"You just got rejected! Rejected! Rejected!" the cheerleaders cheered with their pink pom-poms .

The jock hung his head down as one of the most popular girls, and hottest, walked away. You'd have to be living under a rock to not know who Cindy Traynor was. That blond-haired, blue-eyed, pink-faced girl was in every man's dream, even mine. All of the popular girls were in my dreams, and most of them were on the cheerleader squad.

"What are you looking at, dork?" Jenna Marble, one of the cheerleaders said as she brushed past me to walk with the others.

The brainless jocks followed closely behind them, each one of them tossing me dirty looks as they went. Their fancy green sports vests gave them all the power they needed to undermine me. I didn't let it get to me though because in the coming months, I'd be wearing the graduation cap, and they would be unjustly complaining about how they deserved to pass last month's math test.

***

The cafeteria was crowded as always. The jocks, cheerleaders, and popular people in general sat at the very back where the stage was. Some of them were braced against the stage and some of them were on it. Although they looked and acted differently, they still ate the same cafeteria food as we minorities did.

"You're staring again, Matt," Gretchen Bernadette said.

"Where is this law saying we can't sit there?" I turned to face Gretch.

Gretchen Bernadette was my best friend. We're both what the cliques would call geeks or dorks. Gretch certainly was never afraid to dress the part. She had black hair that she rarely combed, wore thick black glasses over her brown eyes, was white skinned, and had the regular amount of pimples like everyone our age. She always had a smile on her face, even when being mocked by the other, more popular girls. I never understood why, maybe because I never got past how.

"You know there's no law... It's just a rule; and if you break it, the jocks will break you," she spoke with seriousness.

"That's very poetic," I sarcastically remarked.

She laughed. "I try." I raised a spoon filled with green beans to my mouth with my right hand but came to a dead stop as Gretch placed her hand on my left. "Why do you even care about them?" she asked.

"Wouldn't you rather be them?" I said as the spoon of beans found its way into my mouth.

I chewed the microwave food as she spoke, "But we're not them."

Gretch snatched her hand away from mine when we heard a familiar voice. "I don't see you guys all day and already Gretch is proposing to you." Tyler Fargus laughed and sat down to the left of Laura.

Tyler Fargus. An asshole, but not all the time. He was my friend and became friends with Gretchen through me. I could tell she didn't like him too much, but I have no idea why she never told me. I don't blame her, since he dresses like a fool. He might very well be the definition of dork. I mean, nobody in the present day wears turtlenecks anymore!

Gretch rolled her eyes before Fargus spoke, "So, what's the deal after school? We chilling?"

"Y--" I tried to speak but clamped my mouth shut as Gretchen tossed me a zip-it kind of look. "Yeah," I continued as Gretchen's eyes widened, "I don't think I'm feeling up for it. I've got a lot of homework to do anyway."

Gretchen hid a smile from Tyler as he spoke, "Shit, oh well. Leaves me time to finish my overdue research assignment."

***

"I don't hate him. It's just that he's just really annoying sometimes." Gretch opened her history binder.

"Oh, you don't need to tell me what I already know." I laughed as I glued a picture of the Pyramid of Giza onto the white bristol board that laid on the floor.

I'd been in Gretchen's room so many times, I could vividly picture where everything was and how everything looked from the angle of the electronic pencil sharpener that sat on her wooden white desk to the stainless light pink wall. Her room was smaller than mine. I don't even think her parents intended her to sleep here. Maybe they did to spite her, but I never believed so because they were really nice people. At least her house had those generic carpets that were stapled to the floor. The downside to them was that they were hard to clean.

I cursed under my lips as I propped the liquid glue back up from the carpet. A bit of glue now covered my hand and I tried my best not to let it drop on our history project or the carpet.

Gretchen giggled and got up. "Hold on."

She walked barefoot over to her night table before she returned to my side and wiped the already dried adhesive off my hand. Her hands lurked longer than they needed to on mine and she smiled into my eyes. I smiled back a thanks and innocently pulled my hand from hers and back down to our project.

