Untitled | Teen Ink

Untitled

January 30, 2023
By KaiTrammell PLATINUM, Highwood, Montana
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KaiTrammell PLATINUM, Highwood, Montana
21 articles 1 photo 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The truth as always resists simplicity" John Green


Author's note:

This is a random thing I started a couple of months ago, it's not even titled yet and I seem to find myself falling in love with it every day. It's the first book I've seemed to commit myself to and I really hope I stick to it.

The author's comments:

This was the introduction of the main character Cassidy and new found love interest Rory 


I’ve always loved quotes. The cheesy ones you find on Pinterest, or the ones that rip your insides out and leave your esophagus burning to find the words to describe the taste of the sweet but sharp language. The ones that make you crack a smile or the ones that make you feel like not only your world is on fire, others are too. As I read the pretty words etched on the millions of pixels I hold in my hand, the feeling of warmth creeps its way into my hollow shell we call a body and leaves me feeling noticed. Heard. Seen. The darkness can be lonely, but illuminated by the faint echo of understanding it can make it seem a little brighter.

Before dozing off into a well needed sleep I hear my door fly open,

“Cassidy Lynn Foxwell, what do you think you’re doing?!” that voice jolts me awake, I fling myself out of bed and crash to the floor. Immediately she burst out into laughter,

“Mom? It’s 10:30, I’m sleeping” I groaned, still on the floor. I sit up to see she’s laughing so hard she’s crying.

“Oh my god, you should’ve seen your face” she laughs 

“Mom, you scared me half to death!” I smile back

“I just wanted to see what you were up to, I also wanted to make sure you weren’t staying up all night working on that assignment. You have school tomorrow you know.” She closes my laptop and sets it on my desk. I bring myself up to my feet and brush myself off,

“I know, I know” 

“Also why is it so dark in here, you're going to make those eyes even worse” She points to my glasses

“My eyes are fine mom, now if I could please go back to sleep” I rest my hands on my hips 

“Fine, you don’t want bags under your eyes for your first day of senior year anyways” she walks out shutting the door behind her. I sigh, senior year. Walking back to my bed I catch a glimpse of myself in the body mirror I had always kept in the corner of my room. Standing before me was a scrawny, brunette with round glasses that had a silver rim (Harry Potter style). I was only around 5’5 so most of the kids my age towered over me. My hair was short and dark, the darkness of my hair complimented my bright green eyes nicely, or so my mom thought. As I looked closer, all I could see was a kid, not a senior, not a seventeen year old. It was hard to think everything was changing so quickly. I turned away from the mirror before jumping into bed while my eyes welcomed the feeling of sleep. Just one more year, then I’ll be gone.

I woke up the next morning to the repulsive sound of my alarm clock. As I dragged myself out of bed and rubbed the tiredness from my eyes I realized I had already snoozed my alarm clock four times and was of course running late. I rush into the bathroom and put on my “ ACDC” t-shirt and some sweatpants. I already hear honking when I run down the stairs, I tie up my bright red high top Vans and slip on my long black zip up. I swing my army green messenger bag over my shoulder and stop suddenly at the door. 180 days, that's all I need. I take a deep breath before mustering up the courage to open the door. 

“Hurry up, we're going to be late!” The non-stop honking continued

“We’ll be fine” I waved her off, Gracie and I had met last year, we weren’t the best of friends but that was alright. Me and her were exact opposites and I think that's why I liked her so much, we evened each other out. She was tall, like really tall, 5’11 and ¾ to be exact. She had long blond hair and the brightest blue eyes you’ve ever seen. Perfect skin, perfect life, and the most popular girl at school. No one understood why she hung out with me, honestly neither did I. 

“We’re definitely going to be late” she reassured me while turning on a familiar playlist

“We’re going to be fine, what do you want to be all early for anyways” I lean my seat back 

“I don't want to be early I want to be on time, early is on time, on time is late” Gracie had always said that, I couldn’t think of one time she had been late to something.

“Whatever, what did they say about the schedules?” I was wishing to be in classes with Gracie but it very rarely happened.

