I woke up to the familiar sound of my alarm, the soft melody pulling me from the depths of sleep. With a groan, I rolled over and hit the snooze button, unwilling to face the day just yet.
But eventually, the persistent beeping of my alarm forced me to reluctantly crawl out of bed. I went through the motions of getting ready for school, the events of the previous night still swirling through my mind.
As I walked to school, I slipped on my AirPods, drowning out the world with music. Lost in my own thoughts, I barely noticed when Ant snatched one of my AirPods and took off running, laughing as I chased after him.
I could see Spider watching us with amusement from the corner of my eye, his laughter mingling with the music in my ears. Ant popped the AirPod into his ear and cranked up the volume, singing along to the music as we ran.
"Vibin' to the music, this is how we do it, all night," he sang, his voice filled with energy and laughter.
As we slowed to a stop, I noticed a new face in our group. He stood there, smiling, as Ant handed me back my AirPod.
"I'm Stas," I said, smiling at the newcomer.
"I'm Malakai," he replied, his smile warm and friendly.
Spider motioned for me to hold out my wrist, and I complied, curious about what he had in mind. He slipped a slap wristband onto my wrist, and I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"What's this for?" I asked, noting that all of them were wearing one as well.
Spider draped his arm around my shoulder, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "This is your ticket to our gig on Friday," he explained.
I smirked, feeling a surge of satisfaction at the idea of being included in their plans. "I think I'm actually busy," I said, knowing full well that I had no plans but enjoying the opportunity to tease Spider.
"You don't want to miss it, Stas," Spider said, his tone low and persuasive.
Ant and Dusty nodded in agreement, their expressions serious.
"Hmm, why's that?" I asked, unable to suppress my curiosity.
Spider leaned in close, his voice barely above a whisper. "You'll only find out if you come," he said, his breath warm against my ear.
Before I could respond, the bell rang, signalling the start of classes. With a smirk, I turned and headed towards my first period, yelling back at Spider over my shoulder.
"You've intrigued me," I called out, a thrill of excitement coursing through me as I disappeared into the crowd.
~~~~~~
The classroom buzzed with chatter as we settled in for our sexual literacy tutorial. Miss Obah had decided to show us a video about the dangers of sharing intimate images, but it seemed to have sparked more confusion than clarity.
As the video played, depicting a girl throwing noodles at unsuspecting victims, I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Why did they have to use noodles?" I laughed under my breath, watching the absurd scene unfold.
Sasha voiced what many of us were thinking. "It's always the woman. That's just an inaccurate representation. The media is always doing this, and I'm sick of it," she said, her frustration evident.
Darren chimed in, echoing our sentiments. "Okay, miss, I have no idea what it was trying to teach us."
Quinni raised a valid question. "Why was the girl forcing them to eat her noodles?"
Sasha didn't hesitate to voice her opinion. "Because it's misogynist propaganda. Women aren't such dick-obsessed idiots."
Spider interjected with his usual cheeky remark, earning a laugh from me. "Uh, all the ones I've met are."
