I woke up a few hours later, wearing a shirt that didn't belong to me, clutching a lighter tight in my hand and smelling like weed, booze and god knows what else. The morning light was harsh and insistent, piercing through my bedroom window to herald the first day of school.
I groaned loud, rolling onto my side after my alarm switched on, blasting the cheerful voices of radio-announcers that caused my head to pound. A few more minutes. All I wanted was a few more minutes. But of course, I should have known that was too much to ask.
"Annabel darling wake up! It's the first day of school!"
I heard my mother's voice echo from behind my bedroom door, knocking hesitantly.
"I'm awake." I called groggily, listening to her footsteps fade away down the stairs.
I forced myself to sit up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, sighing heavily as a killer headache and an uneasy feeling in my stomach began to settle. Maybe it was partially out of nerves, but probably it was because I was nursing the first hangover I had ever had.
What the hell happened last night? I pulled myself out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom, turning the cold tap of the shower on before stripping off the Yoda t-shirt and my jeans. I stared at the shirt for a long time, then glanced back into my bedroom at the lighter and box of cigarettes thrown onto my bedside table. It was when my alarm radio started to play "Hangin' Downtown" by the Replacements that everything came snapping into place. It was as if someone had just let the floodgates open, and I was bombarded with a flash of memories from last night. Green hair and an evil smile surrounded by smoke. Ear piercings and high cheekbones washed down with bourbon. And the most vivid, the boy with the radiating, gleaming, vibrant emerald eyes.
I gasped, stumbling back into the shower, yelping in slight surprise when I was drenched with ice cold water. It woke me up at least.
What was I thinking? How had I managed to break every one of my morals in the course of one night? Did I seriously take a hit from what could have been the mad hatter, gotten blind drunk with a guy and stole his shirt, and caught a ride home on a bike who's owner I found inexplicably smoking on the roof?
"Annabel! Hurry you're going to miss the bus!"
I washed the sweat and makeup and grime from every inch of my body, pulling on a long black skirt, to which I tucked in a purple blouse, securing with a belt around my waist after rolling up the sleeves. After I threw my hair up into a bird's nest on the top of my head, I stalked into the bathroom, grabbing the Yoda shirt and stuffing it into the bottom of my bag, before I flew down the stairs into the kitchen, where my mom and Jeremy were seated at the table.
Alright, I've put it off long enough. I suppose I'll have to introduce them, but I'm going to be brief because I don't like dwelling on this sort of stuff. My dad died when I was 13. It was a car crash. My mom remarried 8 months and 17 days after his funeral to Jeremy Clifferson. He was a banker, and he didn't like pets and he thought I had a bad attitude. He also smelt permanently of plastic and washing detergent.
"Someone got in late last night." He stated, not looking up from his newspaper as I ran around the kitchen, making a coffee and grabbing an apple for breakfast.
"Yeah."
"Your curfew is midnight. I would have thought you would have known that."
"Sorry, I lost track of time."
"That's no excuse. I don't want you sneaking in here at god-knows what time after doing god-knows what with those kids!" He had raised his voice, steely grey eyes piercing into mine from across the room. My mother kept her head bent, eyes downcast as she continued to stir her tea. I tugged on my converses and grabbed my bomber jacket, exiting through the back door a second after I smiled and chirped:
"At least I don't smell like a prostitute's perfume when I get home at 3 am."
And I suppose I should mention he was cheating on my mom.
I found Mona on the school bus, who looked at me as if she had just seen a ghost.
"What the hell happened to you last night? I left at midnight and then I got a call saying you had disappeared!"
I groaned at the high volume of her voice, rubbing my temples to try to soothe my pounding migraine.
"I got a ride with someone. I got drunk and then slept for a few hours and found a guy and got a ride home."
I answered, not wanting to have to explain the unimaginable situations that had occurred last night. I stared out the window. The slight magic that Rodeo had possessed in the darkness had vanished under the mild, dull sun.
"Alright, but what a way to start a new school! Nursing a hangover."
I hummed in agreement, leaning my chin on my palm and only breaking my daydreaming when I was nudged by Mona a few minutes after. The bus halted to a stop, and I found myself gazing out the smudged glass of the window at the one and only, Pinole High School.
Red-bricked, palm-tree riddled and surrounded by parched, dry fields, the school was defiantly not one of the nicest I had seen. But hey, it was high school. I wasn't expecting heaven.
"Go to the office and they'll give you your timetable. Meet me in the cafeteria at lunch." Mona explained quickly, guiding me through the mass of bodies congregating in the hallways. The slamming of lockers, the excited/depressed chatter of teens and our clicking footsteps on the smooth floors sent my headache into over-drive.
The shrill metallic bell, marking first period, sure as hell didn't help.
I managed to find my way into the office before I got stampeded by the students on their way to class.
The room was brightly lit and smelt like carpet and old-people. A bored looking woman stood behind the front desk, scanning me with a disapproving stare.
"Um my name is Annabel Winters. I need my timetable...I'm new."
She raised her finger to indicate "one moment" and disappeared behind a door.
I sighed and glanced around the room, drumming a beat onto the desk, a sort of nervous habit I had picked up over years of anxiety. I looked over at the door she had walked into. It read "Principal Reynolds" in bold black letters, a few chairs lined up outside it.
And two of the seats were filled, by two boys. I saw long, gangly legs sprawled out in the walkway, a ruffled head of lime green hair and two pairs of converses. My heart dropped like a stone in my chest when both heads snapped up to me, two sets of blue eyes wide with shock.
"Annabel?"
A/N Sorry this is so short and boring. The next bit will be from BJ's perspective so that's good.