Relief rushed over my body as Gretchen's mom, Helen, called both of us from downstairs.

I was the first down the stairs with Gretchen following behind.

"What's up, Mo-- Oh! Hi, Mrs. Magnetti!" Gretchen waved a hello at my Mom as she turned from Helen.

"Hi there, Gretchen! Oh, it's so good to see you again!" My mom got up and hugged Gretchen.

I felt bad for Gretchen, but was amazed to see her smiling and it wasn't one of her fake ones either. Mom finally released Gretchen before she spoke, "Your mom and I were just talking about how close you two are to graduation."

"Yeah, and there's that prom coming up too," Helen told Mom.

A blush appeared on both of Gretchen's cheeks, and she looked down at her red toe nailed feet on the tile flooring of the kitchen. Helen and my Mom continued to make small talk for several minutes as Gretch stood braced against the kitchen counter and I against her glass table.

"Well, it was nice catching up with you, Helen," Mom said.

"You too, Jess," Helen replied and walked Mom towards the front door.

I followed suit behind them but stopped at the door as they went outside to admire Helen's garden. Gretchen walked beside me and I spoke, "Good thing we finished the project in time."

"Yeah, Mr. Kestner would be heartbroken if his only pupils who actually listened in class didn't get their work done."

I laughed and nodded my head, "Wonder what he'll do when we're gone."

Gretch giggled.

"Come on, Matthew!" Mom yelled as she walked around her car as Helen tended to one of her sunflowers.

"See you tomorrow, Matt," Gretch spoke and hugged me.

"Bye then."

Before I turned to leave her house, Gretch kissed me on the cheek to my surprise. I felt the frame of her glasses on my cheekbone and her slightly chapped lips on my cheek. She waved her goodbye as I headed toward the car.

***

Math class was boring, as usual. The only amusing thing was the way people resented Gretchen and I because we were the only ones who actually listened and took notes. If becoming part of the top clique meant failing every course, then maybe it wasn't such a cool role after all. Was the attention and glory worth it?

I placed my books into the locker, and pulled out my back-pack. Before I closed the locker, I spotted Tam Cramer, the red-headed cheerleader, at her locker. She was probably the only cheerleader who actually did her homework. The perfect figure and the perfect mind.

I jumped as my locker door went shut. Gretchen stood beside me with a book held to her chest by her hands. "Everything okay, Gretch?" I asked her as she looked saddened.

"Nothing," she replied, "want to watch the practice with me?"

"Sure," I replied.

We walked off towards the door that lead to the high school football stadium. Forest High's Rangers. The mascot was a fucking dartboard. Gretchen and I always joked about it while Tyler acted uptight about it because, well, he was the mascot. Tough luck, pal. Gretch's arm found its way around mine as we walked up the stadium stairs before we found a seat. Gretchen was acting strange. She never did that, not around me anyway.

My eyes found their way back to Tam Cramer who was just five rows beneath us. My eyes didn't stay fixated for too long as I could feel Gretch's body pressed up against my left side. Her right arm found its way around my back and her head snuggled up against me.

"Everything okay, Gretch?" I asked once more.

"Yep," she replied.

"Since when do we watch football practice and Tyler getting pushed around?" I asked.

"Don't forget the cheerleaders, they're hot, aren't they?" My head jerked back in shock. "You look at them at all the time, Matt." she continued.

"Yeah, there's no use hiding it. Jocks can't see me looking from here though." I laughed.

Cheerleaders was the only reason Tyler put on the sweaty mascot costume. They were far out of his league; further than me.

"Matt?" Gretch looked at me.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Am I pretty?"

I was taken back. Out of the five years of our friendship, those words or anything like them never came out of her mouth. And so she sat beside, with her arms around my waist, and expected me to answer that question seriously.

"You're Gretchen..." I rumbled.

"Oh, I'm Gretchen?" She sounded annoyed as well as hurt.

