Danish Fate || the last kingdom

|ONE|

3,887 words

THE day had started out like any other for Cece; breakfast with the girls in the kitchen, lounging around giggling about their adventures over the summer. It was the first day back from summer break, tomorrow school would start and they would all return to their schedule classes. Only ever catching each other in glimpses or at functions, this was their only true time to catch up with one another.

Emily, the feisty red head who sat next to Cece, has spent the summer with the blonde. The two had originally planned before break to travel and spend as much time as they could outdoors. Sadly, that had not been the case, instead Emily had found herself wrapped up in a blanket on Cece's couch binging every show on Netflix she could find. Naturally, she had dragged Cece along with her, forcing her to watch everything she did. The two had taken turns deciding on shows and in the end Emily had chosen things that were completely out of Cece's realm. Where as Cece had enjoyed every reality show imaginable, Emily had gone down more of the fantasy or historical drama route. The red head had nearly cried when Netflix had added Lord of the Rings to its site.

Though Cece had never imagined herself being interested in such shows before, she found herself entertained none-the-less. The blonde was a sucker for drama, hence her attractions to reality television. Though, she was happily surprised to find Emily's choices had almost, if not more, amounts of drama inside of them. She sat there and engaged in the show, even if at times she was lost or didn't quite understand what was happening. Always with her pink bowl of buttery popcorn between her legs, beside her best friend and never judging the choices. Even if Emily had forced Cece to watch The Last Kingdom five times over the summer.

The two leaned into each other as they listened to Sam, the brunette leader of the group, tell about her summer aboard traveling the rolling hills of Scotland. Emily had showed the screen of her phone to Cece, letting her catch a glimpse of the text she had received from Bethany, their other friend who was supposed to be rummaging through the fridge.

Beth: bullshit. My parents told me she was in rehab.

Cece's eyes widened, looking back up to Sam who was still going on about her perfect summer. The brunette had no idea what was being said about her and to be honest, Cece wasn't actually surprised. Sam lived and breathed the college life, from the constant pressure of endless homework, to the unprecedented amount of alcohol she consumed at the fraternity house parties. Sam always had given off the era that she had it under control, but Cece along with the other girls knew that her partying days would soon catch up with her.

When Bethany finally closed the fridge, her blue eyes had locked with Cece's in a knowing smirk, as she passed Sam and sat at the table the others were at. Bethany had always been Sam's second in command, her best friend and her worst enemy. Bethany always was the first one to have Sam's back but she was always also, the first person to try and benefit from Sam's failures. It was as if she wanted to be in Sam's place, Bethany wanted to run the house, have the best grades, and have the hottest boyfriend on campus. She truly wanted everything Sam had.

Cece was content with staying in her spot, being inside of the inner circle, but not being wildly known. She wasn't sure what it was that had drawn her to this group, in all honesty they weren't the nicest of people. Aside from Emily, perhaps that was why the two were as close as they were. The others in the group were so concerned with their image that they portrayed and the fear that elevated their status in social standing across campus.

"So," the chipper voice called out from behind the marble topped bar, "how was your summer Ce?"

The blonde pulled herself out of her thoughts and she hesitantly glances at Emily, wondering if she should lie like Sam had or tell them all her pathetic summer. Emily looked down, not wanting to meet her gaze and Cece sighed heavily before shrugging, "nothing exciting. Just spent the summer with my family."