Chapter 1
Only three more minutes before the bell, Teagan thought, casting a grim glance at the clock before turning back to her book. Well, it was a good break while it lasted.
The sixth period teacher had to leave for the day, ostensibly for a family emergency, and allowed the students to hang out anywhere they wanted…except she actually left a note telling everyone to go to the library. Unsurprisingly, everyone ignored that—no one else in the school cared about reading unless it was for a grade, apparently.
Well, everyone but Teagan, that is.
Currently, she was the only person in the library; she usually liked to hang out here anyway. It was one of the only two places at school where she could read freely, with no teachers telling her off for not paying attention in class, or peers calling her weird for her book obsession. She supposed she could read in her garden as well, but that was mainly the place where she’d hang out and drink with Fiona.
After darting one last glimpse up at the clock, she skimmed one more line from The Langoliers before finally closing the book. Why couldn’t the period last ten more minutes? she thought bitterly, briefly stretching out her aching back before placing the book back in its spot on the shelf. I was literally only five pages away from finishing.
She exited the school’s library right as the bell rang, annoyed at being robbed of the story’s gratifying end. Man, it would’ve been the end of The Langoliers today, the beginning of Secret Window, Secret Garden tomorrow. At the moment, that was all she really cared about—the ending to a good book over another moment spent at this stupid school, filled with people who only cared about their looks and reputations.
She kept her gaze down as she swerved through the traffic of students, striding to her only least-favorite class of Senior year. Sure, Mr. Ewald was nice enough and didn’t have as much of a problem with her reading as the rest of her teachers—he was fine with it as long as she only read the class’ assigned books—but his class was still her least-favorite.
And the reason why she disliked this class stared her down as she entered, giving her that same annoying, flirty smile as always.
“Well, good afternoon, Teagan,” Don greeted, watching her as she made her way to her seat. Right in front of his desk—if she didn’t know any better, she’d assume that Mr. Ewald sat her right in front of this bastard just to get to her.
Her skin crawled at the feeling of Don’s smarmy gaze boring into the back of her head. But rather than turn around and rip him a new one, she kept her eyes focused on the words written on the whiteboard: “TODAY’S LESSON: POP QUIZ ON CHAPTERS 4-7.”
“Oh, and happy birthday, Teagan,” Don continued, as oblivious to her disinterest as ever. “Uh…feliz cumpleaños, I think.”
Once again, not FUCKING Latina, she thought, clamping her eyes shut and balling her hands into fists. Don always dismissed her actual ethnicity, instead choosing to believe she was Latina. It was annoying as all hell, and every time he did it, she wanted to strangle him.
Not that she could actually do it—Don always had his way of weaseling out of trouble. If she attacked him, he’d turn the situation around, make it seem like he made an honest mistake and she was overreacting. And it didn’t help that the entire school seemed to always be on his side. She supposed that coming from a family with money would do that.
A quiet groan sounded in her throat as she turned to face the fucker—now that he’d wished her a happy birthday (even if it was in the wrong language…intentionally), she had to respond. Otherwise, it’d be judging stares from everyone, thinking she was rude for ignoring something as polite as a birthday wish. Not that she cared about what others thought of her, but having to deal with such a thing for a whole hour in a small closed-off space was a special type of infuriating she didn’t want to deal with.
So, sucking up her pride, she turned to face him, a small, condescending smirk adorning her face.
“Thank you, Don,” she proclaimed, subtle hostility in her tone, before facing forward again. She had no idea what his obsession with her was, especially when he had the more compatible likes of Letha and Leala fawning over him—he wanted a pretty trophy girlfriend, and both of them had pretty faces. And yet, he still only pursued her, even when she made it perfectly clear that she had absolutely no interest in him at all whatsoever.
“You’re welcome,” he said, poking her in the shoulder blade. “Hey, do you have any plans after school? Because I know a great place to hang out if you don’t.” He’s probably going to suggest a Mexican restaurant or something, she thought, rolling her eyes. He almost always did whenever he asked her out.
