STARGIRL. chapter 04
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RORY WASN'T EXACTLY looking forward to school but there was a part of her which really wanted to know what the 'colorado highschool experience' would be like.
it wasn't excitement per say, but she was a curious person by nature. her 'need to know' came first. so for her, the statement 'ignorance is bliss' literally never made any sense, in any case.
nevertheless, she woke up early around 4:30 in the morning. she had fallen asleep really early the night before plus, she found it difficult to sleep in a new room and a new bed. it would take her time to adjust to her surroundings. life wasn't going to be easy by a long shot and she was just gonna have to live with it.
first thing she did after waking up was take a long hot shower- and when she said hot, she meant with burning, scalding water.
getting out of the shower, she put on a pair of black ribbed flare pants which stuck to her skin, with a plain black cropped top. it was fairly cold outside and so she also draped her favourite red leather jacket on top. spending some time straightening her hair- she finally left the bathroom, content.
the house was still fairly quiet. nobody was awake yet as far as she could tell. it was weird seeing the house as blissful as it was, considering its state when the boys were awake. she relished in the peace amidst the chaos. it was nice.
walking back to her room, she noticed that jackie was still sleeping. confused, she took out her phone to check the time. 5:15. her sister would definitely be up by 5:30.
a thought crossed her mind. shaking her head, she brushed it away, before it darted back at her like a stubborn ex.
maybe she'll check in on tyler.
goddamnit.
opening his previously unopened text from back when she landed in colorado, her fingers hovered over the keyboard. she was unsure of what to say, but then again, she wanted to check in on him. no matter what had happened between them after her parents' death she had still cared about him at some point in her life. whether it was platonic or something more.
she hit send, almost positive that he wouldn't respond at this time. but a sudden pop up facetime audio call took her by surprise.
her eyes widened in response.
he was calling her?
her phone vibrated in her hand as she looked up at jackie to reconfirm that she was still sleeping.
she was.
cautiously, rory walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. almost immediately she swiped accept on the call before putting it up to her ears.
"hello?" she said in a low tone. walking forward, she casually sat down on the wooden floorboards, hugging her knees to her chest.
"did you not sleep at night?" his deep voice rang in her ears. she let out an airy laugh.
"people usually say hi when they answer a call you know?" she replied, leaning her head back against the wall.
tyler let out a small laugh, sighing. it was nice talking to him after so long. they had barely communicated after the accident.
they stayed on call, talking about random things for a good 10 minutes. both of them had seemed to master the art of dodging the topic they most feared. suddenly, rory heard a random door open.
"i think i heard someone wake up, i'll talk to you later, okay?" rory whispered in a hushed voice.
"yeah don't worry about it. thanks for texting me rory, god knew that i was too pussy to do it myself. good luck for today."
"i'm glad i texted too ty. bye, i'll talk to you later." she replied, slowly bringing her phone down and cutting the call. a ghost of a smile was present on her face. resting her forehead on her knees she let out a deep sigh. she hadn't spoken to him in so long, and they still bounced off eachother so perfectly.
she almost missed it.
"boyfriend troubles?" a voice asked from behind. rory tilted her head to the side, finding a tall frame standing against the wall beside her.
her eyes darted up as she realized who it was.
"rapunzel." rory stated, addressing cole's presence. upon hearing the nickname, cole grimaced, crossing his arms over his chest.
cole just stood there, not saying anything else- analyzing her demeanor. she seemed defeated as if she was putting on a tough exterior over something that was clearly falling apart.
"no, not boyfriend troubles." rory continued, clarifying cole's hunch. he simply hummed in response.
"what's his name?" he asked, laughing.
rory took a moment to pause. sure, she'd have to live with these boys from now on, but that didn't mean that she needed them to know about her life right? but then again, it was nice to make friends and settle down somewhere. to start fresh. the past 6 months had been so stressful.
fidgeting with her hands, she cracked her knuckles.
"tyler." she sighed. "not my boyfriend though."
he nodded in response and although she was turned away and he couldn't really see her face, something inside him could tell that she had grown sad at the mention of the boy.
and she was sad. because it hurt knowing that a boy who claimed to like her so much and was so determined to be hers- had moved on with some random girl right after her parents' death. it did hurt. even if it was a little, it still did.
