Just Drive [old version]

[ chapter one ]

I'm going to say this once. This story is rated PG-13 for a reason, not for its (lack of) sexual nature but because of some swearing. Don't read if you don't like swearing. M'kay?

Dedicated to IsaSecret for the amazing cover and other cover to the right :]

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Chapter One - Pathetic

                I never realized just how pathetic I was until all my friends left for college and I was stuck in suburbia watching every Drake and Josh episode that ever existed because I didn’t get into college. It wasn’t that I got rejected; I just lost the entire envelope holding all sixteen of my college applications. This was a week before all my apps were due. The ironic part of it is that I was ranked second in my class; everyone expected me to become something big. Instead, I’m left alone to bum it up at my parents’ house for another year while everyone else goes on to live my life. Pathetic.

                “Sam! Get off the couch! I need you to run to the store and get some groceries! We need more milk and chips!” my mom yelled. “While you’re at it, can you drive Tara to Jackson’s baseball game? Thank you, darling!”

                I sighed and picked myself up. As much as I hated running errands for my mom, there was nothing else to do. “Think of it as a favor,” was her favorite line to counter my complaints. It wasn’t long before my friends started to catch on too. Soon, I was spending more time driving my friends and family around town than being a lazy bum on my parents’ couch. I’m not sure what’s worse.

                “Tara! We’re going to Jackass’ baseball game!” I shouted, not giving a fuck about whether my mom heard me swear or not.

                “His name is Jackson!” Tara screeched from the top of the stairs.

                “Yeah, yeah. Jackass, Jackson, same thing,” I replied flippantly.

                “You’re just jealous that you don’t have a boyfriend,” Tara declared snobbishly as she trotted down the stairs.

                I bit my lip. I didn’t have a response to that, because it’s true, at least the part about not having a boyfriend was. There’s the other pathetic part of my life: I’ve never had a boyfriend, nor have I ever kissed a boy, and I certainly have not slept with one. Maybe it’s because I’m too stubborn to settle for anything less than perfect, or maybe I’m just really that unattractive. Either way, a cootie-fearing kindergartener would be proud of me.

                “Just get in the car,” I mumbled dejectedly. With a triumphant smirk, Tara breezed past me in her fluffy pink skirt. I glared at her retreating figure before dashing into the kitchen to grab my keys.

                By the time I got to my mom’s Prius (because I’m the pathetic girl who drives everyone around but still doesn’t have her own car), Tara was already comfortably settled in the passenger’s seat with her phone in hand.

                “We’re going to Wegman’s first to pick up some groceries. We need milk and chips,” I briefly announced as I slid into the car.

                “No! I want to go to Jackson’s baseball game!”

                I rolled my eyes. “His game doesn’t start for another hour and a half. You’ll have plenty of time to get down to the locker room and canoodle with Jackson before the game starts.”

                Tara pretended to look shocked, even though she’s quite a well-known whore. She should only be thankful that Mom and Dad are clueless as to how Facebook works. “I do not spend my spare time canoodling with Jackson!” she protested. “Besides, who even uses the word ‘canoodling’ anymore?”