nine or nothing

1

"Hey now, you're an all-star."

"Schools out!" As the final bell rang, a loud roar of cheers were heard throughout the high school. it's what every student was anticipating, summer vacation. papers were thrown in the air and the students soon flooded the hallways. teachers were yelling at students to slow down, but obviously nobody cared. the front doors to the school flung open and the students ran down the stairs and to freedom, aka home. one of the most popular kids of the school stood on the hood of his car, holding four six packs of beer, a cigarette between his lips, "Who's ready you get fucked?" A group of his followers crowded around his car and started reaching for him. He took a drag from the cigarette and started throwing cans of beer out towards the crowd. Three girls watched chaos break loose from their own distance and one of them shook their head,

"Can someone remind me why in the fuck are we friends with Jaxen again?" And was greeted to an elbow to her side. She held her side and let out a light string of very unfriendly words,
"Don't be such a dick, Viv. It's-" "Nine or nothing, Yes, I remember, Cindy." She rolled her eyes and they were suddenly caught off guard when they could hear their names being called. They looked up and were greeted by two boys, Ian and Ryan. Ian ran a hand through his hair and smiled at them,  "Hey, ready for the beach?" The boys were already dressed for the occasion, shorts, sunglasses, extra sunscreen on their noises and towels hanging off of their shoulders. Ian wrapped his arm around the quiet one of the group, Linda. Ryan nodded his heads towards them and had his car keys swinging around his index finger, "I've got cans in the trunk. Don't know how long it's gonna take 'thing one' over there to finish his goodbye ceremony." He let his tongue glide on the inside of his mouth and looked Cindy up and down before giving her a nod,

"Still rejecting me?" He asked with a smirk, holding his hand out. Cindy looked at Linda and Vivian then back to Ryan. She looked at his hand and swiftly reached into her mouth, taking out the piece of bubble gum she was chewing and placed it in the palm of his hand, "I'll be waiting in the car." She smiled at him and started walking towards his car. Vivian let out a snicker and stuck her tongue out at Ryan before following Cindy. Ian kept his arm wrapped around Linda's shoulders and let out a hiss, bringing his fist up to his mouth, "Shit, dude, still trying?" He asked with amusement in his tone. Ryan discarded the gum on the grass and shoved Ian playfully, "Let's go, asshat."

As Jaxen's beloved crowd of girls started fading, he jumped off the hood of his car and took one last drag of the cigarette before spitting it onto the ground and crushing it with his heel. He looked up and a smile grew on his face, "Hey, sweet cheeks!" He walked towards a group of three people and immediately picked up one of the tallest boys of the group, pretending to kiss him. "Wish someone loved me as much as Jaxen loves David." The one girl of the group spoke up. Jaxen put David down and wrapped his arm around the girl and David, "Listen, Ai, we're the free ones of the group. Let's enjoy it as much as we can so we aren't stressing out like big John is, over there," he nodded his head towards Johnson and Johnson scoffed, "I am having the best time of my life, let's go." He pushed past the three and jumped in the back seat of Jaxen's convertible. The three of the skilled and climbed into the car aswell before letting out a yell of excitement.

-

the beach was packed with students from the high school. teenagers smoking, drinking, playing beach volleyball. it was like a summer wonderland pulled from a magazine. the sun was beating down on the crowd and people were still pulling up to the beach. Jaxen honked his horn as he pulled up beside an already parked car, which happened to be Ryan's. They got out of the car and greeted each other, wrapping each other in hugs and handshakes. Jaxen walked to the back of his car and popped the trunk open, revealing his beatbox and a few towels and a bag filled with snacks. Ai and David grabbed the towels and bag and walked up to Vivian, Linda and Cindy, starting a conversation with them. Jaxen picked up his beatbox and propped it on his shoulder. He made eye contact with Ryan and Johnson and nodded them over.

He scanned the beach and licked his lips, leaning in with the boys, "This is babe paradise, right here. You see what you want, you go for it, got it?" He said as he looked at the both of them. Johnson cleared his throat and looked at Jaxen, "I'm sorry but my babe is right there." Ryan scoffed and elbowed him, "You haven't even asked her out yet, pussy." Johnson shoved him and both Jaxen and Ryan let out a laugh. David turned his head and dropped the bag he was holding and walked up to the group of boys, "Excuse me, you're holding a bro meeting without me?" He joined the circle and left the girls and Ian dumbfounded. Linda watched the group of boys and shook her head before scanning the crowd they were about to be faced with. She suddenly felt a chill go down her spine as her eyes settled on something in the water. She tilted her head as she saw something start to rise from the water.

it's figure was tall, black and skinny. She squinted and the figure began to look more inhumane. she felt her heart start beating faster and goose bumps form on her arms. she started to slowly walk towards it, her surroundings becoming darker and darker. she walked until she was face to face with this dismantled figure. it's face looked like it had been burned off and had a slime residue emitting from what looked like it's, no longer, skin. it growled lightly and it's sharp, orange teeth were presented to her. "I'm, coming." It grabbed her throat and she gasped, "Are you okay? Linda?" She soon snapped back to reality, being faced with everyone looking at her with confusion.

Ian's hand was on her shoulder and she looked at him then shook her head, smiling and letting out a sigh, "I'm okay, what are we waiting for? The day is getting shorter and we're growing older!" She said to distract them. They all roared with excitement at her words and David pumped his fist in the air, "That's what I' talking about! Jax, turn that shit up, let's go!" Jaxen nodded and turned the volume up in his boom box. The song "Jump" by kris kross was playing and put the group in a good mood. Everyone started to follow Jaxen to their proclaimed spot on the beach and started to converse with each other again. Linda started to slow down a bit and think about what she just saw. She hadn't had this vision before, so she was confused. She scanned the beach once again, making sure to keep up with the group.

She shook her head and decided to not pay much attention to it.

which was one of the worst things she's ever done.