A Picture Is Worth

Chapter 1

Just a warning: Scott Berner might come off as a rude person at times. He is a character that takes an open mind to understand. Most of what he says will most likely be rude or sarcastic in the beginning chapters of this book but you will get used to it over a substancial amount of time. Just remember that whatever Scott says does not internally have to be in my point of view. He is a character with his own emotions and thoughts. None of the characters in this book represent me or any other person i know in any way.

Chapter 1

Scott's POV

I groan involuntarily as I stare up at the high school that i dreaded entering every school year. One more year and its finally over. I can say goodbye to the idiots in this school and i can say goodbye to the teachers who have failed to teach me anything in the three years i have been here so far. People usually say its better to be invisible during high school, i wish i could say i know how being invisible feels, but i don't. I've always been known as the residential bad boy in town. This is because  I am. There is no point in hiding that anymore. My appearance alone as made that fact abundantly clear. My messy black hair, signature black  t-shirt, many tattoos and lip piercing, haven't set the best image. Well that and my prison record, just kidding I have only been to jail like twice.

I drag my boots across the pavement as i make my way to the entrance of the building. The stares, the whispers, and the avoidance already begins.

"You think he'll get expelled this year?"

"He went to jail last year"

"He's a bad guy, stay away from him."

I mentally smirk to myself. I won't have to worry about anyone messing with me this year. Many students fear me, see me as some sort of criminal. One kid changes schools last year because he was scared of me. He bumped into me while we were walking, he said sorry and I accepted his apology but he was so scared that he actually peed his pants. I didn't try to scare him it kind of just happened.

"Dude, wipe that look off your face. You look like you're going to shoot up the school. You got a gun under your shirt today or something?" My eyes shift to the person talking to me. Zach Miller, my best friend since the age of 9. Everyone in this school lives with a silver spoon in their mouth, besides Zach and I. We both know what it's like to have it hard. He is a foster kid, he gets kicked out every few months and moves from house to house, from family to family. Both of his parents died in a car crash. He has stayed by my side through thick and thin. He wasn't visiting me when I was in jail last year, because HE was my cell mate.

I roll my eye at him after flashing him a look that clearly said I wish i bought a gun.

"Come on, dude. 9 more months and we are flying free, far away from here. We'll be in Washington, dorming together, taking college classes, going to college parties, with college girls.We'll be flying high, dude." He opens his mouth to say more but I cut him off.

"Zach, okay, you're my best friend but you need to shut up! " I snap at him. He throws two hands up in surrender.

"I'm just saying, all you need to do is be good for a solid 9 months. Mack is gonna have your head on a fucking stick if you screw up this year."

Mack, my mom's best friend in college, my current guardian, my therapist. I've been living with Mack (short for Mackenzie) and her husband Ross for the past three years. My mom died when i was born and my dad was recently put behind bars for manslaughter. He was drunk driving, hit the car, and the driver form the other car died on impact. But he's not important in my life anymore. Ross has been a better father to me than that man will ever be, and as for my mother, I never met her to know how she would be. But I assume she would have been just as special as Mack is to me.

"I know, I'm not gonna screw up this year. Hopefully." I sigh. The bell rings, Zach and I groan in unison.

Every class was the same. Take a seat, get to know your new teachers, and talk the rest of the period.

I sit with my head turned to the window in my science class. "Is this seat taken?" I hear from behind me. I turn my head slowly. This is my first time in three periods that I have actually made eye contact with another breathing human being. This creature just happened to be a girl. Brown hair dropping on her left shoulder in perfectly loose waves. Black leggings, mint green sweatshirt, and a pair of gray Vans.

There are only three reasons for why she could possibly even want to sit next to me:

1) there are absolutely no seats left in this classroom

2) Her friends dared her to sit next to me.

3) She's new and has no idea who I am.

The way she stood there waiting for my answer heightened my suspicions.

"Well? are you just gonna sit there and stare at me like a lovesick puppy or are you actually going to give me an answer?' She laughs. I shake the thoughts away from my mind and look her dead in the eye. I want to say yes but her eyes basically hypnotized me. You see blue eyes but you don't see that kind of blue everyday. They were like sapphires were forced into her eye sockets.

"No, uh no it's not taken." I stutter. She laughs a little and sits, the smile on her face never ceasing.  What is she so happy about?

"I'm Brooke by the way." She says sweetly looking at me. My head has returned to its position, looking out the window.

"Scott." I say quietly.

"Here." She says with a laugh, pulling out her phone. She moves closer to me, looking out the window. She takes a quick but focused picture of outside and lays the phone in front of me. I give her a puzzled look before she laughs again. Does she ever stop laughing? "A picture lasts longer than starring at the view does. The view you are starring at will never exactly be the same, but with a picture the view never changes. It stays gorgeous, the lighting never changes, everything stays in place and you can witness a beautiful view even on a rainy day." She smiles

"It's not a beautiful view, it's a parking lot." I reply, my grey eyes burning into her green ones. We sit in silence for the next five minutes but unexpectedly her eyes widen like she has just made the most shocking discovery of the century.

"You." She stutters

"Me?" I question

"You. You're Scott Berner." She says, her eyes still wide. I roll my eyes at her.

"That's me." I sigh

"Did you really get arrested last year? Or is that just a rumor?" She questions.

I groan at the question. Looking at her with seething eyes. She didn't even flinch.

"Yes I went to jail." I state blankly. She nods most likely sensing that I don't want to talk about it. Before I knew it the class was over and she gets up. Her phone still in front of me with the picture of the parking lot still on the screen.

"Brooke." I try to call after her but she is too far ahead to hear me. I push past everyone to try and find her but I can't. I look around the crowded hallway in search for the mint green sweatshirt. But she is no where in sight. I sigh and put her phone into my sweatshirt pocket. I find Zach and we leave for lunch, every once in a while I would look at her phone and see the picture of the parking lot.

Brooke was no where to be found throughout the rest of the day. Her gorgeous blue eyes haunted my dreams that same night.