Young Writers Society

Chapter III

“Do you remember Adrian?” Jade asked absently, shoveling another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

I tore my eyes away from the flatscreen in front of us that was currently blessing us with the image of Thor shirtless. “Who?”

“My cousin,” she said. Then paused. “I guess you left before he moved in though.”

Oh. “That cousin.” My voice was flat.

She nodded. “The hot one.” Jade’s eyes were back on the screen again, but I found myself staring at my lap. I didn’t like where this was going. “If I do recall correctly, you were the one who dubbed him that,” she said with a smirk.

I chewed my popcorn thoughtfully. “A lot could have changed in a year.”

Jade laughed like I’d just told her the funniest joke in the world. “I think everyone at school might disagree with you.”

In a flash, she brought her phone in front of me. Its bright screen burned my eyes. I squinted at the familiar sight of Jade’s Instagram feed. Something I hadn’t seen since I’d deactivated my account last year. She brought up a picture dated a few months ago, filled with five dripping people smiling at the camera while holding a state-championship trophy for swim team.

My heart throbbed as I took in the faces on-screen. A set of twin girls, each grinning wickedly with fiery auburn hair. A guy kissing twin number two’s cheek, all golden locks and a tanned, freckled face. The other guy stood on the edge, an arm over Jade’s shoulders. His dark hair curled over his forehead and he smiled crookedly at the camera like he’d been caught doing something bad. That must have been Adrian.

These were her friends, I realized with a start. While I’d been locked away like some deranged sociopath, these were the people Jade had turned to.

“I mean, you can even see Cass right there drooling over his abs." She gave a mocking roll of her eyes.

She had every right to be drooling, I thought to myself. Adrian was corded in lean muscle, the way most swimmers seemed to be. His olive-toned stomach was chiseled. He had a sharp jaw and his biceps-

I mentally slapped myself. That was quite enough of that, thank you very much.

"Well," I said finally, "they all look like amazing people."

"You'll love them. Cass is so going to get jealous over your hair.”

That’s right. I was going to school in a few days. My heart sank with the realization. I used to actually enjoy school, believe it or not. Now the mere mention of it brought on a sick feeling of dread. “I’m going to die,” I groaned, burying my head in my hands.

“I won’t let you die, Indie. It’s going to be fun, seeing everyone again! Right?” Jade laughed a little. “We have until Monday. That’s two whole days until senior year- the biggest year of our high school career. I’ll prepare you myself if I must.”

I tried to find faith in her words but came up despairingly short.

****

Jade hadn’t been kidding when she said she’d prepare me. At least, it seemed that way. It was hard to tell with all the beauty products fogging up my common sense.

All it took was for me to show Jade my outfit on Monday morning and she nearly had a stroke on the spot. I, on the other hand, couldn’t figure out the problem with my bleached jeans and a black t-shirt. It was simple, sure, but what was wrong with that?

Tossing my clothes into a corner of my bedroom, Jade narrowed her eyes at me. “Black? Really?”

“Maybe I’m in an angsty mood.”

Ignoring me, she pressed a forest green shirt into my arms. As an experiment of some sort, I held it up to my chest, glancing in the body-length mirror nearby. It had a voluptuous v-neck and petal sleeves. It was actually kind of pretty. Something I could easily see myself wearing.

That neckline though…

“Stop questioning my judgment and go get dressed,” Jade huffed. She gave me a smile. “Green is your color.”

A minute later and I was ready. The shirt hugged my hips and showed off my curves. My jeans were a little baggy, especially since I had lost fifteen pounds since I’d last wore them. Jade came up behind me and fluffed my cerulean hair, then sprayed a suffocating cloud of hairspray into it. “You want to keep those waves as long as possible,” she said absently. Soon a gold chain made its way around my neck and she was gripping a small bottle of perfume.

I frowned at her. “Isn’t this a little much?” I complained.

“Jeez. I thought you’d be thankful I skipped on the makeup.” She puffed a bit of perfume on my wrist. “Smell it, Indie. I really hate to agree with my sister, but Shawn Mendes makes some great perfume.”

My opinion, however, didn’t matter in that decision. She quickly spritzed my other wrist and neck.

But-

She was right. It smelled amazing.

Once she left the room, I was transfixed on my reflection. Jade really had worked miracles. The clothes were perfect and my hair curled just enough to imitate water flowing. The golden chain winked in the artificial light, and my eyes were an ocean blue, reflecting the green of my shirt. I was almost tempted to dab some concealer onto the rings under my eyes, but ditched the idea at the last minute, preferring to keep a little bit of reality with me. After a year of sticking with me, surely the under-eye bags were a part of me now. Just as much a part of me as the recurring nightmares and panic attacks, right?