“The school sent out an email last night saying we would get them outside of the school, something about tables, I don’t know I didn’t read all of it” She pulled into the school parking lot. I looked around and saw a disgusting amount of familiar faces. As Gracie pulled in to a spot I pulled up the email about the schedules,

“It says the tables should be at the front door” I pointed to the large group surrounded by the front of the school.

“Sweet, could you pick mine up too? Jason wanted to meet on the field” Jason was her boyfriend she had met over the summer, of course he was just one of the hundreds of boys she would meet throughout the year. 

“Yeah, I’ll send you a picture of it if I can’t bring it to you before first period” I say as we both get out of the car, I head towards the tables while she heads for the fields. The tables were in alphabetical order, after searching awkwardly for a while I finally found mine. 

“Hi, Last name?” the girl running the table asked, she had a sweet voice and not the fake kind.
“Foxwell, Cassidy Foxwell” I already hated myself even though I was only twenty seconds into the conversation. She shuffles the papers around for a while before handing me one,

“I was also wondering if I could pick one up for a friend?” I felt bad for asking 

“Oh sorry, we can’t give them out” She apologized 

“Thanks anyways” I smile waving, I look down to my schedule reading off every class. I had thankfully gotten into band which I was worried about, all of my other classes didn’t seem too bad. I texted Gracie, 

“Hey, I couldn’t pick up your schedule sry.” 

“It’s all good, I’ll pick it up later” 

“K, I’ll c u later”

“See ya”

I was already running late so I headed in and prepared myself for the horror of the hallways. The hallways of Lockwood were to say the least, dangerous. I’m honestly surprised no one had been trampled to death. Thankfully I was able to maneuver them easily, and knew all the shortcuts to miss all the traffic. I quickly find my class and walk in. Of course most of the seats were taken, before I fully commit to walking in the room I look for a seat. Me and a guy with brown hair and so many freckles you could see it from across the room lock eyes and of course I feel morally obliged to sit next to him. As I do, I get a better look at him, his eyes were the perfect shade of gray and his long fluffy hair covered them slightly.

“Hey” he said almost as it was a question, 

“Hello,” I feel dumb, should I ask a question or say something I-

“You’re Gracie's friend right?” I was always known as that, ‘Gracie's friend’ nothing more nothing less, and I’d like to keep it that way.

“Yep, that’s me” I smile, but quickly neutralize my look

“Cassidy, right? I’m Rory” he put out his hand waiting for me to shake it, I did. He had a good handshake, strong, confident.

“Oh it’s just Cass” I quickly say, I never really liked “Cass” but it’s what Gracie had always called me so I went with it. “Too formal” I laugh,

“Yeah I know what you mean” he smiles back, his smile was to be truthfully honest, tantalizing. “My actual name is Rodrick” he cringes as he mentions it. 

“Okay you win, that’s pretty terrible” I realize what I had said “No, no that’s not what I-” 

“It’s all good, to be honest it is pretty terrible” Rory reassures me as I die of embarrassment, “so if you're Gracie’s friend, why are you guys always like never together?” He asks

“It’s complicated, she’s super popular, I’m super not. You get the idea” this was a question I’d been asked countless times. 

Damn that sucks” he raised his eyebrows looking away from me. 

“Yeah, talk about it” I laugh and try to save face, thankfully the teacher walked in before the awkward silence kicked in. The class went by fairly quickly, and before I knew it, the bell had already rang. Rory and I both got up when I noticed a small pin on the back of his backpack, it was a small football surrounded by the school colors. 

“Do you play?” I ask pointing to the pin

“Oh, yeah I play for the school, speaking of I should probably go sign up for tryouts” he says as I follow him out of class, “See you around Cassidy” he says turning the corner. 

“It’s just Cass” I tried to stop him, but he was already gone. I roll my eyes looking down at my schedule. The next few classes had gone well, I walked into 5th period and thankfully saw Gracie,

“Cass!” She yelled, waving her hand frantically. I waved back, walking over to her desk. “Oh my God, I’m so happy we have a class together” she smiles her popular girl smile. 

“Me too, what do you have for 6th?” I ask sitting down in the desk next to hers,

“Chemistry, you?” she leans forward

“Band” I try my best to fake a sigh. I love Gracie, don't get me wrong, but I don’t think I could handle her for another period.