Before she could even begin to turn around and tell him off, Talia and Hannah entered the room. Teagan couldn’t help but smirk at the sight of Hannah shooting Don her usual glare, the one that practically screamed, “Leave her alone!”
“Will you knock it off with the useless flirting, you ignorant man-slut,” she demanded, which received a small amount of laughter from the other guys in class. He shot her a matching glare before moving to grab his copy of 1984 from his bag.
“Fuck off, Swim Freak.” Hannah flipped him the bird before heading over to her own seat, darting a little wink and smile at Teagan as she sat down. Teagan smirked back at her before sitting up straight as Mr. Ewald entered the room. Right when the bell rang; rare for him to be late like that, almost.
“Good afternoon, students,” he greeted, switching his attention between Teagan and Hannah for a second. “Uh, before we begin, I’d like us to wish Teagan a happy birthday, and Hannah a happy early birthday.” Everyone followed suit and wished both girls a happy birthday, as unenthusiastically as ever. Not that either of them really cared, as Teagan shot Hannah a small grin; their birthdays being so close together was one of the reasons they’d become friends to begin with…well, that and Hannah’s never-ending sense of authority when it came to telling off guys who were harassing girls—in this case, Don’s continual flirting with Teagan.
“All right, then.” Mr. Ewald continued, grabbing a stack of papers from his desk. “Today, we’ll be having a pop quiz on Chapters Four through Seven. So I hope you’ve been reading up.” I already finished the book, sir, Teagan thought with a small grin as he began handing out the quizzes.
* * *
“Hey, Teagan!” Don’s loud voice echoed behind her. His sudden appearance startled Teagan and made her drop a handful of papers from her locker. Fuck, she thought, darting an angry glare back at him. Even though she was getting used to his usual shit, he still managed to spook her every so often. It got on her nerves more than his obnoxious flirting.
She briefly pressed a fist into her back (the aching was killing her) before kneeling down to pick up her dropped papers, casting him an irritated glance when he knelt down to do the same.
“Aw, come on, babe,” he purred, gathering up the papers before she even had a chance to touch them. “It’s the least I could do after accidentally scaring you. Don’t be looking so angry at me.” Except it wasn’t accidental, she thought, swiping the papers from his grasp. He’d been doing shit like this for a while now, spooking her into dropping something and then picking it up for her so he looked like the hero.
She shook her head before returning to her feet, wincing at the twinge this caused in her back before stuffing the papers into her locker and closing it. I need a drink tonight, she thought, slinging her bag over her shoulder and stomping away. She pulled her phone out and sent a quick “let’s meet up tonight” text to Fiona. Hopefully, she was free—such nights were becoming more scarce, as she began getting more requests to stay later at work.
Don managed to move in front of her before she could leave, offering her a considerate smile.
“Come on, baby,” he said, stepping in front of her to block her path every time she tried to move around him. “I’m sorry I scared you, really. I just wanted to ask you out. I mean, it is your birthday. Eighteen years old now. And I have a special idea of where to take you, Teagan Vargas.” Again with this shit, she thought, her eyes narrowing to slits at the sound of this last part.
“Once again, Don!” she announced, drawing the attention of everyone around them. “My name is Teagan Vardoulakis. VAR-DOU-LA-KIS! I’m Greek, not Latina!” He was hardly fazed by her loud tone, staring at her with a bored look in his eyes.
“Are you sure?” he asked quietly, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. “Because you look Latina to me.” I will slit your throat with a broken bottle, she thought, fists trembling at her sides. No, she couldn’t attack him—if she did that, it’d be another detention for “causing trouble”. God, she hated this fucking school.
After a moment, she sucked in a deep breath before managing to calm down.
“Second of all, I couldn’t give less of a fuck about you scaring me,” she growled, managing to ram past him. “My problem is that you won’t take the hint and fuck off with the incessant flirting.” She stopped and turned back to him. “And for the billionth time, I’m not going out with you.”