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it didn't take long for the walter's residence to become noisy with erratic teenagers running around everywhere. the transition was almost too sudden. echoes of footsteps slowly turned into laughter and playful shouts towards one another.
rory sat down in the kitchen, analyzing the others around her. riven sat to her opposite, entertaining himself to the bickering of the boys.
"where's jackie? still asleep?" nathan asked sliding onto the stool beside rory before grabbing himself an apple from the counter.
sipping on her orange juice, rory shook her head.
"are you kidding me? no way, that girl would rather drink cow piss than be late to school."
riven nodded his head dramatically, a small smile playing on his lips.
"right so she's the academic weapon huh?"
"yup and we're the academic victims." she replied, pursing her lips together in a thin line.
jackie eventually did come down to the kitchen, clutching at her bag straps nervously. katherine handed her an apple from the pantry, slightly offering all the howard siblings a few words of encouragement, and it wasn't long before cole was honking down on the car horn, waiting for everyone to come on out.
rory casually slung her bag over one of her shoulders, walking side by side with riven. both of them were engaging in meaningless conversation, and while rory wasn't a morning person by any means, something about the present gave her a sense of comfort.
"hey man, how'd you sleep last night?"
rory internally groaned.
there went her comfort.
riven looked to his side, greeted by the one boy who irked rory to no end. and they'd only been here for a solid 24 hours till now. how great.
isaac's eyes momentarily glanced over at her, before he turned his attention back at riven.
"i hope lee and i weren't too loud. i'm sorry you had to hear us argue like that though." isaac's face morphed into one of concern. he gave riven an apologetic look, leaving rory wondering what the hell was going on.
"nah man don't worry about it, i couldn't even hear shit." riven shrugged. "you guys good now though?"
isaac laughed, waving his hand in the air.
"p-lease, like he can stay mad at me."
riven wheezed at his sassy comment, nodding his head in mock agreement. rory grimaced, not finding him amusing to the slightest.
they slid into their seats as cole started the car. the seating arrangement was cramped and rory had the displeasure of sitting beside riven and isaac. both of them had been going on and on about how the two garcia brothers had apparently had a disagreement last night which turned into a heated argument. lee had dropped sarcastic comments here and there, clearly over the entire situation already but the petty conversation was definitely pissing her off.
she was not a morning person.
and they were not helping her case.
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cole slowly pulled into the school parking lot, careful not to hit anyone standing in his way. one look at the school told rory that this would be way different from new york. for starters, they didn't have to wear uniforms here. how cool was that?
"hey guys, we got a full car today so that means- isaac, no offering rides to random cheerleaders." cole announced from upfront. rory rolled her eyes slinging her bag over her shoulder.
isaac laughed, jumping over his seat, casually hitting her with his bag in the process.
"hey! watch it you goddamn neanderthal."
"a goddamn what?" he looked, confusedly shaking his head at her.
cole's voice blended in like white noise in the background. rory paused for a second, internally debating over if isaac was dumb or uneducated, or both.
"don't shut the door alex. don't shut the-" he shut the door in his face as isaac groaned. served him right, rory thought.
she let out a content laugh, earning a warning look from isaac who simply opened the door by himself and jumped out. riven had conveniently missed out on this small interaction, too focused on analyzing the school from afar. from what he had gathered, this new school didn't really have a good swim team, and considering the fact that he was the captain at his previous school- it didn't really sit well with him.
"come on guys. let's go." rory said, patting riven on his back, snapping him out of his train of thought. jackie looked to her side as rory jumped out of the back seat, slightly opening the car door to her right.
"it'll be fine, jacks. we got your back, okay?"
jackie offered her a small smile, intertwining her hand with hers.
"i'm glad that you guys are here."
rory smiled at her sister before turning to riven. they shared a small moment, grateful that at least they had eachother. family had proved to be so very fragile, slipping away from their hold in an instant. they had to hold on tightly to whatever they had left. so tight, even if their fingers bled and bones shattered under pressure.
the door to their right, swung opened interrupting their little moment of silent appreciation.
