Tainted Growth (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter Two - Just Beginning

Sam's POV

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I was leaning against the exterior of my black car while waiting for Savannah to meet me in the parking lot so I could drive her home. Luckily, we didn't have a Planning Committee meeting today (only because Savannah already finished all of the Homecoming decorations because she thought we were all too slow). Despite originally planning on dropping off Savannah, she was probably going to insist on coming over to my house to hang out or work on homework.

She didn't normally hitch a ride with her cousin, Liam, mostly because she hated how it smelled like cigarettes and how the seats had multiple burn holes in them. She also claims that Liam does a lot of stuff with girls in his car, and she was definitely afraid of catching a sexually transmitted disease just by breathing the air in his car.

It's not like I objected. I didn't mind Savannah since she was one of my best friends. She actually listened and cared for me, and occasionally slept over at my house and went out to cafes (bars too if she forced me- she literally has five different identities from all the fake IDS she has).

I lifted my head up, scanning the parking lot for the familiar angry, blonde until I was able to spot her walking over with Courtney. My heart seemed to skip a beat, the adrenaline in my veins slowly pumping its way throughout my body, making my stature lift up straighter in order to not seem bored or lazy.

Did this mean that I was also driving Courtney home? Or, did this mean that Courtney was also coming over to my house? I mean, my friends went to my house often, but the idea of Courtney being within a certain distance of my home, of my room, made my thoughts run wild. I definitely wasn't prepared for this.

I shook my head, throwing those thoughts in the deepest parts of my conscience as I brought a bright smile to my face to greet my friends.

"Hey, how was class?" I squeaked out, wanting to slap myself for acting way too excited and timid at the same time.

Courtney rolled her hazel eyes, "Fucking awful, I had a pop quiz in my Plant Biology class, and I basically made up a bullshitted answer of how photosynthesis works." As if she could read my mind a few minutes ago, she started to pull on the handle of my passenger seat, opening it and shoving her backpack onto the car floor.

Why didn't Savannah at least text me that I was also driving Courtney? Where was I even taking her? I shot a look at Savannah, who simply just shrugged it off because she knew I was going to give her a small piece of my mind later.

"You have it easy, Court. I had to write a thousand-word essay in under forty minutes over how revenge is criticized in Shakespeare's Hamlet." Savannah said in exasperation as she opened my backseat door and subsequently throwing her backpack onto the seats before getting in herself.

Following their actions, I opened my car door so I could get into the driver's seat. I pushed the keys into the ignition and let the engine roar to life, leaning back into my seat and looking over to make sure my friends were situated, despite my heartbeat reaching a thousand miles per hour to the point where I could hear it in my ears.

"How was your day, Samantha?" Courtney casually asked while I saw that she was slouching in my backseat while texting a reply to someone. My heart clenched at the thought that it was probably that girl Brooke she was currently talking to. I tried to calm myself down, knowing I always hyped myself up over Courtney without actually doing anything, so I didn't really have the right to feel all butthurt over her talking to a new girl every couple of weeks if I wasn't even going to attempt to ask my friend out. Plus, this whole cycle of me feeling awful over myself over a stupid girl was very reminiscent of the old days, which I certainly didn't want to repeat at my new high school. (Especially since none of my friends knew about my past, they all just thought I was just a transfer from Los Angeles, who came from Tennessee abruptly after my parents died.)