Damn, have you met anyone yet” her eyes seemed to glisten with delight and question

“Kind of-” I start but pull myself back, I knew if she had heard about Rory she would go crazy and that’s not an easy thing to get out of with Gracie. “Not really, but how are you and Jacob?” I asked, there was nothing she loved more than talking about herself. It was also a good way to keep her from talking about me. She ranted for the rest of the period, I kept her busy with mumbles of recognition every once in a while. Mr.Wallis’s monotone voice almost put me to sleep, especially when he began reading Shakespeare. It had felt like forever but thankfully the class had ended,
“You’re taking me home right?” By the look on her face I already knew the answer,

“Oh, sorry I can’t. Me and Jacob are hanging out after school.” I could see the fake sympathy on her face, she could really not care less.

“It’s all good, see you tomorrow?” I began walking out, I really hated that she did that to me. Of course it wasn’t new, just annoying. 

“Yeah, ttyl!” She was the only person in human history who really said abbreviations in real life. I wished that the day was over, one more hour. I finally get to my happy place, I sit down and pull out my flute. I put it together and begin warm-ups. I flew through scales with ease and began to feel sane again. Having band class at the end of the day was a relief, I desperately needed a break from school and this was the best break ever. Mr. Hanson walks in and everyone quiets down. Everyone in the class already knew all the cues, we had all been in the same band class since freshman year. It was like one big family. 

“Alright guys you know the drill-” all the students shifted in their seats, they knew what he was going to say- “ The Winter competition is in four months and we were chosen to compete. Finalists will go to a state competition where they will compete against the other two bands for a chance at being the state champion. As you all know, we need soloists, as you also know, those spots will be reserved for seniors as they have been here longest.” He finishes as the younger students slump in their seats. I had been waiting for this for four years now and this was my chance, sure as hell I was going to fight to get a spot. “There will be two soloists chosen for this competition, here is your music. Let the best musician win” he smiles, handing all four of us the soloist music. The music looks hard, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. For the rest of the class I annotate my music and figure out the note jumps, I barely even play at all. By the time the bell rings I have just finished, I walk out into the hallways and try my best to beat the rush. Thankfully, I get out without getting trampled, I sit down on a bench knowing my bus will be late. I hear a notification and go to pull out my phone but before I feel a tap on my shoulder.

“Do you need a ride?” A familiar voice asks as I turn around standing up, 

“Rory, hey! No I’m alright my bus will be here soon, I should be fine” I smile 

“You sure? It really wouldn’t be a problem” He looks sincere, I had never really noticed how tall he was, or maybe how short I was.
“Are you sure?” I swipe my hair behind my ear,

“Yeah, it’s no problem at all” I decide to trust him, he doesn’t seem like the kidnap you and shove you in his basement, type.

“That would actually be really awesome thanks” I smile again as he walks me to his car, 

“I thought you and Gracie usually drove together” he looks over at me.

“Yeah we usually do, but as of lately it seems like her boyfriend is the first priority” I roll my eyes. 

Damn, good friend,” he said sarcastically as I laughed.

“I know right, the best” we laugh as we get into his car, so far so good, no kidnapper vibes so far. He rolls down the window as I throw my jacket into the backseat.  He plays loud eccentric music, nothing like Gracie had ever played. The music was so loud I could feel it in my soul, the bass vibrated the whole car. I looked over and saw him. His hair flew back so I could see his face. It was soft, he still had a pretty sharp jawline but it was weirdly soft, nothing like I had ever seen. His gray eyes had a blue tint to them and his freckles were still loud as ever. His nose had a little bump to it, like it had been broken before and healed slightly out of place and his lips were naturally red, not extremely red but again, soft. I noticed I had been staring, I looked back to the road but I could see he saw me out of the corner of his eye. He turns down the music slightly,

“You gonna get that?” he points down to my phone and smiles, I look down at that and saw millions of texts from Gracie, 

“Sorry, I guess I couldn’t hear it over the music” I could tell I was bright red, 

“It’s all good, is this one yours?” He stops in front of my house,

“Yep!-” I open the door- “Thanks for driving me, it was fun” smile

“No problem-” he grabs something from the floor- “Don’t forget this” he hands me my jacket from the back seat.

