Matches ♕ Bughead

♕ | Chapter Thirty-Nine

chapter thirty-nine: groovy juvy 

♚jughead♚

THERE ARE several ways for one to acquire a feeling of a 'high'. The easiest is from harsh chemicals laced within packaged drugs bought from the streets, or bottles of alcohol from the nearest convenience store. However, there are other ways one can achieve this level of high that aren't known to the majority of the population. 

The simplest of things can make one feel like they're on top of the world. Simple things like completing that essay that was due at midnight at exactly 11:55 p.m. Or, achieving an 80% on a test you were most certain you failed. Even more complicated things like love can make someone feel like they're floating on a cloud, hence the nickname of cloud 9. 

As the three of us stand in the middle of the hallway half an hour before school starts, I begin to feel another kind of high in a way I didn't realize was possible. Usually I'm the type of person to be late. When I say I'll meet you at 4:30, I really mean I'm leaving at 4:30. It's a bad habit, I know, but I like the thrill of the rush. I like beating the clock, enjoy the high I feel as I race against the impossible, and to be quite honest I feel extremely proud when I beat it. 

I never, and I mean never arrive early to school. I'm even lucky if I get in before the national anthem starts. I despise being early, so when Betty suggested we head into school half an hour before classes start, I wanted to slam my head against a wall repeatedly until I had an excuse not to go. 

Yet, as I stand in the silent hallway that has yet to be filled with sweaty, pimple-face, oily teenagers I feel some sort of power and high unlike anything before. I feel like I shouldn't be here, like I'm breaking the rules. I feel like since I'm early, I'm above everyone else, like I should get a medal. I've never once been early before, so this is an entirely new feeling. I never knew what it was like not to be stressed about whether or not I would make it to class on time. 

Betty on the other hand looks like she's in heaven, as she is a time fanatic. She has to be early, and is never ever late. Being half an hour early is like a personal gift from God. It amazes me how we are so different, yet are exactly the same person. 

"What's put a smile on your face?" Betty giggles lightly from beside me, nudging my arm. 

"I've never been early to school before...it's a new feeling." I admit while gazing down the empty hallway. I'm certain that if you were to drop a pin right now, you would hear it drop. That is just another analogy I'm tempted to test it's factuality. 

"You mean you've never come early to write the Blue and Gold?" She pouts her bottom lip in confusion. 

"No, I usually stay later." I shrug, stuffing my hands in my pocket. 

"What the hell are we supposed to do for half and hour?" Veronica whines like a little girl, her arms crossed across her chest. "We should have just stayed home."