Spilled paint. That's what started this whole mess. Well, it started as a mess, but it seems pretty clean to me now. It all began on the last day of school.
"Sydney, get up, you don't want to be late for your last day of school, do you?" my mom yelled from downstairs. My countdown to summer was finally ending, and I was absolutely thrilled. This school year wasn't the best, but it most definitely wasn't the worst. I got out of bed and practically dragged myself to the bathroom. As I brushed my teeth, I couldn't help but notice how warm it was outside. It brought joy to me knowing summer was only one day away and it was just the beginning. I got dressed in my favorite shirt, an orange tank top that I had gotten from my nana last year. I paired it with my favorite pair of blue jean shorts that I had recently got at the mall with my best friend, Madi. Madi and I go way back, ever since second grade actually. Now we were freshmans in highschool. Well, sophomores really, since this year is already over. I guess you could say her and I are inseparable. I take a glance at my alarm clock and I realize how late I was gonna be if I didn't pick up the pace. I quickly pulled my hair into two messy braids, put some mascara on and ran downstairs. My mom had already made me and my brother toast, but I didn't have the time to eat it, so I skipped breakfast. I put on my shoes, said goodbye to my mom and rushed out the door. Usually my boyfriend, John, would pick me up and drive me to school but we're not a thing anymore, so I have to take the bus. Thankfully I made it to the bus in time and went over and sat next to Madi. The bus ride was short and quiet. It's not like how it used to be in middle school, loud and busy. Now all everyone wanted to do was be on their phones and sit quietly. I'm not complaining, it's just... different?
"Soooo, what have you been up to? I mean it's almost summer. Have you made any plans? Gotten any dates?" Madi winked at me.
"No, are you surprised? Besides, I'm not looking to date anyone anyways. I'm perfectly fine being single." I confidently smiled at her. She tilts her head and gives me a smile back. That's something I've noticed about Madi, whenever she thinks I'm lying, she tilts her head and smiles.
"I am, seriously. I don't want a boyfriend. I want to spend the summer with you, Stella, and my family and that's all that matters to me right now."
"Aww, Syd. I'm flattered."
"Yep. You should be." The bus screeches at a stop. We're finally at school. I stand up and start making my way to the front of the bus. When we finally exit, I walk into school and go straight to my locker. I don't need to get anything from it, it's just to waste time. I don't feel like being the first one in homeroom. I stand there for a couple minutes before I decide to go to my class. On my way, I run into the infamous couple, Cameron Adler and Britney Perkins, making out by her locker. Yuck. Now, it's not that I hate Britney Perkins. But I definitely don't like her. Also, get a room! I walk past them as fast as I can, because I really don't want to see anymore of ...that. Unfortunately, as I start walking up the stairs, they decide to stop making out and walk up behind me. Woo-hoo. I hear a "Wait slow down!" I turn around to see Britney rushing up the stairs.
"Hey Sydney! So this is for you," she says, handing me a white envelope, "It's an invitation to my pool party this weekend. Bring a date. See you there!!" she blows a kiss and then waves her hand at Cameron to come with her. When he doesn't see it, she says,
"Cameron?? Are you even paying attention? Seriously, we have to get you a new pair of listening ears. God." He looks up at her and quickly follows her up the stairs. Practical Britney Perkins. She acts like she's all that, when everyone knows she always runs over to her daddy when she needs something. Not to mention the fact that she lost her virginity the summer before 8th grade, and acted like it was cool. Sorry Britney, but the only cool thing about that was the air conditioning in Jeremy Whitbriars house that day. The late bell finally rang and I rushed up the stairs trying to get to my class before I get listed as tardy. But when I finally got there, half of my class wasn't there yet, so I was less worried. But, I go ahead and make my way to my seat. I have been sitting in this seat for ages but I'm not complaining because if it weren't for this seat I wouldn't be friends with Stella Monroe. Stella and I instantly clicked on the first day of school when the teacher made us introduce ourselves to the person sitting next to us. Although Stella and I have only known each other for a year, I consider her as one of my best friends and I wouldn't give her up for anything. Stella and I chat for a while about our summer plans and all the things we look forward to. Of course as some of my classmates start walking in, our teacher quickly quiets us down to give us a rundown of how our day will look like. She mentions how we can switch to other classrooms if we would like as long as your teacher approves. After the teacher is done explaining to us about how the day is going to look, Stella and I turn our heads to look at one another and then we continue to talk about summer some more.
