Avia Huxley has been waiting her whole life for senior year. Her mission: take down The Elites, a group who destroyed her mother's life years ago.
Now, their children are almost adults. Avia vows to destroy the new generation so something like her d...
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Marie and I are hanging out in my bedroom while the hot, autumn weekend toils on. The leaves are turning golden yellows and vibrant reds, but the summer temperatures remain. We planned on going to the outdoor mall, but Marie agreed that eighty-degree weather is not optimal for shopping.
So, here we are in my room. She's scrolling through my movie library, looking for, in her own words, a "fun" horror movie. How horror movies can be fun, I have no idea.
"How about A Nightmare on Elm Street? That's a classic!" Marie suggests, and my eyes roll involuntarily.
"I hate horror movies. None of them are ever that scary," I tell her with distaste in my voice.
My fears aren't something stupid like clowns or ghosts, they're real. Something like drowning, falling, death, or torture are the only fears that keep me up at night.
"I get it, Avia. You're an emotionless monster." Marie smirks. "Maybe that's why The Elites like you so much."
That's true, The Elites do like me. Everyone seems to at least tolerate my presence at the center table now. Even Angie doesn't glare at me every time I sit down. She only crosses her arms angrily, and I call that great progress for only two weeks.
Poppy clings onto me as a last attempt to dish out all her problems on whoever will listen, which works great for my plans.
Actually, we're going shopping tomorrow for our homecoming dress, and I'm going to start extracting secrets out of her unfiltered mouth.
I eye Marie innocently. "Why do you hate them so much? Sure, most of them are egocentric, but they're not that bad!"
They're much, much worse than anyone could ever know.
"I would tell you what happened with them, but it'd probably scare you away," She scoffs.
Yes, she's giving me an opening to learn about her past. Who knows, maybe this'll help me in the long run!
God, I sound like my mom. I should want to know about Marie because she's my friend, not because it could benefit me.
My tone grows serious. "Marie, I don't care what they think about my friendship with you. I change everything else about my image to suit them, but you're totally off limits. Remember the first day? You were the only one to be kind to me no matter what."
She starts shrinking inwards self-consciously, and I grow worried. Every day she puts on a mask to hide her true emotions about them, but I can see the strings unraveling.
"Well, alright. You're lucky I trust you so much. They would eventually give you a bullshit version of what happened junior year anyway." Marie cleared her throat.
