Lovemies

The Next and Last Step of Recovery

Maribeth blinked open her eyes to the blaring noise of her alarm. She sat up and turned it off but once she laid back down her eyes snapped back open. She groaned, half in excitement and half in annoyance. Today was her first day at a real school, and the 16 year old's story wasn't the happiest.

Just a few months before her 15th birthday, her father had gone to prison. He had taken his own wife and daughter hostage in his own home. Turns out he was secretly an alcoholic, which was the cause of his actions.

Ever since then Maribeth had very bad anxiety and a bad arm, which she thought of as constant reminders of the terrible memory that to this day lingered in her head. After the incident she was so paranoid that she refused to leave her room for 24 days. Her mother called those days The 24 Days of Isolation.

After those 24 days, Maribeth began recovery. She got physical therapy in her home by a close family friend, who happened to work at a physical therapy center. Her mother; Franchesca Lizaberth, began to have her daughter walk their dog, Tikki with her. 7 months before Maribeth had turned 16, she began to do errands to the store, more specifically the fabric store. Seeing all the different materials comforted Maribeth, even on the darkest of days.

Now, here she was. The final major step of recovery, and that was school. For a long time Maribeth was to scared to go to Rover High School, but today was her first day. She did the math in her head to see how much time she had. Two hours.

Maribeth rushed to get her chosen outfit out of her closet. She grabbed the hanger with her outfit and hung it on her bathroom door. She stripped out of her pajamas and put on the cute yet comfortable outfit. She had chosen a light pink sweater, white ripped jeans, and light pink sneakers. she then put on her silver flower locket that her aunt had given to her before she had died only 5 years earlier. She grabbed her white floral backpack and ran downstairs.

"Maribeth! Good morning sweetheart! You need to head to school ASAP, so I have a fruit bowl and your wallet in the limo, OK?" Franchesca said before hugging her daughter. "You'll do fine."

Maribeth smiled at her mother's words and ran out to the limo. She got in, buckled her seatbelt, and rode to school, checking social media and eating the delicious fruit bowl. Once she got to the school she shakily stepped out of the limo, and watched it drive away. She gripped the straps of her backpack and began to walk away from the school in panic before hearing a perky voice behind her.

"Hi! Are you Maribeth?" The girl asked. Maribeth swerved around to see her. She had tan skin and curly brown hair. Her brown eyes popped with the perfectly winged eyeliner and light pink lip gloss. She wore a orange plaid dress with white knee high socks, complimented with a pair of brown boots.

"How did you know?" Maribeth stuttered. She rubbed her arm with the palm of her other hand nervously.

"Well, the new students are usually really nervous, and you're the only new student this year so I used some common sense. I'm Ana by the way!" Ana said, waving. Maribeth's eyes wandered to see the charm bracelet on Ana's hand. There was an inscription in the gold plate. Nena. That's what it read.

"Why is that random word on your bracelet?" Maribeth asked, curiosity filling her normally shy voice.

"Oh! My boyfriend gave it to me on our 1 year anniversary. Nena is both our names combined; Ana and Neil. The diamond symbolizes the homecoming dance we went to together, which was also on our 3rd anniversary." Ana explained, pinching the gold plate with her two fingers, a faint smile pricking her face.

"Oh that's so cute!" Maribeth said, clasping her hands together. "Can you take me on a tour of the school by any chance?"

"Of course girl!" Ana said, linking her arm with Maribeth. They both smiled as the walked around the school. Ana showed her new best friend the classes, cafeteria, gym, offices, bathrooms, but then stopped in front of a certain closet.

"This closet is the art closet. It holds needed supplies for Art Class and Fashion Design Class projects, but it has a nickname that will make sense when I explain it's story. It's called the Shantom closet. Dylan Shantom pulls all his pranks here, and this is usually where he makes his unexpected and unneeded flirts, if you know what I mean. You should be able to recognize him all the time after you first see him. He has blonde hair, brown eyes, and is around 6 feet tall. He has his signature wink, which he uses on every girl, and it always causes what we call Love at First Wink. Pretty dumb yet makes sense once you get to know him. He's Neil's best friend so me and Dylan are good friends. Me and Neil are his main friend group, so Dylan never flirts with me, but I don't know about you. Rumors have it he hasn't found a girl he's actually fallen in love with." Ana explained. Maribeth was about to speak but two boys walked up behind Ana.

Both boys were around the same height, 6 feet tall to be exact. One of them wrapped their arm around Ana's waist and kissed her cheek, so Maribeth came to the conclusion that he was Neil. He too had tan skin and brown hair, but he had a very different style. Neil wore a bright blue t-shirt with an odd logo that looked kind of like an abstract eye, blue-gray jeans, red and white sneakers, and orange headphones around his neck. The other boy simply stood next to Neil and Ana. He had blonde hair and brown eyes. His style seemed pretty familiar to Maribeth somehow, but she couldn't remember how. He wore a black t-shirt with a green, yellow, and purple stripe going across his chest. He also wore a white button up shirt over it like a cardigan. It wasn't buttoned up of course but the sleeves were rolled up a bit higher than his elbows. He also wore a silver ring and orange in the same kind of style as Maribeth's. She had guessed it was Dylan, but her mini theory was confirmed once he did his signature wink. Right...At...Her...

Dylan had winked at Maribeth. He was hoping it worked like always as he walked over to her. He gently took her hand and was about to kiss it lightly before she pulled her hand away and lightly pushed him away by pushing against his head. How could this happen? The wink always worked, but he sighed in realization.

"It's nice to see you again Maribeth. Does Tikki still have that chew toy I gave her?" Dylan asked, leaning against the wall. That sparked Maribeth's memory. How could she not recognize?

"Dylie?!" Maribeth asked, shocked.

"At your service, Maribear." He joked before she hugged him.

"It's been so long!" They both said in unison. Dylan felt a little upset on the inside though. He had secretly always loved Maribeth as more than a friend, and tried to forget her by dating other girls, though now that she was here it all backfired majorly. He knew his reputation couldn't go down, and he really wanted Maribeth to fall for him. How would he do that? He didn't fully know, but he'd start small.

"I'll see you later. I gotta get to class. See you there!" He said in a quieter voice before kissing the brunette on the forehead before walking away to class.

"What just happened...?" Maribeth asked a few seconds after Dylan left.

"You resisted the wink, you found out you were the most popular player's best friend, and he ended up kissing you on the head." Ana explained, holding back a squeal of excitement for her new best friend, as Neil simply smiled.

This is gonna be a long year...