" Ughhh!! I know summer starts tomorrow but I just wish it was today! I mean look outside, it's practically the perfect weather for tanning." Stella said with a hint of exaggeration in her voice.
"Okay yeah it's the best weather since like forever but I most definitely cannot get a tan from this weather. Speaking of tanning, did you see Britney's fake tan? It's like someone spilled a bunch of orange paint on her. Plus, you can definitely tell that it's fake." I say. Stella laughs and the bell rings. We walk out of class without grabbing anything. Since its the last day of school, nobody brought a bag or anything because its very likely that we are not going to need it. Stella and I say goodbye and walk our separate ways because we don't have second period together. But guess who I do have to see? Everyone's favorite off brand mean girl, Britney Perkins! As I make my way into the gym, the gym teachers lead us outside. As I'm walking outside, my eyes meet a very familiar pair of blue eyes. Britney.
"Hey Sydney, over here!" She says. Damn, whoever did her fake tan must really hate her. Despite the fact that I don't like her, I still put a smile on my face and walked over to her. She's standing with her bitch pack friends. Well, I wouldn't call them her friends. More like...clones? She took them in and made them exactly like her. But that's what Ms. Perkins does.
"Oh my god, your shirt! Did you spill something on it?" she asks
"What? No! It's just the color that it is." And it looks a lot like your fake tan. How cute!
"Oh, sorry. I'm just not used to, um, shirts that color..." she says, suppressing a laugh. I give her a fake smile and make my way over to Madi because I had enough of Britney's nonsense. She watches me walk away and turns around to talk to her "friends."
"Britney? Really? You were talking to Britney?" Madi asks, as I realized she was watching the conversation I had with her.
"Yeah, yeah. It's not like I wanted to talk to her. She just called me over. I didn't want to be rude." I replied. Madi rolled her eyes and motioned for me to follow as she started to walk over to the bleachers. We sat and watched as most of the boys messed around and played a game of flag football. Madi and I started talking until we got rudely interrupted by a loud, deep voice.
"Yo, Levine! Are you coming to the bonfire tonight? It'd be really lame without you." said a boy. It was Shawn Carrera, but are we surprised? Well, I'm not. Shawn Carrera has had a crush on Madi since 5th grade. And he's made it very well known, to say the least. I'm pretty sure Madi likes him too, but I can never tell.
"I'm not coming unless I can bring Sydney with me." she said back.
"Bring her! It'll be fun. See you guys there!" he said, and as he walked away we saw him pump his fist and run back over to his friends. Madi quickly turned around and faced me.
"Okay girl we need to plan out our cute fits! I was thinking maybe a cute cropped shirt an-" Madi looked at me and saw that I wasn't following with what she was saying.
"Don't tell me you're not going to come.." Madi said to me with slight disappointment on her face.
"Listen, don't blame me but I don't really fit in with that group of people. The only person I would know there would be you."
"I know but don't you think it would be fun I mean come on, I'll be there with you and there might be some cute guys there too." Madi said with a smirk on her face.
"Madi! I told you after John happened, I don't think I'll ever be ready to be with someone again." I said with a hint of sadness in my voice recalling my last relationship.
"Okay okay maybe not the cute boy part but please come to the bonfire, for me?" Madi pleaded.
"Okay fine I'll come but I'm borrowing your light blue top that I wore to the beach last month." I said with a small smile on my face.
"Yes! I knew you would say yes. Now come on gym is about to end and I don't feel like being the last to go inside" With that Madi takes my hand and drags me back into the gym.
