Borrowed Time

Chapter One

The first day of school used to be something that Juliette Smith could always look forward to, if for nothing more than the promise of something both new and predictable – it didn't break her routine, it just helped her re-establish an old one. It was a day full of reunions with friends and the promise of many more days that promised to be both mundane and oddly interesting... But she just couldn't find it within herself to care this time around. She wasn't excited about going back, about seeing the people that she hadn't even cared enough about to so much as text over the summer... It felt pointless.

If it was up to her, she'd probably just spend the entire year in her room with her best friends, Shelby and Micheal; that was how she'd spent the summer, not including the times that she ventured out to spend time with Ingrid, but those didn't last nearly as long, nor did they feel as terribly life changing and special... She always felt like there was some kind of ulterior motive when Ingrid wanted to spend time with her, and it made her uneasy. She'd never been able to put her finger on it, but it was always there in the back of her mind – the way that her lips curled into a secretive smile, the flashes behind her eyes of something... Possessive. It was unnerving, so she distanced herself.

Shelby and Micheal though? That was timeless. She wanted to bottle that feeling up and keep it forever. Just the three of them, like it'd been from the start. People she understood without trying, people who got her without explanation, that was what she wanted.

She didn't want to worry herself with all of the social pressure that came along with being a senior at Hollingsworth... Well, not with being a senior per se, but with being her, because that sucked the joy out of it. While other kids were excitedly talking about what they'd done over the summer, who they were dating, or where they were going to college, she was just praying that no one else could feel the weight of unease in her stomach... That no one noticed whatever had shifted before she could even figure it out herself, a task made impossible by the fact that she was just so... Public. That was something that she hated, she'd rather be someone less known, someone who could exist as nothing aside from a faceless person blending into the background, someone who would be easily forgotten once graduation came to pass...

God, she'd give anything to live that life.

"Juliette? Get down here, Micheal's sitting in the driveway. You're slowing everyone down." She paused for a second in front of the mirror, ignoring her stepmother's obvious attempts to make her rush out without really considering everything about the day – a surefire way to ruin any chance of a good time. She frowned at her reflection in the mirror, turning from side to side to see her outfit from every single angle. It was cute enough, a pair of jeans and a light blue shirt that was a tad tighter and lower cut than she would normally wear, a souvenir from one of her many overnights with Shelby over the summer... But the jeans themselves were too tight to justify.

Not because they looked bad, they looked great, accenting parts of her figure she hadn't even realized were there, but if they felt this tight standing up then they would feel even tighter sitting down, and that was what the vast majority of the first day would entail; sitting, standing, sitting, standing, sitting, standing... It was like she was stuck in some cursed loop until May.

No. She couldn't do it, she couldn't justify the discomfort just to look good, who was she trying to impress anyway? No one at Hollingsworth had ever caught her eye, at least... No one that should.

She shook that thought from her head and stepped out of her jeans, kicking them off her legs before she turned to dig through her dresser, feeling through the textures of fabric until she caught on something soft. She smiled to herself as she pulled out a worn out pair of cheer sweats. Perfect. She slid them over her legs, welcoming the soft, reliable, forgiving fabric against her legs. Thank fucking God. The relief was immediate, and she felt utterly content as she slipped her shoes on and picked up her bag, far too heavy already for the first day, off the floor before hurrying out of her room, making sure to flick her light off.