I Hate Comic Sans

Chapter One

"You know what we should do?" Marisa chirped, her Brooklyn accent emphasizing syllables in words every time she chewed her bubblegum. She flipped locks of her curly black hair over her shoulder as she spoke. I looked up from my AP Calculus homework, raising an eyebrow at her. We were sitting inside a Dairy Queen, doing homework after enjoying a blizzard. It was sunny outside, but the air-conditioning made it easy to forget the sun shining through the windows.

Marisa Parker was my best (and technically speaking only) friend, and I'd known her since seventh grade when she moved here from Brooklyn, New York. She was interestingly eccentric, and even after living in a rural town in Montana for four years, she still managed to somehow keep her Brooklyn accent. She was infamous among our school community for her wild hair, odd way of talking, and her knack for fashion.

"What?" I said, after a few more chews of her gum. Hopefully she wouldn't elaborate in whatever annoying scheme she had come up with now and I could get back to my homework. But deep in my conscience, I knew considering her personality, that was... never going to happen, unfortunately. 

Marisa and I had become friends in the most normal of ways. We got paired together in Art Class. We got along well enough, since we both loved art and often had much to talk about between Disney animation and Picasso. In Middle School, I was kind of the kid everyone knew and said hi to into the hallway occasionally, but never really had any actual friends besides the school's golden boy, Connor Sheldon, who rarely acknowledged me in front of his other friends. 

I'm not bitter or anything. I understand the circumstances but we rarely hang out anymore because of that. Just text. Twenty four seven.

"We're in Junior year, right?" I nodded, not really catching her point. "Okay and you've never had a date to Homecoming, right?" My blank stare was employed the moment she finished.

I knew where this conversation was going because we always had it before any major events or dances. Marisa always insisted that I take it upon me to get a boyfriend, or at least a date. And I try. Believe me, I try. But I have a history of turning up by myself or being dumped last minute, so I gave up on my love life awhile a go and purely devoted my time to studying.

"Let's get you a—"

"Date?" I interrupted, unamused by the large grin that erupted on her face.

"Finally, you're getting it," she exclaimed, clapping her hands as if she was proud of me for accomplishing some great deed, when in reality it was really just getting used to her in general. "Having no boyfriend and being three years into your High School career is depressing. Plus, you know I can't be around all the time now because of I'm dating Charlie—"

 Charlie was Marisa's fifth boyfriend, an eighteen-year-old senior with skin the color of coffee beans like Marisa and me. He's incredibly handsome and a gigantic sweetheart, which fills me with envy sometimes but I get over it. They were honestly perfect together, because Charlie's comforting waves cooled Marisa's sporadic fire. Connor and I made a bet they were going to get married, and I'm ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure I'm going to win.  

"—and I'm the lead in this year's play—"

Did I mention Marisa's an amazing actress? Seeing her in action is like watching a real life movie but in a crappy High School theater. She really brings stories to life.

" —and me and Rani and Laura have a bunch of concerts and—"

Rani and Laura were Marisa's band mates, who formed the band Queens in Freshman year. I know Rani and Laura fairly well as acquaintances, but we're not really friends. Rani is Vietnamese and Burmese and she looks like she came straight out of a Vogue magazine with her golden brown skin, long thick hair, and charming brown eyes.