• Roxy •
I was the first one out the door as soon as the bell rang, as usual. I always met up with Mari and Diana in the commons area after school before we drive off to pretty much anywhere that's not here. I spot them from all the way across the room.
Mari is easy to pick out in a crowd. In fact, crowds usually part like the Red Sea as she walks past. What was it that Shakespeare said? "Though she be but little, she is fierce!" That describes Mari almost perfectly. She's tiny, barely over five foot, but she demands attention without even trying. As I approach, she's twisting a strand of periwinkle blue hair around her finger and looking as though she didn't have a care in the world. Her black jeans are nearly skin-tight and her plain white crop top shows off just a little bit of her stomach when she lifts her arm. When she spotted me, she flashed a mischievous grin and beckoned me over with the finger that had previously been wrapped up with her blue locks.
Speaking of being wrapped around Mari's finger, I noticed that Michael was leaning against the wall next to her when I got a little bit closer. He wore a backwards black snapback over his bright red hair with skinny jeans and boots that matched and a plain black and white baseball shirt. He shot me a grin as I appeared from behind a wall of bodies.
Diana stood to Mari's right, looking like the fish out of water that she always looked like with our friend group. While Michael, Mari, and I could all easily be placed in the "punk" category, Diana was our opposite. She was about 5'11" with a thin figure that could've belonged to a model and shoulder-length brown hair that fell into a frame around her oval-shaped face. She wears dark, square-shaped glasses over her wide hazel eyes that seem to match perfectly with her red cardigan and blue jeans. She gives me a wide smile.
Diana is the kind of girl who makes the room bright, but in a genuine way. Not like Ryann. She's smart and incredibly positive, the kind of person who's going places in the world but who still hangs out with stupid troublemakers like us just because she really values us as people.
"Roxy, where were you in biology?" Mari asked as soon as I was in earshot. "I only come back for that class 'cause it's the only one I have with you."
"I felt sick, so I went to the nurse to lie down," I replied. Mari gave me that raised eyebrow look; she could always tell when I was lying.
"Like, really 'I'm gonna puke' sick or 'I went to therapy and I don't want to go to class now' sick?" She asked.
I sighed and glanced downwards. "Therapy," I replied.
"Ew," Mari said, making a face. She turned to both Michael and Diana and asked, "Are you guys up for getting coffee? I think Roxy needs some caffeine."
We all agreed and Mari lead us out through the crowd towards the door. She talked to Michael, who had his arm wrapped around her waist, so I stayed a couple steps behind with Diana.
"Where's Lukey?" I asked, poking her in the ribs.
She grinned. "He has football practice today, but I'll tell him to meet up with us afterwards."
"God, Diana, I can't believe you're dating the quarterback of the football team. That's pretty much the most basic, cliche thing you can do!"
Diana rolled her eyes, always smiling. "Since when has the quarterback with the lip ring dating the class nerd been a cliche?"
"You're not the class nerd. You get an extra cool factor 'cause you hang out with us."
She laughed. I knew that what I had said was a stretch, because we weren't exactly cool, but it gave her an edge. People thought that we were a lot more dangerous than we were, that we skipped school to go smoke and drink alcohol. The truth is, we usually just drive around and hang out at the park.
