Triumphant

in which she gets a whiff of heaven

chapter 2: in which she gets a whiff of heaven

~

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.

For the first time since 6th grade, I was late for school. I didn't even bother curving a straightener through my limply hanging bangs as I shoved my legs into black skinny jeans and my torso into a fitted tank top. To cover myself up, I threw on a slightly oversized leather jacket. 

"Mom! I'm leaving! Wake up, you need to wake her up or Arya will be late for school!" I called out as I stuffed my feet into my black Doc Martens. Not bothering to make myself breakfast, I grabbed my water bottle from the fridge, stuffed it into my bag's side pocket, and ran to the subway, turning my 10-minute walk into a 5-minute jog. Thanks to my obvious bad luck that morning, my usual Manhattan-bound E train pulled into the station just as I made it down the stairs to the walkway leading to the turnstile. Seeing this, I picked up my pace in order to make it to the turnstile. Upon arrival, I swiped my green student pass MetroCard and ran through the turnstile, down the escalator, and through the doors of my train just as they were closing. 

Just as the train started pulling away from the station, I leaned back against the door and tried to catch my breath and hoped I didn't look as bad as I felt. The next stop, 75th avenue, brought along two businessmen and a group of around 6 teenage boys who made me perspire even more. Boys aren't generally scary, just the idea that they might go to my school unnerved me for some reason. One of the boys and I accidentally made eye contact. I, being me, of course, looked away as fast as possible, but he still grinned at me and slowly made is way towards me through the crowd of bodies in our train car. My eyes widened. God no! I was not prepared for a conversation! I didn't even brush my hair thoroughly this morning!

"Hey! You're Jenna right?" He smiled even wider once I finally looked him in the eyes. 

"Hi, it's actually Jane... Sorry, do I know you?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. 

"Yeah, I'm Chris, I have chem with you. I was just telling my buddies over there about you, and when we got on, I saw you so I thought I'd say hello.  You probably have never met before. Three of them go to Brooklyn Tech, and the other is a Freshman at Bacc." his blond hair fell into his eyes as he gestured towards his friends with a nod of his head. To my horror, among the three unfamiliar faces was Brendon's beautiful face. He was a freshman?! 

"Oh... I'm a freshman too, aren't you?" I asked, completely leaving out the fact that Brendon and I shared two classes, plus the same breakfast and lunch periods. 

"Nah, I'm just stupid, I failed chemistry last year and during the summer, so I'm taking it again. Say, you might know my buddy, Brendon! I genuinely thought you were a sophomore or junior, you look mature for your age." 

I rolled my eyes but smiled nonetheless. This boy had absolutely no worries in the world talking about his failure as if it weren't going to hold him back from the accredited IB diploma from Bacc. "I do know him, I have geometry and PE with him. He's...." I glanced at him, looking for the right word, "quiet." I finished unimpressively.  

Chris chuckled and said "it's okay, you can call him a weirdo, we all do. Anyway, the five of us are gonna ditch school and go to 108th street in Rego Park for some grub-"

Chris was interrupted by the automated voice over the PA system. "This is Forest hills 71st avenue. Transfer is available to the M, R, or E trains. Transfer is also available to the Q23 and Q60 select bus service. The next stop is Jackson Heights Roosevelt avenue. Stand clear of the closing doors please." 

"-Wanna come with?" Chris finished. 

Just then, Chris's friends, including Brendon, started walking towards us. Eventually, the five boys stood around me, which made my hands start to shake but I ignored it. 

"Hello? Earth to Random Girl Chris Won't Shut Up About?" A guy from Tech with greenish eyes sang out.

I shuddered at the thought of skipping school without proper reasoning. "No thanks. I'm late as is. I gotta go to school. Also, you just missed your stop. You need to take the M train or the R train from 71st to 67th avenue." I told him. I had taken that exact schedule for two years in order to go to my middle school in Rego Park. 

"Yeah we're going to Jackson Heights first, I gotta pick something up for my girlfriend. It's our anniversary and there are some good jewelry places over there," one of the guys from Tech with brown eyes said. 

"You sure you don't wanna come with?" Chris asked.

"No, sorry, I can't risk it. My parents are super strict. Plus, as cool as you seem, I don't really know you guys. No offense but, I'd rather not be kidnapped and murdered on a Friday, I have big plans for the weekend." I told them, just as our train pulled into the station. 

We all stepped out together, and I walked to the other side of the platform, waiting for the next arriving M or R train that I would then take to school. I looked back at the guys, expecting them to walk up the stairs to our right to the outside world. 

"Alright then, cya later Jane, let's go, guys," Chris waved as he started to lead his friends off.

"Actually, you guys go ahead. I'm gonna walk with Jane to school, I realized we have a quiz in geometry today and I don't wanna give up my lunch periods tomorrow to retake it," Brendon piped up, standing next to me instead of following the other boys out.

"Actually we don't-" 

"Okay. Cya around guys." Chris waved, and the boys all started to ascend the stairs.

I turned to Brendon, "you lied," I said matter of factly, "why?"

"I wanna get to know you, Jane," he told me, standing close enough for our shoulders to brush against each other, as we stared at the tracks in front of us. 

I took in a deep breath, catching a whiff of his subtle cologne in the process. God, he smelled amazing- somewhere between fresh leaves and the air in a botanical garden.

"Jane? Are you OK? You keep zoning out today-"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you want to get to know me? There's like 300 more people at BSGE you could 'get to know,'" I giggled.

"You seem interesting. Also, I really need friends who won't try to make me skip class every day for the rest of the year. So, are you willing to be my good influence for the next 4 years? C'mon, what do you say.. friends?" He stuck out his hand. 

I cringed slightly at his cliche speech but sighed, "sure, why not?" 

hey guys!

hope you enjoyed!

pic credits:

All known credit to Georgia Boyd for the "grunge outfit" post on Pinterest!

xx aj/cia