Happily Unhappy: Season 3

Season 3, Episode 1: Journey to Goodbye

~~~ My Body by Young the Giant)~~~
River Calvin steers his car through Broadview Heights, a suburb three hours out of New York City. It's lined with maple trees and splashed with lakes and diners, train tracks worming through like slithering snakes. The late summer sun is peeking over the pine trees ahead, bringing with it a new day and the first day of River's senior year.
He turns onto Center Street until he reaches his best friend Josie Mendoza's house on the left, pulling into the parking lot.
   "I'll see you after school!" Josie calls into her house before scampering down the steps of her porch and making her way across the front lawn. Her chestnut brown hair is pulled into a ponytail and she's wearing a banana yellow shirt with a darker yellow poodle skirt. Her bowling shoe-looking sneakers accent her folded white socks. She looks like she just walked straight out of the fifties.
   "Is Grease the school musical this year?" River asks her when she climbs into the Jeep.
"I'm glad you noticed, actually." She puts on her seat belt. "But no, it's not. I was just feeling like Sandy this morning so I threw this together."
   "You say that like you didn't spend half the summer finding the exact outfit she wears in the movie." River steers the car down the street.
   "I said last year that this year was going to be positive and that I was going to make progress," she reminds him. "I do that best if I'm dressed as a character. You should know this by now."
   "Pardon me." He turns down the next street until he reaches his girlfriend's house on the right-hand side.
Ophelia Illis comes skipping out of her garage wearing ripped shorts and an american flag printed baseball shirt, tucked in. Josie climbs into the backseat while Ophelia takes the front, a chipper smile plastered across her face.
   "Hey, guys," Ophelia greets them.
   "There's my gorgeous girlfriend." River leans over to kiss her.
   Josie rolls her eyes from the back. "Would you drive, already? I don't want to be late on our first day of senior year."

Celine Taylor arrives at Broadview High in her cheer uniform and sporting her long blond high ponytail. Her twin sister, Lynn, is on her right side, while their best-friend-since-birth, Honor Rose, is on her left. The familiar smell of waxed floor and teenager assaults Celine's nostrils but she doesn't mind. She's going to make senior year her bitch.
   "I'll see you guys in trauma club?" Honor guesses, slowing down near the restrooms.
   "See ya." Lynn waves goodbye.
   "I can't wait for this year to begin." Celine inhales the air in front of her. "Do you smell that?"
   Lynn looks warily in her sister's direction. "Smell what? The gross cafeteria or the fresh meat?"
   Celine smirks when she sees the new batch of freshmen confused over their schedules and stumped by their locker combinations.    "Seems like it was just yesterday we were freshmen, huh?"
   "Thank god that period of our lives are over," Lynn grunts. "This year is about the future, not the past."
   "You can say that again," Thorne James says from in front of them, greeting Lynn with a kiss on the mouth.
   Celine raises her upper lip at them. "Young love. Oh, how it makes me the complete opposite of horny."
   "I'll see you later, sis." Lynn grins, Thorne draping his arm over her shoulders as they take off down the hall.
   "Yeah, see ya," Celine says, left alone... but just for a few seconds.
   "Bow down to our future prom queen!" Two of her cheerleader friends are skipping her way with matching ponytails.
   Celine smiles at Carrie and Malone. "There you two are. I thought I'd have to do my HBIC strut down the hall by myself."
   "Never, Malone promises and the three continue in the line Celine has already started.

Troyan Greda walks into school with Aisha Mital, their fingers entwined together as they face the stares and ogles of their peers. They got together at the very end of last year so not a lot of their classmates have adjusted to their relationship, only what they've seen on Instagram.
"They're all staring at how pretty you are, by the way," Troyan whispers to her, his sandy blond hair slicked away from his face. "I can't say that I blame them."
"Would you shut up?" She laughs, playfully swatting his arm as they turn down the main hallway. "Never thought they'd all be looking at us like this, though. We're not even that popular."
"I burned down a bar, remember?" Troyan recalls. "And judging what you went through last year, I'd say we're a tad popular."
"Hey man." Mateo Diaz fist bumps Troyan on their way pass each other in the hall. "I expect you to pay for lunch today, by the way. It's my senior year."
"It's mine, too," Troyan calls back to him over his shoulder.
"But I'm more important!" Mateo singsongs from down the hall.
"Looking cute, you two," Ms. Torres tells them from the doorway of her office, her curly brown hair spilling down her shoulders. She winks at them before continuing to unpack her things on her desk.
Aisha sighs. "This is going to be one interesting year."
~~~(End song)~~~