Her arms went back onto her sides and I spoke, "Gretchen, we've been friends for five years. What do you want me to say?" I sounded annoyed but I didn't mean it.

"I don't want you to say, I want you to feel. I've loved you since the first day we met in arts and crafts, Matt. This is sort of what happens in long-term friendships..."

"I don't..." I was speechless.

"You don't." Gretch stood up from the metal bench and walked past me in a hurry. She looked like she was going to cry as she made haste down the stadium stairs with her book in hand.

***

Days had passed and Gretch still ignored me. She no longer sat at our designated seat beside me. I had no one to complain about the cafeteria food to, and went straight home from school every day. Life was terrible. The worst part about it was that the sun shined every day but I still felt terrible. I only felt terrible on rainy days, but even then, not this bad.

As I walked down the partly crowded hallway of school, I spotted Gretchen with her books in hand. Before I walked up to her and asked if she needed a hand, she looked away and walked off. She didn't shake her head, she didn't roll her eyes, and she didn't speak or mouth a word. Did I just lose my best friend? My ONLY real friend?Tyler was my friend, but compared to Gretch, he was nothing. As shallow as it was, it was the truth.

I texted her twenty times but she didn't answer. Had she blocked me?

I went to each of my classes and saw faceless students and faceless teachers. It was as if their faces had been erased because frankly, I didn't care for any of them because they didn't feel important. I stopped taking notes as soon as I stopped trying to get hold of Gretchen. What was the point if I had no one to compare my notes to or study with?

***

Today was my fourth day off from school. I was taking an extended holiday so I could invest time into doing absolutely nothing but sulk in my room. I had the texture of my ceiling perfectly memorized; I looked at it so much I could swear it was moving. The most fun I've had while being cooped up in here was blowing the dust particles that were illuminated by the sun through my window away from me. But then the fun ended when I crawled up into a ball on my bed and cry.

I missed Gretch.

It was a good thing mother wasn't home otherwise she would have done something incredibly embarrassing like calling poor Gretchen over here and demanding her to be friends with me again. Actually, that sounded great. But... it was my stupidity that's got me grasped onto my blanket for dear life.

I had to let go.

***

I heard the doorbell from inside her house. I didn't feel impatient as I waited. This was progress. I'd wait day and night until someone answered the door, but I prayed to God that someone did, and that someone would be Gretchen. I missed those thick black glasses, I missed her beautiful black hair, I missed her fair white skin and the cute little pimple on her cheek; I missed it all.

The door finally swung open and my prayers were answered . She stood before me as she held the door open. She was bare foot, wore a pair of yellow shorts and the black t-shirt I had bought for her birthday a year ago.

"Matthew," she begun.

"I'm sorry!" we both spoke at the same.

I took a step towards her into the house and removed the glasses from her face and placed it on the staircase railing. I moved my hand across the soft skin of her face and she moaned as I cupped her cheeks. "I want you, Gretch."

She smiled the same as she always did, but this time it turned me on.

I braced her body against the railing as my hands found its way to her back and my lips to hers. I kissed her passionately and I felt her fingers as they slid through the hair at the back of my head. "My room," she whispered into my ear.

I swept her off her feet and nibbled her lips as I staggered my way up the staircase. Even with my eyes closed I could navigate to her room. I braced her back against her bedroom door and fumbled with the knob. It was hard to focus when her toes were rubbing the bulge in my pants.

"The bed... Matt," she moaned into my mouth.

I turned the knob and kicked the door open.

I released her body onto the bed gently and crawled on top of her. I slid my hands down her hair and kissed her nose and then her neck. She moaned my name as I licked and then nibbled her earlobe. My mouth found hers again but this time our tongues met one another in a war to see who loved each other more. It was undecided as my fingers rubbed her pussy through the material of her shorts.

"I missed you so much, Gretch... baby." My words grew frantic as I stroked her harder.

I pulled down her shorts along with her pink panties. My delicately slid my sweaty fingers down the skin of her legs.

