Apricity

01 ❥Senior Year, Here I Come

Senior year was supposed to be a big deal. They say it's supposed to be the best year of high school. I don't even remember where I heard that.

Either way, I didn't have great expectations for how this year was supposed to turn out. I just needed to focus on my classes. Because for me, money and popularity were not going to get me into a decent college.

Last year, I managed to balance my grades and my social life. I had friends last year, the kind of friends that others paid attention to. It felt good to be a part of that while it lasted. It felt good to be liked by others.

Then summer happened and now those same people treat me no better than the dirt under their shoes.

It's okay though, I still had my best friend Valentina. Well, I should say only friend... but she was the best nonetheless. She was pretty much the only person who still treated me the same.

I wouldn't see her until later though. So that meant I had to walk into school, organize my locker, and find my class all by myself. God, I hated being alone. I suppose I would just have to get used to that.

I wanted to be early when the hallways weren't so crowded with people. Only getting ready this morning took a little longer than I had planned, so if I wasn't going to show up early to avoid people, then I decided I was just going to have to be a little late to do the same. Not a detention slip late, but more like the rest-of-the-people-in-the-hallway-would-be-too-busy-rushing-to-class-instead-of-judging-me late.

And yes, if they had the time to do so, they would stare and judge. I was anticipating it. But it's okay. I knew struggle in many forms and a high school social status was not going to be a major concern this year. It was just one single year and I was determined to power through it.

Anyway, It's only my second year at this school. I started here when my aunt took custody of me from the state. There were seven years of foster care before I even knew I had an aunt. Seven years and two foster homes. From my experience, anywhere is better than a foster home.

So I count my blessings as I walked to my locker. Luckily, there were minimal stares. No one had talked to me and I was okay with that. The only person I needed anyway was Valentina.

I was stacking my textbooks in the order that I needed them throughout the day when I felt a quick tug on my hair that jerked my head back. I looked behind me to see short-cut brown hair, so light it was almost blonde.

"You ready for senior year, Briar?" He asks as he passes. I don't answer him, I just watch as he keeps walking past. "I'll be seeing you around." He winks at me with his goodbye. I wait until he's turned around before I shake out the chills that erupted through me.

Axel Monroe was a shithead. I know it's not good to cuss, but sometimes it's necessary. He was a piece of shit. Just because I wouldn't say it out loud didn't mean I couldn't think it. I hoped he tripped over his shoelaces during a basketball game this season.

But then again, everyone thought I was a shithead too, though that would be one of the kinder things people thought of me.

My phone buzzed from my bag with a text. Valentina's name was on my screen and I opened her message quickly.

If you end up in one of the same classes as my cousin, I apologize in advance for his shithead behavior.

As you can now tell, Valentina was the one I got my cuss words and insults from. She cussed a lot, in English and in Spanish.

Her cousin had moved to our town over the summer. Val doesn't talk about her cousin a lot because she hates him. I've never met him but from the way she talks about him, it was like they were fire against fire.

Now, Valentina was an asshole. She knew it and she owned it. I loved that she was an asshole because that meant she could be bold when I couldn't, and that was all the time.

But to think that there was a boy version of Valentina out there worried me. I don't like boy assholes. I didn't like girl assholes either, just Val. Assholes are scary, and even though Val is scary, she loved me, so she was nice to me.

She sent me another text. I wish you were trying out again this year. You know I would smack any bitch for you.

And I love you for it, I replied.  Have fun with tryouts this week, you got this! I delivered the text to her and shut my locker to find my class before I was late.

I was on the cheerleading squad last year. But to be on an entire team this year with girls who hated me was a recipe for disaster. Disaster and lots of crying.

If I did try out and make the team, then Valentina would stay true to her word about smacking people for me. Then there would be even more tears and then Val would risk getting kicked off the team. I would rather focus on my studies this time around anyway. So, it was better for everyone that I didn't try out this year.

It also couldn't hurt to keep the hate at bay either. It's easier to avoid people who hated you if you weren't on a cheerleading squad with them.

Anyway, I guess that was the consequence of sleeping with someone else's boyfriend, the queen bee's boyfriend at that. Senior year, here I come...

✎  A/N: Please make sure you have read the updated authors note which is the very first part of this story!