The audience of fuckbags were less than impressed with her rejection, some even booing and jeering at her while others went over to comfort the asshole. Not that she cared—she simply turned and continued toward the gate, managing a relieved sigh at the sight of Hannah, Talitha, and Talia patiently waiting for her.
Thank God, she thought, waving to the group before once again placing a hand to the center of her back, massaging into it with her knuckles. I wanna go home and lie down. My back is killing me.
Adulthood couldn’t come soon enough. Ever since she’d gone through puberty, she’d wanted nothing more than to get a breast reduction. They were so goddamn big that her back was constantly aching, another factor that led to her quitting from Varsity Track. She missed running—such an activity made her feel free, like she was one with the wind. And not only did her larger bust slow her down and make her back ache especially worse afterward, but the constant harassment she faced from a certain ignorant pretty boy made the activity a bane for her.
She glanced over her shoulder to make sure he wasn’t following her, and managed another relieved sigh when she found that he wasn’t. Thank God again, she thought, actually smiling at this thought, before continuing to her friends.
Hannah gave her a sympathetic smirk before holding the gate open for the four of them, and the quartet began their walk home.
Teagan glanced at her three friends before turning her focus to the sidewalk they strode down. The four of them had become friends in their Freshman and Sophomore years, mainly due to their statuses as outcasts.
Teagan was the school’s resident goth, and she showed up everyday in black leather and lace, pale makeup, and snakebite piercings. If that wasn’t weird enough for everyone, she was also the resident bookworm, having read everything from Narnia to Lord Of The Rings, to practically all the works of Stephen King. Considering how pompous and privileged the rest of the students were, having a Gothic bookworm was one of the weirdest sights to them.
Hannah had a dream to become an anthropologist after college, and she was always looking for more places to explore and more cultures to study. People thought she was strange because of this intense passion for such a peculiar subject, but once her father forced her to join the Swim Team—which earned her the nickname Swim Freak—their poor view of her intensified. Apparently, a lot of the students at school disliked the Swim Team because there was a bad rumor about the coach—supposedly, the coach had spent some time in jail, or something to that effect. And for that, the rest of the team apparently had to suffer.
Talia suffered from narcolepsy, and would become exhausted and fall asleep at the most random of times. The harassment she suffered ended up being a bit more harsh than anything the other three had to deal with. Sometimes when she passed out, people would set her unconscious body into suggestive positions and take photos of her. Other times, the especially creepy guys would try and touch her before anyone who disapproved of such things—mainly Teagan and Hannah—would stop them. Because of the harassment she had to deal with, Teagan, Hannah, and Talitha welcomed her into their friend group as a better way to defend her.
Talitha’s harassment happened more at home than at school. She suffered at the hands of her older twin sisters, Letha and Leala (also known as the Treacherous Twosome, as Teagan called them). They hated Talitha because of her tomboyish nature and extreme book-smarts; the latter especially, since it earned her better grades and apparently more praise from their mother…well, when their mother cared enough to check their grades. Because of that, they liked to make Talitha’s life a living hell. They’d call her names, make her do their chores, force their homework on her, and out any crushes she had in public while also lying about her having perverted thoughts about said crushes.
They were all outcasts in their own rights, but only because their school was filled with stuck-up, racist, and obnoxious rich kids who preferred people to look and act a certain way. Anyone who didn’t fit their preferred mold was ostracized, something the quartet had come to know all too well.
“So, was Don giving you trouble again?” Talitha asked, pulling Teagan from her thoughts.
“Hm? Oh, yes,” Teagan said, hooking her thumbs in her cargo pants pockets. Talitha shook her head before pulling her hair free from its messy ponytail, running her fingers through it to smooth it down and ease the stress on her scalp.
Teagan admired her hair color; Talitha had dyed it platinum-blonde after Letha and Leala had joked that her natural brown hair “had the same color as shit”. Ironic of the twosome to say, since they had brown hair as well. And now, with her nearly-white hair, everyone liked to say that she looked like a ghost, a comment she heard often and liked immensely.
