The Golden and the Tarnish

Chapter 18: The Golden Rules

Dedicated to @fathiaovo

Sorry about the late update . There is so some much stuff for me to do for school and work.

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Falling, I'm on my own. No one surrounds me, just air and a view. I grasp my thighs trying to stay straight. I do not want a hard impact. My heart is pounding. My head is pounding. My thoughts are pounding.

I peek down at the water, at everyone watching me--- My family, the Curtis' and my friends-- cheering for me. Trying to time my last deep, desperate gasp of air, I am not thinking of anything. I feel the butterflies fluttering throughout my body. I take in my last source of air. Suddenly, the touch of the water that I have been awaiting for patiently, strikes me. The water is harshly consuming my body.

Suddenly, I wake up forcefully and quickly sit up. The dream felt so realistic that, it terrified me. Gasping in small breathes, I look around, reassured by the fact that I was still in my bedroom and not falling off a cliff.

Slowly, I get out from underneath the dark covers and shelter my eyes from the harsh rays of the sun that peek through the curtains. Letting out a sigh, I drag myself to the bathroom

On the way, I past my mother's bedroom and noticed it opened and abandon. A small smile creeps onto my face and feel genuine happiness that my mother was out of her room for my first day of high school.

Going into the washroom, I shower and comb my dark hair for several minutes. Pondering on what to do with my hair I finally; braided my hair into a long French braid (sloppily may I add) and frustratingly, wondered what to wear. If this is what high school does to you, I don't want any part of it.

When I exited the steaming bathroom --- the hot water was working again--- I went into my room and see my sister doing her make-up and hair on our vanity. We say our quick 'Good Morning's' and continue.

I go through our closet and realized that I didn't own anything nice. Frustratingly, I grab my best pair of pants (a pair of black khakis) and my work blouse. Suddenly, the clothing was ripped from my hands.

"Oh no!" Mel cries out. "You are not wearing those clothes."

I roll my eyes at her and held my towel closer to my body, "Well, that's my best clothing."

She grumbles while going through her side of the closet, flinging a dark blue skirt at me and a mustard yellow sweater. I cringe as she throws my blue PF Flyers at my face.

"See! These are nice clothes." She says. "Now let me do your hair."

She sits me down and starts to comb my hair back, while ferociously bombarding me with thing I need to know about high school.

"And lastly, don't talk to older students. They're not going to talk to you back."

"Yeah, I get it." She finishes my hair of in a curled ponytail and some dark make-up and ruby red lips.

I stood up and give her an awkward thanks and quickly change into the clothing laid out on my bed. Quickly changing, I noticed that the sweater was quite tight around my shoulders and the skirt fell past my knees and ended at my shins.

Looking in the mirror, I thought I looked kind of good.

"First impressions are always the most important things in life." Mel says to me, before grabbing her book bag and leaving the room in a flourish.

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Ever since I was first introduced to the concept of Socs vs. Greasers, I was targeted at school. Some way, Mel happened to jump right into the Socs and wasn't even questioned about her Greaser blood.