The New League

Chapter 1

  My alarm rings at exactly 5:40 a.m on a Tuesday. I saunter over to my desk to snooze my phone and immediately after I flop on my bed. That was only my 'Hey You Should Start Waking Up' alarm and not my 'Get Up You Lazy Ass' alarm at 6:00 a.m. Those 20 minutes makes a world of a difference when you're a high school student who's specialty is staying up until 12 a.m to finish homework or studying for some test. The next thing I heard was the shout of my name, but none other than my impatient father, "ALICIA!!!"

"whaaaattt???" I tiredly yell back.

"We're gonna be late!"

"No it's not, we'll be fine!"

I finally get off my bed and walk to my bathroom because oh boy it's 6:08 and I need get out of the house by 6:40 a.m (usually 6:50) to drive 20 minutes on the Florida Turnpike to reach my school. The car ride there can range from me silently screaming in my mind to staring out into space thinking why the world came into the existence. Hey, it's better than listening to my father's rants of morons on the road. Sure it's true, but I also don't find it nice to have to constantly hear his complaints that are never heard by anyone else except me. See the irony?

But lately I've been thinking more about the fight. Well of course, its in the minds of everyone in the world, but something about the whole situation. It's really crazy to think one person can play all these mind games on a close group of people, can so easily tear them apart. I know that will never happen with my group of friends. We've been together for forever, and we all know each other's strengths and weaknesses. Nothing can get in our way. As I get closer to school, I remind myself to talk more about it with my friends at lunch later today.

Anyways, by some miracle I make it to school on time, speed-walking to my first class of the day. Algebra 2, the most useful class that I will definitely use later in life. Everything seems to be as usual. From separate groups of people huddled around one tiny Nintendo Switch, to a group of girls gossiping with Ms. H about other students at school, to people sitting at their desks mindlessly staring into their phones. And one of them is my best friend. Who's not here. She's in French right now, a class my father wish I took, but I'd rather practice my poor Spanish.

As a girl who is a descendant of Hispanic family, the first generation to be born in America, and not being able to fluently talk in Spanish, it's always a great time visiting them in Colombia and awkwardly sit there struggling to answer the simplest question of "So how's school?" At least at school I know I'm better at speaking than the majority of my Spanish 2 class, but that all apparently vanishes as soon as I step foot off the plane.

Anyways, I still have 10 minutes before I enter a state of confusion and stress that is Factoring, so I pull out my phone and betting that she's on her phone as well, I text her casually asking,

Hi Bri, what fanfic are you reading this time? ;)

djkgksdjks-   nOtHiNg

Hahah relax.  I'm hungry

Alicia it's only 7:30???   You did eat breakfast right????

Yeah but all I had was a bagel.  We didn't even have cream cheese...

Oh rippp

Yeah, um, do you have any snacks?

Well...yes but I don't see you until lunch

reeeeeeeee

I'm sorry T_T

It's okay.  I love u <3

Love you too! ;3.  I gotta go byeeee

Same, see ya later

I look up from my phone another one of my best friends, Sarah hurriedly walking in and take the seat next to my desk.

"Hi Sarah, how you doing?"

"Dying," she grumbles

"Did you stay up late again?"

"No..." she lied. I could easily tell something was up.

"Hey what happened?"

"Gonzalez and Emilia?"

We quietly turn to Ms. H and shut up for the moment. You see, Sarah is always an outgoing, energetic, and hilarious gal. Someone who's always ready for adventure or something crazy. But who I see now is a gal who looks like she's been through hard times. I can't recall if anything recent could be some reason for her demeanor.

Is it stress because of AP classes? Maybe. She said she had it under control, but heck the girl has 6 of them. Maybe a boy...? I look back to her face discreetly. No it seems more serious than that. The vibes Sarah was giving off where not positive. I'm definitely asking her, but I'm gonna need some help.

Fun fact, Ms. H doesn't care how frequently her students leave class to go to the bathroom, so I casually get up and exit the classroom.

Entering the foul-smelling bathroom, I enter a stall and pull out my phone to text Izzie. Izzie Kipps, a very dear friend of mine who, in short, is the most mature person out of all of us (but honestly, the bar is not set very high) has a gift for art and makes bad puns whenever she pleases.

Hey, has Sarah texted you recently? She sat next to me in class, looking quite nervous and stressed... oof

No, she hasn't. Did something happen? Usually, she'd text me about her problem, like with that other girl.

Meet me at lunch.

Do I ever not meet y'all at lunch? Lol

Shaddup. :)

Ok, see ya.

I chuckle at her remark because it's true. She's always the first at our table. I put away my phone and head back to class.

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After an hour and a half of torture by factoring, one by one everyone got up and headed off to their next class. I look over to Sarah, smiled to her encouragingly and said "I'll see in lunch!" She turn to me nodded, and left the classroom.

"Okay. Now I know, something is seriously not right with her."

I quickly pull out my phone and text Brianna.

Bri, something's not right with Sarah. Idk what it is though 'cause she didn't talk to be the whole time.

Oh no!? I'll try to ask her now!

Thanks Bri, I'll see you in lunch

Mhm, see ya!

Now to survive English and Spanish until lunch. Shouldn't be too hard right?  Of course, I was wrong. I stand up and walk to my next class, the thought of Sarah acting odd still lingering in my mind.