Junior Year - Outcast Series

The First Day Of Junior Year

From this chapter:

Lucy's POV: "I cry on the inside."

Bastian's POV: "And for once, I get a sudden, slight feeling that I don't want to..."

Read it to find out...

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Bastian's POV:

The Sunday before the first day of school I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about Lucy. I couldn't wait to get to school so that I could see her. My gut was yelling at me, screaming, protesting that I shouldn't open myself up at all to anyone, even her. But my heart, what I once thought was stone cold, was still fighting for a chance to feel.

As I lay in my bed, I looked up at my ceiling fan turning in the dark. I thought about how even though the room was dark, the fan just kept turning. Just like my heart.

But before I had even gone up to my room in our condominium, I made sure all of my school stuff was laid out and I spent an hour and a half picking out the perfect outfit for the next day. I decided on my pair of midnight jeans, dark blue boots, a white and deep gray Henley long-sleeve shirt, and my blue, light yellow, white, and red tribal-patterned zip-up hoodie. I thought Lucy might like it and, if she got cold, I could give her my jacket.

Then I slowly drifted asleep, looking up at the ceiling fan while twiddling with the ends of my hair with my index finger.

When I woke up, it was 7:30am, I had a serious case of bed head, and I hadn't taken a shower the night before. I realized that I had left my volume on my phone alarm off.

"Oh shit!" I yelled as I jumped up out of bed, stripping off my pajama bottoms and underwear as I stumbled down the hall to the bathroom to take a shower.

I had planned to be on the road to school by 7:00am. Thank goodness my mom left before I would have left or she would kill me.

I got out of the shower in a minute and a half, dried myself off quickly, and pulled on the clothes I had laid out for the first day of school. "I really hope I'm not late," I said to myself.

I shoved a muffin down my throat, brushed my teeth, and ran out the door. I forgot to lock it halfway down the sidewalk so I dropped my backpack and ran back to lock it.

Then I ran back towards my truck, picking up my things as I dashed to the door. I put my key in the ignition and sped off to school.

So now I'm walking from my truck parked in the school parking lot. It's a blue-gray 1983 Chevy Silverado with a silver trim. Her name is Jessie. My mom tells me that she was my dad's old truck. He named her when he was in high school after my mom. I feel closer to him when I drive her. I feel like I am honoring him by driving her. But driving her makes me feel like I could never fill his shoes.

My dad was in a team in Afghanistan in the US Army. He was a hero. I have heard stories about how many lives he had saved. But he was killed by a landmine.

My "uncle" who had been his best friend who was deployed with him had told me of how he had died. He had stepped on the trigger, heard the click, and stopped dead in his tracks. He knew he was going to die. So he motioned them to back away. And then he let his foot up...

I remember the way my uncle had told it to me like I had been there. I have very few memories of my dad. He had died when I was 6. That's when my mom started moving us around every year. I guess she was and is running from the past because she has never talked and still never talks about him.

As I walk into North Haven High for another school year, I remember my dad and suck it up, always trying to live up to his expectations.

Lucy's POV: