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The Darling Dearest Of Daemarrel found Dead!

Our story starts out like any other high school drama. At high school. And it was in this high school, where our main character was waiting anxiously, for both school to start, and for a certain someone's arrival. In this story, our main character is a girl by the name of Juniper, Juniper Carew.

"Where the hell is he?" Juniper murmured as her eyes scanned the many cliques before her. She was the only one who was alone, even the weird kid who ran like Naruto was talking eagerly to someone who claimed they were an "otaku". Juniper's leg bounced up and down as she leaned against the brick wall of the school building, self consciously pulling her dark green-blue flannel closer to her bony body.

To say Juniper was self conscious would be a tremendous understatement, so much so that is minuscule in how large of a self esteem problem Juniper had. She never felt she was skinny enough, due to the tiny pudge of fat protecting her major organs. She never felt smart enough, as someone would yell the right answer before her mind even understood the question. A depressingly common factor in teenagers, self hatred has become.

"Crow!"A voice calls from across the school field. The voice belonged to Max "Sparrow" Whitfield, the boyfriend of the leading quarterback at Daemarrel High. He also happened to be one of the leading competitors in dancing competitions in the small town.

Juniper's face spilt into a wide smile, but it vanished almost as soon as it came. "Sparrow?" Her tone softened, though with her meek nature she was barely louder than a church mouse, at the sight of her friend's face set into a melancholy expression. "Is everything okay? Did something happen?" Juniper's eyes grew wide, her irises showing off their iridescent blue hue, the dark rings from lack of sleep made them seem even brighter. Sparrow shakes his head, masking his depressed and desolated expression with one of his trademark smiles, proudly showing off his dimples. "It's all good, Juniper. I was just thinking. That's all," Sparrow lies smoothly.

But he wasn't as smooth as he had hoped.

It seems that in Sparrow's mind, he had forgotten a very key detail about Juniper Carew. She was not only an excellent liar, but she also could detect almost any lie she's been told. Well, she can detect any lie told by Sparrow.

Truthfully, all was not good. But Sparrow would never tell Juniper that. Someone else would be the one to tell her of a horrible and horrendously timed tragedy.

"Let's go inside, yeah? It's cold out here." Sparrow mutters as he brushes past Juniper, heading inside the school just as the bell rings. She frowns. Something was most definitely wrong.

As the girl follows after the Korean boy, a deep aching settles into her soul. Although Sparrow was the one she wanted to see, there was another. Scarlet Widowking; undoubtedly the most gorgeous girl in school. Juniper and Scarlet were friends once, but no longer were they thick as thieves.

Juniper and Sparrow were shoved as high schoolers flooded in through the hallways, like beer in an alcoholic's glass. Sneakers squeaked and girls giggled and Juniper was already dead inside. "Oh wow! Juniper! You actually look alive today!"

Lace Hemings.

The head cheerleader. The most popular girl in school. The "it" girl. Also, the biggest stereotypical bitch ever known to man.

"Yes, Lace, I am alive, you cotton candy ass whore," Juniper replied without missing a beat, glancing at Lace's candy floss pink hair. Lace rushes to retaliate, desperate to defend her title. "That's the best you can do? No wonder daddy left you," Lace snorts, referring to Juniper's lack of a father. Juniper sighed, "At least my mother doesn't spread her legs as easily as you open your mouth," Juniper snapped, leaving before Lace can insult her further. She could practically hear Lace's face turning red.

Sparrow smiled down at Juniper, "I'm glad you're learning how to stand up for yourself," he says, his eyes catching his boyfriend talking to his teammates. His smile immediately grew into a grin. "Babe!" Sparrow shouted. Juniper narrowed her eyes. She didn't exactly like Erik, but he made Sparrow happy, so she was willing to swallow the bitter dislike of the quarterback.

"Hey love!" Erik's British accent rang out clear as he twirled his significant other around. Once he was safely on the ground, he began to speak again. "Did you guys hear the news?" He glances at Sparrow and Juniper. Juniper furrowed her brow, did this have to do with Sparrow's bad mood? "What news, Thunderson?" Spat Juniper somewhat coldly.

"Scarlet– you know, the one goodie goodie that hangs 'round Lace and her posse– turns out she got murdered. Weird."

Juniper's heart had stopped in her chest. That was what Sparrow was hiding. She turns her eyes to Sparrow, who's face was guilty, and clenched her jaw. He knew.

"How odd." The uninterested tone in Juniper's uninterested tone covered her breaking heart and the tears that were hiding skillfully.

"Yeah, I know, she was always real nice, you know?" Erik continued as Juniper wipes her nose with the back of her hand. Given the cold weather, it went unnoticed and none suspected the depth of the wound left by those twenty words. A single sentence, a thousand tears. But none could know why.

None could know of their affairs.

And so the bell rang, dawning the start of yet another school day, one that should rather hard for our protagonist.

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938 WORDS IN TOTAL

PROLOGUE FINISHED JAN. 14, 2018

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