Nico Vaughan, the junior class "Nice Girl" wants to be free from her abusive and obsessive ex-boyfriend.
Valen Henford, the school's resident "Rich Guy meets Bad Boy" wants to spend his senior year with the girl he's been in love with for years.
W...
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"I confess I do not know why, but looking at the stars always makes me dream" (Van Gogh).
|◁ II ▷|
The bell rings loudly, piercing the silence of the hall and signaling the oncoming hoard of students about to pour into the hall. I exit my classroom, my arms crossed across my chest as I walk with my best friend, Amber Retton, to her car.
My current obsession song plays in my head. I wanna dedicate this jam... to all those things I left behind in girls' apartments and various domiciles over the years...
The halls are loud, but Amber is doing her best to yell over the cacophony about some party.
"The party, Nico," Amber shouts, her blonde head held high as people move out of her way. "It's next Friday. Are you even listening to me?"
"Amber," I try to shout back. "I can't hear you. Just wait until we get to the car. Gosh, who is screaming in here?"
Mondays have always been the bane of my existence, and I firmly believe all sane humans understand. Sane or insane, actually.
An academic or not, I have never thought of school as fun, and Mondays have always signaled the start to a week of slavery to the administration.
Junior year will make my academic life dominate my social life, or at least I expect it to. We're only three weeks in, and I am already overwhelmed with my school work. My one joy is English and my short elective history class this semester.
I fling open the door to Amber's car, a beautiful 2022 Ford Bronco Sport. When her parents bought it for her earlier this year, we had joked about the color being "Area 51" to the point that we now call the car "The Alien."
The Alien is neat, as always. If I had a car, my car would never be this clean. I like to think it would be, but I know myself. It wouldn't be. Amber already gets on me about the empty water bottles I leave in her front seat.
Amber shuts her door, starting the car. "Whew, I'm not sure I can do two more years of this. Babes, school is not fun. The only good part of school is volleyball."
I buckle my seat belt and pull my legs up into the seat. "I'm just tired. You said something about a party? Friday? Let me have aux."
Amber glances over at me, fumbling her phone over to me, before she turns her blue eyes back to the road. "Nico, next Friday. The party is next Friday. How have you not heard about it? It's buzzing everywhere at school except in the teachers' heads. Your brother better be there. I know that's where he's going to finally notice me. It's junior year for us, and he's a senior. This is it, girl."
I sigh silently, making a face at the poor phone so Amber doesn't see my pity stare. West is always in Amber's line of sight, but she is never in his.
Like myself, Amber reads too many romance novels. Unlike myself, she seems to see her books in real life. That glance from the cute boy in the mall? Strangers to lovers. They'll meet again next week. That smile from the ice cream shop worker? He always looked at her differently. He'll ask for her number the next time they go. The random guy who picked up the book she dropped (on purpose) in the library? He'll be there again next time she goes, and they'll hit it off.