The rest of the day wasn't too boring, I basically hung out with my friends for the whole day, but it went by super fast, and before I knew it, we were in 8th period. I had remembered what my teacher had said about changing classrooms and realized that Stella and Madi both have 8th period together so why not go to their classroom? Besides, I didn't really have any friends in this class anyways. That's why I hated 8th period all year. A couple other people and I asked my teacher if we could go to Ms. Rodriguez's room. He said yes and we made our way to the art room. Once I walked in, the smell of crayons and paint flooded my nose. I absolutely love this classroom. I hope I have Ms. Rodriguez next year too. As soon I was in their eye-shot, Madi and Stella instantly walked over to me. They brought me over to their table and told me to take a seat at their table, there was one open seat next to them. I asked them why nobody was sitting there, and they said that he went to a different class. I didn't think anything of it.
"So, how has your guys' day been?" I asked them.
"Super great, I'm so excited for tonight," Madi said, winking at me, "I got Stella an invitation as well, so it's gonna be us three tonight!"
"Do you guys wanna come over to my house and get ready together? I'm sure my parents will be fine with it as long as yours are." Stella said. Madi and I both agreed, and we all stood up to get some art supplies. I saw a couple of blank canvases and a bunch of paint, so I took the opportunity to paint a sunset. I threw some shades of red, orange and yellow on a palette and started painting. Now, I'm no Bob Ross, but I'd say I'm pretty good at painting. My only issue is that I get really messy when I paint, but I always clean it up.
"What are you painting?" Stella asks me.
"Oh, just a sunset" I say, "Nothing special."
"Nothing special? That looks so good!" Madi jumps in. I smile and admire my work for a little while. I then reached over to grab a wider brush to blend the color more, but my hand slipped and I had knocked over the red paint, and unfortunately, it was opened. I cleaned up the table where it spilled and the floor. Thankfully, the person's belongings that was sitting there before me were completely unharmed and so were my clothes. I sat there for a little while, talking to my friends, until it was a few minutes before the bell rang. I said goodbye to them and walked back to my 8th period class. During the last few minutes of class, my teacher got a phone call.
"Hello? Yes, this is him. Mhm. Yes. Okay. Alright, bye."
"So, that was Ms. Rodriguez. Apparently one of her students got paint spilled in his backpack. All of his stuff was ruined. Does anyone happen to know who did this or what happened?" Mr. Flannigan asked. Nobody said anything.
"This is not a joke, do you understand me? If it helps at all, the student's name was Cameron Adler. All of his stuff was completely ruined." Oh crap. I think Madi and Stella mentioned that they sit next to him in art class. And who happened to be sitting in his seat today when I spilled paint? Me. But I wasn't about to go admit this to a whole class. You know how much trouble I would be in? So I decided that at the end of the day I would go up to him and apologize. I really felt bad. Especially because if someone did that to me? I'd be pissed. The bell rang and 8th period was finally over. I felt a knot build up in my stomach. I wasn't a big fan of confrontation. What if he went totally psycho and tried to like, murder me or something? Who knows these days. I walked back to first period and ran up to Stella.
"You will never believe what happened." I said to her
"Your teacher got a phone call from my teacher saying that somebody spilled paint into another students backpack, and you realized that you were the student who did it." she said
"What? How did you know?"
"Did you forget I'm literally in that class and I heard the whole thing?" she said
"Oh. Yeah."
"Are you gonna tell him that you did it?"
"Of course I am! I feel terrible."
"Well then what are you waiting for?! There's only a couple of minutes before the bus comes so you better hurry." She was right. I rushed down the stairs. I normally would walk down with Madi, but I didn't know if Cameron was at his locker or not, so I had to walk without her. When I got down the 3 flights of stairs, I sprinted to the lockers, just in case he didn't get to his bus yet. I have no idea where his locker would be, I'm not even friends with him. But I do know that his last name is Adler. So that must mean his locker is near mine, because our last names are one letter apart. I start looking but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for. Sure, I've seen him walk around school, but it's not like I see him enough to spot him in a crowd. I notice that as I'm walking less and less people are inside the school, which means that I'm about to miss my bus. I keep walking past the lockers until I see a tall, curly headed brunette closing his locker and starting to walk away. I rushed over to him before he could take another step.
"Hey wait," I said, "I need to talk to you about something."
"Sydney, right?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Alright. Make it fast, I'm already late for my bus cause some dumbass spilled paint all over my stuff." Well, this is looking great for me already!
