Zoey (1)
I woke to the sound of a door slamming. I sit up and look around my room; nothing’s changed. I knew the sound came from somewhere else in the house and I knew it was my dad, but I didn’t know why he was slamming doors this early.
I glanced at my iPhone, seeing I had another thirty minutes of sleep- at least. I sigh and snuggle back under my blankets, closing my eyes.
I could hear my parents talking but it didn’t sound like the conversation was any good. Something about my dad and his alcoholism. I feel awful for my little sister, who was in a bed across the room.
Lizzie was only fifteen and she seemed oblivious to the obvious abuse our mother suffered through. Wade was a year older than I, but he never stopped our dad from being violent with Mom though he was much stronger than Dad.
I managed to fall back asleep before my alarm went off. I dismissed it, rubbing my eyes and feeling a headache coming on. Who gets headaches first thing in the morning? I groan and climb out of bed, crossing the room and shaking Lizzie.
She groaned and rolled over, looking at me sleepily. “Is it time to wake up already?”
“Yes, silly.” I smile, sitting down on the bed. “Come on, it’s the first day of school!”
“I’ve already gone through enough of those, what’s missing one going to do?”
I sigh, poking her repeatedly. “Lizzie, you only get so many firsts. Besides, you’re going into Sophomore year- you have to work your hardest for the next two years in order to get recognized for scholarships and stuff.”
“I don’t want to go to college.” Lizzie groans but she sits up anyway. “I don’t know what I want to do but I don’t want to go to school today.”
I smile, standing up. “Come on. Mom made french toast.”
That got Lizzie moving and we raced downstairs together. We took our seats at the table and dad had a beer. Who wants to drink this early in the morning anyway?
Mom smiled at us, setting plates down before walking down the hallway to yell up the stairs for Wade. We hear his muffled response and then noise as he scrambles to get dressed.
I finish eating before heading upstairs to get ready, too. I pull on jeans and a T-shirt, then put my long dark hair into a ponytail. I pull some strands down to frame my pale face and then grab a jacket and my backpack.
Downstairs I pulled on my high tops before meeting up with Lizzie at the door and walking out to the bus stop. We climb onto the bus and I take my seat next to Lacy and Piper.
Lacy I’ve known since middle school and Piper moved here Freshman year but Lacy and I took her under our wings. Lacy was smiling and Piper was red.
“What did I miss?” I ask, and Lacy smiles.
“There’s a new boy and he’s definitely the hottest thing around!”
I raise an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“He’s so cute. He rides our bus; he’s in the back.” Lacy is beaming at this point. “His name is Jackson and he’s in our grade.”
I nod. “Sounds cool.”
“I think you would like him.”
Like him? I don’t even know him! Besides, “I have my eye on someone else.” I admit.
Piper turns to me though she already knows and I smile sheepishly. “You know Hunter Brown?”
The two nod. “I think he’s cute. He’s really nice and funny when you get to know him.”
“Girl!” Lacy’s eyes were wide. “How did we not know- we’re your best friends!”
“I know but I don’t really talk about my crushes a lot. Not since Ricky.” Ricky was the Senior I had dated my Freshman year. He was mean to everyone and very abusive.
When he graduated he moved away, basically ghosting me. My young self really took that to heart and I still haven’t quite recovered.
“Yeah, we get it.” Piper smiles before Lacy can complain. All Lacy really does is talk about boys. She’s every high school blonde from every movie ever: boys, cheerleading, partying. It’s all up her alley.
“Thanks. Either way, I like Hunter. If he’s in any of my classes I think I’m going to talk to him.”
“About what?” Lacy asks. She thinks I’m going to ask him out, but I don’t have the courage.
“Nothing in particular. I just want to get to know him more.”
Lacy nods. “Yeah. I think I might talk to Jackson. He’s really cute.”
“I can tell. You practically have heart eyes.”
Lacy rolls her eyes and the bus arrives at the school. We stand up and I spot a really tall boy in the back. He must be Jackson, I’ve never seen him before. He pushes to the front, not caring if other kids were trying to get out of their seats.
I turn to Lacy, an eyebrow raised. “That’s cute? He seems like a jerk.”
Lacy smiles. “I don’t think he’s always like that. He could be having a bad day.”
“A bad day, huh?” Piper asks, looking up at Lacy. She was short and a lot of kids picked on her saying she should go back to kindergarten. “Seems like he’s just a jerk, like Zoey said.”
Lacy shrugs. “Either way, I really like him. We should go talk to him.” She shoves her way out of the seat and Piper and I stare after her.
“Well,” I sigh. “Here we go again.”
Piper laughs and we head into the building together. Lacy was close to the door talking to Jackson. He looked bored.
“So when do you think you’re free? We should totally go out sometime!” Lacy was saying, twirling her hair and fluttering her eyelashes.
Piper and I slowed our pace to hear Jackson reject her. He said some other choice words but they’re not worth repeating.
