Out of the shadows

Chapter 5: The crew

Nick

September 1th,

After a quick shower, I put on the first things I saw in my drawer, which were a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt. Yeah, you can never fail with simple. Then I went downstairs, to the ritual I was used to since freshman year. The morning sunlight was creeping through the kitchen window when I walked in, the smell of freshly brewed coffee filling the air. I had always liked mornings like this. Quiet. Simple. Just me and my best friends, sitting around the table, sipping coffee, and talking about anything.

Alex was the first one at the table.
"Hey, man," I greeted as I dropped into the chair across from him, his laptop open in front of him.

"Morning," Alex muttered, barely looking up from his screen. I could tell he was deep into something—probably figuring out some problem for his computer engineering classes. "Fuck, school hasn't even started yet, and there's already a shit ton of lectures I have to study before next week. Amazing," he said sarcastically, but I knew that he would sort everything out. Alex was the genius of the group, always had been. I really don't know how he does it, but the guy has always managed to work between classes, basketball, and work at the garage. If he wasn't one of my best friends, I would definitely be jealous of the guy.

"Fuck, man, already?" I asked, reaching for my coffee. We were heading into our third year of college, which meant the classes were about to get a lot tougher, but I didn't expect it to start this quickly for him. Alex gave me a distracted wave, his fingers still flying across the keyboard.
"Yeah, it's gonna be pretty brutal this year," then he looked up and added, "But don't worry, Nick, we'll make it work. We always do. And don't forget, we have a championship to win and bring home this year!" I grinned. "Damn right we are!"

Before Alex could respond, the kitchen door opened with a loud thud, and Will, my other best friend, barged in.
"Good morning, fuckers!" Will's voice rang out, with a boyish smile plastered on his face as he appeared in the doorway, freshly showered and already ready to tackle the day.
He was always the first one to get up, a habit that both annoyed and impressed me. He usually was the one to wake all of us up, but not today, apparently. "Where were you this morning?" Alex asked, curious.
"Out," he responded, busy getting his coffee ready.
"Out where? It's 7 am, and you weren't in your room when I woke up. I know you're a morning kind of person, but no way you woke up that early in the morning," I said, trying to annoy the shit out of him.
Will leaned against the counter, eyeing us with a grin.
"Okay, you got me there. So, there's this girl, Maddie. I talked to her yesterday, she asked for my number, and when all of you went to sleep—which was not fun, by the way—she sent me a text saying if I wanted to come over. And I couldn't say no to the girl, guys. You know me, I'm a gentleman..."
"Of course you are, fucker," Alex said. We were both laughing so hard.
Yeah, if you haven't figured it out already, Will is the slutty boy in our crew. The guy is a playboy to the core, always with a new girl. I also sleep around, don't get me wrong, but the guy right here takes hookups to the next level, I swear.
But while the both of us always fooled around, Alex was the more reserved one. He got the same attention as the two of us, due to our success in basketball, that was an easy thing, but Alex was never interested. He's always with Victoria, Will's sister, and our last roommate and best friend.

Speaking of her, Vivi just entered the kitchen, her hair pulled into a messy bun and wearing one of Alex's hoodies—which, of course, she did just to piss him off. She dropped her bag onto the counter and leaned against it, yawning dramatically.
"Good morning, bitches," she said, her tone teasing as she grabbed a mug of her own. I guess like brother like sister right.
"Nice hoodie," Alex said dryly, glaring at her over the rim of his glasses.
She grinned, completely unbothered. "Thanks, it's super comfy. You should try lending it to people more often."
Will and I laughed as Alex shook his head, muttering something about boundaries. Vivi had that effect on people—she could push every button and still somehow make you laugh.
"Nice to see you've joined the living," I teased.
"Shut up. It's the first day, and I already hate it," she shot back, though her grin took the sting out of her words.
Vivi was a force of nature—witty, sharp, and fiercely independent. She was also the youngest, a year younger than us, but that didn't change anything growing up we were always this close. And despite the constant teasing between her and Will, their sibling bond was unshakable.
We'd spent every time together growing up, I mean we had to, it was though, really though, but we survived everything together.
It wasn't as easy at it is now, we didn't grow up in a nice home or neither with nice people, but we always had each other no matter what. And I will be forever grateful to have this crazy people in my life. We were more than a group of friends we were family. And that was not going to change no matter what.
We all left Hollow Creek for a reason after all.