Chapter 1
MAX
Placing my books into my locker, I quickly grabbed what I needed to take home with me for Christmas break and slammed it shut.
I had my last math exam until we returned to school after Christmas.
It was finally our last day of school. No more exams, no more putting up with teachers telling us what was expected of us. I heaved a sigh of relief and walked toward the entrance of the school.
Everyone was excited. I could hear the chatter of what was planned with families, to where they were spending it. I ignored it all since I had my own plans.
I was spending it with my parents and younger brother, Max. We usually go to visit family, but this year is different since we are staying put.
Most of the family are going away this year on holidays, while we stay behind and celebrate it on our own.
Taking a step to the side in the corridor so I didn’t get knocked over by some of the students running, I looked around for Blake, my best friend, but he was nowhere to be seen. Typical. Knowing my luck, he was with Kate and her croons.
Kate was the mean cheerleader of the school, and everyone liked her, including the boys. She was everyone’s dream girl, while I was completely the opposite.
There was no need to compete with her since I knew people never batted their eyes at me like they do with her.
Taking that as a sign that he was with her, I didn’t even bother to wait for him and made the decision to leave. I knew if I had to wait around for him and Kate was with him, I would have to endure the awkwardness she created.
Making sure I had everything in my bag one final time, I made sure my locker was closed and walked away.
Pushing open the entrance door to the school, I let out a breath and pulled my jacket closer to my body. It was now winter and getting darker, which meant there were only four more days till Christmas. Placing one of my earbuds into my ear, I pressed play on some music and walked away. I needed the space.
The thought of not doing anything big was even more thrilling. Every year, leaving to see family was always draining. We always had to get up at the crack of dawn for my mum to prepare for dinner and then there was opening our gifts.
Every year, we would open the gifts in the Christmas pajamas we wore the night before. Since getting older, I started to watch more and noticed I loved being around my family. Watching Max open his presents and seeing the excitement in his eyes as he gets what he has from Santa.
This was my senior year, before I headed to college. I was going out of state and was supposed to be heading there with Blake.
We have been best friends since we started high school. He was new to town and even moved to the same street as me. I didn’t realize until we were in school. We had the same classes and even the same friends. We hit it off instantly and never let anyone get between us, not until now.
Every day we usually walk home together and even have meals at each other’s houses. Even our families are good friends, especially our fathers, who support the same football team.
But that all changed when Blake had a blow-up over this summer, by changing everything about himself, including how he dressed. He started to work out with his older brother, Dylan, during the evenings. Even though he changed on the outside, between the both of us, he was still the same kid who loved Math. He was a pro than I was, whereas I loved English and History.
Math was my biggest enemy in school, I hated math. Blake took it upon himself to help me study last week which was for my last exam. He was patient and even showed me a better way of understanding everything.
Walking home was quick. I stepped onto our street and sighed when I noticed my house was full of darkness. Great, that meant my parents were still at work and Max was with our grandmother.
Heading toward the door, I pulled out my key from my pocket and opened the door. I stepped inside when the heat hit my face. For the last few days, my parents had timed the heating to come on half an hour before we came home, so we would have a warm house when we got in.
Loving the feel of the warmth, I knew I had time to relax before all the chaos and noise started. Stepping out of my shoes, I bent down to put them on the shoe rack and walked upstairs.
A ping came from my phone, which made me pull it out of my pocket. I glanced at the message and frowned. It was from Blake.
“Hey, where are you?”
Staring at the message, I knew I had to tell him, so I sent him a one-word answerback and placed my phone back into my pocket.
Blake and I were friends, but for me, I always wanted more. I mean the boy was hot. But I knew there was no chance of us being anything since he would never ruin our friendship, and neither would I.
Sometimes it’s hard to see someone you like, change before your eyes.
Shaking away all the negative thoughts, I looked upstairs and knew what to do.
Every time I felt off or even down, there was one place I would go, and no one knew about it, not even Blake. I found it one evening after arguing with my mum about chores. I left the house and walked around for hours till I came to it. It then became my spot, a place where I could deal with my thoughts and even process them.
Placing my foot on the stairs, I walked up and decided I needed to get changed to go. I wanted to be gone before the madness started.
