How To Be Beautiful.

The One with the Pity.

High school is what I like to think of as the turning point of any person's life. To me, it was a mixture of emotions, thrill, and self-discovery, one that you rarely get to experience during another phase of your life. And mine was nothing but another blurred font between those lines, but it was mine, the bad, the good, and all that's in between. 

"Claire, Claire, Claire," Chanted the guy heading my way, taking me into one of his infamous hugs that I didn't know I missed until he put his arms around me, wrapping me in a warm embrace. "I've missed you," He said, his voice muffled into my hair, sending warm chills down my spine.

"I missed you too," I replied with a smile as we stepped away from each other. "It's good to have you back,"

"Don't I get a hug too," Teased the black haired girl standing next to me, getting herself a side hug. "I don't even like you, but I guess Europe had made me soft." He teased back, making me chuckle. It's good to see those two back together. "I don't like you either," She shrugged as we noticed two familiar faces coming in our direction.

"You know; you could have texted us when you landed!" Said Natasha, giving Adam a hug, followed by Zack who settled for a brief side hug, "Good to have you back, bud," said he, before stepping back, standing next to Zayna.

"We landed at five in the morning, I doubted any of you would be up, so," He shrugged. "Some of us were," said Zay, shooting me a knowing look.

"I bet you're beat," I said, ignoring her look. "Yeah, didn't get much sleep last night," He nodded with a smile. "And the jet lag is killing me!"

"Did you get your schedule?" Asked Natasha, pointing at the piece of paper in her hand, giving me a chance to elbow Zayna, who was standing next to me. "Aww!" She hissed, looking back at me, as I mouthed."What the heck?" Before bringing my attention back to the other three.

"First period?" Asked Adam, looking around, before his eyes landed on mine. "History," I answered.

"Same here," said Zay, a little too loud, grabbing the attention of a few people around us.

He grabbed the paper off of my hands, holding it closer to his to compare our schedules, "We only got three classes together!" He exclaimed as I looked towards the two papers he had in hand, "There are two English periods on Thursday, so technically four," I shrugged, trying to hide my disappointment.

"What about you two?" I asked, grabbing the paper off of Adam's hands to compare it with them. "We've got," said Zack, looking at our schedules. "Social and music together."

"And mmm," He added. "Geography and Biology with us," He added, pointing between him and Ash.

"Good," I nodded in satisfaction, knowing I'll have company for most of the week.

"So, met anyone during your travels?" Asked Zay, wiggling her eyebrows at Adam knowingly, shifting my attention back to him. "Mmm," He hummed, looking between us. "I might have met someone," He nodded, making my heart do a very, very elaborate spin. "You did?" I couldn't help but ask, my eyes never leaving his face.

His mouth stretched into a wide grin, "Naah," He exclaimed, dropping a hand over my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. "You're my one and only babe," He teased, making me nudge him in the side as my ears started to burn behind my black locks. "Oh my god," he squeaked in pain, clutching his side. "Have you been working out!" He exclaimed.

"Right!" Cried Zay, pointing at his side. "That shit hurts way more than it should!" She chuckled.

"We should get going," said Zack as we heard the first bell ring. "Yeah, we'll go first; history is on the other side of the building." Said Zay, checking the room number on her schedule.