Washed away

Chapter 1

The sky was calm and clear and the sun shone crisply down on the small town of Cape Mandy. Jennifer adored those rare days when there wasn't any hot, humid air suffocating her. She savored those particularly warm and bright days.

Jennifer's house stood small and erect on a small green cliff that overlooked the vast sea and bustling beach. She looked out of the window and gazed down at the crowds of people shrouding the beach and running around, hundreds of volleyballs zipping through the air and the gentle waves overlapping one another as the previous one receded.

Monday morning meant school. She couldn't afford to be one of those people who frolicked under the heat of the benevolent sun and caressing atmosphere.

Grudgingly, she lifted her butt off the sofa and made her way to the front door. Her best friend Chloe stood their awaiting her.

"Chloe! My number 1 fav! Do you want to skip school and sun bathe on the beach instead?"

"Shut up Jen. Go grab your bag and get your ass out here now. Miss Grundwald said we're having a graded test today. You studied for it, didn't you?"

"Yeah, psshhh, I totally did. I spent all weekend revising the nitrogen cycle", Jennifer said that with an air of mock pride.

Chloe laughed and shook her light blonde head at her friend in mock dismay. Jennifer may act and seem like an airhead but she could get an A or at least a B in a test she didn't even study for.

The girls made their way from Jen's house and walked down the corrugated, dusty, dirt road towards the beach town's only high school- Cape Mandy High School.

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"Aw man! We have food studies first period! Old lady Peterson is never going to let us make french fries again," Jen whined, "I hate her."

"Oh, I loathe her. Hey class, guess what? We're gonna make some healthy insipid hummus and then chop up some bland celery and carrot sticks to dip in!", Chloe played along, making her best imitation of Mrs. Peterson, their dreaded food studies teacher.

"Hahaha. Your imitation of Old lady Peterson was on point," Jen laughed as she clenched  her hand to fist bump Chloe.

Unfortunately, the unpleasant  sound of the school bell resonated through the tiny, narrowing halls of their school and reminded the students of the long day of torture ahead of them.

"Yay.", the two girls held their hands in the air and waved them with mock excitement before dragging their feet to the food studies lab.

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Chloe and Jen mentally high-five each other when they saw a substitution teacher in place of Mrs. Peterson.

He was a tall man, with slight muscles bulging on his arms. He had shaggy light brown hair that he had unsuccessfully tried to brush to a side. Many girls in the classroom stared dreamily in awe at his face.

"Well, you two young ladies have arrived just a wee bit late," , The substitute sarcastically glanced at his watch for they were 10 mins late, "please take your seats." He gestured to the two vacant chairs that unfortunately, weren't placed next to each other.

The cautiously made their way past all the tables to their respective places.

"Now that all of you are present, I can properly introduce myself. I'm Mr. Gerald and I'm not just going to be you're substitute for today- I will be teaching you food studies in place of Mrs. Peterson for the rest of the year-"

Before Mr. Gerald could say anything more, the entire class jeered. His newly acquired fan girls sighed and made goofy smiles. Jen and Chloe smirked at each other from the opposite corners of the room. They were just happy that they were relieved from Old lady Peterson.