Life at the High

School is in Session

On the first day back to school at Wilkerson High, most students were awoken by loud alarm clocks or excited parents. However, in a five-star hotel not far away, Charity Mills awoke to the sounds of Toni opening the door for room service.

"Thank you. You can just leave it right there." Toni quickly ushered the service attendant out of the room.

Charity sat up in bed and stretched, before falling back into the pile of pillows behind her. She looked around at the elaborate crown molding that surrounded the ceiling and allowed herself one final feeling of sleeping in 100% cotton sheets. "If you're ordering breakfast that means summer is over. I'm not ready for that yet babe."

Toni sat on the side of the bed beside her and gently kissed her forehead. "You are so beautiful. A lot more will be over if we get caught though. Hurry up and eat then get home, before your mom becomes suspicious."

Charity sat up just enough to hug him and nuzzle her face into his chest. "Fine."

"I don't want you to get written up for being late. I hear there's a new hard-ass running that school." Toni smirked.

"Oh well of course not." Charity got out of bed and stood between Toni's legs and she gave him a long kiss. "Then again, I think I have it pretty good with the Assistant Principal."

Toni wraps his arms around her waist. "Oh, is that so? Why don't you show me how you'd persuade him?"

Across town, in the Wilson family household Janelle was ready for her first day of reinventing herself. She'd been known around school as Charity's best friend, that weird kid that hangs around the other weird kid and her least favorite of all, Travis' little sister. Janelle was over being pushed around and known just as the girl who tagged along with someone else. She wanted to be known for simply being Janelle.

"Don't be afraid to go heavy with this. You will look so fierce. Trust me." The voiceover in her YouTube tutorial encouraged her as she tried her best to look like she knew anything about makeup.

A rough knock on the door made her poke herself in the eye with the mascara.

"Geez Travis I'm trying to get ready in here," Janelle shouted through the locked door.

"Well hurry up, you and Jackie Aina are making me late.

"That's just a commercial I'm listening to music." Janelle cut down the volume on her tablet because she didn't want anyone, not even her lame brother, knowing she needed help with makeup.

"Geez." She looked in the mirror at herself and realized she needed more practice. "I look like a stripper raccoon."

She fixed her makeup as best she could and made sure her hair and edges looked good enough for the first day of school. The idea of being noticed by a guy got her giddy. As she skipped towards the stairs she received an Instagram notification, which was nice because she only had 25 followers.

"Yes!" She jumped in excitement. "26 followers."

A text message notification came to her phone next. It was a text from Wilkerson High's bad boy, Joey. He wasn't the hottest guy in the school, but he always knew how to have a good time. It wasn't hard to get away with a lot either, because people didn't expect too much wrongdoing from kids at an elite private school.

Janelle ran down the stairs as she saw that she was invited to a party. This wasn't the type of party where she was only invited because the host knew her brother. This type of invite was a first for her.

Hey, it's Joey from school. I'm having a party this weekend and I'd really like it if you could come.

As she stared at the phone in awe, Janelle missed one of the steps and tumbled forward. She quickly held onto the railing but threw too much of her weight into it and fell over and into a pile of Travis' dirty football laundry lying on the floor. As she stood up she checked herself out in the mirror and realized her makeup looked a lot better.

Kimiko Lee lived only a few blocks away from Janelle and hurried out of the house to pick her up for school.

She had a newfound attitude that was as noticeable as her crisply pressed uniform. She wasn't going to allow anyone to push her around. The only person who could even get away with it was Joey and Miko hated being one of those girls who weakened her defenses over a guy. She received a text from Joey.

Hey babe. It's Joey. I know I haven't been good about texting you lately, but I'm having a party this weekend and I really want you to come. We can spend some time together then...

She hesitated on how to respond and decided she'd deal with it later.

As she got in she heard the all too regular, but horrid sounds of her next-door neighbors. The husband hit and threatened his wife as she pleaded for him to stop. Hearing this and doing nothing made Miko feel weaker than Joey ever had. But as she always had she got in her car and did nothing to help the lady next door. Instead, she said a quick prayer and turned on 'Hymn' by Kesha to drown out the sound.

Before she drove to pick up Janelle she responded to Joey's text.

Can't wait. I'll definitely be there.

  On the first day back to school at Wilkerson High, most students were awoken by loud alarm clocks or excited parents.  None of those students knew that not everyone would make it to see another school year.

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Author's Note: I am trying to get back into writing more and posting. Please tell me what you think so far. What do you think will happen to the girls? What do you want to see?