The Beginning of the End

VII.

*Warning: Some pretty gory violence*

Seeing Shaun and Jess around the school as a real couple became more of a normal thing nowadays. By the time September came around and the leaves started changing from green to yellow, I got used to them consistently reaching second base—in the hall. But as you might already know, that wasn't rare in most public schools, especially mine. Passing by bathrooms, you could often hear couples reaching the third base. I could've sworn I've even heard a home run before.

With projects and testing and other senior year shit that everyone has to deal with, I finally found a reason to be isolated in my room. Time was spent studying and typing and stressing over little and big things.

After my hug with Shaun and Jess, we all got into this really big talk. And by big, I mean, like, Eiffel Tower big. Big Mac big. BBC big. That's how big it was.

It pretty much changed my whole perspective on everything, to be honest. And I would go into detail, but it dragged on from after school until the following day. When my mom saw me walk into the house at three o'clock that morning with saggy-ass eyes, crossed arms, and a very noticeable frown, I knew all was over for me.

"Mooooooom..." I said, attempting to sweet talk her into letting me go upstairs.

With her hand outstretched, I knew I lost privileges to my phone and the car, and I would be stuck with walking to school and staying home doing nothing. But once everything had returned to normal, everything seemed... hopeful.

After a while, I actually felt happy. To me, it was an alien-like feeling. I almost didn't feel human because it had been so long where I felt comfortable with myself as a whole. 

When it came to Florence and her group, I found almost absolute comfort hanging out with them and Jess and Shaun as a whole. We'd spend our lunches outside and inside in our a-little-to-big campus. Timothy was a pretty awkward guy. I'd catch him staring at Heather or even Shaun, so I wasn't sure where on the sexuality scale he planted himself. Heather and Dinah had the bond that made them an almost-couple. They were intimate as hell, but they would never cross the border into an attraction phase.

When it came to Florence, though, I could almost feel a flutter in my heart when I looked into her dark brown eyes. Eyes that welcomed me, put me in a little trance.

And then, I would soon find myself turning into a tomato. I'd cup my nonexistent cheeks with my hand to cover the redness. 

And to be brutally honest, everything seemed well. We were all content with life for the moment.

"You've already gone and moved on, JT? Wow."

Claire. With the sassy tone of her voice and the threatening presence surrounding me, I knew that something was going to happen.

"Er—what?" I responded.

"I'm saying that you've forgotten about me already. I can't even believe you. Why would you even think about doing—" she started, but Florence had taken action by getting out of her seat viciously.

"Is this the hoe who's made your life hell, JT?" Florence questioned, putting her hands behind her back and clenching and unclenching her fists. I gulped before responding after a very long and awkward pause: "Yeah. She is."

Claire smirked and yawned. "Uh, who the hell are you?"

"Florence, bitch." 

And before I knew it, it was an all-out brawl between the two. Florence reached for Claire's ponytail and yanked like hell. Claire let out a yelp and balled her hand into a fist, striking one of Florence's breasts, I couldn't tell. You could barely even tell what was happening, but strands of hair littered the floor within seconds.