore because you know that won’t make you happy, but writing will.” She lowered her head more and that’s when I punched the locker again. “Look at me, Miranda.” She threw her head up and looked at me, and she started to cry.

“Everyone looks down at me! Everyone praises those who want to be doctors, lawyers, dentists and business owners, but why not us?!” She pushed me away from her and turned her back towards me. “I do love writing, but what if I don’t make it? I hear all my friends talk about how opportunities come flying at them. Xavier and Marie get admired by many types of teachers and adults who ask them. I just hate when people ask, I answer and then they give me such a doubtful stare.”

“You’re being an idiot right now, Miranda. Stop worrying about what people think. In this world, don’t be something people want you to be, be something that you want to be!” I walked away from her. “I rest my case Miranda, but the choice is yours.” Miranda wiped away her tears and stared at me, frustrated. I hate being harsh to her, but I want her to make the right choice in life and to stop worrying about people who don’t matter.

Two weeks later, after her friend Sandra’s birthday, Miranda came into school with a gentle smile. I haven’t spoken to her since our argument and I felt bad at first, but I knew that she needed time to herself. Miranda thanked me when she saw me at my locker, and I apologized. She told me that she stopped writing, but felt horrible. She admitted that writing became addicting for her, like a drug, so it was something that she wanted to do until she died. I smiled at her and said, “I just want you to be happy in life.” She hugged me and I grew surprised. I didn’t hug her back though, I just patted her head like a dog.

So, our junior year came to an end. Miranda and I went through a lot of hell in May for our AP exams, but in July, we knew that we passed all our exams. She got threes on both of hers, while I regretfully told her that I got fours on all my exams. I never heard the end of her jealousy that day.

Senior year came quicker than I imagined. Miranda, Kole and I all had our AP classes together, but sadly that idiot Xavier had a few classes with Miranda. Miranda told me that she felt regret for not talking to Xavier her junior year, but she wanted to patch things up with him their senior year. However, Xavier scared me now more than ever when I saw him on the first day of school.

“Wow,” Kole said walking up to me as I stared at Xavier, who was down the hallway talking with his group of friends. “He got taller. I think he’s a little taller than Miranda.” I started cursing under my breath to myself. “His voice got deeper too, not to mention that he looks broader and less skinny. You haven’t changed one bit Kane-”

“Shut the hell up, Kole. You don’t have to remind me.” I sighed angrily. “Not only that, Miranda wants to patch things up with him.” Kole scratched his head.

“I hate to tell you this man, but I think she has a shot this year with him.” I stared at him in horror, but his look was serious. “Miranda told me that back when she met Xavier, she wore braces and glasses, had acne, ugly hair, and was overweight and dressed with bright colors like an idiot. You know, she’s lost weight, the braces are gone and she’s changed her style a lot. You know, Xavier is bound to see her development, no different than how she sees his.” Kole continued to speak, but I just stopped listening to him.

College began to eat me alive, but waiting to hear my rank was even worse. I went to guidance to discuss everything, where my guidance counselor proudly told me that my rank was number three. My eyes widened and I couldn’t help but feel frustrated. I asked my guidance counselor to see the list of the top 10. She showed me the list. Xavier was number five, which was something I could live with, and Marie was number seven. However, the rest of the people on the list, I could honestly care less about. I sighed heavily and left guidance. I went to my locker and surprisingly found Summer and Sonia by my locker. I gave them an annoyed look; I didn’t like them at all. I approached my locker, where they didn’t move.

“Hey, move you two.” I snapped. They both looked up at me, where Summer gave me a face.

“Um, you know you can say excuse me-”

“Yeah, I just chose not to, so move.” They both moved and I began to put my combination in my locker. Summer kept giving me an angry glare, while Sonia kept a plain face. They started whispering and I got my locker open. “Don’t you two have somewhere to be?”

“Um, don’t you?” Summer responded with a stuck up look across her face. God, I hate her so much, but not as much as Kole does.

“Keep that attitude up, and no guy would want to handle your arrogant and stuck up ass.” She put an offended look, while Sonia finally showed some anger in her eyes.

“Listen, I don’t know why people say that we’re so arrogant and self-centered because we’re smart, but we’re not. We’re honestly really humble people.”

“Oh my God. Shut the hell up.” I said trying so hard not to yell. I forgot to say earlier that I have anger issues. “The fact that people say that you’re arrogant in the first place, doesn’t that make you think, ‘Hey, maybe I am an arrogant person.’ But no, you guys are so caught up in your stupid clique of friends that suck, that you don’t see the downfall of each and every one of you.” Summer grew silent and I slammed my locker shut. “Just keep to yourself and stay the hell away from me.” I looked at Sonia. “You too. For god’s sake, stop following Summer around like she’s your God or something.” Sonia grew confused and I left.

Later on that night while I was in my room doing my homework, I heard a knock at my door. My dad let himself in.

“Kane, can I talk to you for a minute?” I stopped writing and turned my chair towards him. “I responded with, “Sure.” My dad sat on my bed. He turned around to see a calendar, which had many things scribbled all over it. “My, you have a lot of things this month.”

“That’s all for college. I’m trying to apply to most of the Ivy Leagues for early action.” His eyes widened in amazement. At first, I wondered why is he so surprised, but then I forgot I didn’t tell him the news yet. “Oh yeah, I got my rank today for the whole school. I’m number three.” My dad jumped up in excitement, but then he grabbed his lower back in pain. “Jesus Christ dad!” I got off my chair and went over to help him. “Don’t break your back man, I’m still too young.” I sat him back down on my bed, where he gave me a gentle smile. “It’s not a big deal dad; I’m just mad that I couldn’t become the valedictorian or even the salutatorian.” My dad gave me a stern look all of a sudden.

“That’s not how I raised you Kane. You should always be proud of yourself, especially if you worked hard for it.” He grabbed my left wrist roughly. “Your mother would’ve been so proud of you Kane. She would’ve cried to the point that she lost all the tears in her body. You also know damn well that Levi would’ve been proud of his older brother…” My dad lowered his head, where he started crying. I clenched my teeth, trying to hold back my tears. I looked away from him and snatched my wrist away. “Don’t mind me Kane…”

“I thought I told you to stop bringing them up. Why can’t you just leave them be?” My dad slowly stood himself up and started to walk towards my door.

“Kane, no one truly fears dying in this world. They fear being forgotten by those they love. So, I promised your mother and Levi that I would never forget about them. You’ll learn one day Kane, you’ll learn one day.” With that said, my dad left my room and closed the door behind him. I didn’t speak to him the rest of the night.