XO

Chapter 1

"Oh shit!", I exclaimed, swiftly lifting my head up as I heard the distinctive sound of police sirens echoing loudly in the nearby distance. Without hesitation, I immediately began sprinting in the opposite direction of the booming sirens. I took a sharp turn down a dark narrow alley, and continued to run as fast as my feet would carry me. As I neared the end of the alley, I felt my heart beating faster and louder than the booming footsteps behind me. Once I finally reached the opening of the alley, and the police sirens had disappeared into the distance, I stopped to catch my breath. As I brushed my golden blonde hair out of my face, I looked over to my right, where my friend Salina stood and shot me a look of relief and satisfaction.
"Brooke, we should do this every Sunday night", my friend Salina laughed as she grabbed my hand and I followed her across a dimly lit street.
"Of course bitch", I replied with a carefree smirk as we approached the newly created stone wall of a local park. Salina and I climbed over the wall and laid in the grass. I looked up at the darkening sunset which was speckled with a few stars, while Salina dug around in her black bag with the word Coach in 3D gold letters. I heard a soft pop and turned my head to see Sal opening a bottle of wine which we had just stolen.
"Damn this is good!", Salina exclaimed as she drank from the dark curvy bottle of Pinot Noir.
I giggled before asking,"What else did we get?"
"Be Flirty Pink Moscato", Salina replied as she read the label which was printed on a tall bright pink wine bottle,"And a Montoya Cabernet."
"I'll take the Moscato", I said after observing both bottles carefully with narrowed eyes.
"Cool", Salina replied as she tossed the pink wine bottle into my open palms.
As we drank the stolen wine we chatted about recent gossip such as who's going out, who went under the knife, and laughed about the losers in our school.
"You know that ugly bitch Monica with the Orange hair and annoying group of friends?", Sal asked as she turned her head to face me.
"Of course", I responded as an image of Monica, a really annoying girl from our school, popped into my mind,"What about her?"
"Did you see her ass?", Sal asked, her blue eyes lighting up with amusement.
"No?", I responded unsure of where she was going with her question.
"She totally got ass surgery!", Salina exclaimed as she chuckled.
"Oh my God!", I replied with a laugh,"I'm not surprised, she's always been an insecure and fake bitch."
"True", Salina agreed as she took another sip of her wine. After we were done drinking and gossiping, we threw the wine bottles into Sal's bag and climbed back over the stone wall. As we walked in the middle of the empty street, I pulled my compact mirror out of my favorite Michael Kors purse; a sparkly and bermuda blue tote bag with convenient pockets and a big cute bow. I flicked open the mirror and observed my reflection. My long golden blonde hair that reaches to my knees was a little messier than usual, my naturally long eyelashes were even longer with my mascara, and my eyebrows slayed. As usual I had worn a designer outfit which seemed to complement my body perfectly. I was happy with my look, but I was still wishing to be prettier. I tried to stay optimistic, but these days my self confidence has been down drastically. I hate my face, I hate my body, I hate my life. I may seem lucky considering I live in a luxurious mansion in Palm Springs California and am very wealthy, but my life is not like everyone seems to think it is. But how can I complain when I have so much and some people have so little?
"What's wrong baby?", Sal questioned as we walked onto a much busier street.
"What? Everything's fine babe", I responded with a straight face and a forced smile.
"Just checking", Sal said as she pulled a joint out of her pocket and lit it.
I wish I had meant what I had said. The thing is, nothing's fine; I wonder how I manage to keep on pretending everyday that I'm happy. I lied to Sal because I try to keep my pain to myself. I put on a smile everyday, but I rarely ever genuinely smile these days. Ever since my Dad died, my whole life has been a never ending nightmare. My Mom is a total whore and a bitch to me, and my little sister, Fern, got into a horrible car accident and has never been the same since. After my Dad died, I turned into a depressed wreck. None of my friends really even know how I feel; at this point lying is second nature to me. I just hope one day I'll stop feeling like shit all of the time...
"Want one?", Salina asked as she she pulled out another joint and a smile crossed her face,"Wait, never mind I forgot."
"Forgot what?", I questioned with two furrowed eyebrows.
"You don't go near drugs or cigarettes", Salina answered in a strange tone that I did not quite understand.
Ugh, I did not need shit from her. Everyone acts like I'm just some perfect rich barbie, but I'm not. There's much more to me than what they think. Salina and a few of my other friends mock me for not doing drugs, but the truth is, I find daily drug use stupid. I am a model; if I become a druggie, I ruin my chance of making it big. Besides, drugs practically sentence you to looking like a hag and a nearer death sentence. Sure, I've smoked a few cigarettes in my life, but I try to avoid drugs all I can. I have to admit though, I do get tempted at times; it's hard to resist something when your best friends continuously pressure you to do it. Regardless, I've only smoked weed a few times while partying and I have never tried any hard drug like coke or meth.
"Yeah I'll pass, I want to keep my white teeth and young complexion. You can smoke them all you want, just know you may end up looking like an old hag", I replied in a slightly annoyed tone.
Instead of arguing with me, Salina muttered a soft "whatever", rolled her eyes, and exhaled a large amount of smoke into the night sky. As we wandered the busy sidewalks without a definitive destination, I admired the beautiful city streets. The night air smelled salty and of both beaches and liquor. The lights of the buildings in the distance created a colorful city bokeh, the streets were filled with lines of cars, and the sidewalks consisted of groups of friends and couples of all ages. After admiring the beauty around me, I couldn't possibly stop thinking that I am so lucky to get to live in such a beautiful place. In that moment, I didn't want to be anywhere else.

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