For You, Always

1. Maddison

My morning starts off like normal. Get out of bed, brush my teeth, get dressed, make my coffee, then walk to school. Well, that's just the basic rundown — if I went into detail, you'd all get bored.

On my walk to school, I try new techniques my therapist talked to me about yesterday. 'Try walking to school in the mornings instead of driving. Breathe in the fresh air, take in your surroundings, ground yourself before you get to school.'

I've struggled a bit with my mental health, recently. Anxiety, depressive episodes, body dysmorphia ... Not a clue as to why, since I've got a pretty good life. Unfortunately, something in my brain hates me, plaguing me with bad thoughts on a daily basis. Like it does for so many others.

Before walking into school, I stop at the gates. 'No one really pays attention to you, Maddison. You'll be fine,' I tell myself mentally. Finally, I walk inside, turning the volume on my headphones up as loud as my ears can handle. I keep my eyes down, fiddling with the pocket on my hoodie, pretending there's something in it.

Finally, I make it to my locker. When I realise I have time to spare before class, I grab the books out of my bag and start organising them.

"ARE YOU SHITTING ME?" A familiar voice bellows. "Victoria, get your head out of that damn book. OUR GIRL IS EARLY!" I grimace as I pull my headphones around my neck. Zed, one of my best friends, hugs my waist. "I never thought I'd see the day." He says in my ear.

Zed's real name is Alexander, but pretty early on he insisted that Alex was too basic of a nickname, and practically forced everyone to call him Zed. I'm like, ninety percent sure most of our grade thinks Zed is his birthgiven name. He's also pretty good looking - even though I'm very much not his type. With short brown hair, dark blue eyes, and a solid build thanks to his soccer career, you'd think he'd be covered in girls begging for his attention. However, my best friend is very openly gay. He flirts with anyone he can, no matter their gender, but he'd much rather 'bag a man'.

Rolling my eyes, I push his arms off me and turn to face the grinning douche bag I call a friend. "I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep, so I just left a little earlier. I may have also misjudged how long it takes to walk from my place to school." I say.

"Awe, Mads. Want me to buy a coffee to cheer you up?" Zed offers. I shake my head and motion to the coffee in my hand. He shrugs, then turns his attention onto Victoria, my other best friend. "Hey, Vic, you know that reading about amazing men won't get you one, right?"

Victoria rolls her eyes, hitting Zed with the book in her hands. "Congratulations, Zed, you've just informed me of something I never thought of on my own. Not once. Ever." She says sarcastically.

Vic is gorgeous. Long black hair she refuses to cut or dye, grey eyes, and a natural tan. She blows everyone she stands beside out of the park. If she wasn't an Aromantic Acesexual, I'd be crawling for her attention. Unfortunately for me, the only people she'll ever feel anything for are the people she reads about.

"You love me." Zed kisses Vic on the cheek and I roll my eyes.

The three of us have been inseparable ever since Victoria moved to our quiet town of Black Haven when we were 12. Zed and I met the year prior, so now at 17 and 18, we've had some time to acclimatise to each other.

"Anyway," I say, "what did you get up to this weekend, Alexander? Your Instagram story was... questionable." I close my locker and lean against it, crossing my arms with an accusatory glare in Zed's direction.

He grins and yanks out his phone. Victoria groans and reopens her book, leaning her back on my shoulder. Zed starts ranting about his night at some club in the city - he's 18, and the only one of our trio that can legally drink - and the man he met while there.

I partially zone out, listening just enough to respond when I need to. Suddenly, Zed lets out a very out of character squeal, hiding his phone from me and furiously typing with a small smirk on his face.

I smile at him, then look over Vic's shoulder.

'...please." She whispered breathlessly. He towered above her, holding her chin in his large hands. He looked like a Greek God, shirtless, and cut to perfection. He lowered his mouth to hers, a hair away from making contact. She whimpered.

"I like it when you beg." He whispered back with a rasp. She felt her core clench, as if imagining his -'

"Victoria De León, what in the actual fuck are you reading?" I ask her. She snaps the book closed, glaring at me.

Before she can respond, the doors at the end of the hallway slam open. 

The football team struts into the hall with the captain's entourage spread behind him. It's almost like a bright light shines behind the group of testosterone filled males, making them seem as though they were sent from above to bring peace and love to the walls of Black Haven High - and not the reality of them being the reason this place is Hell on Earth.

I quickly turn to Zed. "Hey, Zed, you feel like walking me to class?" I ask, trying and failing to keep the desperation from my my voice.

He doesn't look up from his phone. "Maddison is willingly going to class? I think I can die now, I've seen it all." 

"Yeah, haha, I'm acting different, big whoop. Please." I press the power button on his phone. Zed's head whips up in protest, but they land on something - or rather, someone - behind me.

"I see." Is all he says. He doesn't make an attempt to move. My eyes bulge out of my head.

I may have skipped some information earlier.

See, the captain of the football team is Bailey Matthews. 5'11, messy brown hair, piercing green eyes... and my childhood best friend. We were friends since birth, our mothers being best friends, meaning we became best friends too. He was around when I became friends with Zed and Vic. We were neighbours, we told each other everything - save for the hopeless crush I had on him for years - we shared anything from food to friends, and he was my best friend up until we turned 13. That year, something happened between our mothers that caused his mum to move away. Granted, she didn't move far, just to the other side of town. 

That move broke us apart. It was like we were never even friends. It broke my heart.

But that was then and this is now. I've successfully spent the past almost five years avoiding him and I'll be damned if that streak ends now.

However, since the world seems to be against me today, Zed spins me around and forces me to make eye contact with Bailey. To my surprise, he's already looking at me. Instantly, my stomach twists and tugs in every direction and I offer him an awkward smile. I try to turn back around, but Zed is annoyingly strong.

And before I know it, Bailey is standing in front of me. "Maddison Vera. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

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AUTHORS NOTE.

Hey! Let's pretend this is the first draft of this dumb little story, yeah?

I'm kind of writing this at like, 2.30am, and I haven't written in a while, and I also don't have a plan for this story. So no expectations? no joke, I'm pretty sure when I started this last year, I had an idea for a scene and decided 'yep! that'd make a good book.' and now here we are.

i promise that i do actually plan books before i write, but this one is like... my 'i'm bored, what bullshit did 2021 me write, and how can i fix it?'

so if you read this before i took it down and you remember what i wrote, i implore you to promptly forget it. 

Anyway, thank you for reading!! this is most definitely a work in progress and is NOT a work of art. Any comments are welcome (other than, you know, controversial shit), but don't feel pressured to do anything because I'm a new author. legit, come here for the vibes and just pretend it never happened.

have a wonderful whatever!