friends.

one

chapter one

She knew she would never get a moment like this ever again. As she looked around, she took in and appreciated the bright lights and loud conversations around her. The varieties of colors bounced off the others and made everything shiny. Smiling faces of children zipped by her with squeals of joy. Everything was picture perfect. She could stay in this moment forev-

"Hello! Earth to Vern! Are you even listening to us?"

The brunette instantly snapped out of it and stared doe-eyed at her friends.

"Oh yeah totally. You were talking about...um...ya know."

"God what am I gonna do with your ADHD ass." The red head rolled her eyes. The tall boy besides her let out a short laugh.

Ladies and gentlemen, this angry little woman would be Roxanne (Roxy) Dernmen. Roxy stood at 5 feet 4 inches with fiery red hair and a short temper. She was also quite possibly the most outgoing person Veronica (Vern) Smitt has ever met. I mean, the girl did anything she wanted without any regrets. Veronica would never admit it, but she wish she could do some of the things her best friend of ten years did. They've been through countless of breakups, stupid middle school drama, and reputation breaking name-calling together. But at the end of the day, either one would die for the other-and that was something they both knew.

Standing next to Roxy was Nate Tannell. He was basically Lock High's golden boy. He became the third to their now-trio nearly two years ago when he bumped into both of them at the movies. He spilled his soda all over Veronica, resulting in Roxy degrading Nate with countless of insults. Vern laughed it off, seeing as she's used to this behavior from her. Nate apologized and offered to buy her a new soda and some popcorn to go with it. They all began to talk and they realized he wasn't too bad of a person. They traded phone numbers and soon they were all in a group chat together-which is an extremely big deal.

"Anyway as we were saying, we were making plans to go to High Rock sometime next week. You down?" Nate said, eyeing a food truck that deep fries basically anything you could think of.

"Of course I'm coming. You know I love High Rock with every fiber in my body." Vern said with excitement in every word she said.

High Rock was a huge cliff that hung above a lake just 20 minutes from their neighborhood. It was the main spot to go to if you needed to cool down in the summer. Countless of parties were held there and every single one of them was a good time. High Rock was one of Vern's favorite smoke spots. The scenery and exclusivity of the cliff was just right for her.

Roxy nodded her head in agreement with a big smile and hooked arms with both of her best friend's . They were currently making their way through their town's annual carnival. Everyone in town came out to it. Whether it be to volunteer or attend, it was the main topic of town. There was rides, food trucks, and live entertainment every year. This would be their 68th year having it.

The trio walked up to the ferris wheel which was in the center of the large plot. All the teens usually hang out here, so this is where all the action was. Veronica identified many people from school and even saw a few faces she guessed were from other schools.

Nate was dragging them towards his large group of friends. It consisted solely of preppy and sporty kids, which were definitely not Roxy and Vern's crowd. However, they all knew who they were because of Nate and tried to have at least simple conversation with them. Veronica was walking towards them when she locked eyes with someone she hasn't seen in years.

"Is that..." Roxy trailed off, also noticing who it was. Veronica stared with confusion painted on her face and breathed out a quick,

"Holy shit."

There's no way, Veronica thought to herself. But oh, there was most definitely a way. And here he stood,

Jackson motherfucking Hills.