FALL

Chapter 7: The Return

Luckily, Zander ended up leaving the next morning, and I never saw him again all weekend. But now that today is Monday, my day long streak of no Zander will sadly come to an end.

I wake up at 5 AM and then about 5 more times after that, as most people do in the mornings.

I stuff my stomach full of food, hop in the shower, and put on my uniform, which today consists of a white polo shirt with my school's logo on the front, a plaid skirt, and of course, my converse.

I actually decide to look somewhat presentable today, so I spend a little extra time on my hair and makeup.

I loosely curl my long, blonde hair to where it resembles the beach waves that every girl longs for, and I cover my face in bronzer, blush, mascara, and a light layer of chapstick.

Damn, I look good.

Ha, I wish. It's impossible to look good in these clothes.

After getting all my stuff together, me and my siblings hop in the car and make the lengthy, dreaded car ride to school.

After a while, we arrive in a parking lot full of our peers and brace ourselves for the day, hoping it isn't as bad as most Mondays are.

I grab my backpack and laptop and walk into the doors of the Hell.

I walk down the hall past a number of students standing in circles with their friends, laughing at whatever middle schoolers and underclassmen laugh at.

Probably like Jacob Sartor- whatever the fuck.

I reach my locker after having to push through crowds of annoying people and am greeted by Adam:

"Hey," he says cheerfully.

Ugh, who is that happy on a Monday morning.

"Hey, Adam," I say.

Before he has the chance to respond, our shoulders are weighed down by JJ throwing his arms around us, embracing us in a big hug

"Ahhh, my people," he breathes. "How are y'all this mornin'?

"Fine," I trail off, with a confused look on my face. "How are you, JJ?"

"Just peachy!" he tells me, bopping me on the nose.

I hate it when people do that.

With that, he turns around and runs down the hall, throwing out compliments and high-fives to almost every person he lays his eyes on.

Weird. He must've gotten laid.

First period goes by as it normally does: I ignore Zander's presence; Mr. Dawson sucks at teaching; he tells us about the activity we will be doing with our kindergartners the following week, which never actually happens; and Austyn, a girl who sits next to me, and I stalk hot guys on Instagram when we're supposed to be doing our work.

You know, the usual.

Second period rolls around, and I brace myself for whatever Zander has in store for me during the next 50 minutes.

Before the final bell rings, I wander around the classroom, talking to all the people I pretend to like, specifically a girl by the name of Lauren.