“Thanks, see you” I wave, closing the door, the window still down. 

“See you around Cassidy” he smiles, the sun glistens in his eyes just the right way to make them look like they're shining. I wave as he drives off, I look down at my phone and scroll through Gracies texts.

“Who’s that guy?!” 

“Where r u?” 

“Hellooooo”

“Cass?!”

“Who was that?” 

“Earth to Cass, where r u?” 

The list went on and on, I scroll to the bottom,

“Hey, sorry I didn’t answer” 

“Who drove you home?” 

“Some guy from my chem class”

“You can’t get into some random guy's car!!!” 

“I’m fine, I promise” 

“Still!!!”

I close my phone and open the door, setting my bag on the floor as I walk in. I walk up stairs and slump onto my bed. Today was too long. I slip on my jacket and go into the bathroom. I wiped off all my makeup hiding my acne. I slide my hand into my jacket pocket to reach for my phone but only find a small folded sticky note. I open it thinking it was notes from class but on it was a phone number, I scan over the numbers and the small lettering at the bottom, 

-Rory

Why would he give me his number? I put the paper back into my pocket and jump back into bed, I pull out my phone and decide to text the number.

“Rory?” 

“Hey! I was starting to think you hadn’t found it” 

“Yeah, wyd?” 

“Not much, just working on an assignment from class” 

“Oh cool, I probably should do the same, I have some big band thing coming up” 

“Oh you’re in band? What do you play?” 

“Flute, I know it’s kind of boring”

“No flutes are cool, how long have you been playing?” 

Small butterflies started to swarm, 

“Not long, I started freshman year” 

Damn that's cool, could I hear it sometime?” 

“Yeah of course!” 

“Well, I should probably work on homework but I’ll text later” 

“Me too, see ya!” 

“See you”

I flop onto my back and smile. It wasn’t like it was some super in depth conversation but it was good, really good.

The author's comments:

This is Rory's perspective on the first day of school compared to Cassidy's. It introduced Rory's personal problems and gives an inside look to his view of life.

I wake up at the same time in the same room I have for the past seventeen years, a routine I based my life around. Everything was the same, the band posters that cover every inch of my walls, the football trophies on my desk and the view through my window. Nothing ever really changed, and I liked it that way. I opened my eyes instantly regretting it, sitting up felt repulsive and walking to the bathroom felt even worse. I wash my face and brush my teeth while still half asleep. I never did understand people who liked the mornings. I reluctantly slip on a sweatshirt and cargo pants and head down stairs. When I got there my mom was already waiting. 

“Hey honey! Are you ready for your first day?” She smiles 

“Sadly yes” I rub my eyes 

“Are you getting breakfast on the way there? You’re running a little late” We look over at the time which shows I am running a bit late.

“Yeah I’ll stop by Crystal’s place” which was most-likely a lie, I tried to avoid Crystal at all costs

“Okay, say ‘hi’ for me!” her voice fades at I walk towards the door

“Will do!” I yell from outside. I start my car and  drive off, turning on a playlist that suits the moment. I had playlists for every moment you could imagine, breakups, car rides, happy stuff, you name it I probably have a playlist for it. The drive goes by quickly and before I know it I’m sitting in the school's parking lot. I look over and see two girls in the car next to me, one I could recognize as Gracie. We had a couple classes together last year but I honestly didn’t like her. The other girl looked familiar but I couldn’t put a name to her. I shrug it off and get out of the car looking for the schedule tables. I eventually find them in front of the school and get in line.

“Last name?” A guy from behind the table asks 

“Windsor” I sigh, I hated every part of my name, Rodrick Windsor. My parents really did me a favor with that one. 

“Oh Rory!” I look up at me and I realize that it’s Chase. He’s a guy from the football team, we had hung out a couple times but it was mostly just football stuff. 