“Will he ever take the hint that you’re not interested?” Talitha groaned, pulling at the hems of her baggy denim jacket.
“No…apparently not,” Talia pointed, stifling a yawn. Teagan stole a concerned glance back at her, being all too familiar with the way Talia’s face sagged in exhaustion: she was almost on the brink of falling asleep. If she passed out now, it’d be a battle to wake her up. Most days, Teagan, Hannah, and Talitha would simply carry her home, and that was never fun, considering her racist ass-bag parents disapproved of them. Even though we defend your daughter from harassment, Teagan thought. Apparently, such a fact was meaningless to them if it came from a group of colored individuals.
“He’s a man-slut who can’t comprehend the fact that his charm failed to catch someone,” Hannah joked, a comment which incited some laughter from the other three. She chuckled along with them before giving Teagan a little punch in the arm. “Don’t worry, Tesoro. Eventually, he’ll move on. Maybe to either of Ghostly Tal’s witches of older sisters.” At the sound of that, Talitha groaned in annoyance.
“Speaking of,” she started, glancing up in gloom as her house came into view. “They have been making me the butt of their jokes all day today. Mainly about Homecoming. That I won’t fit in at the dance because Christine isn’t a ghost, and bullshit like that.” Teagan shook her head as the quartet stopped in front of Talitha’s house.
All week, everyone had been excitedly chattering about this Phantom of the Opera-themed Homecoming dance, and Letha and Leala decided on teasing the quartet about it. “The Phantom doesn’t go for Gothic Christines.” “The Phantom doesn’t go for ghosts.” “The Phantom doesn’t go for adventurous swim freaks or sloths who pass out all the time.”
“Well, even if the Phantom doesn’t go for goths or ghosts or whatever, he definitely doesn’t go after Carlottas either,” Teagan remarked, which earned an amused grin from Hannah.
“Ooh, quemadura musical!”
“Well…I know you’re gonna…show them up…at the dance,” Talia managed before moving to collapse. Hannah caught her at the last second and, instead of trying to wake her up, slung the sleeping girl over her shoulder in a fireman carry. Talitha breathed a sigh of relief before glancing up at her house.
“Well, I’m hopeful to show them up. It’ll probably be surprise enough for the resident tomboy to show up in a dress,” she murmured, then turned back to the trio, a mischievous smirk on her face. “I bought a killer dress and shoes in secret with the money I saved up from summer jobs.” She turned to Hannah. “Refresh my memory. Do we meet at your house to get ready?” Hannah shook her head and motioned to Teagan with her eyes.
“My house, Ghostly Tal,” Teagan informed. “Meet at my house at five-fifteen, hang out for a bit after getting ready, then head to the dance at six.” She turned to Hannah. “You get the tickets?” Hannah nodded, bouncing her bag toward Talitha with her hip (she needed both hands to keep Talia on her shoulders). Talitha nodded and dug through Hannah’s bag, pulling out three glittery tickets. She admired them for a moment before handing one to Teagan and slipping another into Talia’s bag.
Teagan looked the ticket over for a moment in slight wonder. It was gold and accented with glitter borders, and had a little plastic gold key and mini-Phantom mask tied to the corner with a small length of yellow ribbon. Printed in white cursive font was a text that read: “Enjoy the Music of the Night Homecoming Dance. Date: Saturday, October 5th. Times: 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Location: Parkhill High School Gym”
“All three of you ladies owe me fifty bucks. Those tickets weren’t cheap,” Hannah asserted, giving both Teagan and Talitha pointed looks. “That’s a hundred and fifty bucks altogether, FYI.”
“Yeah, we know basic math, Hannah,” Teagan said, stuffing her ticket into her bag. “I gotta get my dress first, and then I’ll see if Matthias will be willing to cough up some dough.” Hannah nodded before adjusting Talia’s position on her shoulders.
“All righty, then. I better get this one home. Wish me luck with her folks,” she huffed, then turned and started down the sidewalk again. “I’ll video chat you guys later.”
