Magnolia Celebration

Chapter One

The alarm went off. Ugh another first day of school. The 11th in a row actually. Another 180 painful days, filled with stress and anxiety. They say your high school days are your best ones. But are they really? I am the living proof that it is the opposite. And I believe I'm not the only one. But I always seem to hope that it's going to be a good one... Even though that hasn't worked really well for me in the past.

It was about time to get up from my warm and inviting bed, I rolled over and pushed some of the blankets off the bed. I like to sleep with blankets. When I do I feel like there's this cover over me that will protect me from the evil. Not even having brushed my teeth, I heard my mum yell from downstairs:

"Alex! You're going to be late! It's the first day of school!"

I yawned and quickly got up from my bed. As I was heading towards the bathroom, I tripped on my guitar and almost fell on top of it. Good thing I didn't, I had been saving for that guitar since I was 15, and it would be such a shame if I were to break it.

I hopped into the shower and used the shampoo that my aunt gave me as an early birthday present. Unfortunately she can't make it to my birthday party. I really miss her.
The smell reminded me of her and how she always greeted me with a soft smile on the first day of school. It warmed my heart even though the shower water was icy cold.

The thing is, I'm always on time. In fact I'm earlier than on time. The extra minutes give me a little time for me and my thoughts, sorting them out and reminding myself to be calm. I guess it runs in the family-being neat and concise, so it's not like I'm a freak like some of the guys at school say.

I went downstairs checking my phone for any new text messages, and a small smile appeared on my lips as I saw my mother putting the omelette on the table. It was a tradition, orange juice and omelette with bacon. I went up to her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"G'mornin mumma! Sleep well?"

"Good morning to you too Al, I slept quite good, indeed".

She always had that caring face of her on when she was talking to me. Like all of the pain that she had gone through just faded away and she lived in the moment. Sometimes I wish I was more like her. She looks exactly like she did when she was 19, but the heartbreak and devastation are engraved into her face. I would never wish the pain she had to go through on anyone. Not even my worst enemy.

My phone rang. It was Nina.

"Hurry up you fool, we're outside your house!!"

"Right, okay, Nina I love you too, I'm coming, I just need to finish my breakfast first."

"It's not like you're gonna starve to death Al, come on!!!" she yelled and I could practically hear her if I were to hang up.

"Oh shut up!! Why don't you guys all come inside we can have coffee together, in fact we've got twenty minutes left before we have to go".

I got no affirmative reply, but soon enough I heard a knock on the door. Nina, Jamie and Matt stormed in and went for a group hug. I'm not really the one for hugging so I was the reason why we all collapsed on the floor. Somehow through the laughter I could hear my mum letting us know that the coffee was ready.

We chatted a bit on the ride to school. We were finally there, the huge building in an ugly green colour was sending shivers down my spine, but I gathered my courage and stepped out of the car. It was windy, and I immediately regretted not taking a jacket like my mother suggested.

"Hello second to last year of this hell!" -Matt exclaimed.

I agreed with him on that, it truly was hell. I took a deep breathe out of my mouth as we walked through the door. Nina was stopped by her older brother in the hallway asking what took her so long. He didn't greet as usual, and he had this expression on his face like he was about to throw some fists in the air. I subtly smiled at him, which made him furrow his brows. He was angry I suppose, why was this younger and visibly smaller guy smiling at him? After all he was given the name of a 'bad guy' by the school kids.

I turned the other way and continued walking with Jamie to our first lesson. However the little dance that Nina's brother's brows were performing on his forehead didn't leave my mind for the whole day. He was special. He was one of a kind. And not for the bad guy vibe.

That was just a show, a mask he remembered to put on every day so he could repress all of the good stuff in him. All the stuff that made him feel weak. And I didn't know anything from this, he's never told anyone. But you could see it in his eyes. He didn't have an evil soul after all. He was just an injured puppy all alone in this cruel world.

Or was that how I wanted him to be. Maybe I seemed to have made up a story that'd apply to him, so I didn't have to see the real person. Is it just me trying to find an excuse for all his flaws? An explanation so that I wouldn't have to be faced with the cold harsh truth?

He made my mind go in 100 direction at the same time, and I couldn't blame him. Because I hadn't felt this way before. My mind was wandering at times to places that I only just know that exist. But I'm so confused at what all of this is coming from. Why is the bad guy having such an impact on me and my life? It's shouldn't be like this. I need to do something to change it.

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hey guys this is the first chapter of my first ever fanfic, i did my best to write it and i hope you don't find it boring!!
sof x