“Chase, I didn’t even recognize you” I lie 

“Yeah same for you, here's your schedule” he hands me the schedule as I scan over it. Chemistry was first period, ugh I hate chemistry. I walk to class before the hallways get too crowded and sit down in the back. Apparently everyone else had the same idea because there were barely any seats by the time I walked in. I sit down near the back and wait for the bell to ring. As I did, a girl walked in, she had short brown hair and circular glasses that covered her bright green eyes. Her dark hair paired the green eyes perfectly, as she walked in we made eye contact which led her to walk my way. That’s when I could finally put a name to her, she was the one with Gracie this morning. I already felt unlucky, I honestly expected her to be like Gracie, rude, entitled, and grossly perfect. As she walked I could already tell she wasn’t like Gracie, she held herself differently. She walked with her shoulders slumped over and her head down, her presence felt cold. 

“Hey” I already felt stupid, 

“Hello,” her voice felt confident, strong

“You’re Gracie's friend right?” I saw her smile for a quick second but fastly hid it

“Yep, that’s me” she swipes her hair behind her ear, her bright green eyes shimmered against the bright lights that glittered above us.

“Cassidy, right? I’m Rory” before I could think about it I put my hand out for her to shake, I felt enormously dumb at that moment. She takes my hand and shakes it, her hands are soft, delicate and absolutely freezing.

 “Oh it’s just Cass” she lets go and pauses “too formal” she laughs slightly 

“Yeah I know what you mean” I smile cringing at the thought “my actual name is Rodrick” I hated that name more than anything.

  “Okay you win, that’s pretty terrible” she gives me a horrified look “No, no that’s not what I-” 

“It’s all good, to be honest it is pretty terrible” I smile and try to change the topic so she doesn’t feel too bad, “so if you're Gracie’s friend, why are you guys always like never together?” Wrong topic

“It’s complicated, she’s super popular, I’m super not. You get the idea” I felt bad for asking as soon as she had responded, I really need to be smarter.

Damn that sucks” I look away feeling too bad to look at her, God why am I so dumb

“Yeah, talk about it” she laughs quietly, obviously not thinking that it was funny. We didn't talk for the rest of the class, I honestly felt too bad to start up any conversation. By the time the bell rings I’m already up out of my seat, before I could completely leave Cassidy stops me,

“Do you play?” I notice her pointing at the small football pin on the side of my backpack.

“Oh, yeah I play for the school, speaking of I should probably go sign up for tryouts” I now get a look at how short she was compared to me. She nods slightly as I begin to walk out of class “See you around Cassidy” I smile waving and turning the corner. I almost ripped my hair out when I realized that I called her Cassidy, I really couldn’t feel worse at the moment. I walked down the hall feeling too horrible to look back to see if she was there. Thankfully I had a study hall so I could just get some work done. I sat down in the library, pulled out my computer and headphones and got to work. I had gladly started math a year early so I was completely done with it by last year. I scrolled through some playlists before I found my study playlist, I pressed play and began. 

The rest of the period went by slower than ever, although I couldn’t really focus on any actual school work.Then just as the day began it very slowly came to an end, classes were done and all I had to do was get some paperwork for football. I walk over to the office and grab them, I skimmed through the sheets of paper. Everything looks the same which is good, I’ll just get mom to sign these later. I begin walking to my car when I notice Cassidy sitting alone, 

“Do you need a ride?” I tapped her shoulder as she spun around to look at me, she looked scared but realized it was me.

“Rory, hey! No I’m alright my bus will be here soon, I should be fine” She stands up smiling, her smile made those little butterflies spin in my stomach. 

“You sure? It really wouldn’t be a problem” I reassure her, 

“Are you sure?” She brushes her hair behind her ear but to her avail it just falls back

“Yeah, it’s no problem at all” I looked over to my car, I knew I wasn’t the cleanest in there which I would be inevitably embarrassed about.

“That would actually be really awesome thanks” She smiles again thanking me with her eyes, 

“I thought you and Gracie usually drove together” I remembered seeing them together this morning 

“Yeah we usually do, but as of lately it seems like her boyfriend is the first priority” she rolls her eyes 

Damn, good friend,” I laugh, we begin walking to my car. 

