One Last Time

| Chapter 1: Strike One |

October 2nd, 1995

  It was a cold day. The town of Silverpine was facing one of its coldest days in a while, even though Autumn had seemingly just begun. The air was crisp, filled with the leaves. The weather had been oddly cold in the small North Carolina town. The bus was full and very noisy. A blonde girl got up from her seat and got out of the vehicle. Laine felt exhausted, sluggish and stuck in a daze when she suddenly bumped into a tall, brunette girl—Adriana Smith.

  "HEY, WATCH— Oh, hey, Laine!" Adriana turned and greeted her with a smile, "Are we still having the sleepover?" she asked in an excited manner. Laine could tell she really wanted this. She honestly felt bad because she didn't like Adriana all that much. She'd done things in the past that Laine would never forgive.

  "I guess—I haven't been feeling my best lately..." Laine responded, looking away, she seemed rather tired. Her green eyes drooped and bagged from beneath her lower lashes.

  "Oh." Adriana stood up right, fixing her posture.

  "Yeah. But uh...Mhm—I'll come." Laine tried to make the situation a bit less awkward, "Is anyone else gonna be there?"

Adriana thinks for a moment, "Maybe my boyfriend." she shrugs.

  "C'mon...You and him don't match, man." Laine replies, she's been trying to convince Adriana that her boyfriend isn't good for her. They aren't meant to be but Adriana doesn't want to believe it. She was trapped in her own delusions.

  "Laine! Yes we do!" Adriana exclaimed, crossing her arms while looking at Laine. She was frustrated, Laine was always trying to break them up. She was right though—Adriana's boyfriend was sort of an asshole.

  "Don't look at me like that." Laine chuckled lightly, nudging her a bit.

  "Fine, whatever. Just... Be at the sleepover, mkay? I need to talk about something that's been bothering me." Adriana looked to the ground, her shoulders fell slightly. She rubbed one arm while giving an uncomfortable look to Laine, "It's about Troy..." she murmured. Troy was her toxic ex, he was bad news from the start. A 5'11 bleach blond haired guy with a buzz cut that looks as if he comes from a typical Russian-American descent. He's not an ugly person, but a lot of people think the buzz was a horrible choice—in which they weren't wrong.

  "Really..?  Your ex?" Laine raised an eyebrow, clearly judging her a bit but willing to listen.

"Don't judge, I just don't feel safe... Just be at my house at 4:30, all right?" Adriana muttered.

Laine nodded and tried to give Adriana a hug in an attempt to comfort her, but Adriana suddenly pushed her off.

  "What the hell?" Laine exclaimed. She was confused, all she was trying to do was make her feel better.

  "Don't touch me, okay?" Adriana mumbled, obviously disgusted that Laine hugged her. People had been spreading rumors about Laine. Exclusively Troy. He'd been spreading rumors about Laine since they had first seen each other in 8th grade. She never knew why he hated her.

  "Troy said that—" Adriana tried to speak but Laine quickly interrupted her.

  "Do you really believe him? What's your problem, Adriana? You know they're rumors!" Laine shouted, cutting her off.

  "No, no.. I'm sorry," Adriana ran her fingers through her hair, "I just can't be seen with you... Everyone else believes the rumors and they think–"

  "Oh, so you don't want to be seen with me because of the rumors? Okay, I won't be going to your fucking sleepover then. Have fun with your boy problems." Laine took it personally. In which, she wasn't wrong for doing so. She stormed off from Adriana and went to class. Her friend Soni was there, sitting at his desk.