Chapter One

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"Like a bone that has healed, we are stronger once we have broken. We have built more material that will last longer, and protect us more than what was there previously. We all break at some point. Some hide it better than others, some hide it by helping others. Faking smiles is easier than you think. Is anyone hiding from you?" The English teacher, Mrs. Bentley, spoke with passion at the front of the classroom in front of bored looking students. It was late April, and the outside air was starting to feel warmer, the rain clouds turning into rays of sunshine. The signal of unrest in the students of Blackwell High School.

Blackwell High School was the only high school in the district, resulting in a total of 463 seniors, 537 juniors and 1268 lower classman. The city around the school buzzed in the afternoon light. Flowers were just starting to bloom and warmth and happiness floated through the air. But inside the stuffy classroom walls encasing 32 juniors, it was filled with less than pleasure.

The class was filled with many different facets of people, there was the 'prep' group, which took over most of the room, the athletic group, the greeky group, and the miscellaneous others that didn't quite have a category. The preps were all staring at their desks or the ceiling, the geeks all nerding out in whispers in the middle of the room, the athletes all laughing at some joke one of them told. Mrs. Bentley sighed in frustration, tried of the disrespect. She glanced around the room, noticing none really paying her any mind. To control the situation, she spoke louder, with more boom in her voice.

"Ms. Badaloni, do you mind speaking on your thoughts of the topic at hand?" The red haired girl classed in the miscellaneous section looked up from her doodling pad to the teacher. She slowly sat her pencil down and raised her eyes to the teacher, beet red from her last name being used. Ms. Badaloni, better known as Autumn, had fire red hair that fell to her shoulders. Her green eyes complementing it perfectly, with the freckles donning her cheeks that were typically pale white like a ghost. Although not a prep, she was known for her confidence, but lacked the popularity that the preps had. The girl meet eyes with Mrs. Bentley.

"In all honesty Mrs. Bentley I think that the reason we all break is due to the standards and goals that society pushes upon us," The girl stops for a moment when she hears the snickers of the athletes behind her. Jordyn, captain of the varsity football team, was snickering the loudest. He was a known ass if you will, so Autumn merely rolled her eyes and continued. "The fact that some of us are happy to spend our so called glory days in high school on some stupid football team with most likely break after they leave the "glory" of the team. With the attitude that many have on said team, they won't really get that far in life, so I presume that they will break and fall and no one will be there to catch them. They'll crash and burn in the faded lights of the stadium of long ago." The loud shrill of the bell cut her off. Happily all the students rustled with their things and made their way out of the class room. Jordyn, being the dick he is, shoves past Autumn harshly as she is stood by her desk taking her time to pack her things. The school day had ended, signally the weekend had begun. As Autumn finished packing, she looked up with a smile on her face, ready to go home and get away for the hell filled halls of high school.

Making her way to her locker through the crowds of peers with ease showed her the type of thing she couldn't grasp the concept of. There was couples making out on the lockers, people throwing a football down the hall to one another, and teachers shoving past students, ready for the weekend as well. The red head opened her locker and grabbed her school bag before suddenly feeling hands pressed over her eyes.

"Guess who?" Said the voice behind her, the person of whom was covering her eyes. She rolled her eyes under the hands, but a smiled formed on her face.

"Um....Dan Howell?" She joked shoving the boy behind her off of her face.

"Rude." The mystery man stated. She turned to see her best friend, Noel. Noel, unlike Autumn, had brown hair, which was styled in that lazy quiff kind of way, that she knew really took him at least twenty minutes to get. His hazel eyes were crinkled in laughter with this mouth pulled into a laughing grin. The boy composed himself after a minute of Autumn packing her bag and then slamming the locker shut behind her as she walked away from him. "Wait up." He called chasing after her.

"It's not like you can't find your own way to my house." She said with a laugh as he caught up to her, short of breath from the small amount of running he had to do to catch up to her.

"Still, walking alone is no fun." Noel retorted. Autumn just shook her head slightly, smiling as they reached the open outdoors. The world outside was bright and colorful. She glanced over at Noel as they walked towards her house, the usual routine for the past three years that they had been thrown together into the same hell hole that they called Blackwell High School. Autumn couldn't shake the feeling though that something about Noel seemed off. Lately, it seemed that the smile plastered on his face wasn't quite what it used to be, it seemed less real. The words for an hour ago played in her mind as she shifted her attention back on the path ahead, we all break, some hide it better than others, some hide it by helping others. Faking smiles is easier than you think. Is anyone hiding from you?

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A/N: Please comment on this for whether or not you want me to continue. Please and thanks!

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⏰ Last updated: Mar 01, 2016 ⏰

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