Still Awake

Chapter Two

Iᴛ ᴅᴏᴇsɴ'ᴛ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴛᴏ reach my normal meeting spot with Brittany and Caleb. Brittany's gossiping (as usual) when I walked up to them. Brittany always seems to be gossiping about something. Today her subject of scrutiny is Lily's hair. Apparently, she'd dyed her hair black with purple highlights in it, which Brittany claims is 'totally emo and totally disgusting'. 

I'm a little taken aback at the news. Lily's hair had been a beautiful strawberry blonde. I've always been secretly jealous of her hair, with mine being a dull brown. But Brittany doesn't like her, so I stay clear.

Caleb turns to me as I approach the two of them. "'Sup, Tia?" he says in greeting, ever the cool, nonchalant one.

"Hey, Caleb. Hi, Brit," I say, nodding at them.

Brittany turns as if she is only just noticing I've arrived. "Oh, hi, Tia!"

"Shall we go?" I ask, gesturing in the direction of the high school.

"Yeah, sure," replies Caleb. The three of us start walking down the sidewalk towards the school. We pass more than a few groups of kids. And it's no mistake that we never have to offer any resistance before the each group splits down the middle like the Red Sea, leaving a clear path for us to walk down.

Being the most popular kids in school has its benefits, trust me.

"So, you excited for the raid tonight, Tia?" Brittany asks once we're out of earshot of a particularly large group of kids. I don't have to look back to know that they're staring at us, jealous of the command we have over the school.

"Of course! It's gonna be so much fun!" I reply. A sly smile starts to form on my face as I continue. "I bought the eggs just last night. Snuck out while my parents were conked out upstairs and went to a 24/7 convenience store. You should've seen the look on the employees' faces when I walked up to the counter and plonked down five cartons of eggs at one in the morning!" Brittany, Caleb, and I laugh together.

We walk a bit further, and it's not long before we run into what Caleb likes to call "The Fail Force". (Personally, I think it's a stupid name, but I'm not saying that anytime soon.) Lily, Toby, Kristy, and Adam. As Brittany likes to say, they're unconditional friends, and unconditional losers. I've never understood why Brittany hates them so much. If I had to guess, I'd honestly say it's because she's jealous of how inseparable they are. But she shouldn't be. She has Caleb and me. Always.

Right?

I study the Fail Force. Kristy and Adam are flirting, as usual. Toby's chatting with Lily. 

Lily... as I catch sight of her new hairdo, I'm stunned at how pretty it actually is. Her hair falls in gorgeous waves down her back, as always, but now it shines a rich purple when it catches the sunlight. Combine that with Lily's long black eyelashes and pink lips, and she is heart-stoppingly beautiful. Of course, I'd never say that to Brittany.

Brittany grins when she sees them. "Watch this." She crosses the street towards the Fail Force. I can just barely make out what they were saying.

"Hi, guys!" Brittany says chirpily... and just a little bit too brightly. The Fail Force is clearly taken aback that Brittany was talking to them.

Brittany chats for a bit. After a while, I hear Brittany say, "Just a moment; something in my backpack's poking me." She puts down her bag and starts rummaging through it.

"Do you want some help?" Lily offers. 

Brittany gratefully welcomes her help. "You see that big stack of books? I'm having a bit of trouble picking them up; could you grab a few for me to lighten the load?" Lily immediately bends down as Brittany stands up and stretches. I notice that she palms a container of... something. Apparently, Toby notices too, but by the time he's cried out in warning, Brittany's already swiftly emptied the entire thing on Lily's head.

Lily jerks upright, dropping a dictionary on her toe. "Ow!" she cries out. Brittany scoops up her bag and runs back to us, laughing, as Lily's friends rush over.

What else would they do? She was drenched from head to toe in a disgusting mixture of fruit juice, soda, and cold coffee.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥Tʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʟʟ ғᴏʀ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪs ғᴀʀ! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