[Chapter 1]
I Have More Cringy Experiences Than One Direction Has Fans
It's 5 AM and the neighbors dog won't stop barking. I grab my pillow and shove it around my head, in an attempt to block out the noise. I've only gotten five hours of sleep and the dog next door feels the need to bark its head off at a god damn squirrel. I give up on sleep, and decide to get a head start on the day. It isn't everyday that I get up earlier than 7 AM.
I creep down the stairs in my pajamas, making sure I skip the creaky step so my parents won't wake up. I look at the kitchen from the stairs, and I'm surprised to see a light on. My family never wakes up earlier than 6, and it's only 5:15.
Oh God...
Maybe that empty headed dog next door was really barking at something, or someone, and they're in our house right now! Why am I just thinking of this now? Why the hell does this kind of thing have to happen to me? I grab a sharp pencil, and creep into the kitchen. As I enter the kitchen, I see someone in the kitchen. They turn around, and see a long brown braid going down the back of a young adult. She turns around, and I'm surprised to see it's my sister Meghan, staring at me while I'm about to stab her with a pencil. The first thing she does is burst out laughing.
"You really thought you were going to get me with a pencil?" She said and continued laughing at me. I blush and look down to my feet.
"Laugh all you want Meg, but if there was an actual killer in this room, They'd be dead right now." I say snap.
"Okay, whatever you say Kat." She says, and turns around to continue what she was doing before I came in. I follow her, and see that she is making scrambled eggs.
"Okay Meg, what are you doing back here? I haven't seen you in at least a year. And why so early? You never wake up earlier then 8?" She says nothing, and continues to scramble the eggs. "Did you back come for lil ol' me?" I ask with Bambi eyes and a squeaky voice, like how I used to do when we were younger and I wanted something. She looks at me, and I can tell she wants to slap me.
"God no Kat!" She laughs. "I just need a place to crash for a few months until I get a steady job."
"And I may or may not have forgotten to give mom and dad a heads up," she adds awkwardly, looking visibly nervous. I decide not to question why she needs a place to stay, even though the last I heard, she had a steady job and was living on her own.
I was never close with my sister Meghan until the past 3 years. She had her first major heartbreak in her junior year of college, and she was devastated. Mom and dad didn't approve of him, so they gave her no sympathy, while I on the other hand, gave her emotional and moral support. Three years down the road and here we are now. Like all sisters, we have our moments, but most of the time we accept and tolerate each other.
Meg looks at me, and smiles.
"You've changed so much since I last saw you Kit Kat," she pauses, and looks at my feet, which are covered by my cotton candy pink bunny slippers. "Except for those bunny slippers. Aren't you a little too old for them now?"
"You can never be too old for bunny slippers Meg! You should know after living with me for seventeen years!"
She looks at me with exasperation, knowing that my bunny slippers are not worth the fight. She knows I am persistent, and I won't go down without a fight. Meg and I talk for a while, catching up on all of the things we missed when she was away. Before I know it, it's already 6:50.
"What time does school start for you anyway? I feel like this summer lasted a lifetime! But I still can't believe you're going to be a senior! When I was a senior, you were only in 6th grade!" Meg states, her eyes filled with nostalgia. I feel a pang in my stomach. How the heck could I have forgotten that that today was the first day of my senior year? Was I living in a different dimension for the last week while my mom was reminding me that school was starting again?
"Shit, school starts today. I gotta pack my bag for school, and get dressed." I say and run to my room to get dressed. So much for first impressions on the first day of school. I must look like Godzilla on his man period, but screw it. Riverton High School is lucky I'm even making an appearance at school. The bus is supposed to come at 7:10, and Meg refuses to share any of her scrambled eggs with me, so I cram down a piece of toast and call it breakfast. Still chewing on my toast, I make a run towards the bus stop, hoping that I'm lucky enough to catch the bus. I almost miss the bus and choke, but I made it.
~~~~
After the first class of the day, I attempt to escape, but my best friend Bree intercepts me and escorts me to my second period class.
"You're not my parole officer Bree! I need to free myself from this place." I whisper to her as my second period teacher Mrs. Lawson starts talking.
"I'm trying to free you from future embarrassment. Like remember that time when you tried to convince our whole class that-"
"I thought I told you to never speak of that moment ever again." I interrupt her before she brings back some embarrassing memories. I have more cringy experiences than One Direction has fans.
