cheryl and matthew || PART ONE of TEN
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[ The day is November 4th, 2014. The sky is bleak and gloomy, with muggy clouds gathering over Bayside High School and the scaffolding surrounding the main entrance. Students hop out of temporarily parked cars, waving goodbye to their parents while others file out of the city bus in disorderly fashions, stumbling and laughing despite the moody weather. To Cheryl, the third month of high school appears to begin just as any other month of school; uneventful. So she ambles into the cafeteria, swipes her ID card and continues on with her day as if she's walking through purgatory. ]
James: (Slowly removes headphones from ears and puts down phone, as if disappointed that he had to pause his game.) 'Mornin'.
Cheryl: (Grins) Hey! (swings leg over seat and sits down) Ugh I have an AP quiz today. I forgot to fucking study.
[ James and Cheryl have gone to the same school since Pre-K, but they'd never really talked to each other until the start of freshmen year, two or so months ago in September. Ever since the first day, they met up in the cafeteria half an hour before first period to cram all they could and do as much homework as possible before the bell. ]
James: (Clears throat) Why're you late? There's literally, like, two minutes until the bell rings.
Cheryl: Well, looks like I'm screwed. (Buries face in hands) My brother was being a little bitch this morning and didn't wanna wake up. This is the last quiz before the marking period ends. If I bomb this-
(Cue bell.)
James: (Laughs wholeheartedly, swinging his backpack onto his shoulders as he did every other morning.)
Cheryl: (Sighs heavily, reluctantly rising from the table.) Aw, shit.
[ They make their way up two flights of stairs. Cheryl frantically reaches into her bag and yanks out a packet of notes she printed out for the chapter, managing to crumple a few other papers in the process while James tries to avoid getting smacked in the face by the backpack of the boy walking ever so slowly in front of them. ]
James: (Sarcastically, and amused.) Have fun. (Waves as he walks in the opposite direction.)
Cheryl: Fuck you. (Shoves packet of notes into pocket once she catches sight of Kiera, a girl she highly looks up to, and chooses to laugh and talk instead. AP was never her forte, anyway.)
~
[ It's 12:10 PM, just when Cheryl's lunch period begins. She pushes her way through the crowd of people lined up to buy lunch and sees Kayla sitting at their usual table, scribbling excessively fast on a piece of graph paper. She swings her bag under the table, kicks a few trays into the garbage can and sits down. The cafeteria's never clean. ]
Cheryl: (Grins in amusement) Wow, you look like you're having fun.
Kayla: (Glares with solemn, tired-looking eyes without moving her head) Be happy you have to take algebra and not geometry, goddamn it. I miss a day of school and I understand shit.
Cheryl: (Shrugs, and pulls out her phone) I dunno, I guess that means you're smarter, right?
Kayla: You do know I'm failing this class, right? Terribly?
