"Beep, Beep, Beep, BEEP, BEEP!" My alarm clock screams out, forcing me to open my eyes for another day. I groan and pull my covers over my face. Do I really have to go back to school?
Before I can think any longer, I hear footsteps coming dangerously close to my bed. My blanket is grabbed by two, large hands, and thrown off of my body. I shiver as the cold air hits my spine. "Alex. Get up. You need to get to school!" I look up to see my dad looking down at me, dressed and ready for work. He probably doesn't even remember what happened last night. Or he doesn't care.
"I know" I manage to squeak out "just give me a second. I'm so tired" I can see my dad roll his eyes as he walks out of my room.
"Oh and Alex, I need you to unpack the rest of the boxes in your room. Make it look more homey. This is our new house, you know" I nod, but inside I want to scream no. This can't be our forever home. Our forever home is in Derry, with my friends. My best friends.
I get out of bed, following the same routine I did yesterday. Brush my teeth and hair, and get dressed. Today I pick out a green striped tank top and white shorts. I decide against putting my hair up, because my forehead looks bigger than usual. I look at my clock to see I got ready pretty quickly, so I have a couple extra minutes to spare. I grab a random mixtape without looking at it, and slip it in my stereo. It starts to play "Africa" by Toto. I laugh to myself and start to sing along. This is Richie's favorite song. He would constantly play it whenever all the losers would hang out.
••••••••••
"Good morning my fine lads!" Richie says as he steps down the ladder to our club house. Today he's carrying a radio in one hand, and a mixtape in the other.
"Rich, what do you got there?" Ben asks.
Richie grins a big stupid grin before setting the radio on the small table in the middle of the club house. It's a small room, with a tiny hammock, two bean bags, and a few lights that Bev put up to make it look a little more upbeat. It's trash, but it's out trash.
"Only the greatest thing of all time!" Richie yells "well, not as great as fucking Ed's mom but-"
"Beep, beep, Richie!!" Eddie yelps. Richie smirks at him before putting his mixtape high in the air for everyone to see.
"I stole my old mans radio, and made us a mixtape!" Richie states proudly.
"Wow, that's actually really nice of you, Richie" Stan says with a shocked tone.
"Well wait till you hear this, Stan. I didn't actually make the mixtape! I found it too!" Richie says with a big grin. He starts to laugh as Stan rolls his eyes and continues reading his comic. I can see Eddie biting his lip, trying not to laugh. They are so hopelessly in love and they don't even know.
"Well, can we at least hear it?" I ask
"I'm glad someone is interested!" Richie reaches down and puts in the mixtape. A song starts that no one recognizes.
"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you?" Eddie questions "What does that even mean?"
"Well, it's like saying that it'll take a lot to drag me away from fucking your mom, Ed's!" Richie spits out, laughing.
"Beep, beep, asshole!" Eddie screams "can you go one minute without making a your mom joke?"
"You know you love it, Ed's" Richie smirks at him
"Don't call me that!" Eddie says, trying to hide his red face.
••••••••••••
"Alex! Cmon! You need to get to school" I hear my dads voice ring through the house as he interrupts the memory of my old friends.
I sigh before turning off my music and walking out of my room. I step into the kitchen just as my dad grabs two pop tarts out of the microwave, and hands one to me.
I bite into it before starting to speak "Thanks. Hey, do you think it's okay if I have a few friends over this weekend? It's for a school project"
My dad gives me a weird look "Yeah, that's fine. I'm going to be meeting an old friend on Saturday, and won't be back until Sunday. Maybe one of your friends can spend the night here?"
I nod. I don't tell him who I have in mind for the sleepover. I know he'd disapprove. I take a few more bites into my pop tart before slipping on my green shoes. They're my only shoes as of right now. I've been saving up for a pair of Vans, but it'll take a while. My dad and I have never really had a lot of money, but it's never been that much of a problem.
"I better get going. Don't wanna be late for class. See ya" I spit out, before slipping out the door. I'm about to grab my bike when I see someone familiar standing on the driveway. I turn to face a girl with reddish-orange hair. My eyes grow wide and I step back a little in shock. She's wearing a green t-shirt with matching green shorts, and red Vans. I stare into her blue eyes and she stares back. She moves her head a little to the side and I inspect her freckled cheeks. She's so beautif- No! She's not! I mean she's not ugly, but I don't think she's beautiful in that way! Not at all!
"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. I just thought- um that maybe you would want to bike to school with me today?" Max questions with an anxious look.
"Oh, um- well I don't- Um, yeah. That's be fun." I say, a smile pulling at my lips.
Max smiles back at me before stepping onto her skateboard. She waits a second for me to get on my bike before she starts on her way to school. I follow close behind. The whole time I can't help but feel some tension between the two of us. We bike in uncomfortable silence.
When we finally arrive at school, I follow Max over to the bike rack where Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Will are standing.
"Oh hey guys! We weren't sure you were coming." Dustin says with a goofy grin.
"Uh yeah, I went over to Alex's house and we came here together." Max announces to the group
Will smiles a bit "Hm. Interesting"
"What?" Lucas questions
"Oh, nothing" Will says, before winking at Max. What does that mean? Why did he think it was interesting?
I look over at Max, giving Will a death glare. She turns her head to look at me "Alright! We better get going! Can't keep our academics waiting!"
"Um, okay" Mike says. We all head into school, going our separate ways. Max and I walk to our history class, discussing a few ideas we have about our project.
We both step into class and sit in our seats. Class starts almost immediately, and I realize how late I am compared to yesterday. Well, it was worth it. What? No it wasn't! Don't say that, Alex.
••••••••••••
Time skip to lunch because I'm lazy
I step into the cafeteria, gripping my lunchbox tightly. I'm hoping that Mike will let me sit with his friends again. Who knows? Maybe he was just trying to be nice. Maybe it was a one time thing. I'm snapped out of my thoughts when a familiar voice comes up behind me "Well? Are you gonna sit down with us or what?" I turn to see Will at my side.
"Oh, right. Yeah" I spit out. Will chuckles a little before shuffling over to the lunch table we all sat at yesterday. I follow close behind.
I sit down next to Dustin, and Will sits next to Mike. Lucas sits on the other side of Dustin, and there's an empty chair next to him. I assume it's for Max.
The boys talk for a few minutes before Max speeds over to our table. She almost sits herself next to Lucas, but she moves a little further, and puts herself in the empty chair next to me. I didn't even notice the chair until she sat down. I didn't notice how close the chair was to me until her knee touched mine. I thought she'd move, but she didn't. So neither did I. I didn't realize I wasn't paying attention until Dustin taps my shoulder.
"Alex, are you listening?" He cocks his head to the side.
"Oh!" I stutter out "Uh- ye-yea"
Dustin continues on whatever he was saying, but I suddenly find myself not paying attention again. I find my eyes moving to Max. Her freckles that spot her face perfectly. The way her hair lips moves as she laughs. Those beautiful, pink lip- What? Alex, stop. You have to stop. I don't like her. I don't. I've only known her for two days. But even when I've known her for weeks, or even years, I won't like her. Because Max is a girl. I don't like girls. I don't.
The bell rings, cutting our conversation off. Not that I was even paying attention. That seemed to happen all day. I stopped paying attention. My mind would be in English class, but suddenly it was focused on a girl with fiery hair and a smile that could brighten up a rainy day. But I don't like her. I just really want to be her friend. Right?