𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒
"in which 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑠 𝐵𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑟 see's right through her."
𝐎𝐑
"the one where Ginny's sister , tries to navigate her 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠, a new town and new feelings."
𝙂𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙮...
⎯⎯⎯ the one where the millers deal with the new move.
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AFTER A NIGHT OF hardly any sleep, River was jolted awake by her blaring alarm. It was the second, or maybe the third day of her high school freshman year. She couldn't muster any excitement for it.
As the family scurried around the house preparing for the day, River groaned her way through the morning. Today was definitely going to be one of those bad days.
Once everyone was ready, Georgia drove them to school, dropping off Ginny and River at the high school before heading off with Austin. River let out a slow goodbye to her mother as she exited the car, groaning.
Ginny and River exchanged a weary look before turning towards the school. They looked at each other again, releasing a synchronized sigh.
"I am too tired for this," River said, facing her sister.
"Fingers crossed it goes well?" Ginny asked, turning towards River.
"Fingers crossed the day goes by fast," River huffed as she walked towards the school, with Ginny trailing behind.
Entering the school, River noticed the glaring imbalance in the racial makeup of the students—no surprise, given how overwhelmingly white the town was.
Alongside Ginny, she made her way to the office, where a kind old lady greeted them with a smile. They were handed their class schedules and given general instructions on how to find their classes.
The sisters split up, heading to their respective classes for the day. Since it was the first day, the freshmen didn't have much work to do, and River had already covered most of the material back in Houston. This left her with ample time to sneak in a nap or two at the back of each class.
By lunchtime, River was more than ready to call it a day. Exhausted and slightly grumpy, she hadn't made any friends yet. She wasn't too bothered by it, slowly embracing her growing tendency to be a loner. Plus, she had to grapple with being the only black girl in all her classes, and probably in the whole grade.
When the school bell rang, she headed to her locker from math class, feeling like a zombie, on a mission to find a secluded spot for a nap.
After a considerable journey, she turned a corner leading to a corridor with a slightly ajar emergency exit door. She propped the door fully open. Stepping out, she spotted the boy she had seen across the road on the day they moved in.
His head lifted from where he sat on the floor, a joint in his mouth. "Howdy, neighbor," he greeted with a smirk and a salute.
"Howdy?" River responded in a questioning tone, squinting slightly as she returned the salute.