He turned and walked into the building, leaving Lacy in a state of shock. Piper puts a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, he’s mean anyway.”
I nod in agreement. “Lacy, focus on yourself. You have such a bright future ahead of you. I mean come on, don’t you have three full-ride scholarships? And other offers?”
Lacy nods. “Yeah but it’s no fun if no one is there to be with me.”
“Well I’m going to the same college as you. Piper already has her job lined up and I don’t really know where Jaz and Bree are going to go.”
Jaz and Bree were my other friends and they drove to school. Speaking of, they were approaching us waving from across the sidewalk.
I waved back. When they joined us, Jaz was the first to notice Lacy’s sad face. Jaz was Asian-American and she moved to the US a few years ago. “What’s wrong?” She asked, and Lacy shook her head.
“Nothing.” She sighs loudly.
Bree rolls her eyes. “Don’t tell me you got rejected. Again. On the first day of school.”
Piper nods. “She did.”
I smile. “We should get inside, I’m sure class will be starting soon.”
We all went to our first period classes, the only one staying with me was Bree. She was pretty and one of the nicest girls in our grade. She had brown shoulder-length hair and blue eyes. We sat together in the back of class and I saw Hunter come in, his bag slung over his shoulder.
His hood was up and he slouched into the seat in front of us. I nudged Bree and she smiled at me. “Isn’t he the one you like?”
I had told the others about Hunter, the only one who didn’t know about him was Lacy. Until today. The teacher walked into the classroom, surveying faces before sitting down.
“Good to have you guys back. I hope you all enjoyed your summers and I have a seating chart for you to follow if you misbehave.”
Obviously nobody misbehaved- who in their right mind would willingly get their seats moved from their friends? Exactly.
Mrs. Lawrence begins filling in a chart as she takes attendance. “Okay, so today is the day I go over protocol. Introduce myself and basically bore you all to death.” She smiles. “I’m sure most of you already know each other, so I’ll skip the ice breaker. My name is Mrs. Lawrence, and my job is to help you build your grammar and learn essential skills for your adult life.
“I expect you all to put in your best effort and you will earn the grades you get. By now you know the normal rules of a classroom, they aren’t any different here. I want you all to be honest with me, if you miss a deadline just say so. I am willing to extend it for accidents.
“If you lie to me- or attempt to- I will not be so forgiving. You will need a writing utensil- preferably a pen- and a notebook. If you want to keep the papers I will occasionally hand out, a folder would be fine. Any questions?”
Nobody says anything. We’re Seniors, what more do we need to know?
“Alright. Now we will do book reports but I will allow you to choose the books you read and make reports on for the entire school year. I will encourage and support your choices of reading and I have nothing against you reading fiction.
“At the end of the year I will help you build your resumes and will be more than happy to write out letters of recommendation for colleges and jobs. For the rest of the period you guys are free to turn and chat.”
I turn to Bree, smiling. “Yeah, he’s the one.”
She smiles, too. “You should talk to him. The seat next to him is empty.”
I smile, too. “I suppose I could try.” I grab my bag and move up a spot, sitting next to Hunter. He had a sketchbook open and he was drawing an animal. I couldn’t tell what, though. Not because it was bad but because it looked like a mix of things.
“Hey.” I smile at him as he glances over at me from around his hood.
“Hi.” He spent the entirety of his school career being bullied for his skin condition. He had severe eczema, and his skin was always having an outbreak. He lived in hoodies and sweatpants, not many kids had seen his face since fifth grade- when things started to get bad.
“How was your summer?”
He shrugs. “A normal summer, I guess. How about yours?”
“Mine was nice.” I watch as he turns back to his drawing. It looked like a dragon of some sort, but I wasn’t quite sure. “That’s a nice drawing.”
“Thanks.”
“What is it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, just a doodle.” A doodle? He had an entire portrait of a creature on his page but it was just “a doodle”?
“It looks really cool.” I say again.
“Thanks.”
I didn’t know what else to say so I sat there awkwardly until the bell rang. Hunter stood and began gathering his things.
I stood up and shouldered my bag, feeling awkward since I didn’t say anything more. “Hey, Zoey?” Hunter turned to me, his bag over one shoulder.
“What’s up?”
“Do you wanna go to Burger Tank after school?”
I smile. “Sure! What do you have eighth mod?”
“Study hall.”
“Okay, meet me at the main entrance.” I suggest. I have photography so we won’t even be close to each other.
“Sounds like a plan.” Hunter waves and leaves the classroom and Bree stops beside my desk.
“So?”
“He asked me out!” I smile. “I was scared so I kind of went quiet. We both ended up sitting there awkwardly until he asked me to go to Burger Tank after school!”
“Yay!” Bree claps. “I’m so happy for you!” Bree was looking for love but she said she could wait until college. None of the guys at our school seemed to interest her.
We walked to class together and I waved to her before heading into History. I was still excited about Hunter and I probably would be for the rest of the day.