"The point is, I don't want you to get embarrassed, or even in trouble on the first day of school!" Bree says.
"I know, sorry Bree. It's just that-"
"Ms. Cooper and Ms. Taylors , am I interrupting something back there?" Mrs. Lawson asks us.
"No mam." We both say in unison and sit up straight. It feels as if she's our drill sergeant and we're trying not to get kicked out of the army on the first day.
"Next time I'm talking, make sure you're listening, not talking." She says harshly, and I add another memory to my list of embarrassing moments. Bree and I nod, while mentally freaking out. Thankfully, the next class I have is Lunch, and the before I know it, class is over.
Bree and I stroll through the halls to lunch, watching the senior boys play their dull witted game with the freshman girls.
Every year on the first week of school, almost every senior boys asks a freshman girl to go on a date with them, only to stand them up later on. Somehow, the freshman girls feel so awestruck that a senior boy is interested in them, so they immediately agree to the date. Little do they know, is that they are setting their own hearts up to break. Many Freshman girls have never had a real relationship, and when a Senior boy asks a freshman girl on a date during her first week of high school, they agree awfully easily.
There are always a few girls who don't buy the game, and I truly respect them for not giving in to their hormones. Thankfully, in my freshman year, I was never played, but even then I secretly wanted a senior boy to notice me. Everyone wants to be noticed by someone, whether they admit to it or not.
I look down the hall, and see a sight I wish I hadn't. Dean O'Connell and Jessica Blake are making out against the senior lockers. Ever since sophomore year, Jessica and Dean have been an on and off couple, mostly because Dean doesn't take relationships seriously, and Jessica clings to Dean like glue. Both Jessica and Dean are the most popular kids in our year, so I guess they both find it logical to date each other.
Jessica pushes him off of her and starts to get mad. I can hear their conversation from all the way down the hall as I approach closer towards them.
"Sweet talking me isn't going to change my mind Dean! I don't want you to ask any freshman girls out, even if it's just a silly game." Jessica whines.
"Come on Jess, I'll be standing them up anyway, it's not like we'll be going on a real date." Dean replies.
"I don't care Dean. I have a say in this relationship too," she whines.
"You can't control me Jess." Dean says harshly.
"Don't do this Dean or you'll regret it." Jessica snaps back, and I see Dean roll his eyes, but he says nothing. He simply turns around and walks away from Jessica.
"If you take one more step, we're over Dean." Jessica calls out in desperation. Dean doesn't even look back. All he says is a simple sentence.
"Let's see how long that lasts Jess."
Jessica is obviously shocked by this outburst, but she tries to put on a brave face.
"Well I guess we're done now, for good." She says and turns around, and faces us, walking towards us. She gives Bree and I a glare, and walks past us.
"I feel like I just lost so many brain cells witnessing this arguement." I say, once we have reached a good distance from Dean and Jessica.
"I will never understand why people stay in toxic relationships," Bree tells me as we find a seat at lunch.
"Me either." I agree.
~~~~
"So Katherine, how was your first day of Senior year?" My mom asks me at the dinner table.
"It wasn't much different from Junior year and Sophomore year." I tell my mom. At the table sits my mother, Meghan, and my younger brother Hayden. My father was sleeping in his room, as usual.
"How come dad can't eat with us tonight?" I ask my mom.
"Sweetie, he's just tired. We just have to let him relax." My mom says soothingly, as if her answer was even somewhat close to sufficient.
"Tired from what?" Hayden asks, vocalizing the question that I had in my head. My dad has been flaking on so many family things since the beginning of summer. He hasn't spent time with us for weeks. Dad was fired from his job weeks ago. What can he be tired from?
"Hayden sweetie, don't worry about it. Just finish your vegetables." My mom says, dismissing Hayden's question.
"But mommy, I want to know!" Hayden whines.
"Hayden, eat your vegetables," my mom says with an edge of annoyance in her voice.
The rest of the meal goes by in silence. Usually Meg has a lot to say during dinner, but today she doesn't. I clean the dishes, and head upstairs to go to my room. As I pass my parents room, a wave of curiosity comes upon me. I grab the handle of the door, and turn it, only to find that the door is locked. My mom always yelled at my siblings and i whenever we locked the door to our rooms, so why is their door locked?
I walk the rest of the way to my room, but one question keeps on playing on repeat in my head:
What is she keeping from me?
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Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of my story! Please tell me how you think it was!