Title Pending

Chapter 1: Setting Off

I pull out of the driveway sunroof up, at 7 AM. The sun rises quickly, but with ease, until suddenly the sun is shining bright in everyone's face, like a typical New Mexico sun. This morning I have to pick up Audrey and Bianca. I jam out to my favorite rock band as I make the short drive to Bianca's neighborhood.

Usually my tiny Nissan is packed with my three siblings and Audrey and Bianca. It is only meant to seat 5 people max, but there is a tiny middle seat in the front. So do we all get a little crowded and fight sometimes? Yes, because our backpacks and shoes and things are touching each other. And there's always disasters in the car. Brett accidentally steps on Stephie's foot and Stephie cries, Will puts down the window and sticks his head out like a dog, someone turns up the music to a deafening volume, or Bianca spills her iced coffee all over the seats, floor, and Brett. It's a good time. But sometimes my sister Stephie takes the bus to sit with her friends, or Will rides with our neighbor; Brett is usually with me, though. Today it is just me in the car - Stephie rode with a friend, Will was coming in late, and Brett had taken the bus to get there earlier for a review session.

It takes a good fifteen or twenty minutes to get to school. We're technically a suburban school district, but I would say we're more rural. We have neighborhoods, but they're pretty spaced out, and we have a lot of open, green land. There's a shopping center every so often, but we're not packed with stores. Our area is mainly comprised of people working lower-paying jobs, running their own businesses, or commuting an hour (with traffic) into the city for work. So people work hard here. On the other hand, there's also a lot of crime in the area. Teens doing stupid things, adults doing stupid things. Usually it's nothing serious, but our schools try and keep things strict to keep kids from doing stupid things. It doesn't work. Three years ago, they decided wearing khaki pants would keep people from rebelling. It didn't. Yet here we are, wearing the same thick pants and scratchy polo shirt.

I pull up at Bianca's house at 7:30. She is still not out by 7:40, and we need to scoot. I dial her number.

"Hehhh...llo?" she answers. I can picture her wiping the crust out of her eyes.

"Let's GOOOO!" I exclaim.

"Oh my god, I totally forgot, or I just didn't care...or something. What time is it? When do we have to be there? Ugh, can I please go back to my dream? It was so good,"

"Bianca, first period starts in 20 minutes, and we still have to pick up Audrey."

"Uhhh...okay. Fine. But I get to tell you about my dream in the car."

I can hear her frantically yanking drawers open for clothes, brushing her teeth. At 7:45, she straggles out the door in her new miniskirt, pull over, and a messy ponytail. But she looks adorable.

"Bianca," I start, "we're going to school...?"

"Yeah, about that...why don't we just skip?" she begged.

"No, you know I can't miss another day or I'll get suspended!"

"Oh come on, Ms. Bowers doesn't even take attendance first period...come on Jules! Don't you want to have some fun? We could go to the mall, or...go to the mall..."

There's not much to do around here, if that isn't obvious.

I consider the fact that Ms. Bowers practically sleeps the whole class period, and decide the stakes are low.

"Okay, fine, but we're not going to the mall. We're going out for breakfast and then coming back for second period, okay?"

"Yes!"

Next stop is about a 5 minute drive to Audrey's. When I pull in, she is sitting on the front steps, ready to go, in shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals.

"Did I not get the memo??" I exclaimed.

Audrey giggles. "Sorry, Jules. Bianca and I were both up late last night snapchatting and we were like, 'do we really need school today?"

Audrey and Bianca are the two people I hang out with most. I have other friends, but anything I do, they're usually there. We all do things we're not supposed to do, but I'm definitely the reasonable one in the group. I keep them from taking it too far.

Bianca and Audrey make everything fun. They're the life of the party. As we cruise down the not-crowded highway at 70 mph, Audrey opens the side windows and lets her hair blow around, singing loudly to the music. Ten minutes later, we're pulling off the highway into exit 40, where iHop is. Normally, we'd go somewhere closer, but since we're skipping school, we want to avoid seeing any parents we know. We made that mistake once, and I got grounded for three weeks while Bianca and Audrey got yelled at once.

The three of us grab a booth in the corner by the window facing the interstate. I feel like we're in the middle of nowhere. It's comforting.

"So what're we gonna do today?" Audrey asks, taking a sip of her steaming hot coffee. "We can meet up with Greyson and them, hang out, go somewhere, I don't know..."

"Bianca, we're going to school." I emphasize.

"But it's Friday," Audrey complains. "It's practically the weekend. Why can't we start it a little early?"

"Look, you guys have Saturday work details. I don't want that. I have crap to do on Saturdays. So I gotta show up the rest of the year, and you guys should, too, if you don't want more detention."

By the time we finish our coffee, we need to head out. We get a few pancakes to share in the car.

As we're heading out of the restaurant, a group of guys are making their way in. It's a few super annoying guys from the wrestling team that we always get into arguments with.

"Well, look who it is," says Beau, the loud-mouth of the trio. He gets way too close to me, looking down at me.

"We were just leaving," I smirked, tugging my girls along.

"Wait," he says, grabbing my wrist. I snatch out of his grip.

"What?"

"Party tonight at Joe's house. Bring liquor and pods. You gonna be there?"

I glance at Bianca and Jamie. They shrug as if to say, "why not?"

"I guess they will be, but I actually have homework."

The guys snicker.

"What, aren't you, like failing geometry?," he exclaims, pushing me "playfully."

"No, I'm not failing anything. And unlike you, I actually wanna get out of this place someday," I said, pushing him back.

"Ohhh...Okay," he laughs. "So you wanna fight me?"

"You know what? We really have to pick up that...mail," Audrey stammered.

"Huh? You scared of me?"

I scoffed. "Look, I know you think you can beat my ass, but I can beat yours just as well."

"Ooohhh," the guys mocked.

"Fine, throw the first punch. We'll take this around to the back."

"Okay," I challenge.

"Jules," Bianca exclaims, "Do you really wanna get in another fight? Preston's one thing, but that kid's tough.

"Okay, fine. You're probably right. But we're not finished here, just so y'all know." We dash to my car, start the engine, and pull out of the parking lot. Meanwhile, the guys show up at the passenger side window, mocking us for running off. Right before I turn, Bianca grabs her leftover orange juice and sloshes it at them, ruining their "high-tech fabric" $40 wrestling shirts. We laugh hysterically and speed down the highway, engine squeaking. It was a good start to a Friday morning.