Boring, 1997-1998

Hell and High Water

"Get up." Luke gently pushed the sleeping body, hidden by blankets. Kate groaned and pulled the comforter over her head. "Will you-... Kate. Seriously. We're leaving soon."
"I don't have a first period class today, asshole. My gym teacher gave us a free period." She mumbled.
"Yeah? And how the hell are you gonna get to school?"
"I don't know. I'll walk if I have to."
"Emaline!" Luke hollered, "Backup please!"
They heard her footsteps coming up the stairs, "Kate. Get your ass up. I am not trying to get a tardy from Ms. Jones today, that bitch is ruthless."
Kate let out an exasperated sigh, and poked her head out from underneath the blankets, "Fine, but I'm naked." She turned to the boy who stood, unmoving. She pursed her lips, "That was me indirectly telling you to leave, bud."
He turned to Emaline and raised an eyebrow. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Please. Nothing I haven't seen before."
"Whatever. Just hurry, okay?" Luke said as he exited the room.
Kate got out of bed and began to get dressed. The blonde leaned against the door, subtly admiring her figure. As Kate put on her bra, she stared at herself in the mirror. She bit her lip, "Ahh, shit. Really, Emaline? A hickie? How am I gonna explain that?" She gestured to her collarbone, where sure enough, a small patch of skin was lightly bruised.
"Sorry?" She giggled and shrugged her shoulders. Tossing Kate a t-shirt from the dresser, she said, "This should cover it. Sweetie, you know I love you, but c'mon. Car leaves in five." She walked out of the bedroom, but immediately turned around and said, "Oh! Today's the meeting with my parents."
"Mmhm..." Kate said, pulling her jeans up.
"Meet me by my locker after school?"
"Yep. I'm kind of scared, to be honest." Kate said, threading a belt through her jeans.
Emaline laughed and shook her head, "They're basically like overgrown preteens, and you have my full permission to treat them as such," she turned to the mirror, meeting her own gaze, "I just don't know if I'll be able to talk about Maddie without crying."
"You shouldn't have to. It's okay to cry." Kate said as she slung a jacket over her shoulders.
"Not in front of them." She snapped. The room become uncomfortably quiet. Kate's eyes widened and she put her hands in her pockets, "Jeez, sorry. I didn't know."
Emaline's movements were cold and ridged as she grabbed her math notebook from the dresser. "Come on. We're gonna be late."

...

Emaline leaned against her locker, watching a nearby clock with silent anxiety. The second-hand was ticking so loudly her ears hurt. Everything else was a blur.
McQuaid and Tyler approached her, and they exchanged a look of concern when they saw her vacant expression. Tyler placed a hand on her shoulder, "Em? Are you alright?"
She remained fixated on the clock, but pulled away from his touch. "I'm fine. Have you seen Messner? She's late."
"Emaline, forgive my intrusiveness, but you don't seem fine. Do you need to talk?" McQuaid asked, just as Sofía rounded the corner.
"McQuaid! C'mon, let's go. You promised we would hang out after school."
"Sof, now is not a good time. Can I meet you later?"
Sofía followed McQuaid's concerned gaze to Emaline, who was avoiding eye contact from everyone. "Seriously? I'm you're girlfriend. Emaline can wait."
"She's my friend, Sofía. And she's important to me. We can either hang out later, or not at all. That's my best and final offer."
Sofía exhaled sharply and walked towards the door.
"I'm sorry about that, Em."
"It's fine. I'm fine. I don't need to talk."
"If I've learned anything about girls, it's that when they say they're fine its complete BS." Tyler smiled lightly, "What's wrong?"
Emaline turned her stare from one boy to the other and sighed, "My parents. I have to talk to them today about my sister's funeral."
McQuaid's eyes widened, "Woah. There's a lot to unpack there."
"Yeah, no shit. And Kate was supposed to be with me to hold my hand, but my dumbass yelled at her this morning and I don't know if she's coming anymore."
"Frankly, I'm offended that you think so little of me," Kate smirked, as she walked down the hallway towards her friends. Emaline whipped around, "Oh thank God," She breathed.
"Em, I would never bail on you over something as stupid as you raising your voice at me. Through hell and high water, right?"
"Right." She beamed.
"Well, I wish you the very best of luck with your parents, Emaline." McQuaid said, awkwardly patting her shoulder.
Tyler stifled a laugh and removed McQuaid's arm from Emaline. He began to walk in the opposite direction and his taller friend followed. "Let's go. We should see a movie! I've been meaning to see Men In Black-... Oh shit!!"
"What?"
"I forgot about my date with Leslie!"
"... You're dating Leslie?"
Tyler nodded and looked at the ground, shuffling his feet.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I thought it was weird!"
"Why would that be weird? She's adorable!"
"Shit. Damn it. I... I have to make this right. I gonna find her."
"Alright. I am going to find Sofía and spend time with her while you do that."

(A/N: Wow guess who's still alive?? This girl! Sorry for being gone for so long, but I really like this story and I miss the characters so much that I thought it was definitely worth continuing. This was kind of a filler chapter, so sorry about that.)