Seaside Café

Chapter 2 - We didn't start the fire

Thanks for reading, peeps! :)

Just so you know, Gwen, the protagonist of this story can come off as a bit...vulnerable but stubborn. After reading all those stories in which the heroine is a plain nerdy girl, I wanted to write about a real character. Yes, the popular girls of high school can also be heroines.

Everyone has a story. So does Gwen, the girl who did stupid things while trying to fit in. 

Enjoy! Thanks for reading, and show your support by voting and commenting. Your comments are much valued!

“Gwendolyn Annalisa Reynolds, you’re so grounded.”

Of course, I should’ve been expecting that.

Too bad I would miss partying for a few days. I’m such a weird girl aren’t I?

After being almost molested by a drunken jock and narrowly escaping a broken beam from breaking my head and my pathetic life being saved by a grumpy name that just didn’t care, the only regret I had was missing out on the partying.

I was sure of one thing though – my summer would officially suck.

I lay in my bed, still thinking of what would have happened if Ryan Richman hadn’t been there to save my drunken and weak self from getting assaulted. The feeling was horrible; I shivered when I remembered how those disgusting hands felt on me. It had taken me almost a week to recover from it all.

Mum had been furious at me but that was quite obvious.

She came to learn about my escapades and the sneaking out I’d been doing since the start of senior year. And I was sure she’d have grounded me eternally, with no allowances or anything. I wasn’t allowed to step out of the house, and I was confined to my room all day long with nothing but books and loads of them.

When I was young, I used to read – all day long, I could just survive on books. My favorite escapade was the local town library.

But the harsh reality hit me when stepped into junior year. I dared not remember those horrible times when I was scorned at for being rich, and mostly for being a geek with thick glasses. I couldn’t rely on books for an escape from the harsh truth that in real life, the golden boy never falls in love with the pathetic heroine.

In real life, popular people choose other popular people.

The butterfly effect came about when I was first noticed by Shay Monaghan, the cool girl who was rumored to be a wild party girl even back then. With long, flowing auburn hair and perfect features, she had the popular guys flocking to her. I was even surprised she chose me to be her friend. I was geeky, with messy hair and glasses and an awkward air about me that I hated. I was vulnerable.

The summer I became friends with Shay Monaghan, I actually felt that I belonged.

I was looking decent, heck almost pretty. Everything changed after that summer, and I was glad it did.

I knew what people meant when they said that the best feeling is when you feel like you’re wanted. I was asked out by guys to dates, I was invited to parties and I was fairly popular.

That felt good; scratch that, I felt like I was on top of the world.

When I was high, I felt liberated; liberated from all the crap in the world.

I’d forget that my dad left us for another woman, or the fact that my mum was an ice queen who didn’t care about anything and only expected me to graduate and get out of the house.