Blood Ties (NaNoWriMo 2015)

Two

I spooned the remainder of my scrambled eggs into a bowl and scrawled a sticky-note on the table for Mom. She'd gotten home about an hour ago and I wasn't sure if she'd eaten yet or not. The note read simply:

Mom,
Left for school, scrambled eggs in fridge in blue bowl, heat up if you're feeling hungry. Have an awesome day, love you!
Ember

It didn't seem so bad, though it did sound more like what a mom would say to her kid versus what a kid would say to their mom. "Good enough," I mumbled and I slung my battered green backpack over my shoulder and left the apartment, locking the door before heading down to the parking lot. Among one of the other things my mom worked hard for me to have was my car, I'd paid for half, yes, but she'd fronted the rest of the cash and paid insurance on it. I told her I could take the bus, but Mom had said that she didn't trust it. "I never want you to be without a way to get home." That was her reasoning for insisting that I purchase a car. And when I'd gotten a job at the local pool life guarding and teaching swim lessons, her logic had been further proved. They didn't hire you if they couldn't rely on you to get there on time.

I slid into my rusty blue Corolla and tuned the key. The engine sputtered
a second and then came to life. I pulled out of the parking lot and started on the road to school.

I hummed along to my CD as I drove, the misty Florida morning. As per usual for September, it was rather wet outside and though I hadn't had a chance to catch the local weather this morning, rain would not have surprised me. I pulled into the Sunview High parking lot, which was already crowded as the stoners tried to go and get through a joint before first period. How many grams of pot could one school hold?

I pulled into a parking space, rather badly for I felt myself frustrated with the stoners in the truck a few spaces down. The acrid smell was potent as I opened my door and I heard their loud, almost rude laughter as I walked. Did they get what they were doing? That was an illegal substance for one thing and if they got caught shit would ensue. Secondly, they were spending their time at school, which was supposed to be a time for education and learning, getting high. Seriously?

Ugh, I grabbed my backpack out of the passenger seat and stalked off towards the school. My Chuck Taylor's slapped against the payment as I moved. Don't let people making stupid choices get you in a bad mood Em. I chided myself, hearing that same ticking sound I used one kids that ran across the deck of the pool during my shifts. It's not your future they're screwing up. Yeah, maybe it wasn't but it didn't stop me from feeling pissed off. They had a chance to finish with this cesspool and move onto better things, carve out a good future for themselves if they played their cards right, and yet they threw it away with drugs and parties.

The wastefulness and stupidity of it made me want to hit something. Shaking my head, I tried to dispel my mood as I walked to my locker, I spun out the combination and tossed my mustard yellow windbreaker inside. It kept out the wind and rain just fine, but the fact that it was so ugly always made me eager to part ways with it as soon as I got inside.

"Hey Ember!" I shut the door and Stacy was standing at my locker and as per usual she looked beautiful. As it was Monday she hadn't gone all out with herself today, just a pair of jeans, flats and and a baggy sweatshirt that looked incredibly comfy. As far as I saw she wore no makeup except a little eyeliner. Her warm, sepia-brown skin looked luminous this morning as her plump lips were pulled apart in a very joyful smile.

"Morning Stacy," I yawned. "How are you this cheerful before nine a.m.?"

"Coffee and a positive attitude, you should try it. What's got you down?"

"How could you tell?"

Stacy raised one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows."You were burning a hole in the lockers with that glare on your face. What happened?"

"Just some stoners in the parking lot," I grumbled, both annoyed and thankful Stacy could read me so well. It was nice to have a friend that could gague what you were feeling.

"You really need to let that go," she remarked as we started walking towards the commons.

"I can't!" I exclaimed. "Some of them are smart, they could do something with themselves, work hard and achieve and here they all go throwing it away."

"Ember," Stacy said with a warning undertone. "It's not your choices, why should you care what they do anyways? You aren't friends with any of them."

"I know," I moaned. I found myself wanting to explain to Stacy why they angered me so much. It wasn't the entirety of the school potheads that pissed me off. It was just a few, just the ones I'd seen today.The ones I'd seen this morning had well off parents., they didn't have to worry about making top grades to get into a good school and hope they're impressive transcripts could be enough to help them be able to attend. They could just ask their parents to write out a check and bing-bang-boom, they were good to go. They didn't have to work hard at it like I did, some of them, like Anthony Markel, just applied themselves they could have gotten into some Ivy League school, people like him had that chance and he and others just threw it out to the trash. That's what got my goat about the whole thing.

"Maybe this will cheer you up?" Stacy pulled me towards her locker and quickly popped it open, why she left it rigged was beyond me. What if someone was going through lockers and she had something valuable in it? "Happy belated birthday gift!" Jumping up and down with excitement Stacy handed me a hanger and a garment bag. "Unzip it!" she bounced back and forth on her heels, her smile was wide and excited that I couldn't help but smile too. Stacy's energy about everything was infectious, it always pulled me out of whatever slump I happened to be in at the time.

I pulled down the zipper and gasped. Inside was a red leather jacket and I fixed Stacy with a look instantly. Sensing my inner battle about this being too expensive she launched into an explanation. "It was on clearance, they had a spend X amount of dollars get fifteen percent off the total purchase. Try it on?"

"Stac, have I ever told you what amazing taste you have?" I asked as I pulled the jacket free and slipped it on. It was cut perfectly, the many zippers criss-crossing the material gave it an eighties feel that I loved. Without my direction, my thoughts drifted a moment to the Thriller music video.

Stacy looped her arm through mine which I always found funny. I had a tendency to associate arm-linkage with the Wizard of Oz. "You have my darling friend, many times."

"I'll say it again if you want me too." I offered and Stacy shook her head, long black hair tickling my face. "Come on," she said. "We need to get to class or Mrs. Voltaire will have our heads on a platter."

"She's scary," I shuddered thinking of our Classic Lit teacher. The rest of the school and myself were convinced she didn't age, looking at all the old year books from the eighties she looked the same then as she did now, well with the exception of the length of her hair. She was old and she was tough, excuses had no place in her classroom and neither did tardiness.

"She is," agreed Stacy. "Which is why we should hurry, I do not want that old bird giving me the Evil Eye."

"It's not that terrible," I argued.

"I thought my heart was going to explode!" Stacy exclaimed, nearly jumping. "I hate how she does that whole stare down-silent thing! Just drop the ax on me already!"

I laughed at the hysterical expression on Stacy's face. "It'll be fine," and we stepped into Room two-twenty-one just as the bell rang. My early distasteful mood vanished, today was going to be a good day.

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New chapter is up! We now get to see Stacy (officially) for the first time! What do we think of her? Sorry for the lack of action in this chapter, but I still hope you guys enjoyed it! So please remember to COMMENT and VOTE if you liked it! They truly make my day!

Write on! =D