"hey, you guys okay?" nathan asked, eyebrows knitting together into a concerned expression.
danny walked up beside him, leaning against the car as he peaked inside.
"come on, we'll show you where your class is."
"really?" jackie asked, hopeful. she was apprehensive of this new environment. while all of the howard siblings were of course, scared- jackie seemed to be the one completely out of character, timidly hiding inside her little shell.
"yeah." nathan shrugged.
"can't have you getting lost on your first day." danny joked, opening the door wider so that they could hop out of the car.
rory smiled, muttering a small 'thank you' under her breath. she looked over at nathan's guitar which he had slung over his shoulder.
"you play, right?" she asked, looking to make conversation, so that she could work her way up to asking him to jam together.
"no, he just randomly walks around with a guitar in his hand." riven answered, making a face at her as she rolled her eyes. although she felt annoyed at his remark, a small voice beamed inside her head. did he just joke around in public?
nathan laughed, as he closed the car door and walked up front, the rest following.
"so, what do you think?" cole asked. jackie stopped in her tracks, looking at the school building. she tilted her head to the side, squinting her eyes slightly. rory mimicked her movements, realizing just how different colorado was.
"it's.. big?" jackie said, earning a small chuckle from rory. she stifled her laughter with a cough before clearing her throat and looking away, whistling.
"not like them fancy manhattan schools, huh?" he quipped. jackie turned around, ready to diss his remark but a sudden voice beat her to it.
"cole!" a blonde girl in a brick short mini sundress walked up, instantly kissing him. he pulled her in, reciprocating her energy, and rory swore that bile was rushing up her throat at the sight.
pulling away, the girl momentarily glanced at jackie who was standing infront of them, not knowing what to do, or where to look.
"good luck today, new york." cole grinned, walking away with the blonde in his hold. he offered rory and riven a smile, waving at them.
"good luck guys."
as cole walked away, rory turned towards danny and nathan a sarcastic smile on her face.
"well that was romantic." she remarked.
they walked up the pavement, making their way into the high school building.
"is she his girlfriend?" jackie hesitantly asked danny who was holding open the door for them.
rory silently groaned, already knowing the answer to that question. she could spot a player from a mile away. it was as if her fuckboy radar went 'BEEP BEEP BEEP!'
"erin?" danny asked, referring to the blonde girl. "yeah, sometimes. cole doesn't really date. like, he has girls he hooks up with, but he always ends up back with erin."
jackie nodded in understanding.
"so he's like rory."
upon hearing jackie's words, rory gently nudged her sister, scoffing.
"that's not true." she muttered under her breath, a bit embarrassed.
and it wasn't true. she didn't hook up with guys left and right, she just had a knack for flirting. she was a natural flirt, that didn't mean that she fucked everyone in sight.
"three heartbreakers under one roof huh? that's interesting." nathan laughed, as they walked up the halls. riven and jackie, confused, furrowed their eyebrows together.
"three?" riven asked, oblivious to what rory already knew.
"isaac." she replied for the walter brothers, who nodded at her, a curious expression on their faces.
"yeah, alex told us." she added, motioning towards jackie, in order to avoid any further questions. they did not need to know that isaac and her had interacted.
"here, this is you." danny said, stopped in front of a door. he gestured for rory to go inside. shifting in her place, she jammed her hands into her jacket pockets. her 'need to know' quickly changed to 'get me the fuck out of here, what the fuck.'
"good luck. text me if you need me, okay?" riven said, patting her on the back. she simply nodded, trying to gulp down the lump which had formed in her throat.
"love you rory, good luck." jackie whispered, offering her a reassuring smile.
she took a deep breath, telling herself that it'll all be fine. her nervousness slipped away for only a second, but as soon as she stepped into the classroom of noisy teenagers, the feeling of discomfort creeped up her body yet again.
the sight of a familiar jackass tipped her off even more once she laid her eyes on isaac garcia seated in the back, laughing away with a girl's arm draped around his shoulder.
great, isn't it?
NOTES.
so sorry for the late update.
school is killing me. i think i'm
dead. i will die. i can't deal with
this shitty education system no
more man. i will drop out and
start my own business or some
shit. this is insane.
also did i mention that this is
gonna be bit of a slow burn?