Her body rose in pleasure as I touched the skin of her pussy for the first time. "Matt... I... I missed you... too..."

I removed her black shirt while kissing her soft lips and stopped only to remove it completely. I looked down at her in awe. "You're beautiful."

"Your turn," she sexily replied.

Her hands rubbed up against my bare chest under my shirt. I flung my shirt to the left of the bed and moaned as she continued to feel my chest. My hands went from her pussy to her breasts, and I squeezed them so hard that it warranted a soft moan from Gretch. Her breathing became erratic as my mouth and tongue begun to flick against both her nipples. They tasted like Gretchen. That taste was the sweetest taste there was.

My opinion changed as I began mouth-fucking her dripping wet pussy. A geek's pussy. My kind of pussy.

"Uhhh," she moaned as her hands at the back of my head made sure I couldn't stop.

She released me and I quickly unbuckled and unbuttoned my jeans and gave my hard cock some air.

"Wow, Matt."

I looked at her lips in hunger. I wanted them around it. I wanted to feel her tongue and her tongue only as it flicked against the head.

"Gretch..."

Her sweaty hands jerked me off as I craned my head to kiss her. The jerking came to an end as her mouth engulfed it. As soon as the head of my cock hit her throat, she gagged. I quickly pulled out in horror.

"No.. Put it back!" she pouted.

"Lie down," I ordered politely, and she complied.

I rubbed the head of my cock against her pussy lips and moaned in pleasure. "Oh.., that feels good babe..." I moaned.

Gretchen bit her bottom lip before speaking, "Fuck me, Matt."

And I did. I could tell she was in pain the first couple times my dick plunged into her. It was a new sensation for me as it was my first time as well. But eventually, we started to like it. As if on cue, I pulled my dick out of her and in an instant, I came all over her perfect naked body. We laid on each other, with me on top, and my head cooling down.

I stayed the night.

***

We decided not to hide our new-found relationship with the public. We walked to school, hand in hand, and stopped to kiss at every street we crossed. When it was finally time for lunch, we didn't sit across from each other, we sat beside each other. The losers by the stage didn't matter to me anymore, it was the girl who sat beside me who did.

"Am I still allowed to sit with you two?" Tyler Fargus said as he stood in front of us behind the cafeteria table.

I felt Gretchen's sweaty hands as she squeezed mine. She wanted to eat alone with me. But, I didn't want to lose a friend again, not even the ones I cared less for.

"Nothing's changed, Tyler. Sit," I tapped the table.

"Clearly something has." He pointed a finger at me and then Gretchen. "Look at you two, you're the perfect couple," He sounded sarcastic.

"We are," Gretchen replied and kissed my lips. Many people stared, Tyler included.

"What do you see in him anyway, Gretch?" Tyler said in a harassing manner.

Gretchen opened her mouth in shock as she held my arm. I opened my mouth in anger and confusion, "What's your problem, Tyler?"

More eyes peered in our direction than I would have liked, and in a flash, a small crowd formed around the table. They chanted, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" This was the most attention we had ever received, but it was making me queasy for Gretchen's safety.

"Just go away, Tyler! We don't want you near us anymore!" Gretchen yelled.

Tyler moved around the table, but I stepped in front of Gretchen and held her back with left arm.

"Whatever, man," Tyler shook his head and walked off through the already dissipated crowd.

Gretchen and I went back to eating, but in silence.

***

My left arm rested on Gretch's shoulder and her head rested on mine. We were watching a really a shitty television show, but we both knew we really weren't. The company and warmth of being beside each other was what we really paid attention to.

"Gretch," I whispered.

"I don't like him, Matt. I never did," she spoke.

"I don't know what's gotten into him, Hun," I rubbed her shoulders. "But lets not talk about it right now."

"Okay, babe," she responded and rubbed her head against my arm.

"I love you," I told her.

She told me, "I love you too."

***

A depiction of love in a stereotypical but false high school environment.

Jock fights, drunk cheerleaders, jealousy and a prom to follow.