“Bro… Wanna talk about bored, bro,” It seemed at this point I could barely form sentences. I wanted to explain to him how bored I was, but my head started to hurt so I cut it short.

The guy next to me shook his head. “Nah… Son, when I tell you that I’m brain dead at the moment, I want you to trust me. I can’t even understand you right now. What’s English?”

“A forgotten language.”

“What?”

It seemed that Clay agreed with me.

We sat on these old wooden benches outside of the main building of the nature reserve and had been sitting there for the past hour or so. The hot Florida sun beat down on us, but we didn’t care, we were used to it after all, I was anyway.

It’s crazy, I think these were the same benches we used to sit on when they took us on this trip back in 1st grade. I guess quality lasts a long time.

Groups of elementary school children ran past us, all excited to see what nature had to offer. Us on the other hand…

“What were they thinking anyway? The only field trip we’ve had all high school and it’s to this shitty reserve…” I cursed our luck. Last year the seniors got to go to Disney world for grad bash, but due to cuts in the budget this year, along with a new principal, our pre-graduation celebration wasn’t nearly as fun.

I looked over at clay. He rested his head on the back of the bench, his dreads free falling in the air.

Clay was a big dude. 6’1, 200 pounds of pure muscle. Along with his dreads and his black under armor shirt, I had no idea how he didn’t die out in this heat. Even if we’re somewhat used to it.

He turned to me and spoke. “Dawg, like I said, I can’t understand a damn thing you’re saying... I don’t know if it’s from the heat or from pure boredom but I can actually feel my brain cells offing theirselves,”

Clay had a way with words.

“Themselves," a light feminine voice came out of nowhere. Lifting my head up I saw the owner of said voice.

A cute girl with long, black,  silky-hair, dark-brown eyes, and pale skin. She wore a cute white frilly sundress with a light pink cardigan. “Oh, it’s just you, Mi,” I laid my head back down. I was actually kind of worried it was a teacher there for a second.

The teacher would probably just bitch us out for not staying with the group.

“Just me? That’s kind of rude don’t you think?” She took a seat next to me. Now I was in the middle of us. The whole gang was here… despite Clay and Mi not being that close of friends themselves.

“Mi, what I don’t understand is how you’re going to correct my English when you grew up in China,” Clay finally shot back at her.

C’mon Clay, she didn’t grow up in China, she moved here from-

“Korea,” She corrected. “Don’t be ignorant, Clay.”

Mi moved here in freshman year, three years ago. Her English has definitely come along way since then, even though she spoke some… okay english when she moved here.

“Ignorance is my middle name,” Clay reminded her.

Despite Clay acting the way he does, he’s actually pretty smart. He’s an athlete, so he has to keep at least a 2.0 GPA but actually according to a report card I saw, he has somewhere around a 3.7 which is a whole point greater than mine.

Mi hummed. “I thought it was Darrius?”

“Clay Darrius King! Also known as King Clay!” He announced himself like he was used to the football commentators announcing him. He looked over at me before reaching over and putting me in a headlock. “And the homie, Matthew Thomas!”

“H-Homie?” I questioned while he shook me around. Who still uses Homie?

“I do!” He read my mind, he’s good at that. “Ironically of course,” he continued to rattle my brain.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Mi giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. She may not like Clay’s rambunctious way of acting, but when it comes to messing with me, she finds it hilarious. “Anyways, what are you two doing out here? We’re moving onto the last area of the park. Don’t you want to see the alligators?”

Clay let me go. “Nah, if you want to go see alligators you can just go to any canal and wait,” I said as I rubbed my neck. “Honestly, why go to a Nature reserve when our town is in the sticks already?”

Clay nodded in agreement.

“I don’t know, I kind of like it here,” Mi said as she looked up at the sky.

“You would,” Clay replied.

It was so weird. Here I was, my senior year of high school at a nature reserve. The April humidity was actually torture along with the pain of being on a boring field trip yet…

“What’s that supposed to mean, huh?” Mi reached over me and grabbed a few of clay’s dreads. Her Vanilla perfume filled my nose.

“OOOOOOW!” Clay cried out in pain. “You can’t just pull on a man’s hair like that!”

Right now, I’m actually having fun.

Mi’s sundress swayed in front of my vision. The sun hit it in such a way where I could see the silhouette of her body through it. It was modest, she wasn’t too curvy, but she didn't have to be. What she lacked in sexiness, she made up in cuteness and charm.

“Oh, is this hair? I thought It was a mop!” She said as she yanked his hair harder.

Like I said, cuteness and charm.

“Oi, that’s offensive!” He replied back.

“And so was calling me Chinese!”

“What’s wrong with Chinese people!?”

I know it might not seem much but given the fact that I’ve never really been that popular, or had many friends in general… I just find it strange that some of the most popular kids in school are hanging out with me right now.

