Ruining the Plan

Chapter 3 First Days and Summer's Haze

Harper's POV:

"Wake up, Harper!" I hear a voice say. "You are going to be late, darling!" Grace shakes me violently until I start to finally wake up.

"Okay, I'm up now!" I mumbled. I sat up and looked at the time. Six in the morning. Great, just great. I groaned while walking over to my closet to get my uniform. I took off my pajamas and put on the spandex to wear underneath my skirt. Next, I put on my white button-up shirt, blue blazer, and knee-high white socks.

I start to straighten my dirty blond hair to get rid of the frizziness of it, and then brush it out once I am done. Once I finish my skincare routine, I decide to put on some concealer under my eyes, a little bit of mascara, and lip gloss. I look at myself in the mirror and smile. I am ready.

"Hey, Harper!" I turn around to see Scarlet.

"Hello!" I reply, then ask, "What class do you have first block today?"

"AP Literature. What about you?"

"AP Biology." I pause. "Does my makeup look alright?" I add while turning around toward the mirror.

She pauses and walks toward me. "Close your eyes. I know just the thing to elevate your makeup!" I close my eyes and hear Scarlet rummaging through my makeup bag. "Found it! Just hold still for a moment, please." She uses a brush on the tip of my nose and the upper cheeks of my face. I am about to open my eyes when she exclaims, "No, not yet! I have one more thing to add."

"Okay," She drags out the word before adding, "Perfect! Now you look even more dazzling, Harper!" I turn and glance at myself in the mirror. I do not just look pretty, I feel pretty. Which, is weird. No, not weird, just different. It is something new. I smile, "Thank you! It looks amazing, Scarlet!" I reply.

"Are you both ready to go?" Grace asks us. We nod and head out of the room.

***

Grace and Scarlet are talking about the party tonight, but they seem sort of distant from my line of thought. I glace all around me. Some lockers cover from the floor to almost the top of the ceiling on each side of the hall. The combination locks on the lockers are all old and rusty metal. The walls are made of a faded white colored brick with a few chips here and there.

Each classroom has a chalkboard in it with streaks across the board. Scarlet's locker is near mine, so we both go to our lockers and put our books inside of them. As I was taking my books out of my bag, I set my bag down and put my bookbag on the ground. I turn around to pick up my bag, but it is gone and nowhere in sight. I look around to see if anyone has it. Sure enough, he has it. Of course, he does.

I shut my locker, a lot harder than I expected, and walked over to him. He is with his group of friends, and he is leaning up against the doorway of a locker. His friends are all laughing at whatever Ashton just said. Undoubtedly so, who are just as much of an asshole as he is. I scoff at the sight. Of course his parents money and business gave him the privilege of being here and acting all stuck up. 'Yep' I thought to myself. 'He fits right in at a school like this.' 

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" I demanded.

"Who, me?" Ashton asks innocently and looks around.

"Yes, you. You have my bookbag. Give it back, now. I don't have time for this bullshit" I say in annoyance while losing patience.

"Oh, this is yours? I was going to take it down to the lost and found. You know, where things go when they don't belong somewhere." He smirks at me, "But, if it's yours, by all means, take it back."