Dedication to @AshleyAdams398 for the awesome cover! thank you so much!!!
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cohort: partner in activity
I walked up timidly to the bus stop as I did every morning. 6:52 on the spot, like clockwork. I saw the same familiar faces that I did each morning and afternoon, but never quite bothered to learn the names of. A stick-thin junior, a wide-eyed freshmen boy with a back pack stuffed completely to the brim, and an over-masculine football playing senior who I was sure would come out by the end of the year.
I looked down at my bright pink watch which read 6:55. He would be here in two minutes. He always manages run here at the last possible moment and still manage to make the bus, every single day.
The bus rolled to a stop in front of the curb and I took the same seat I did every day, the first one. I felt my whole body warm as he walked up the steps. He looked down at me same as every day, like he was about to say something, before he walked to the back and did the same hand shake with his friends and sat down, leaving my heart beating faster and faster and my thoughts clouded with images of him.
-
I stepped into my first class to see that, yet again, I was the first person there. I sat down in my usual seat and pulled out my book of the week, The Great Gatsby. I read for about ten minutes before my best friend, and one of the only people in this school to which I am visible, walked in.
“Kiera! I saw Nick as I was walking in, and I still think you two would be amazing together! You have to step out of your comfort zone and get him to remember who you are!” Candace bobbed up and down, making her curly blonde hair move with her.
“If I could I would Cand, and you know that. Its just, whatever we had 10 years ago is far gone. See, there he is right now” I pointed out the classroom door to see the familiar brown-haired boy. He had another blonde, stick-thin, overly tanned Barbie with all designer clothes under his arm. What I would give to be under that arm, lets say its tremendous.
“You know he is only using them to get some sort of worthless satisfaction right? The “easy” girls mean nothing to him, you do” Another friend of mine, Angelina, stepped out from the shadows and adjusted her glasses as she took the seat next to me.
“Alright class! Less chatter more work!” Our history teacher walked in and we were suddenly off the topic of Nick, but as always he was still on my mind.
-
“Well it isn’t satisfying, or even tasteful, but food is food!” Shealeigh popped up next to me as a pile of unidentifiable mush was plopped onto my lunch tray. She held her skateboard between her legs as she tied up her multi-colored hair into a loose ponytail. She thanked the lunch lady for the food and quickly hustled to our lunch table.
I sat down in the seat and began eating, not bothering to listen to what my friends had to say as all I could think about was Nick and what Angelina had to say earlier. Did I really mean something to him? Did he remember?
I was jostled out of my thoughts by someone elbowing me in the side. “So who’s the slut of the week?” Melinda said, her emerald green eyes twinkling as she took the seat next to me. She was referring to Nick, to which we have found a pattern in his so called “dating system”- he stays with a girl until the weekend comes around and then breaks up with her so he can have his weekends free to party and then when Monday morning rolls around, he finds a new prey to stalk and pounces like a hungry lion, leaving them defeated and unable to say no.
“it looks to me like Jess Liebers. She is second in command to the head cheerleader, Bekka. Needless to say, Nick is going to be in Bekka’s pants by next Monday night.” Melinda was slapped on the back of her head by Gabrielle, who walked over and heard everything. Melinda muttered ‘what, its true’ and sank down lower into her seat. My only friends sat before me, a group of outsiders desperately trying to fit into a world we don’t belong.
Candace and Angelina Anderson: twin sisters, although they looked completely identical, their personalities would state otherwise. Candace was outgoing, always open to talk to someone new or speak her mind while Angelina sat unnoticed in the back of the class, clinging to her 4.2 GPA and hiding under her abnormally large glasses. The two of them have platinum blonde hair (Candace’s was cut at medium length and always curled while Angelina’s reached the small of her back and was usually pulled up in a pony tail) and blue-green eyes.
Melinda Speers: Melinda has one of the most fiery and rambunctious personalities I have come to know. She tends to put her foot in her mouth though, but she is always the life of the party, and the one you go to when you need someone to make you laugh. She has long black curly hair, which is always perfectly styled. She manages to juggle competitive swimming while also keeping a 4.0 GPA, which leaves her with very little time for a social life (luckily she has me as a best friend, whose afternoons consist of stalking her neighbor).
Gabrielle Jordan: Gabrielle always, and I mean always, is writing. Wherever she goes she brings a pen and notebook because in her words “every second of being is a story untold”. She is extremely petite, only reaching the height of 5 foot at the beginning of our Sophomore year. Gabrielle has bright blue eyes and a bright personality to match, always able to make the sun come out on a rainy day. Her dark brown hair which fades to blonde at the bottom reaches her mid-back and is always straightened despite our endless tries to get her to “change it up”
Andrea Garmez: Andrea simply eats, breathes, and sleeps dance (oh and her boyfriend Chris, of course). Every second of everyday she is either talking about a new dance move she learned or doing it, right there, in the middle of the cafeteria. Her originally blonde hair was cut into a pixie style and dyed a deep red because “In a sea of unoriginality, you have to be the spark that lights the fire”. Her brown eyes turn a bright hazel whenever light hits them, and she has a flawless complexion.
Shaeleigh Myers: This girl is the trouble maker of our group, for sure. She constantly rides her skateboard around the school, even though it is our school’s number one rule not to. She tends to bring all of us into her colossal messes, but we make it out safe and with memories to last a lifetime. Her bleach blonde hair is dip-dyed about 15 different colors and she has deep blue eyes, ones like you have never seen before.
And then there is me, Kiera McAdams. Completely unoriginal in every way and lacking any sort of purposeful talent or desire, unless you count my singing (which I suck at so you shouldn’t). I am an average student, with a 3.0 GPA and a solid plan for the future. My eyes are a dull brown, with no sparkle, and originally brown hair which I bleached in hopes of fitting in, which I soon realized was a beyond stupid decision. I tend to wear clothes that don’t necessarily “match”. Honestly, I think I came up with the being ‘hipster’, because my clothes were original and un-matching way before it was cool. I sink into the crowd, completely invisible to the people around me, and that is how it will always be.
High school is a fragile ecosystem. There are some meant to be on top, the Nicks and the Bekkas, and there are some who will always be unnoticed, us. It is a system not to be messed with, for if so, our entire world could come crashing down around us.
But, if it meant having Nick, I would endure any sort of pain just for him to remember what we had so many years ago.
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New story!!!!!
I have all my girls in this so I would like to give each of them a shout out!
Candace Anderson:@HeroWithoutAMask
Angelina Anderson:@ICONICGIRL123
Melinda Speers: @M3LK3Y
Gabrielle Jordan: @GabbieBieber99
Andrea Garmez: @Dreamer001
Shaeleigh Myers: @ShaeleighDipippa
There you are, after a long-awaited period of time, I have finally updated the first chapter! I really like this story, and I hope you all will too!! xx.
~Kat
