SURVIVORS |J.FOLEY ¹

XIII. how do i live

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
HOW DO I LIVE

TRIGGER WARNING: rape, sexual assault.

"I've got a question for you, Justin. Not the one you think. Not yet. What's the best part of high school? The great friends you make, the romance? No. We both know the best part of high school... is Summer break. It's the great reset button. And after everything that happened to me sophomore year, I couldn't wait to start fresh, to tear the rest of the pages from my journal and forget it all."

The school bell rang. Finally, Summer break was beginning. Immediately, people had shot out of their seats and practically thrown themselves towards the door. Madison let out a laugh as Justin grabbed her hand in his and dragged her through the opened doors. The pair made their way speedily down the corridor until they were out the front of the school. The fresh Summer breeze.

Madison and Justin kept their hands interwined as the whole school flooded out the double doors. Books, paper, everything was being thrown into the air. Madison looked around, looking for one person in particular.

Madison met her eyes. She seemed happier. Though, Madison knew that was due to the fact that she wouldn't have to deal with anyone in their school for a good while, until they returned back to school. Madison shared a smile with Hannah. Madison could tell that Hannah was excited and she was surprised by the amount of school stuff being thrown in the air.

Summer break.

"Except I didn't get very far. At work, my usual partner in crime was spending the Summer with his grandparents. His temporary replacement was nice enough, but entirely too normal. And I couldn't escape my past. My only girl friend was spending majority of the summer at her Summer house, along with Zach, Justin and her cousin."

It was the perfect Summer for Madison. She'd left town for a couple weeks and invited Zach and Justin to accompany her and her cousin. Madison didn't see much of her cousin, though they were the same age. And it just so happened that Zach and her were both single at the same time.

"I needed a change. I needed to be someone new. Have you ever felt like that? I wasn't going to be invisible anymore. I was going to start brand new. I was going to cut away the past, and leave it all behind. I was going to work harder. Be smarter. And be stronger. Because you can't change other people, but you can change yourself."

"No, so now she's trying to punish me by giving all of my stunts to this 80-pound freshman." Jessica explained with a roll of her eyes. "Go ahead. You really think that she can lift Melanie Opstad's fat ass into pyramid formation? She's fucking fat! Really, good luck,"

Zach let out a small laugh, causing Madison to immediately hit his arm. Zach let out a small yell and was quick to apologise, lowering his head as Bryce and Justin approached them.

"Your coach is such a bitch." Bryce shook his head with a small laugh escaping his lips. Madison placed her hand on her hip, glancing around the small group. Justin made his way to stand beside her and comfortably threw his arm over her shoulders.

"She's actually cool as long as people show up to practice." Sheri stated, tilting her head towards Jessica, clearly aiming it at her. Sheri folded her arms over her chest.

Bryce let out a laugh and Jessica shrugged her shoulders. "Alright. It's cheerleading, it's not saving lives. And besides, Madison skipped the last game!" Jessica pointed towards Madison and the two girls began to laugh at one another. "You're so lucky. Coach never yelled or punished you."

Madison nodded her head with a forced smile. She wouldn't exactly call it lucky. Coach thought she was doing Madison a favour by treating her differently to everyone else just because she'd lost three people in the last year. News flash, being treated like you're a fragile princess doesn't make life any easier.