I’m not as handsome as Clay, or as smart as Mi, but yet they still actively seek me out and keep me company. It's weird, up until my senior year I didn’t really talk to either of them, but out of nowhere they both approached me, separately of course, and we started talking.

To this day, I still don’t know what caught their attention when it comes to me, but whatever it was, I’m glad it did.

“So, what do you have planned for after school, Matthew?” I was thrown out of my trance by a sudden question.

“Me? Oh well, I’ll probably just go right to sleep, honestly, I’m beat,” I replied with a yawn.

She shook her head. “No, I mean after high school, we’re getting close you know.”

“Ohh…” After high school, huh? I guess I’ll go to our town’s community college. I don’t know what I’m going to major in, haven’t picked one… But what should I tell Mi? She’s the type of girl that’d like to hear something impressive. “I guess I’ll… Travel,” Travel? Where in the hell did that come from?

“Travel?” She tilted her head. “I guess that sounds exciting… More exciting than what I’m going to do I suppose,” she said with an awkward chuckle. “Yeah, actually I really envy that.”

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Going back to Korea for college. I don’t know if I’ll ever come back, but it was a fun experience while it lasted,” She looked off into the distance. “I planned to attend a college here in the states before heading home again but…” She trailed off.

“Why what happened?” I asked.

“Parents… They just miss me y’know? They refuse to pay for me to stay here anymore after I graduate… I could get a job but…”

She looked downcast. An awkward silence filled the air.

Clay and I looked at each other, we had no idea how to handle it, so I decided to break the silence. “What about you, Clay?”

He laughed. “Well you know me, I have a couple of scholarships. I’m probably going to go to FSU or something.”

Oh right, he got tons of scholarships… Man, athletes really have it easy.

Wait, it just hit me… After high school it sounds like the three of us are going our separate ways. Of course, it had crossed my mind at times, but for some reason the thought hit me like a truck this time around. A sinking feeling began to burrow its way into my stomach.

After schools over, I’ll go back to not having any friends. I guess I could make some more, but when it comes down to it, I would have never spoken to these guys if they hadn’t approached me… What're the chances of that happening with someone else?

With there only being a few weeks left in school, it didn’t exactly give me a good feeling about the situation.

“Man, finally finished up with school,” Clay stretched his arms. “Just to start up more school. Ain’t that some bullshit.”

“You knew it was coming, Clay,” Mi said matter-of-factly.

“You knew it was coming, Claaaaaaaay,” Clay mocked her. “O-OW NOT THE HAIR DAMNIT!!!” Mi had the hand speed of demons.

“Pfft...H-haha… Hahaha… HAHAHAHA!” I couldn’t contain my laughter. What in the hell was this cliche life of mine anyways?

We continued to talk and carry on for the rest of the afternoon. We recalled some of the memories we’ve had in the past. Nostalgia hits like a ton of bricks, even if the memories are only just from a year ago.

Soon the sun started to set and it was time to hop back on the bus for the two-hour drive back home.

“Took long enough,” Clay said, standing up and twisting his torso, stretching. “I just want to get home and hit the hay,” he began tying his hair into a ponytail.

“Going to bed so early on a Friday?” Mi asked.

“Why not? Not like there’s any games going on tonight. I’ve got track practice early in the morning too. That’s reason enough for me,” it looked like the thought of it made his mood go down the drain.

I turned to Mi. Truth be told, I was planning on asking her out on a date this weekend. Of course, I could never actually call it that. “Hey Mi, wanna hang out this weekend? See a movie maybe?”

She brought her finger up to her Chin in thought. “Let’s see, I don’t think I have anything planned… Sure!” A feeling of relief washed over me. “Just text me about it tonight, or tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good!” YES! She said yes! Not that she had any real reason to say no anyway. I’ve gone out with her on multiple occasions, but every time I ask her out I still get butterflies. That’s just the type of guy I am.

A part of me has high hopes for Mi and I. I mean, relationship wise. If I could just get into that boyfriend category, I’d move to Korea with her in a heartbeat. Or maybe I’d invite her to come live with me, I’m sure my parents wouldn’t mind as long as she pulled her own weight around the house.

Which I’m sure she would.

“Hey!” A rough adult voice rang out. “You three go to Addison right?” It was the bus driver who drove us here.

We all nodded.

“Well then get your asses on then!”

We all looked at each other before shrugging and heading towards the bus. It’s weird, at first there was nothing I wanted to do more than just finish this damn trip. But after spending the afternoon chilling with my two best friends, I almost don’t want it to end.

“Well you know me, I have a couple of scholarships. I’m probably going to go to FSU or something.”

“Going back to Korea for college. I don’t know if I’ll ever come back, but it was a fun experience while it lasted,”

But after thinking about that, I almost didn’t want high school to end either. Though I know I’m in the minority there.

Well, for now, I guess I’ll enjoy every moment like it’s my last… That’s all I can really do when you think about it.