"Oh. Well, about that... Listen, during 8th period I went into Ms. Rodriguez's classroom to hang out with my friends. As I was painting, I accidentally knocked over some paint. I thought I cleaned everything up, but I guess I didn't. I'm really sorry. I swear, if I knew that it got in your bag I would have told you immediately and maybe your stuff would have been salvageable."
"You're joking, right? I had really important stuff in that bag. Just because you're 'sorry' doesn't make me want to forgive you. Bandaids don't fix bulletholes." he says.
"Listen, I will do anything to make it up to you. Give me your phone."
"You think I'm gonna trust you with my phone when you couldn't even stop paint from spilling in my bag? Think again." he said
"I'm not going to steal it or drop it. I'm just going to put my phone number in your phone." He rolls his eyes and hands me his phone. I quickly put my phone number in and rush away.
"Text me!" I loudly call while practically sprinting to my bus. I didn't look back at him, partly because I didn't want to see him looking back at me and partly because I was going to be late. I finally got onto my bus and went to sit down next to Madi.
"What the hell took you so long?" she asked.
"Long story. I'll tell you when we get to Stella's house." I replied. She nodded and we talked about how each of our last days of school went. When the bus got to our stop, we walked off, said goodbye and went into our houses.
"Hi honey! How was your last day of school?" my mom asked.
"Pretty good. I got invited to a bonfire tonight and a pool party on Saturday."
"That's great! Are you going to go?" she asked
"Yeah I think so. Hey, is it okay if I go over to Stella's tonight to get ready for the bonfire tonight?"
"That's fine with me! Let me know when you're leaving." I nodded my head and smiled at my mom as I headed upstairs.
The moment I enter my bedroom, I sink right into my bed thinking about how much trouble I got into in one day. And to make things worse, it was on the last day of school which means I have to take the time out of one of my days and go buy Cameron all the things I had ruined when I could be at the beach with my friends. Ugh. I start to daydream but I quickly get interrupted by a buzz on my phone. It was Stella asking Madi and I if we could head over to her house in a couple of minutes. I reply "Yess see ya soon!" I get up, collect my makeup bag and make my way downstairs. Recently, my house has been a little quiet ever since my sister Jess moved into her own apartment. Me and her were inseparable. Saying goodbye to her was death by a thousand cuts. But now that she's away, I can't even talk to her about my boy problems and the conflict I have going on with Cameron right now.
"Mom, dad, I'm walking over to Stella's now!" I called to them. I heard footsteps as my parents walk over to me, waiting at the door. I also see my little brother, Charlie, look down at me from the top of the stairs.
"Aw, okay sweetie. I'll see you soon okay? Text me if you need anything." my mom said to me, giving me a hug.
"Be home by 10," my dad says
"11?" I ask
"10:30."
"11:30?"
"11 and that's it." he says, pulling me into a hug which I return. I open the door and start walking out.
"No kissing!" my dad calls from behind. I roll my eyes, and give him a thumbs up. Who is there to kiss anyways?
I arrive at Stella's house and her mom opens the door to greet me.
"Hi Sydney! How have you been? Stella and Madi are upstairs waiting for you." Mrs. Monroe says. I smile at her and say that I have been good, and then walk upstairs to Stella's room.
"Hey Syd! Okay now you've got some explaining to do. Why were you late to the bus today?" Madi asked me.
"Oh yeah about that, I went to go say sorry to Cameron but I don't think he really forgave me yet."
"Do you know how you're going to make it up to him yet?"
"Yeah I'm going to have to repurchase all the things I ruined for him again. Just imagine how much money that will cost." I said annoyed.
"Yeah, that sucks. But hey, this summer will be great. You already got invited to a bonfire. Who knows, maybe you'll find a cute guy there and there will be a cute little summer romance." Stella says.
"Ugh, yeah I guess. But I don't know, I still don't really feel ready to be in a relationship, I mean did we all forget about that whole John situation? But whatever, and about the bonfire, I didn't even get invited to that. Shawn invited Madi. But I mean, I knew that was gonna happen. We all did. Oh, speaking of invitations, did you guys get invited to Britney's pool party? She randomly invited me this morning while I was walking to homeroom." I said
"Oh yeah Stell and I both did, but we're probably not going to go unless you're going to go." Madi said, facing me.