Jade pulled her silver Buick into the school parking lot and I had to clench my teeth to keep from bolting right then and there. Her speakers thumped to the beat of “Bury a Friend” and she looked so happy at that moment. It seemed almost unrealistic to me.

As soon as we stepped out of the car, the twin redheads from Jade’s Instagram post appeared in front of us.

“You must be Indigo,” one said excitedly, anxiously tucking a fiery strand behind her ear. Golden bangles on her wrist clinked softly as she extended a hand. “I’m Paradise.”

I felt the strangest urge to laugh, but I choked it down. No need to live up to my surely psychotic reputation. I clasped her hand. “That’s me,” I said. It came out a little rough and I cleared my throat nervously.

The other girl- Cass, I reminded myself- looked at me quizzically. “Indigo- like your hair?” She shook my hand as well. “I love it,” she said with a wide grin. “My name’s Cassandra, just call me Cass though, okay?”

I nodded, feeling slightly faint.

The two sisters were nearly polar opposites, although if I had a twin, I’d do everything in my power to distinguish myself too. Cass was clearly the rebel of the two. She had three sets of diamond and silver studs in her ears and thick winged eyeliner on, making her bright green eyes pop. Her clothes were like the night sky, all dusk-blue and purple with silver embellishments. Paradise was warm and strong. She dressed like her name, all blushes, yellows, and faint reds. Her cheeks glittered with highlighter.

All four of us strolled casually into the building, past a sign that proclaimed in bold letters: WELCOME TO WOODVALE HIGH SCHOOL. I swallowed the sick feeling in my stomach and pressed forward.

“Have you guys had breakfast yet?” asked Paradise.

Not like I’d be able to hold anything down, anyway.

“Nope,” chimed Jade. “I was hoping to introduce Indie to you all while we ate.”

“Perfect,” Paradise replied, holding the cafeteria door open for us. “Daniel and Adrian should already be at the table.”

Right. Adrian. For some reason, my stomach flipped uneasily. I’d been trying to keep him from my thoughts all day.

“You’re going to make all the girls in the room jealous, Indigo,” Cass said with a reassuring smile. “None of them could even dream of pulling off blue hair as you do.”

I managed a smile for her as her words began to untie the knots in my stomach. Confidence was key. I remembered as much from my previous time in high school. I used to have it well under control. Now, though, not so much. My nerves were currently drowning in a sea of adrenaline.

We all sat down at the designated table. Daniel grinned at me and gave me a high five as he welcomed me to “the cool kids' table”. Afterward, I fisted my hands together to smother the shaking.

My eyes slid over to where Adrian was sitting, right across from me. He was finishing the last of his milk, seemingly unaware of my existence. He was dressed in a loose white t-shirt, his nice arms right in the open. I felt my eyes travel over his forearms- sexy- and snapped my gaze back to his face. I almost jumped, cheeks flushed, when our eyes met. His eyes were wide, almost golden in color.

It took me a few seconds too long to realize he was choking on his milk.

I winced as he doubled over and Daniel smacked his back.

“You okay, man?” he asked. Mirth filled his light blue eyes.

Adrian heaved a breath. “I’m-I’m fine.” His voice was a smooth baritone that set me on edge.

The nerves from the entire weekend clashed into the anxiety of this morning and I, well, couldn’t help it- I burst into laughter. Not just funny laughter. This was no delicate, attractive giggle. No. Ugly laughing- gasps of air, tear-filled eyes, and scrunched up nose. So obnoxious.

So embarrassing.

Adrian’s gorgeous amber eyes glimmered. “You think that’s funny?” he said, a smile playing on his lips.

I immediately cut it out. “Crap. I’m sorry, that was rude of me-”

“Don’t be sorry.” His eyes traveled around the table, taking in everyone’s faces. He dropped a sly wink at me that set my face on fire. “You’re cute when you laugh.”

With that, he stood up, taking his tray to the trash.

“Holy crap.”

“Did you guys see that?”

“So cheesy.”

Everyone’s voices went off at once in a low murmur, but the only thing I could really hear was the pounding in my head.

Jade shook me and laughed. “I told you that you two would hit it off,” she said.

I didn’t need this right now. “Was he messing with me?” I asked crisply.

Jade’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Truth was, she probably had no idea what this was all about.

See the new girl. Stress her out. Flirt shamelessly. Flee the scene.

Maybe that was his go-to strategy, but right now it kind of ticked me off.

