Moving Forward

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 1

     As I said, character aesthetics for important characters will be added along the way. If you don't have any internet access when you're reading this, and therefore can't see the aesthetics, I'll try and make a chapter just for the aesthetics. Happy trails, kids.

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     The first day back at school. Nobody likes it. Especially if it's on a Monday.

     The bumbling of students talking and walking and milling about is all I can hear. I put in my airpods once more and drowned out the noise. School was relatively still new to me since I chose to do online schooling rather than go to a normal school as a normal person does. But this is my second year at Fresh View High, as a sophomore.

     A few of the people I know nod at me, and I nod back. I'm honestly tired as shit, even though I got about 8 hours of sleep. Why is that when you get a healthy amount of sleep, you're feeling like an honest to god zombie, but when you get 3 hours of sleep, you're all energized and on top of the world. That might just be me, though.

     I'm just walking through the halls in my extremely ripped jeans and extremely cropped crop top when I feel someone yank my AirPod out of my ear. So obviously, I whip around to punch a bitch, and I see one. The biggest bitch of all. My best friend, Layla. Come on, if you don't call your friend a bitch, are you really friends?

     "Hey, Fanny. You look extra grumpy today. You get breakfast today?" Layla asks.

     "No. I had to drop Peyton off and I was about to be late," I sigh. She smiles knowingly and hands me a McDonald's bag. I smile back and say, "the usual?"

     "The usual."

     I half-hug her with my free arm. "Thanks, bitch, I love you. Same schedule again right?"

     "Yeah. We have some classes with Clayton too though. Jaden told me. Last night," she says with a wince. Clayton's my ex who cheated on me with a girl from science class last year. But it's fine, I fucked her too after they got together. One of the perks of being bi.

     "Speaking of Jaden, how long's he gonna last?" I ask.

     "Probably another week or two. He's perfect except for the fact that he's just so controlling. I don't want to get stuck in an abusive relationship. How about you though? Any new guys or girls in your life? Or are they all just hookups?"

     "Hookups."

     She gives me a mom look and goes on a rant about how I need to go around and be in relationships no matter how long they last because it's life experience and blah blah blah. I nudge her ribs with my elbow, "Hey, has he always gone here?"

     She turns to look at the boy that is standing outside of our homeroom. He has dark brown hair and a shit ton of freckles. Damn, I thought, he kind of looks like Quinton Griggs and Cameron Boyce's love child. So, in other words, HOT. The only reason I even give a shit about him being here is the Juul threatening to drop out of his pocket. It's not rare for a student to get caught juuling in our school, but he seems to be pushing the limits, especially if he's new.

     "No, but he looks like your type." She makes a stupid face with wiggly jiggly eyebrows and nudges me towards him.

     I roll my eyes and walk towards him, the extrovert in me popping out to check him out, while the introvert screams at me to 'ABORT MISSSION.' I lean forward close to him so I could push his Juul back in his pocket discreetly and say, "You know, you shouldn't just keep something like that out."

     His eyes widen before he awkwardly smiles at me. "Uh haha, yea um. This actually isn't mine. It's his." He points to an area behind me. There stands the most dick-y looking dick I've ever seen, talking to Layla.

     I also see Jaden walking her way. Shit. He's a real piece of shit, and he's gonna get mad and try to start a fight. I glance back at the guy behind me and start running towards Jaden. When I finally reach him, he looks down at me confusedly and raises his eyebrows. I don't often talk to Jaden, and when I do, it's not willingly. I do my best to steer him the other way and make up something to keep him occupied.

     "Hey, Jayden! So, um, please keep this on the down-low but I'm planning a surprise party for Layla and I need your help." I give him my best puppy eyes and smile.

     He rolls eyes and sighs exasperatingly. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

     "Well, it's going to be at the beach. Kind of like a bonfire, and I need you to bring in the logs for putting around the fire. I'm too weak to do that. Meet me in my car after school ends."

     He nods and rolls his eyes. "Am I allowed to go see my girlfriend now?"

     I look behind him to see Layla alone and looking for me, and grin, "Yea of course. Just make sure not to tell her, alright?"

     Damn, that was a close call.

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     How am I supposed to pull off a surprise party by tonight? Why am I such an idiot? Ugh. The noise of my homeroom class is making my head hurt, but I guess that's just what school does to you. 

     "Hey, are you okay?" a voice behind me says.

     It's the guy from earlier. Freckles. I just smile and shrug at him. 

     He smiles back. "I'm Xander. So, are you always going up to people and making them all flustered or is that just a one-time thing?"

     I roll my eyes. "So, do you always just carry around your friends' Juul or is it just a one-time thing?"

    "Touche."

     We talked throughout the whole homeroom period, which lasted for about 30 minutes. Turns out that he had the same classes as me and Layla, so at least he'd know someone. We walk out of homeroom when we're joined by Xander's friend, whose name I learned was Dylan. I look around for Layla, but I can't find her. 

     Dylan looks at me with his eyebrows raised, and says, "Looking for your friend? She's right behind you with her textbook raised right above your head."

     "Fuck you. I was gonna get away with it."

     I give her a deadpan stare, and say, "May 18th. Last year. Mean anything to you?" That was the day she peed herself while we were having a sleepover, and then proceeded to try to burn the mattress and pants. Let's just say she was still a little intoxicated and it did not end well.

     She narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't."

     "Try me." I stepped forward so I can be face to face with her. We started off for a minute until we both couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing. The faces of our compadres just made us laugh harder. Just then, Layla gets a call. Her face stays the same, but I can tell it's not a good phone call. She looks up at me with the most pained eyes.

     "It's Lion. He just got shot by an officer. Mum's rushing him to the hospital."

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Hope you enjoyed the first chapter.