Lucky Us

Chapter I: Daybreak

Perhaps it's the deep hemorrhage talking, but this feels like the coldest night I ever lived through. Although I'm not exactly sure if "lived" is the right expression. I am dead, after all. Dying at the very least. Maybe that's just what it feels like. I will say, out of all rumors, the "life flashing before your eyes" must be one of the most inaccurate. As if I'd fall to the cold ground, bleeding my life away like a dying hog and have the first thought to pop in my head in the middle of desperation be my first memory ever, crying out for my mother and father to fetch me in a crib-like bed because I had woken up in the middle of the night and I didn't like the dark. It's bullshit. Maybe that only happens to victims of sudden deaths, which mine was in a way, though as painfully slow as it possibly could be. So far, the closest thing I've come to experience is a replay of last year. Yeah, it was pretty fun. Many of the worst things to ever happen in my life happened last year, so I appreciate it even more for still managing to be unforgettably good. Hell, if I liked it, I can only imagine what it felt like for them. This was a good beginning for them, a very good beginning. I wish I knew what they were thinking. Unfortunately, all I know is what I saw and what I assumed; the sort of knowledge I can share with bored people like you.

Grey birds soar through the air like bullets, piercing the cloudy sky as it bleeds light. The numb atmosphere slowly comes alive with dawn and golden rays of sunlight fall gently on the streets, creating pools of a bright orange hue. The quiet road is suddenly awake, taken by footsteps on the sidewalk. A girl paces forth, walking nervously. To save you the trouble of waiting, I'll just go ahead and say that the beautiful brunette's name is Natalie, and today is her first day of school, also her first week living in this town. The beams of light tangle themselves on her black wavy hair, cascading down her back on the cotton surface of her white sweatshirt. Dressed in her black pair of leggings and Vans, she grips her backpack straps tightly, uneasy, not knowing what to expect or do for the rest of the day and hoping she won't bring any attention to herself. Shy, awkward and (to quote her) "nerdy", Nat was a flaming hot disaster. Yes, it was that bad. Though extremely attractive, funny and smart, her social past at her old town had been extremely disappointing on almost every level. New hopes for the new town, I guess? "How bad can it be?" she thought to herself just before she was nearly run over by a careless skater. The mysterious asshole kept riding her board with a nonchalant attitude as Natalie's heart raced, watching the light reflect on the girl's many silver accessories as she faded away in the horizon. She gathered herself from all the startlement and brushed the negativity off. Although a dent had been made on her already paper-thin confidence, she decided to continue without hesitation, secretly excited for a new beginning. Quite a bad way to start the day. Nonetheless, she ain't special.

Just a few feet ahead, a cheery blonde girl practically hops her way to the school gates, looking much like a ray of sunlight herself. Her t-shirt is a golden shade of yellow, although not as golden as her long wavy hair. She also wears blue jeans that go great with her blue eyes, the ones she claims ferociously to be green. The grey sky is becoming a beautiful shade of cyan with each jaunty step she takes. Lee, the enthusiastic teenager, like Natalie, was bitter about the change. Unlike her brunette counterpart however, she isn't shy, nervous or awkward. She is the master at socialization, which is one of the reasons that made abandoning her old life so hard. The many, many friends she had to leave behind only made things worse, not to mention how incredibly shitty the new town is (no offense). Well, change is good, isn't it? She's not so sure. Lucky for her, she has exactly what it takes to get the entire school wrapped around her finger, which means she'll have a smoother ride (or so we all thought). The new girl in town, though sad about leaving her nearly perfect social life, is extremely optimistic and decides to hope for the best. Also hoping for the best, a second blonde girl on the other side of the street.

