The Lying Serpent

Chapter Three: How to Be a Heartbreaker

Gif of Ryan (Dylan Sprouse) above :)

Dedicated to @Tylerc66 for being an amazing friend and helping edit my work :)

***

As soon as I left the school grounds, I felt like I could breathe again.

After the incident with Sabrina at lunch, I had endured endless stares and whispering. It was like people expected me to be blind and deaf. My school just had to be a stereotypical American high school.

After a lot of begging and pleading through the phone, Mum agreed to my study session with

Nita. We had the windows rolled down, letting the remaining summer breeze waft through the car, as we drove home, while blasting the radio at a high volume. We screamed the lyrics to all our favourite songs, laughing when one of us tried -and failed- to hit a high note.

How to be a Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds came on, and Nita screeched in delight.

"Rule number one, is that you gotta have fun

And baby when you're done, you gotta be the first to run

Rule number two, just don't get attached to

Somebody you could lose

So le-let me tell you" we screamed at the top of our lungs.

The song finished as we rounded the corner onto my street, and we were both out of breath.

I slowly got out of the car when I'm Gonna Show You Crazy by Bebe Rexha blasted through the air.

Fishing my phone out, I accepted the call without looking at the caller ID. I didn't have to, I already knew it was Jacko.

Jackson's nickname is Jacko because he was the craziest of us when we were kids. He had absolutely no shame in tormenting the public, earning him the name 'Jacko the Wacko'. He's no longer as crazy, but Jacko stuck.

"Yello," I greeted him.

"Hey Linda, is Nita with you?"

"Yeah...why?"

"Ok, so Lissie told Ley, who then told Sam, who told Taylor, who told me, that there's going to be a project the whole year group has to do in separate groups, on environmental issues. That means we have to include endangered species, sustainable habitats, litter ...and all that kind of stuff! You know I suck at this, Linda. Put Nita on, she's best at calming people down. And hurry!"

"Wow, you know just how to boost my ego," I muttered.

"Yeah, Linda, you see that? That right there is exactly why you suck at calming me down."

"Ok, ok, whatever. Heres Nita."

I handed my phone to Nita, who had a look of utter confusion on her face. She glanced at the caller ID, then with a questioning voice she said "Hey Jacko, what's up?"

"Nita, oh my gosh, you're not gonna believe it..."

Jacko continued to ramble on as I signalled for Nita to follow me into the house.

I rummaged through the small pantry for a snack, as I'm always hungry after school. In the distance, I could hear Nita trying to reassure Jacko that everything will be fine. Honestly, that boy could not care about making a fool of himself in public, and then stress over little things like this.

~~~

It was later that night when I heard it.

I carefully peeled back the corner of my curtain to see a moving truck outside the house next door

A nice couple with two young sons used to live there, but when their grandmother died they moved to be closer to their grandfather.

A black family van pulled up behind the truck and out came a blonde girl, a little brunette girl, two little boys, one blonde, one brunette and their parents.

The blonde girl looked around my age, with long, waist-length hair.

As if sensing my gaze, she spun towards the window. I quickly ducked, letting the edge of the curtain swing back into place.

I had a feeling tomorrow was going to be very eventful.

***

A/N: I know the story's a little slow but I promise drama is coming :) I'll try update asap but I have school soon and exams are coming. Hope you guys enjoyed and please vote and/or comment xx