“I know right, the best,” she laughs back thankfully. She jumps in without a second beat and throws her jacket in the back. I was beyond amazed that she didn’t have anything to say about the state of my car. I get in and try to find the right playlist for the moment, I find an older one, I recognize the songs and hit play. I look over to her to see if she approves of my song choices, to my surprise she’s smiling. I drive off and roll down the windows, turning up the music to max volume. I caught a glimpse of her, her hair blew in the wind and her eyes glistened. I look back to the road as I turn a corner, she points out directions every once in a while, at one point I looked over at her hoping to catch another smile but I noticed that she was looking at me. We make eye contact for what felt like half a second, she spins her head around to face her window and her cheeks blush. I look back to the road as we pull up to her house. When I turn down the music I hear a continuous stream of notifications from her phone, I point at it

“Are you gonna get that?” I smile 

“Sorry, I guess I couldn’t hear it over the music” she looks down at her phone and quickly turns it off

“It’s all good, is this one yours?” I looked over to her house, it was really nice. 

“Yep!-” She opens the door- “Thanks for driving me, it was fun” she smiles 

“No problem-” I remember her jacket, I slide my hand into the backseat and grab the jacket while quickly slipping a piece of paper into the right pocket- “Don’t forget this”  I hand it over hoping she’d notice the paper once she had gotten inside 

“Thanks, see you” She waves and closes the door

“See you around Cassidy” I smile through the window realizing what I had said. I drove off completely embarrassed, I sigh knowing I had completely messed that up. I drive home in silence checking my phone every two seconds making sure I don’t miss her message, if she even texts me. I walk through the front door and fling my backpack to the side. I roll my shoulders back and quickly walk upstairs. I hear a buzz from my phone and I walk even quicker to my room, I belly flop onto my bed and pull out my phone.

“Rory?” 

I let out a sigh of relief

“Hey! I was starting to think you hadn’t found it” 

“Yeah, wyd?” 

“Not much, just working on an assignment from class” 

That was a total lie 

“Oh cool, I probably should do the same, I have some big band thing coming up” 

“Oh you’re in band? What do you play?” 

“Flute, I know it’s kind of boring”

“No flutes are cool, how long have you been playing?” 

Small butterflies started to swarm, 

“Not long, I started freshman year” 

Damn that's cool, could I hear it sometime?” 

“Yeah of course!” 

“Well, I should probably work on homework but I’ll text later” 

“Me too, see ya!” 

“See you”

I regretted not apologizing for calling her “Cassidy” but I’ll get to that. The little butterflies began to swarm in my stomach and I felt all weird and jittery. This entire day had been too weird, so off track. The daily schedule I had written for myself had been thrown off, and damn. I couldn’t be happier.

The author's comments:

ITS UNFINISHED IM SO SORRY :(


After texting Rory I feel all weird, which I don’t like. I decide to clear my mind with some music, I pull out my flute and construct it together. I also took out my sheet music reluctantly, even once it was annotated it still looked difficult. I tried the first couple of measures which didn’t seem extraordinarily hard but still confusing. A couple hours later and many thoughts about throwing my flute and quitting completely, I had gotten another text from Rory. To be honest, I was checking my phone every couple minutes in hopes he would text and would give me a reason to take a break. 

Hey! I feel really bad for calling you Cassidy, I’m super sorry

A slight panic rose inside of me, I really did like him calling me Cassidy, it felt better. 

To be honest I really do like Cassidy more, Gracie had always just called me Cass

Really, are you sure?

Yes of course! I never really liked Cass anyways, never really felt me.

Good, I was starting to feel really bad lol 

Oh jeez I’m sorry!

It’s all good! It’s not your fault.

Thanks, 

No problem

There was a moment where I could see his little text bubbles, then they disappeared, and finally came back again.

What are you doing this weekend?

At the very moment my stomach flipped over backwards and my heart almost exploded out of my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath, cool, be cool.

Nothing really, I’ve got no plans.

Well since you’ve got nothing planned, I’ve got two free ice cream tickets if you’d like to join me.

Is he asking me out? No he couldn’t be, maybe it’s just a friend thing. Yeah friends definitely do this kind of thing. 

Sure! I’d love to

Sweet, 12:30 saturday? I’ll pick you up. 

Sounds great!