Flora breaks the pattern. Dissimilar to both girls behind her, the near platinum blonde is not new at all to the town or school. Well, maybe to the school, but just a little. Born and raised in the small town, Flora is a girl whose dreams and ambitions are far too big for the place in which she lives. Basically, fame and money are two of the main goals she hopes to achieve, and God knows she can. Hot, riddled with vanity and surprisingly nice, she's just a fun girl that went through one or two scandals at her past school, losing all of her friends and switching to public one year prior to... Now. I guess. Just like many other teenage girls in this world of ours, she has hopes of parties, boys and film-worthy fun. Though Flora feels just as excited and nervous as the new girls, the feeling doesn't show on her runway-like strut, exhibiting her high-top white air forces to match her white t-shirt and balance out her ripped light blue jeans. She looks like a model in casual wear, just another cool girl, but inside she's awkwardly quaking with joy and fear. Her poise is interrupted when she notices a girl skating by, carving small curves in the middle of the street, practically dancing on her board. If you're wondering if that's the bitch that almost ran over Nat, you are most definitely right. Flora gives herself a little smile, tossing her long straight hair upon seeing the girl in black, because although they aren't friends per se, they had gotten drunk together a couple of times in the past and the little she remembered of it seemed to have been pretty fun.

Alright, now on to the careless asshole. In her defense, Natalie wasn't the only person she nearly knocked over. Going to school, Valentina has the habit of wearing headphones at a volume that absolutely would fuck her auditory senses later in life. When she's listening to her music and skating on the harsh asphalt, she simply forgets the presence of her surroundings. Tugging on the collar of her loose black turtle-neck sweater, the many silver crosses, chains and skulls shake, making light tinkling noises wherever she goes. That along with her resting bitch face, black jeans and Dr Martens, ends up passing very specific impressions: "gay, Satanist, witch or depressed" were the guesses she had heard her entire life. It hurt her a lot, especially when she was younger, although all rumors weren't far from true. Back in Mexico (did I mention she's from there? Because she certainly mentions it a lot herself. Very annoying.) Valentina had a stressful life with no friends whatsoever, not even a father. He left her, her sister and her mother when she was six, which along with the bullying she faced in school for being a little different, lead to undeniable mental health problems and an unbeatable sense of humor. When her mother got married with a rich motherfucker last year, she moved her whole life to the US and decided to no longer deny any rumors. From then on, whenever someone even suggests something negative about her, she just owns up to it. She's quite the rude bitch, but she's actually really nice once you get to know her. I'm getting ahead of myself; you'll see. Finally reaching the school gates, the girl ruffles her short dark brown hair, not entering with the other students that come pouring in, and instead going towards an ally nearby.

That's it. That's my shitty introduction. I wish I could've told you more, but that wouldn't help. The whole point of this is seeing how people can be extremely different than their first impressions, really. Sometimes, the sun doesn't come up in the morning. Sometimes, the lovesick gets sick of love. Sometimes, the bourgeois is miserable. Sometimes, the undead lives. Shit goes down in ways that you don't expect. I know, I know... That made me cringe too. It's the truth, though. Youth is ephemeral. Each second that passes, each moment that is lived and each memory that is created ultimately comes to perish and be buried in the graveyard of our minds. That's why our teenage years feel so special: we tend to live them to their fullest, believing that we could never live them again, which is inarguably true. The first sip of alcohol, the first kiss, the first love, all the way to the first fuck; good or bad, nothing feels quite like the first time you experience it. Everything from this early age is held against our minds until our last breath, may it be early or late. Though conflicting, this twisted feeling is far better than the emptiness that lies ahead, not that we'd know. In fact, we don't know until it's over. Isn't that sad? Not to them. To those random 4 girls, reality hit sooner than expected. In the span of one year, they came to experience the "wonders" of teenagerhood, alongside its curses. They met each other- or rather, they found each other. Nothing could express the feelings of gratitude and love that poured out of their stupid laughs and foolish tears. The fact that they even met remains to be a crazy coincidence to me, but the fact that they liked each other is somehow even more unreal. That's why I'll call them the lucky ones; because even under unlikely circumstances, their paths crossed. And while things for them would end up finding a gruesome and sad ending, it was good while it lasted. God, it was so fucking good.