Forgotten (Falls Elite #1)

1

Lex (Lexi) Carson POV

I skate across the park, doing light warm-up jumps to get started. The wheels glide smoothly under my feet until—

"Watch out!" someone yells from my left.

Before I can react, they crash right into me. I slam down awkwardly on my shoulder, the person landing on top of me. Pain shoots through my arm as I try to push him off.

"Get off!" I hiss through clenched teeth. He mumbles something I don't catch, but eventually rolls away.

I sit up, dusting the dirt from my clothes, and glare at him. He looks about early twenties, and to his credit, gives me an apologetic smile, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry," he mutters.

I wince, rubbing my shoulder. Great—two injuries on the same arm. The first was yesterday when I wiped out after landing wrong.

"It's fine," I say, though my tone makes it clear it's anything but. He gives a nod and skates off.

Grumbling under my breath, I head to the edge of the rink. Ozzy's sitting there, puffing on what I'm pretty sure isn't an ordinary cigarette.

"Hey," I greet him, lowering myself beside him. He meets my eyes, clearly high, and offers me a hit. I hesitate for a second but then shrug and take it.

"Didn't you quit?" Alannah calls out as she and Aisling round the corner.

"Yeah," I say, passing the joint back to Ozzy.

Alannah laughs, shaking her head. A cool breeze ruffles my dark hair, and I pull my hoodie tighter around me. Alan and Sling flop down beside us.

"I can't believe we start our senior year tomorrow," Aisling murmurs. We all nod. The four of us have been friends since kindergarten, back before everything changed. They go to public school in town, and I'm stuck at the fancy private school across the way.

It wasn't always like that. My dad's business blew up when we hit middle school. We moved to the "rich" side of town, and I had to switch schools. It sucked, but I never lost touch with these guys. They're my second family—sometimes, I feel like they're my only family, but I keep that part to myself.

Once, back in middle school, we were bored out of our minds on a rainy day and thought it'd be "cool" to come up with nicknames for ourselves. Lex for me, Alan for Alannah, Sling for Aisling, and Ozzy for Osmond. We thought we were geniuses. Now, years later, I find it both cringe and kind of hilarious. We tried dropping the names once, but it didn't stick. So, here we are.

I flop onto my back, staring up at the sky. The stars twinkle, the moon glowing down on us.

"One more year. Then I'm off," I say, eyes locked on the sky.

Alan rests her head on my lap. "I'm gonna miss you," she mumbles.

"Same," I nod, though she can't see it. "But I'll send you letters from every place I go," I promise.

She hums softly in response.

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My first chapter!!!!

What do you think so far???