I stomped over to the trash cans where he was dumping his leftovers. “You’re Adrian, right?” I barked.

“That’s me, princess.” He turned to face me with a grin that made my insides melt.

“Stop that,” I snapped.

“Stop what?”

“That.” I took a breath. “You know what you’re doing. All charming smiles and cute hair, okay? Just stop.”

Adrian laughed like he genuinely found this hilarious. Slowly, he raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m still not sure if I’ve done something wrong.”

I clenched my teeth. I was overreacting, sure, but that was my motto, wasn’t it? Make a point they’ll never forget. “I’m sure you don’t get this a lot, but I came over here to tell you that I’m not interested.” I kept my voice smooth and formal.

“It doesn’t look that way.”

I followed his gaze to our table behind us. Jade, misreading the whole situation, gave me two thumbs up. Behind her, the twins snickered and Daniel looked genuinely confused.

“You’re blushing,” came Adrian’s voice. Which, of course, only made me blush harder.

“Shut up.” Curse my perpetually pale skin. I turned to face him again. “Not everyone has great genetics like you.”

“Are you calling me genetically attractive?”

“Don’t get a big head about it.”

“I’ll try not to,” he said with a crooked sort of smile. He opened his mouth as if to say something else, but, thankfully, the bell rang.

Saved by the bell- or so I thought.

The twins, Daniel, and Jade all made their way toward us. It took a surprising amount of willpower not to bolt to my first class. Some part of me seemed to understand that I was in desperate need of normalcy, at least.

Jade grabbed my arm, grinning ferociously. “Seems like you two hit it off.”

“We really didn’t,” I muttered. I found my gaze drifting back to Adrian, who was busy laughing at something Daniel had said.

He had a nice laugh, I realized. It was loud and free, genuine.

My face heated and I turned back to Jade. “What’s your first class of the day?” I asked her.

She frowned slightly. “Biology.” She rolled her eyes. “Which I really don’t mind being late to,” she added with a twisty smile. “Hey, guys! We need to compare schedules.”

Everyone pulled out their own slightly crumpled pieces of paper. I stared down at mine, scanning the page as the cafeteria slowly emptied out around us. First class: Theology. Seriously? That was an actual class here?

A few minutes later and I had learned that I shared Anatomy with both Cass and Paradise, English with Daniel, and absolutely no classes with Jade. Which was honestly terrifying. Anxiety thrummed through my veins as Jade frowned over my shoulder.

“I knew I should’ve just taken pre-calc,” she said. “Now I’m stuck with Probability and Statistics and no classes with you. How will I survive?”

I sighed. “Is Theology an actual class here?” I asked. It was a really stupid question to ask, I knew, but the idea of getting a Bible lecture in high school wasn’t all that believable.

“It’s required to graduate, actually,” came a low voice behind me. “Good thing I waited until the last minute because now it looks like we get to suffer through it together.” Adrian dangled his wrinkled schedule in front of my face.

My chest tightened as my eyes wandered across his list of classes. Sure thing, it was right there at the top. First-period Theology class with Mr. Branwick. My eyes drifted down the rest of the list and I scowled. In total, I had four freaking classes with Adrian. Four!

“Great,” I grumbled. I was officially going to die.

“It is great!” chirped Jade a little too forcefully. “You need someone to show you around the school, teach you the ropes.”

I shot her a glare. “And why couldn’t you have done that?” I asked.

She winced. “I’m sorry. I just figured it would be easier since you have so many classes with him.”

I sighed, tilting my head up toward the splotchy ceiling in exasperation. “Okay, I understand,” I said calmly, training my gaze back on my best friend. Her eyes snagged mine with a pulsing sense of worry. I smiled a little, cheeks strained, the gesture tight and unfamiliar. “I’ll be okay.”

She nodded once, then darted over to the twins, joining seamlessly in their and Daniel’s conversation.

“For what it’s worth, Theology isn’t that bad.”

I turned to Adrian, eyebrows raised. “How would you know?”

He shook his head. “My family is very… Christian.” He drew that last word out hesitantly. “The heavenly powers-that-be can be interesting, you’ll see.”

“I know nothing about God or angels or even the afterlife.” My words sounded hollow, my mother’s face flashing before my mind’s eye. Bitter words about a belief that simply couldn’t bring her back. “It’s all theory anyway.”

His eyes pierced me, like liquid bronze. “Maybe,” he said. “You probably know more than you think.”

“I doubt that.”

He tossed me a quizzical look, quickly pairing it with an easy smile. “We should go. Don’t want to be late to your first class.”