System Nullification

Chapter 4

 "Welcome back to the crew, Zephyr," Reed said. "And welcome, Will."

 "Thank you!" William beamed.

 "Thanks," Zephyr replied, flashing a toothy grin at me.

 If we were going to add someone new to our group of friends, we'd usually do a vote. William was easily welcomed because Jackson told Reed that William as a trustworthy online friend. (This wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole story, either.) To my surprise, when I requested Zephyr's return, everyone voted him in, even Reed, who seemed to be the kind to think more about it. I knew Brianna and William would let him in easily, but I had no idea that Skylar, the one with the tougher attitude, or Jackson, the protective friend, would let him back into the group either. All of them had been the one to comfort me and tell me that Zephyr was no good, and yet they let him back pretty easily.

 Maybe they all ship me with Zephyr again because of his flirty attitude yesterday. I couldn't wait to see their reactions when I told them that Zephyr and I mutually agreed to just be friends. It'd probably be the most hysterical, chaotic scene I would've ever witnessed in the history of the squad. "Well, since it's Saturday, anything you guys want to do?" Brianna asked.

 "We could crash Riley and Priya's party just down my street," Zephyr suggested.

 "Ew, they're still friends?" I grumbled. "Ever since that fight on Thursday... ugh..."

 "I overheard their conversation," Skylar chimed in. "Priya was like, 'Sorry Riley, you didn't deserve to be in that fight. I did. I really was talking shit about Iris.' And then Riley was like, 'Naw, it's okay baby boo, I forgive you! Thanks to that fight, everyone now knows Iris' true colors! Probably everything you said about Iris was all true!' And yes, Riley exaggerated true colors THAT girlishly."

 Zephyr, Jackson, and I snorted, but Skylar continued. "Then they held a party where all the 'cool' people were invited."

 "Well, I'll show them both true colors, and that'll be red," I sassed. "Red as in, 'Look at those quick changes in their attitude towards the world versus their mood when they see me! I'll beat their tampons out of them, and their blood will, quote on quote, PERIODICALLY rush out of them.' Damn, can't they let the whole thing go, they're so annoying!"

 Everyone was cracking up, with Zephyr practically on the floor. "Huh, I chose the right group of friends to hang out with," William remarked. "You're all giving the new kid the gossip."

 "We're the realest people in the school. We've got all kinds of people here," Skylar added.

 "The periodically pun is something I'll never get over," Jackson breathed gasping in an attempt to calm his laughter down.

 "Oh, come on, Jackson," Brianna laughed. "It'll take a certain PERIOD of time."

 "Yeah," I added. "Just wait about a month."

 "That being said," Reed piped up. "Are we really going to crash the party?"

 "Yeah, good question, I don't really see the point..." I admitted.

 "But why NOT crash the party?" Jackson smirked.

 "Yeah, she's still talking shit despite getting her ass kicked, and so is Priya," Zephyr said. "Thanks to the name I made for myself in middle school, I got an invitation. Anyone else?"

 Unfortunately, no one else got one. Maybe Riley and Priya hated me so much that they didn't invite me or my friends. The one detail they never saw was that Zephyr and I became friends again, and that's because that only just happened yesterday. "They totally want the D," Brianna said.