I stared at the black, creaking gate that easily towered over me. ‘DA’ it read in the middle in fancy gothic writing imprinted into the gate. The thunder boomed above me, sending chills over my arms and legs. I looked around at the overgrown grass surrounding the mountainous hill I would have to climb and noticed how this really didn’t look like a fancy place like the brochure had insured. As my heels began to sink into the mud I decided it was time to start climbing; I could already feel my calves start to ache. Why am I here again? “Lily…” I whispered into the frosting breeze and began to climb, reminding me of the week my life went to hell.

***

“Welcome students, to the exciting study of botany,” said Mr. Reef. Oh God… here we go. I had never really wanted to be in botany. Each fiber in my body was telling me that it was a terrible idea, but Lily insisted that we would have fun and she would help me through the long second semester we had ahead of us. There were two reasons I never wanted to be in this class:

One, botany, for those of you who don’t know, is the study of plant life… so you can see where my enthusiasm comes from.

Two, Mr. Reef and I had a small disagreement as to who started the food fight in the cafeteria in September this year, which I didn‘t do. But, because of him, I had to suffer through cafeteria duty for three whole weeks. Needless to say, I hated him. Plus, he was one of those teachers who seemed to have a spitting problem when he talked, and luckily, Lily had picked the two lab tables in the front row where we would need heavy-duty rain gear for the next five months. “Aw, Miss Tyler. It’s nice to see you in this class.”

“Hi Mr. Reef,” she said with a smile. He looked over, seeing me slouched over the shiny black table with a bored expression, “Oh… hello Miss Kiera. It’s nice to see you breaking in your stool.”

“I’m sure it is Keith, I’m sure it is.”

“Mr. Reef, Jessica. It’s Mr. Reef,”

“I know your name Keith,” he sighed, looking defeated as I wiped the spit that landed a little too close to my mouth off. “We have a great turn out this semester, I’m excited to get started,” looking around the room, only four lab tables were full and there were three loners in the back of the class, sitting at individual tables who were most likely going to switch out by tomorrow. Oh yeah, eleven people, you must be so excited. I hung my head to the right, making it rest above my shoulder. “Today we are going to go over major trees in the area, and then tomorrow we will hit flowers. I want each of you to get acquainted with the plants in our area so-,” I blocked him out, thinking to myself why in the world I would let Lily talk me into Botany while I could have been having fun in art with Riley: he would have let me paint on his arm… and yet, I choose to learn about Lilacs and Apple trees. Smart move. So why did I do it? The same reason I do everything I don’t want to: Lily.

Lily and I have always been best friends, from seventh grade when I moved here till now. We do everything together: scope for guys, paint our nails, and hit up the parties for a little midnight fun. She was the smart one- the one teachers adored, colleges searched for, and every parent wanted their child to be like. She was popular, always going somewhere with someone new or making the new kids feel welcome. Her love for animals was… sort of ridiculous if I can be honest. She would help out a baby bunny even if she was hanging off the side of a cliff, a 500 feet fall awaiting while her fingers slipping off the dusty edge. She was also the kind of person who didn’t like making rash decisions and would prefer every moment of her life to be calm and organized, not spontaneous. This is why we're different.

For starters, teachers hated me. It’s not because I’m dumb or would rather flirt with guys than pay attention to my upcoming SAT; it was because I talked back in class, never did assignments unless Lily talked me into it, and always seemed to find ways to get on their last nerves. On another note, I didn’t care much about new people. I had been through that process and I had survived by myself until I made friends, they should have to too. Oh yeah, and parents sort of have problems with me as well, mainly because I’m the one who always wants to go out and party, or go to a movie with their sons, or do anything really that gives me something to do in town. And the animal thing? Yeah right. I would never put a little rabbit before me if I was about to die. As for the rash decisions part, well, I’m the reason Lily thinks about it before she does anything. I’ve lost count as to how many times we ended up getting into a sticky situation because of my actions- but in the end, I always fix my mess and we would always be safe again.

“Jessica, are you paying attention?”

“Yes, good lord!” I replied, not really paying attention at all. I looked out the window to see a couple go home do to an empty hour; luckies.

I looked back at Lily to see her curly blond hair shine through the room, putting my straight hazelnut brown hair to shame. She moved a lock out of her sky blue eyes that made me subconsciously notice how dull my green eyes looked compared to hers. I looked back at the white board where a tree diagram was being drawn, sending me back into my hopeless thoughts.

It was hard to think that Lily and I had anything in common.