the end of forever- prologue

chapter 2

My keys jingled on my finger while I was fumbling to snatch the right key to let me in the house while my phone buzzed away, the vibration tickling my thigh through my jeans pocket. The simplest things were exhausting by the end of the day. My mom would always say that kids were getting lazy, and that she had to walk all the way home and start dinner for her family, all with out any complaints. I thought I was hearing her voice inside my head, but turns out she was right behind me, giving me the lecture I was just thinking about. My mom’s voice is really annoying, she has one of those southern accents with a strange ring to it. Even though we live in Florida, and I lived in Georgia for my childhood, I was blessed with my dad’s normal voice. After droning on and on, my mom weaved her way around me to open the door for me.

            My phone started vibrating again while I was shedding my hoodie, but this time, I slid it out of my pink skinny jeans pocket, and answered it with a perky enough hello. Marissa started off complaining that Mr. Hubernacker was truly as god-awful as I described him during our lunch period, but she some how twisted the conversation in to something about Dylan. “So…that new kid, he’s just, hot.” I think my jaw dropped a little bit until I reviewed the image I had of him in my memory, to see that he wasn’t as nerdy or geeky as some other guys, he actually was pretty decent. “ Well I guess he’s okay.” She then went on and on about how this crush came on so fast and that she thinks it’s love at first sight. She used the word “like”  about eighty times, at least. “ Hey, I have to go, but I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?bye.” After I hung up the phone, Marissa immediately redialed my number, and my phone started acting like a bumble bee, all buzzing. I quickly scrolled through my settings and put it on ring to cease the buzz, but begin an old Kelly Clarkson song, I seriously needed a new ringtone. Kelly just kept singing, almost like begging me to pick up, so hesistantly I resumed my call with Marissa. I must’ve zoned out somewhere in the middle, but at the very end I heard a jumbled of words that said “I’ll text you all the deets, talk to ya later, Kelsey bye!” Sure enough, my phone alerted me again with plans to meet at the Starbucks neighboring the mall tomorrow morning. I really should have listened why she would want to go to Starbucks that early…

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            I dragged myself in to the starbucks, still groggy with sleep. I scanned the store and quickly caught sight of Marrissa, who was apparently playing dress-up today.

“What, the hell, are you wearing?”

“Oh this is inspired by Caramelldansen, have you seen that on Youtube yet? It is so cute!Here let me show you! Gosh, this is the funniest, cutest thing.” Marrissa pulled her Iphone out of her purse (coach,of course) and brought up the Youtube app.

“Marissa, I know what Caramelldansen is, you’ve forwarded to me about a thousand times.”

“Hm, are you sure? Oh here it is!”

To avoid hearing the shrill, super fast voices, and not having to watch that pointless video again, I decided to order my latte. The guy behind the counter had a nametag that read “Dave”. He seemed like he wanted to be some where else, and had a wanna-be mustache that really just looked like he was too lazy to shave. I handed him a twenty dollar bill absent mindedly, while still critiquing him.

            It seemed like it was Dave’s first day on the job because it took him ages to prepare the latte, but when I finally sipped just enough to taste, I hadn’t realized how badly I wanted some espresso. When I settled back down at the slightly sticky table in the darkest corner of the cramped coffee house, I tried to make Marissa look less like a stripper and more like someone with some dignity. Marissa actually was a strict catholic, but could look like such a slut sometimes. I arranged her scarf so it covered up some of the cleavage that was only there because of victoria’s secret push-up, and tried to get her to pull down her skirt to offer more length. Marissa knew I would do this, It’s usually my job to de-slutitfy her.

            Once Marissa finally looked decently normal, I asked her what she really wanted to talk to me about. I could see a secret oozing in her eyes, like a zit that needed to be popped.

“Spill it, already.”

“ You know that Dylan guy?”

“Yeah…” I could see where this was going, I could predict the future if I wanted to.

“I, kind of like him.”

“…Well that came on fast!”

“Sure did.”

While she giggled about how “cute” Dylan was, I kept peeking at the clock, willing it to run faster, chasing it with my eyes. Marissa was my friend and I cared about her, but she doesn’t commit to her crushes, and this one probably won’t last long, I mean, Dylan?!

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            I arrived at school in Marissa’s fiery red Toyota Camry that she insisted upon getting it painted with a bold shade of red. I dreaded having to ride around in the miniuature firetruck, but until I got a car of my own, this was my best bet, and I surely wasn’t boarding the big yellow bus. Something about the musty smell, mosaics of chewed gum lining the wall, and staring at the back of a seat in front of me covered in sharpie graffiti, just didn’t appeal to me.

            When I emerged from the flame with wheels I spotted Dylan waddling around, looking lost. I steered Marissa towards him and hinted to her to help him around the school, then scampered off to Shelley and Nicole who seemed to tolerate the bus just fine. Shelley was ogling a senior, again, and Nicole was poking fun at every little thing about him. It was Seth Schaaf, this time, and to tell you the truth, he was hot as hell, but we still made fun of Shelley’s crushes, because she never was seriously into them. As I got closer, I could see the lines of Nicole’s corset under her thin band tee. It all hurt us a little inside to see Nicole shrink and shrink everyday, then be assisted with a corset even then, but no one ever said anything about it because she acted so confident, when in reality, she fell to pieces nearly every day.

            “Kelsey?Kelsey? KELSEY!” It took me a moment to realize it was Shelley screaming in my face, Her signature wintermint breath tickling my nose. “What?” I asked. “The second bell just rang! We’re gonna be late…” I stopped paying attention to her so she resorted to using my hair as leash and dragging me to the much dreaded, Mr. Hubernacker’s class.

            I spotted Marissa walk into class with Dylan,and they looked like they could be a cute couple, Marissa would use her fake giggle, which sounded more like a pig wheezing, at everything Dylan would joke about and he’d grin that he got a good response. I joked with Sara about the future Mr. and Mrs. Rucker, until Mr. Hubernacker cleared his throat to get our attention. “Everyone, put away your cellular phones, spit out your gum, and remember, this is a classroom, not a zoo. I thought everyone understood the procedures of my class. If I see anymore chaos like this, I will be giving out detentions.” The class replied with groans and I heard someone call him a fag for it. It was Most likely Ralph, who everyone suspected him to have some sort of anger issue. It’s rumored that one time he threw a chair, punched a hole in the wall, and attempted to jump out of the window, all in one class. Not to mention that in every single class he calls someone a fag or a bitch and frequently cusses the teachers out.

            Four pointless classes later, I settled down across from Dylan and Marissa, who was flirting so much, Dylan looked kind of uncomfortable. Nicole, tapped my shoulder with her fingers, bony twigs, and whispered “He’s winking at you!” For some reason, I looked at Dylan, but then she said “No,over there,” she signaled to a muscular figure, a part of the conglomerate of the a different species,football players. When I identified which one it was, something inside me shattered and the shards fell to the pit of my stomach. It was Kurt.