"I might go, I don't know. She told me to bring a date? Did she tell you guys that too?"
"Yeah, she said that I should bring someone fun so I guess that means I could just go with you two." Madi says with a grin on her face .
"Yeah she said that I could bring a date too, I'll probably just bring Flynn." Stella said. Flynn Anderson is Stella's boyfriend of 2 years. They first started dating in 7th grade, and ever since then, they have been madly in love. I mean, they are probably the only couple in our school to actually have lasted that long.
"Oh Madi! That reminds me, did you bring the blue top I asked you to bring?" I question her.
"Yes of course how could I forget!" Madi says while pulling out her blue tanktop that I always steal from her whenever I see her. She hands the tanktop to me and I make my way to the bathroom to change. After I changed into the tank top , I opened the door to allow the girls in so we could do our hair and makeup. Honestly, I love doing my hair and makeup. It's just so fun and it just gives me another reason on why I love being a woman. I take my braids out as I watch them flow into these beautiful waves that remind me of summer. I looked over to see how Stella and Madi were doing their hair and I noticed that Stella was doing a gorgeous half up half down hair style in which some of her hair was braided at the top, forming a crown shape. The rest of her straight brown hair down. Madi however was curling her black wavy hair which was surprising to me because she usually always straightens her hair. I face the mirror and start on my makeup. I go in with a little bit of mascara considering the fact that I already had some on. I then go in with a little bit of concealer to hide my dark spots. It's not like they are that noticeable but I feel cleaner without them visible. To finish the look I top it off with some of my favorite lipgloss. I turn around towards Stella and Madi and I realize that we were all done so we all left the bathroom and made our way downstairs.
"Hey Madi, do you know who else might be invited?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Oh yeah I heard that the whole lacrosse team got invited and so was Britney and Cameron." Madi said while putting on her shoes.
"Are you kidding me right now?! Cameron is going to be there? Okay now there is no way that I am going" I said while slowly starting to walk away from the two.
"Uh no, you are going. Yeah yeah, you and him aren't on such good terms but who cares? I bet he will ignore you and you will ignore him." Stella said while dragging back to the front door.
"Ugh okay fine, but I swear if Cameron starts anything with me then I'm putting the blame on you two." I said while we all finish putting our shoes on. Since the beach was only a couple of minutes away from Stella's house, we figured we could just walk there. Plus, both Stella's mom and dad were busy with work so they couldn't drive us. After walking for a few minutes we finally reached the beach. I loved the beach with all my heart. The smell and the feel of it just makes me so happy. During the summer, I used to go to the beach every morning to get some fresh air which helps relieve lots of stress. I think I should start visiting it more because of all the drama that I just got myself into. But anyways, we spot Shawn and his friends, so we make our way toward them. As we get closer, Shawn sees us and walks over.
"Hey guys, I'm glad you could make it." Shawn says. He daps us up, and leads us to everyone else. The only people there were us, Shawn, Flynn, Brady Miller, and his girlfriend Lexi. Brady and I have been friends since we were three, since our moms are friends. I don't really like his girlfriend though. Well, I don't not like her, I just think that Brady can do much better. She is extremely controlling of him, and he doesn't seem to notice. I mean, maybe he does, but he doesn't do anything about it. Also, I'm thrilled that Britney and Cameron didn't show up because honestly I would drop dead right on the spot. But also, my friends and I got there a little early, so I'm sure there's a bunch more people coming. In the meantime, I make my way over to the bonfire to say hello to everyone.
"Heyy! How have you been?" I say, while walking over to Brady.
"I've been great. How about you?" he says, as I pull him into a hug. When we break out of the hug, I get jumpscared by none other then Lexi. She latches herself onto his arm and starts rubbing her head into his shoulder. She gives me a fake smile and tells Brady to follow her. Brady mouths "Sorry," and walks away. See what I mean? I shook my head and started to make my way over to Flynn. As I started walking I saw more and more people start walking toward us. Before I could even comprehend who these people were, my eyes meet a pair of hazel eyes in which I recognized immediately.
••••••••••••
Sydney got herself into some trouble...
Thoughts so far?