Freckle Face

One

•Philip
I look down at the gravestone below me, the rain pouring against my frizzy hair. I feel a hand on my back. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Jefferson. He looks up, closing his eyes and allowing the violent rain to cleanse his tear-stained face.

"How did we get here?" He said.

I bite my quivering lip, tears welling up in my eyes.

"Pip?" I hear a voice behind me. My heart sinks, butterflies filling my stomach. I turn and see her silhouette. "Please don't leave me..." I turn to see a large ship. "I love you, Freckle Face..."

"Son?" Jefferson cocks his head. I'm snapped out of my trance; trees dancing overhead. I sigh.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left."

I crouch down and place the bouquet of flowers on her gravestone, "I love you. Freckle Face."

Many Years Before...
•Y/n
Theo gazes up at the sky, smiling through the tears that cascaded down her cheeks. I extend my arm to grab her but I couldn't move.

No matter which path I took, it always came back to my best friend jumping off the roof.

But suddenly, her originally tan skin became as pale as snow, her plump lips taking on the same color.

Black dots began blinding my vision. I feel myself falling back. I try to scream, to release any kind of sound, but my voice seemed inaudible even to myself.

And just before everything went dark, she jumped.

My eyes flutter open slowly. I've been having the same nightmare for a while, I've gotten used to it.

Every morning's the same: Wake up, shower, have breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed, do hair, do makeup, help dad out of his study, and grab the car keys. Having the same routine gets old. I guess morning's are never fun without Theo.

When she'd stay over, she would always wake up first, prepare pancakes and waffles for everyone, making sure to put extra whipped cream on my dad's; just like he liked it. Then she'd walk into my room, layout an outfit on my bed and wake me up.

Most of the time, we'd always be late because we'd be messing around with Mary (my sister). School starts at 8. We'd wake up at 6, start getting ready at 6:30, and somehow end up at school at 8:20.

I heave a sigh and pull my ripped jeans on, folding the bottom since they're too long. They belong to my sister. Although she was the youngest, she was taller than me.

I wear an off the shoulder white top, my peach bra almost visible. I grab an anklet and earrings, brushing the knots out of my hair and pulling it into a high ponytail.

"Are you ready?" Mary asks.

"Yep," I call back. I swing my backpack over my shoulder and follow her out to our car.

It's the first month of school, Mary's a junior and I'm in my final year of high school. We changed schools because we couldn't handle the pain we felt at our old one. Every time we passed that building, I would see her face.

"Where are the car keys?" She asks, snapping me out of my trance. I don't look up from my phone, patting my back pocket.

I unlock the car and I hop into the driver seat. We made an agreement: I drive whenever I want to because I'm older and I know that she sneaks out at night without telling dad.

•••

We pull into the school's driveway. I get out of the car, instantly spotting a group of freshmen vsco girls. They look our way, toothy grins spread across their faces. When I send them a glare, they quickly look away and whisper to one another.

I roll my eyes, Mary and I trotting to the school. Suddenly, a freshman girl from that group jumps in front of me.

"Why are you giving my friend dirty looks?" She folds her arms.

Mary rolls her eyes, "Stop being immature, move. We need to go inside."

"No! You wanna go, bitch?"

"Oh, my fucking god," I sigh, "Kid, do you know who we are?"

"Am I supposed to!? Cocky bastard!"

"I'm Y/n Jefferson and this is my sister, Mary Jefferson," I extend my arm, "Nice to meet you."

Instantly, her face becomes pale. There it is. The fear of getting on Thomas Jefferson's bad side. It happens to the best of us.

"Whatever, asshole!" She stomps away.

My sister shakes her head in disappointment, "That was embarrassing."

"I was just trying to shake her hand," I shrug.

"Stupid ass."

"See there are the nice freshmen's," I said, "And that girl."

"Like what the hell was that? What's the point of threatening someone with a fight if you're not gonna go through with it, like..?"

I nod curtly, "I wouldn't have fought her anyway. I mean, I'm doing great in school and I'm on my teacher's good side. I'm not about to ruin that because some 14-year-old doesn't like how I look at her and her friends."

"True. True."

"What are we talking about?" Someone asks.

I was startled. I quickly realize that we somehow made it inside but I was too busy on my phone to notice. The person talking to us was John Madison.

"Johnny, you scared me," I said accusingly.

"You'll live."

I look around. That's when Philip Hamilton catches my eye.