VALERIA
"Do you really want to go to class?" asks Sam, standing next to me at my locker. We have about three minutes before next bell.
"Yeah, that's kinda why I showed up to school today," I reply.
"But, I have a free period since my teacher got Mono or Chlamydia or something. Don't you wanna skip with your new friend?"
"Lunch is only two periods away."
Sam sighs before conceding. "Fine. I'll just smoke in the park or something."
"See? You made plans that quickly!" I close my locker door.
She is about to say something else when someone approaches our spot at my locker.
It's Chloe.
"Hey, Val!" she greets as if we're longtime friends.
"Hey, Chloe," I respond, kinda confused as to what she wants.
"There is another person standing here, you know," Sam waves sarcastically.
"Oh! I didn't think you would care if I acknowledged your presence."
"You're right, I don't." Sam fires back.
"Well, that was a waste of ten seconds, wasn't it?" Sam looks taken aback by this as Chloe turns back to me. "So, how are you liking the school so far?"
"It's great! Everyone's really chill." I feel like this has been my hardwired response the way I've said it so many times.
"I'm glad. So, just reminding you that the party's this Friday! I noticed you didn't fill out the poll on my Instagram to say you were going?" she says, seemingly concerned.
"Oh, yeah. I mean, like I said, parties aren't really my thing." I explain.
Why does she want me at this party so badly, anyway?
"It'll hardly be a rager, Val. Just about 40 or 50 seniors having a good time. As running Senior class president, I want to make sure all of my peers get the most out of our last year of school!" she explains.
"Just consider it, yeah?" She starts walking away. "Maybe even bring Sam along for navigation. She's been there before."
With that, she smirks at Sam and continues walking past me to wherever she was headed.
Alright, then.
"She is insufferable." Sam grumbles next to me.
"She's not too bad. Just...eager?"
"Yeah, eagerly a bitch."
I smile and shake my head at her insult. "I have to get to class. Have fun getting high with the squirrels."
"I'll try my best."
- - -
I walk into homeroom, heading towards my seat. Jason is looking down at his phone, scrolling. As I get closer; however, he quickly looks up and turns off his phone.
Huh.
"Good morning." I greet.
"Hi! Good morning!" he replies, oddly enthusiastic, hands covering his phone, even though it's turned off and flipped over.
"Um, what were you doing?" I ask lightly, curious about his weird behavior.
"Huh? When? Nothing!" he stammers. "Just, um, checking the news."
"Oh? Anything interesting?"
"Oh. Um. The...uh, the stock market is...down." he says, unconvincingly.
I smile in amusement, but the teacher stumbles in before I can respond.
"Hello, class. I apologize for my tardiness. My son fell ill last night, so I had to wait for the babysitter to show up to take care of him. Then, believe it or not, I spilled a fresh cup of coffee on my shirt, so then I had to go back to get a clean-"
"Mr. Suthers?" interrupts the same girl from the first day. "That's super tragic and all, but again, this is just homeroom. We have like twenty seconds left until the bell. Maybe just take attendance?"
Mr. Suthers glares at the girl, once again.
- - -
It's now the best part of the day.
Lunchtime.
I'm sitting next to Sam with Alex and Jason. We've all just kinda become friends by mutual associations I guess.
"So, you guys going to the party Friday?" asks Alex.
"I was just thinking about it. Chloe kinda cornered me earlier insisting that I come." I reply.
"Are you actually considering going?" asks Sam incredulously, eating a bag of baby carrots.
"I mean, I guess it would be cool. It's senior year. The year of memories, or whatever, right?"
"You should come! Jason's even going!" Alex says, looking between me and Jason, amused.
"I'm only going for when you get too drunk to drive back home," Jason grumbles.
"Yeah, and you're gonna need someone to keep you company..." Alex continues.
Jason quickly glances at me before looking down at his tray, slightly blushing.
I love when he does that.
"You know what? I'll go. YOLO and all that." I decide. "And Sam, you're coming with me."
"What? How did you come to that conclusion?" She drops a carrot in disbelief.
"Why don't you wanna go anyway?" Alex asks.
"Um, hello? Didn't we talk about this already? I try to avoid Chloe as much as possible. Plus, parties are really just popularity showcases." she explains.
"Yeah, yeah, you're different from everyone else. We get it." He teases.
Sam tries to glare, but she can't help but smile back.
"Fine, I'll go. But only to look after you," she concludes, turning back to me. "I can't have my new friend eaten up by the vultures of high school parties."
I smile widely before pulling up Instagram to respond to Chloe's invite poll.
However, when I open the app, I see a notification suddenly pop up. It's a like on one of my posts.
A post from two years ago.
I look at who the like is from and smile.
I go to the post and see the like disappeared as quickly as it came.
I look up at Jason who is frantically tapping on his phone before turning it off and glancing at me.
"Uh...sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I was just..." he trails off, unable to explain, pink dusting his cheeks.
This boy will be the death of me.
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Better Late than Never
قصص المراهقينSix teens. Six stories. Follow them through a roller-coaster journey of love, hate, betrayal, and drama as they navigate through their final year of high school, preparing for the years to come.
