Boring, 1997-1998

The Freshmen

Jenya took her seat at the lunch table with Daniel and Sofía. "Are we going to address the elephant in the room?" She asked.
"What are you talking about?" Sofía raised an eyebrow as she applied a shiny coat of lipgloss.
"Daniel auditioned for the movie."
"He did what!?"
"I saw him in line after school yesterday!"
"I really don't see what the big deal here is..." Daniel started.
"Jesús, este chico prueba mi paciencia," Sofía mumbled to herself. She let out an exasperated sigh and turned to the boy, "Daniel. We've been best friends since the sixth grade. We're freshmen now, and it's more important now than ever to stick together. Especially as people of color! I mean seriously; pretty much everyone is white here," Jenya silently nodded in agreement as she spun her fork in spaghetti. Sofía stole a french fry from Daniel's lunch tray and continued, "We've got to be there for each other, and we can't do that by splitting up."
Daniel rolled his eyes, "God, you're so dramatic. We'll still be working on the same movie! Besides, I've wanted to be an actor since I was little. I'm not about to let this chance pass me up."
Jenya quietly chewed her pasta. She searched his face before inhaling deeply and rubbing her temples, "Fine. Sof, he's right. We're still together, but we'll be behind the camera and he'll be in front of it."
They ate in silence for a minute before Daniel asked, "Doesn't it bother you two that we sit alone at lunch? I'm sure drama club and AV wouldn't mind if we joined them."
Sofía pulled her hair into a tight ponytail and picked up her lunch tray, beginning to walk to the other side of the cafeteria. Daniel and Jenya scrambled to catch up to her, "Wow, she's not even going to argue first?" The boy laughed. Jenya giggled, and subtly admired him as they followed Sofía. His sharp jawline, soft dimples, and warm eyes made him so incredibly handsome. She'd had a crush on him for a while now, but they were best friends. She would never want to mess that up.
As they approached the table, it seemed everyone was anticipating their arrival. Tyler sat between Leslie and McQuaid, and all three were staring at the freshmen. Scott was annoying Jessica as she tried to cram in some last minute homework. Jenya looked to Luke, who was serving as a backrest for Emaline, whose legs were slung over Kate's lap as she braided the brunette's hair. "Hey, McQuaid. You owe me five, I said they would come over on their own, but you said we would have to ask them." Tyler snorted.
"And this is why I do not gamble." McQuaid muttered, reaching into his pocket and slapping a five dollar bill onto the table.
Tyler grabbed it and whispered something to Leslie, to which her whole face lit up. "It depends which movie though, I'm not great with horror-" She started before she was visibly nudged underneath the table. Tyler was blushing profusely.
"Yo, freshies!" Emaline said, "Feel free to sit with us. We don't bite." She looked to Scott, who was obviously invading Jessica's personal space, "Um, well, at least most of us don't. I'm Emaline, and I didn't want to come to this shithole school today but Kate made me." She extended her hand and smiled warmly. Sofía accepted her handshake and grinned. "I like your attitude," she said.
Kate silently played with the blonde's shoelaces, before tilting her head. "Are these my boots?"
"We wear the same size. You expect me to share a room with you and not steal your shoes?" She questioned. Kate smacked her arm playfully.
McQuaid studied the new kids. Jenya was a short Indian girl, who was clearly very fashion-forward. She wore a white tank top, a blue flannel tied around her waist, and black ripped jeans. Her long hair flowed down to her waist.
Daniel was tall, with an impossibly perfect facial structure. His hair was pushed flawlessly to the side, his eyes were deep and kind, and his lips were naturally pigmented. Just the kind of guy McQuaid hated simply for existing.
Now, Sofía was something else. The Latina was tall, and had curves for days. Her warm brown eyes sparkled when they hit the light just right. Of the three freshmen, she was the only one he knew because they had talked at morning announcements in the past. She was funny, opinionated, and beautiful, but very insecure. Although his theory wasn't yet confirmed, he also guessed she was a lot smarter than she was letting on. Sometimes she would slip up, and almost reveal her genius, but would backtrack and downplay it like nothing happened. It was very intriguing to him, and he had developed a slight fascination with the girl.
"What are you doing still standing there? Take a seat!" Luke smiled. He scooted over, causing Emaline (who was still leaning her back on him) to lose her balance and fall off of the bench. "What was that, asswipe?" She said from the floor. Kate and Luke looked down at her and began to laugh. Jenya offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet. "Thanks," she said, "You're Jenya, right?"
"Yep."
"Yeah, Luke told me about you. You guys are pretty cool! I hate annoying freshmen. Hey Luke! Remember when you were an annoying freshman? And then again, when you were an annoying sophomore?"
"But I'm a sophomore right now."
"Exactly my point," She sat down next to Kate and continued the partially completed braid in her hair.

...

"Em, if you don't mind my saying, you did a great job keeping your shit together at school," Kate said as they pulled out of the parking lot. Emaline was in the passenger seat, and Luke was in the back playing with a Gameboy.
"Yeah, well I'm an actress. It's my job to pretend."
"I really like those new freshmen. They're cool."
"Yeah, I like them too."
"You better like 'em Emaline, because you have quite a few kissing scenes with Daniel." Luke chimed in, not looking up from his game.
"So," Kate treaded carefully around the sensitive subject, "Have you thought about Maddie?"
"Yeah," She took a deep breath, "I think I'm going to take her off life support. First of all, that kid is undoubtedly going to be born with birth defects because of how she poisoned her body. I think it's f*cked up to do that to a child. Second, I know I'm going to have to mother it, and I'm not ready. I do want to be a mom someday, but not as a 17-year-old. And then I considered was my sister. I love her, and what they're-... what I'm doing to her right now is undignified and inhumane."
Kate turned in her seat, "Wow. You so much stronger than I could ever be."
"Eyes on the road, sweetie."
"Yeah, sorry."
"I'm going to need you by my side. I love you," Emaline said quietly and kissed her cheek.
"Guys! I am literally in the car with you! Save it for Kate's room!" Luke groaned.
Without even turning around in their seats, both the girls simultaneously flipped him off.

(A/N: Wanna know why I'm currently frustrated? Sydney Sweeney is like 20 minutes away from me. She's at Lollapalooza and I live in Chicago, but guess who can't afford to go! hahahaha lol it's fine i'm fine.)