And with that, the best conversation of my life was over. My face was burning red and I couldn’t contain my smile. I had decided, this definitely wasn’t a friend thing. Of course I had been asked out, but never by someone I was truly interested in or never by someone who was really interested in me. Ever since I was younger, it was always my prettier, popular friends who had boyfriends, never really me. So when Rory popped out of nowhere, it seemed unreal, and when his number magically appeared in my pocket, it felt like a movie. 

As the night passed by I wished that Rory would text me again, I jumped at the phone at any notification I got, but there was nothing. It was nearing 10:30 and I needed to go to bed. I changed into a long t-shirt and jumped into bed. The warmth of the covers felt nice in my overall freezing room, the air conditioning was on all the time even though it was late august and during this time of year it’s already cold enough for sweaters. I wrapped my arms around a pillow and closed my eyes, falling into a well needed sleep. 

The next morning I’m greeted with the sinful sound of my alarm clock. This morning I feel weirdly well rested, of course it wouldn’t last long. I slug myself out of bed and consider going back to bed many times throughout the morning. Thankfully I’m able to do a better job at my makeup today, I draw two small wings on the outer corners of my eyes and cover up the angry pimple on the tip of my nose. I get down stairs in a timely manner and get breakfast ready. Toast was my weapon of choice, while waiting for the bread to toast I got my bag ready. I shove my computer and notebooks into the green messenger bag just in time to grab my breakfast. I hear Gracie’s car pull up and that's my cue to go, I walk out the door with seconds to spare before she would start honking. I hop in the car and get ready for my “late” lecture. 

“Who was that guy yesterday?” She eagerly waits for my answer, I roll my eyes unamused by her over the top response to the act of me talking to a guy.

“He’s no one, we just have first period together” She drives off and looks back to the road

“He didn’t look like ‘no one’” she smiles, Gracie has been praying for the day I get a boyfriend. By the time I mention someone's name she’s already planning a wedding.

“His name's Rory” she slams on the breaks, sending me forward, “Jesus Christ Gracie, what the hell?!”  I yell, flipping my hair backwards out of my face. 

“You mean Rory Windsor?!” She looks at me, her mouth basically hitting the floor.

“Yeah, what’s the problem?” I fling my arms up as she begins to drive again

“That’s Crystal’s Ex-boyfriend” she says the name like everyone knows it

“So?” I was waiting for her to get to the point

“They were together for a year-” damn- “she cheated on him and he hasn't dated anyone since” She pauses and looks at me. “Everyone thought they were the only couple that would actually last through highschool and get married or something. They broke up in the last month of junior year.” She stops at a red like and sighs

Damn, that’s crazy” I looked away from her, but he asked me on a date, I think. I wasn’t going to tell Gracie about the date, she would tell everyone and right now I think this is an under the counter kind of thing. We pull up to the school thankfully on time and we go our separate ways. I walk through the halls while my mind simultaneously runs at a hundred thousand miles per hour. All the “what if’s”  are steaming through my brain. When I walk into class I see Rory sitting in the same place as yesterday, and the seat next to him is thankfully open. 

“Hey!” he waves his hand, I wave back sitting down. 

“Hey, what’s up?” oh my god did I really just say ‘what’s up’?

“Only the sky,” he smiles, as I smirk back 

“Question, do you have Mr. Wallis’s for english? I really need the notes, Gracie talked half way through the lecture” I roll my eyes resting my head on my arm

“Yeah, I’ll send you a picture next period, I have a study hall so I can do it then.” I had forgotten how soft his voice was, even though he was tall and muscular and seemed so scary, he still reminded me of a golden retriever. I snap back to reality,

“Ugh lucky, I begged for a study hall but I wasn’t able to get one” I opened up my laptop starting on an assignment from the day before.

“Yeah, it’s actually pretty great” he laughs, the class gets called to attention and is quiet for most of the period. Every once in a while Rory looks over to me whispering jokes into my ear and I do the same. Everytime it was harder to keep in my laugh than the last. By the time class ends we were laughing so hard you’d think we were crying.
“Holy sh*t I think that’s the hardest I’ve laughed in years” I wipe the tears from my eyes trying to catch my breath. 



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