Quid Pro Quo

p r o l o g u e

~

"Sweetpea! It's time for breakfast!" Lee shouted for his daughter.

"Coming!"

Clementine was doing the opposite.

She sat distracted, staring at Instagram intently on her bed, her dog Rosie beside her. On her feed was her longtime crush Oliver Samuels, who had yet to acknowledge her existence. Minutes passed while she admired his latest post, which was a group shot of the baseball team, who just won their first game of the season. While there were many faces in the picture, she could only focus on Oliver.

"It's getting cold!" Her dad prodded once more, snapping her out of her intense musing.

"I said I'm coming!"

"Wow," Lee said when she trotted down the stairs. "You alright?"

"Um yeah," She mumbled. "Long night studying." The teen pulled out a chair at the table, wondering if she would have to put on more foundation to conceal her dark circles.

"You're gonna do great, Clem." Her mom, Carley, interrupted, coming up behind her husband. "You always do."

Clem groaned unsurely, stabbing the eggs on her plate.

AJ, her younger brother, came down the steps groggily, reluctant to be awake at such an hour.

"Hey goofball," Clem greeted, kissing his forehead as he took a seat next to her. Seeing her sibling always made her lips tug up in a grin.  "How was last night's episode of Disco Broccoli?" She asked, making him perk up.

"It was great! It was about helping people in need."

"That sounds interesting."

"Yeah, Disco Broccoli helped Beet Nick prepare for the Veggie Bash because he was nervous about messing up and not getting to go to the Medley."

"Do you even get the joke behind Beet Nick?"

"Nope!"

"Alright AJ, Clementine has to get going," Carley said, handing him a glass of juice. Clem glanced at the time on her phone, which read 7:20.

"Shit!" She cursed, jumping up and dashing to grab her backpack.

"Swear!" AJ yelled after her. She hurriedly gave both her parents a hug before rushing out the door and hopping in her car.

Now that she was alone, she turned up the volume on her radio, smiling when the morning news report graced her ears, her favorite thing to listen to in the morning.

Finally, she arrived at her school, Ericson High.

She grabbed her bag and briskly walked inside, sitting down in her homeroom seat with a huff. She pulled out her book, which adorned the classic title of 1984.

"Hey stranger," A voice startled Clem, making her jump. "You're early."

When the brunette turned, she was met with her best friend Violet, sporting her signature rainbow pin stuck to her dark purple vest.

"I always am."

"Why didn't you text me last night?"

"I was studying, sorry." She responded, watching as her friend took the chair beside her.

"As per usual."

"Did something happen with Minnie?" Violet smirked thinking of the redhead, which in turn made Clem grin suggestively.

"She texted me saying that she was excited for our date on Saturday even though it's only Monday. It was cute."

"I'm glad you finally got the balls to ask her out." Clem teased.