Fallout (Sidemen FF)

Prologue

THIS TOOK ME FOREVER I FEEL LIKE I WROTE 10K WORDS but it's only 1K. But here it is! The prologue that explains a lot of stuff and introduces Annie. This is six months before everything happens. The Sidemen will actually come into the story soon, for now they're just mentioned. I'm gonna start doing dedications and stuff from the next chapter. I hope you like it. x 

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"Don't wanna be an American Idiot!"

The sound of my alarm going off wakes me from my peaceful sleep, and I reach over for my phone on the nightstand to turn it off, mumbling "Shut it, Billie Joe." 

I stretch my arms and pull myself out of bed, looking out the window. It's raining, as always. It rains a lot here in England. 

I go over to my closet to pick my outfit for the day. I decide on a big black hoodie with a skull and crossbones symbol on it, along with a pair of black skinny jeans. Finally, I slip on my favorite pair of black beat-up Vans and I'm done. 

Don't get me wrong; I wear other colours than black. I just like to wear dark clothes to school; it helps me blend in more. 

So I should probably explain a little bit about myself. My name is Annie Summers. I'm 17 years old, soon to be 18. (Oh my god, an actual adult. That's scary.) I have long brown hair down to my back, and green eyes. Currently in my last year of school (woohoo). Yeah, I think that's everything there is to know. Back to the story of my morning.

Suddenly my stomach rumbles loudly, and I leave my room to head to the kitchen. My cat is strolling around and miaowing, probably waiting for breakfast. She wraps herself around my leg and I laugh, leaning down to scratch behind her ears. "Hey, Misty."

I gave her that name. My dad said it reminded him of me - unusual and mysterious. 

I went to get some milk out of the fridge for Misty when I noticed a note on the counter. It read, 

Left for work early, have a good day at school. I'm giving you a little extra pocket money this week in case you want to buy yourself something nice. Love you. xxx

"Thanks, Dad." I say out loud, smiling. Wait, he can't hear me. I'm just talking to myself. Oh.

I know the note was from him since it's just the both of us living here. My mum.... She isn't around. I barely remember what she looks like, only seeing her in old pictures that my dad keeps in dusty boxes in the attic. She left when I was a little kid, to go travelling around the world alone. She sends postcards home every once in a while, from places like Hawaii and Japan and Egypt. They're only written to me though, since she still doesn't want to talk to my dad, I guess.

But it's okay. See, a couple of months ago, he met this other woman. They started dating and things went really well. She comes over to stay here a lot. She's really nice, she treats me like her own daughter. Anyway, they got engaged two weeks ago! The wedding is in six months. Right after I finish school. And she has a son, who's gonna be my stepbrother, by the name of Josh Zerker.

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I walk through the school gates, keeping my head down with an All Time Low song playing through my earphones. I pass through the large crowds of people without anyone noticing me, drifting past them like a ghost. I get to my classroom and quietly slide into my usual seat at the back. Nobody takes any notice of me, as usual. I'm kind of invisible here. But whatever, I don't care. I'm just gonna get through the day and then go home. 

I'm not a loner, exactly. I have a couple friends and I talk to some people in my classes, it's just that I'm generally antisocial. I don't really care what anyone thinks of me here. I do my own thing in peace, by myself. Alone. I like it that way. There's a lot of fake people around, people who pretend to care but don't really. And then they leave. I realized I'm much better off on my own, so I don't bother with any of it. None of it matters to me. I'd rather just sit and get completely absorbed in music than force a meaningless conversation with someone I don't like. I have nothing to say to them anyway. I've just never really been interested in people at my school. I don't wanna waste my time with them, with people who I'll probably never see again after we all graduate. I haven't got long left anyway, it's the final year. I'm just focused on getting good grades and getting out of here. 

I continue listening to music, blocking out the entire world and ignoring everything around me. I get through several songs ('Rejects' by 5 Seconds Of Summer, 'Thnks Fr Th Mmrs' by Fall Out Boy, 'Hit the Road Jack' by The Overtones, and 'Cups' by Anna Kendrick)  before the teacher finally arrives to take register. I reluctantly pull my earphones out, making me able to hear parts of the conversation happening around me. 

"I love the Sidemen!"

"Have you seen their new challenge video?"

The Sidemen. Almost everyone at my school talks about them. They're quite popular, apparently. I don't know much about them, except that Josh is part of them. Nobody knows that my dad is getting married to his mum. I haven't told anyone. Because if I did, they'd be all over me. Suddenly everybody would be interested in the quiet girl. And I don't like attention. I'd rather blend in than stand out. 

It's easy to keep it a secret, anyway, since he's graduated uni already and lives far away from here. In London with the rest of the Sidemen. Nobody has any idea that we know each other.

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My dad is sitting in the kitchen when I get home. He looks like he's about to talk about something.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Listen, I've been thinking about this for a while." he said. "You're close with Josh, right?"

"Yeah." I answered. It's true, we had hung out together many times when his mum came over here and he's a cool guy. Extremely nice to me, treats me like his little sister. I can almost think of him as an actual brother.

"Well, right after the wedding, we're going on our honeymoon. Which means you'd be all by yourself here. With nothing to do and no one to take care of you. So this way, you'll get to spend way more time with Josh and get to know him better. It's perfect timing too, because you'll have turned 18 and finished school by that time."

"What are you saying?" I questioned.

"In six months, while we go on our honeymoon, you're going to go live with Josh in London."