I've always hated Mondays.
I hated them almost as much as I hated Grayson Scott.
Of all the people on this planet, why did I have to kiss him? My brother's stupid best friend and the most annoying person I had ever met in my life. And it's not like it will be an easy feat to avoid him, given that we both go to the same school and that he's basically at my house all of the time. Our next encounter would definitely be awkward, which is why I planned on achieving the impossible by avoiding him at all costs.
I peeked my head around the corner, scoping out the corridor for you-know-who.
So far, so good.
I cautiously made my way down the corridor towards my locker, continuously looking backwards and forwards down the corridor.
I did the code to the lock on my locker and quickly rushed to pull it open with all my might. Despite asking the principal many times if I could be given a new locker, I was still stuck with this one, which always jammed. Some days were easier than others, all it would take is one abrupt pull of the door et voila. But most days, it was like trying to lift up Thor's hammer.
"Stupid locker." I whispered frustratedly.
"Dal!" Cody's voice called from down the hall.
Ffs. Did he have to announce my existence to the entire school?!
Cody approached me, nodding his head to whatever was playing through his earphones. When he reached me, he pulled his earphones out of his ears and shoved them into his pocket.
"I thought we were walking to school today." He spoke, his breath racing, as if he had just ran here.
"Shit, sorry. My mom dropped me off." Was my excuse.
"God, i am so fucking tired." Cody groaned, turning to place his back up against the locker next to mine.
I took another go at attempting to open up my locker before groaning with defeat.
"Honestly, same." I said.
"Wanna skip?" He asked me, a mischievous grin appearing on his face.
I gave it a moment of thought, unsure wether or not I should actually play hooky. My parents would probably murder me if they found out. Cody's eyes were glued to mine, waiting for an answer.
"Okay, let's do it." I smiled excitedly.
I couldn't say why, but the thought of skipping school was thrilling.
We started towards the nearest exit when my older brother Mitchell and Grayson turned the corner, headed straight towards us.
I reached out and grabbed onto Cody's shoulder, pulling him backwards. "Maybe we should go this way."
I didn't even bother waiting for him to agree before I started walking in the opposite direction, eager to make it around the corner before they could spot me.
Cody quickly caught up with me, walking beside me, step in step as we headed for the east exit.
Upon exiting the school building and entering the parking lot, we were met with Hannah and Lucy, who looked as if they had just arrived.
"Where are you two headed?" Hannah wondered, eyebrows scrunched together as she paused before us. The smell of her vanilla flavored perfume wafted towards me and entered my nostrils.
"We're skipping." Cody explained, crossing his arms.
"What? Are you serious?" Lucy asked us, giving each of us a look.
"Yep." I answered, Cody nodding beside me.
"Alright, where are we headed?" Hannah asked.
Cody and I gave each other a look before turning back to give Hannah a confused look.
"Well?" She pressed.
"Anywhere." Was Cody's answer.
"You guys are mad." Lucy said, readjusting her bangs.
"And you are boring." Hannah retorted.
"Whatever, see you guys after school." Lucy waved goodbye and headed inside, leaving the three of us standing by the parking lot.
"Let's go." Hannah shook her keys in her hand and started towards her car, Cody and I following swiftly behind.
"I calL shot-gun." Cody says.
The car smelled tropical, and a few discarded candy wrappers littered it's floor.
"Okay, shouldn't we have a plan?" I asked the two of them as we each clicked in our seatbelts.
Hannah looked back at me through the mirror. "We could go see a movie?"
"We didn't choose to skip school to watch some crappy chick-flick." Cody said from the passenger seat.
"You're just still upset about the ending of Me Before You." Hannah jabbed.
"Why would you bring it up?" Cody frowned. "It's so sad."
I rolled my eyes, turning to look out of the window as cars blurred by in the opposite direction.
"What if we headed into the city?" Hannah suggested, turning a corner into Main Street.
"That's like hours away!" Cody stated.
"It's a half an hour, actually. And we have all day, sooo." Hannah said as the car halted at a stop sign.
"Fine, let's do it." Cody said.
"Sweet." I said with excitement from the backseat.
Hannah turned the radio on and turned up the volume. We all began singing along to Only You by Yazoo as we started towards the town's exit.
After we reached the city, i received a text.
My Idiot Brother:
Did mom give you any lunch money?
Me:
Why?
My Idiot Brother:
Because I'm hungry.
Shit. He's going to figure out that I'm not at school, then he's going to blab to our parents, then I'll probably be grounded for the rest of junior year.
Me:
Don't you have a job?
My Idiot Brother:
Yes, but I don't have cash rn and I'm hungry.
Me:
Well, she didn't give me any money.
I lied.
Me:
Ask ur dumb bestie for something to eat.
My Idiot Brother:
Fine.
I pocketed my phone and returned my focus back to my two best friends who were currently fighting over what we should have lunch.
"Nachos are way better than burgers." Cody said.
"That's debatable." Hannah replied to him.
"I vote we get Nachos." Cody put his hand up.
"And I vote we get burgers." Hannah put her hand up.
They both turned their attention to me, waiting for me to choose.
"How about we get both?" I suggested.
"Huh, Why didn't I think of that?" Cody wondered, more to himself by the sounds of it.
The rest of the day was spent well. We had a good lunch, then we signed up for one of those tours around the city, visiting landmarks and such. Afterwards, we headed on back home.
Hannah dropped Cody off at his place first, ending their argument about which Lord of the Rings movie was better, but not before vowing to finish said argument tomorrow.
Then she dropped me off at home, just in time to witness my parents park into the driveway. It was already pretty late.
Okay, Dallas, play it cool...
"See you tomorrow." I said to Hannah.
"See ya." She waved at me before winding the window back up and playing the radio at full volume as she sped away.
"Where have you been, mister?" Mom asked me.
"Was hanging out at Hannah's." I answered with an obvious lie. Obvious to me, not to her, at least, I hoped it wasn't.
"Well next time, please tell me beforehand."
"Okay." I groaned, lugging my backpack along as I headed on inside, eager to shower then head straight to bed.
"Dude! I told you to watch my back!" Mitchell grumbled to Grayson as he slumped back into the couch.
They were playing some video game that involved violence.
"Where the hell were you to-" Mitchell started, but I managed to stop him from calling me out to my parents by putting a finger to my lips, warning him to shut up.
I tried my best not to look towards Grayson as my parents walked in behind me, sighing with exhaustion.
"What's for dinner?" I wondered, following my parents into the kitchen.
"Whatever is easiest." My mother answered. "I'm too tired." She sat down at the dining table, exhaling deeply.
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
She looked up at me, almost confused at my question. "I'm fine, just tired." She answered.
"Okay.... Well, I'm going to have a shower." I turned to head to the staircase.
"Don't use all the hot water!" My father called out.
"I wont!" I shouted back.
"And quit using all of my good shampoo and conditioner!" My mother shouted loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear.
"Okay! God!" I groaned back as I rushed up the stairs.