𝚄𝙽𝐻𝑂𝐿𝑌 | spencer white. hbh '22.

𝐌𝐀𝐏 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇 , 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈.

Summer had come and gone with a blink of an eye. She couldn't believe that it was the start of the school year once again, she felt like Christmas was three days ago not almost six weeks, but that was another story.  

The morning sun sends a golden glare, because there was no way she could call it a glow, across her room. Decals turning her room a rainbow of iridescences and in that moment she hates her nine year self for sticking them on her window that brings the morning sun. But, in this moment that is the least annoying things on the Monday morning, it was instead the incessant alarm tone from across the room.

She lay there with an arm flung over her face, turned away from the light as a sharp, heavy thumping on her bedroom door followed the sound of her alarm. It was as if the summer holidays weren't a thing and they were back to their morning ritual. 

"Get your ass up." The voice of her older brother and guardian hollered around a mouthful of no doubt was vegemite toast, another thing she knew to be true, after all, her brother was a creature of habit and she of course had thrown most of his habits out of whack since she moved in with him.

There's a grumble from her lips that even she doesn't understand as she wrestles the throw blanket from her legs, it was a warm night, and of course, she'd kicked all but one blanket off her bed, struggling to step through the mess on her floor, gathering the first shirt she finds, pulling it up to her face, before giving a grimace and throwing it back down. That was certainly not clean. It's a repetitive movement until she finds something that's clean enough to wear. 

Hartley High was a conundrum to her, why they didn't have a school uniform confused her, but none the less, she wasn't one to complain, well, actually she was, but this was not a hill she'd die on, she'd take no uniform any day of the week. Finally finding the pants she was looking for and a clean shirt, she threw them on her bed and grabbed her still ringing phone from the floor before she stumbled sleepily out of her room.

"I'm up." she called back in true tradition of the siblings before she headed towards the bathroom, past her brother sitting at the breakfast bar, dressed for work with his phone in his hand. He had been able to break free of their parents many years before she had, he'd left home almost ten years ago, and never really looked back up she'd asked for his help.

Their childhoods weren't great, with parents who did nothing but look for the next sort of hit, paid very little attention to their children and often left them on their own, without a care for anything. Both children were mistakes in their parents eyes, even so far apart they weren't truly wanted, but the centrelink benefits came with money that sustained their addictions. And so, their parents only wanted them around for the money.

She stands in front of a fogged mirror ten minutes later, she's running late, she knows she is but she can't bring herself to care, as she wipes the glass to reveal mascara stained eyes with bloodshot  eyes. She tells herself she can do this as she brushes her teeth, she tells herself it's okay as she gets dressed, she tells herself that it's going to be good as she packs her bag, and she tells her brother that she loves him and she'll be back later as she runs out the door to the honking of a loud horn.

"What's up bitches." She croons as she all but tumbles into the back seat of Missy's car, taking the offered ice latte with a grin, just what she needed really. Shoving her book bag between her legs she grins over at the other in the back seat, Amerie before there off again. "Where's Harps?"

"I asked the same thing, she's not answering anyone, I haven't heard from her since the festival." Amerie admitted, the girl had dropped off the face of the earth, the festival she was speaking of was days ago now, and no one had heard from her, not even a peep, neither of the girls in the backseat could remember much of it all.

The drive to school was nothing unusual, the snotty boys from the school streets away from them hurling insults from their fancy car. The laughter followed through until they parked outside Hartley High. 

Hell High.

She glanced outside the car window, staring at the dreaded hell she'd endure for the next six hours, chugging the last of her drink before gathering her things and getting out with the others.

"C'mon Kitty, catch up." Amerie hollered back to her, grinning over her should from between Sasha and Missy as Kitty straightened her jeans out before running to catch up.

Katherine Taylor, Kitty to nearly everyone around her, a transfer student joining the Hartley High student body through the middle of last year after she moved into her brothers, and her life was about to get even more fucked up then it already was.

"Ah missing your fifth witch, are you?"  tall, lanky and in Kitty's opinion, not that she'd voiced it to anyone at all, unlike Amerie and her hard on for Dusty, totally gorgeous blonde, named Spider questions just as she's linking arms with Amerie, passing by them as they mutter about Dusty. 

"Piss off, Spider." Sasha mutters as she continues to walk, Kitty and Amerie slowing down as Dusty turns towards them.

"Hey Amerie, How're your holidays?" He doesn't so much as talk to Kitty and that's okay, because she watches the hearts almost dance from her best friends eyes, and while Dusty is so far from her type, after all, his best friend is more up her alley. 

Shaking her head, Amerie, after she'd finished the brief conversation with Dusty, the two girls rushed back to Sasha and Missy, all four giggling away without realising they'd bumped into two other. Kitty turned slightly, offering an apology.

It was a pretty standard morning for them, nothing unusual really, gossiping and giggling on their way to classes, the only thing missing was Harper, and things were normal, that was until some girl had ran into the quad. "Oi! There's a fully-gacked sex map in the old stairwell." 

And with that one sentence. The year was fucked.