Finding Ourselves Together (READ REVAMP VERSION - IN WAVES)

01 | It Starts with a Crash

This story is no longer being updated because I've rewritten and retitled it. *In Waves* is the new and improved version you can find on my profile, please read that one instead of this!

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"Lia!" I heard Rob shouting my name down the hallway, breaking my thoughts with his booming voice.

I stumbled out from under my blanket and stifled a yawn while I made my bed up out of habit, neatening the duvet and pillows as I went. Why the hell did I stay up until 4am binge watching series? That's how it went basically every night; my laptop had become my cuddle buddy over the past few months. I was still in the summer mindset, and it was time to snap out of it since this was the first day back at school. The thought of having to start yet another year of classes and homework made me want to crawl back in bed and never get out again, but then he popped into my mind, Matt.

That was the difference this year, the reason I was actually kind of excited to go back. I had never really been friends with him before, we had been in the same classes since we were freshmen, but his popularity only got stronger as time went on, and mine, well...didn't. He shone as the school football star and had girlfriend after girlfriend, but I had always known that kind of high school experience wasn't for me, and I had accepted it. I'm just not the type of person who enjoyed the limelight.

I was surprised when I received a text randomly during the summer from Matt. He had been in New York for the last couple of weeks, but ever since he sent that first text, we hadn't stopped talking. The texts were innocent enough, we hadn't even hung out alone yet, but thinking about the possibility of something happening between us made my body squirm with excitement.

I picked up my phone from my bedside table and went to his most recent photo on Instagram, just a casual but styled image of him standing in front of a huge window with the New York skyline glowing in the background. My heart leapt as I took in that flawless face and killer smile. I thought about how his pale blond hair always fell over his baby-blue eyes until he pushed it back and ran his hand through it subconsciously, a little action he somehow made look ridiculously hot while doing.

I felt my body tingle just thinking about it.

"Lia!" Rob called again in annoyance. I grumbled and rolled my eyes while I threw the phone to my bed. I then begrudgingly made my way to his room down the hallway.

Opening his door, I was met with that typical teenage boy smell; a combination of old food, dirty clothes, and a ton of spray-on deodorant. My eyes burned as I waded through the jungle of mess on the floor. I didn't know how he lived like that; it gave me anxiety just thinking about how old that pizza crust was that I could see mold growing on.

"Yes?" I asked when I finally stood in front of him. He had an angry look on his face and flicked the chestnut hair out of his eyes before giving me his best annoyed expression. Rob could be pretty intimidating to some people; he had a reputation for having a short temper and picking fights, which I had never backed down from with him.

"Can you get your crap out of my room?" He said in a flat tone, like it was incredibly obvious why he had called me there. I looked around at the disgusting mess that coated the floor and back at him in confusion.

"Um, do you mean your crap? Seriously, when was the last time you cleaned your room?" My eyes watered again, and he tensed up in anger.

"Hey, I actually like it this way!" He said with clenched teeth and still managed to hurt my ears with the volume.

"Ugh, it's way too early to be this loud. Calm down, will you?" I backed away from him and looked around again. "I mean, there's probably rats living in here, you know."