S.O.T.D: MY NUMBER BY THE FOALS
HARPER OFF TO THE SIDE >
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I watched, through my window, as he pulled his red 'Beats' headphones over his ears and shoved his hands into his pockets. He looked both ways before crossing the street, a lazy scowl set on his face, and got into the familiar Black SUV.
Andrew Gold.
Or otherwise known as 'the senior hottie', even though he didn't so much as speak a couple of words to anyone besides his two best friends; Ethan Manning and Chandler Russo. It was, in many ways, a mystery as to why he spoke to them of all people. I mean, they were the funniest and most outgoing guys in our entire senior class, while Andrew tried, but failed, to fly under the radar.
The three amigos, they called themselves...Okay, Ethan called them that, while Andrew usually stood off to a corner scowling at his friend. They had had that little clique ever since the ninth grade when Andrew moved to Scottsdale. Now, we were nearing our final year in High School and I honestly couldn't put my finger on any time I had had an actual conversation with him that didn't result in him glaring at me.
Andrew and I just didn't 'mesh' well.
"Harper Dale, hurry up!" My mom pounded on my door. I reluctantly pulled myself from the window and the mystery that was Andrew Gold.
"Calm down" I huffed throwing on a pair of skinny jeans and a crop top, "I'm coming"
My mom stared me down as I opened the room door and huffed. She was wearing her high heels and a pencil skirt, with a fitted blazer on top. Her blonde straight hair was piled on top of her head in some form of a chignon and her brown eyes regarded me softly.
"This really isn't any way for a future Harvard grad to act" she mumbled. I rolled my eyes and flew down the stairs.
"How was the last cheer practice of the year?" Dad asked from the dining table.
"It was alright" I shrugged kissing him on the cheek, "I only have to deal with two more months of school anyways"
You know how people always go, "You look just like your mother" or "You're the spitting image of your father"? Well, in my seventeen years of life, I had never heard either statement. My dad was tall with an older version of a brown jewfro, brown eyes, and a tall lanky stature, coming in at around 6'3. Mom, on the other hand, had blonde hair, brown eyes, and almost hit the five foot barrier. Then there was me. I had long auburn hair, which I straightened on the regular, hazel eyes, a curvy build, and stood at an average height of 5'7.
"Pull your shirt down" Dad grumbled noticing my crop top.
"Dad, I'm almost eighteen! You can't tell me what to wear anymore" I laughed.
"Like hell I can" He replied throwing the blazer he had folded over his chair, at me.
"Mom, help me out here" I wailed as mom click clacked her way down the stairs.
"Henry, leave Harper alone" Mom warned.
"But Robin..."
"Henry" Mom shook her head and put an apple in front of him, "Hurry or you'll be late"
Dad was a plastic surgeon and mom an interior designer. They both worked vigorously in providing us with the life we lived and I was incredibly blessed for it.
"Harper, has Harvard mailed anything yet?" Mom wondered popping a poppy seed bagel into the toaster, "It's early admission season"
"Uhm, no" I gulped.
"You better hope they do. That business school needs you" She smiled.
"What if they didn't?" I asked quietly.
"Excuse me?" Dad stared at me with slitted eyes.
"No, no! I don't mean me" I laughed nervously, "I mean..."
"Is this about your little friend, what's her name? Andrea?" Mom tsked.
"Oh! The one that lost her early admission after her average slipped?" Dad rolled his eyes, "Harper, You can't focus your sights on things like that"
Quickly thinking on my feet, I ran with it, "Well, actually...She's happy she lost it. It made her realize she didn't want to be a lawyer"
"What does she want to be?" Dad asked curios.
"She doesn't know" I shrugged, "Maybe a makeup artist?"
I threw out the first thing that came to mind and my parents began laughing.
"She's still thinking about it" I said quietly.
"Well, tell Andrea to pack her bags. She might as well join the circus" mom and dad laughed.
"Get going sweetheart" Mom kissed my cheek and handed me my car keys. I robotically went out the front door and threw myself into my car.
For as long as I could remember my parents had been shoving Harvard Business down my throat, when in all actuality I couldn't care less for it. I had always had an immense passion for stars but my parents always turned a deaf ear to it.
I started my car and backed out of our driveway, setting my eyes on the road. I couldn't wait for these two months to be over.
"Harper!" My best friend and vice captain of the cheer team, Jerry Macaulay, shrieked as I parked my Rolls Royce beside her BMW and got out. The entire cheer and lacrosse team were crowded around the BMW as loud music blared.
"Turn that down" I hissed as Dana Richards, a tumbler, laughed loudly.
"Harps, we're seniors! We run this place" she giggled, "Besides, you're the captain of the cheer team! Chill"
"Yeah, babe. Chill out" I felt a hot breath in my ear and smiled.
"What if I don't?" I grinned turning to look at the voice.
"We could always figure something out" My boyfriend smiled putting a hand around my waist.
Tre Warren had been my boyfriend, and champion lacrosse star, since the eighth grade. He was my best friend, my soul mate and everything in between. He stood at 6 feet with light blonde hair, an athletic build, and the, dare I say, hottest smile ever. The guy could slowly grin at you and you would find yourself dissolved into a pool of nothingness.
I watched as his blue eyes found mine and he smiled that heart stopping smile.
"We still on for tonight?" He asked eyebrows raised.
"Oh!" I shrieked, "I totally forgot!"
He had been eighteen for almost four weeks and we still hadn't gone for his dinner, majorly due to my insane cheer schedule and fire breathing parents.
"Of course you did" he sighed pulling away from me.
"Don't be like that" I pouted.
"Be like what? Be like the annoyed boyfriend I am?"
"You don't have to yell" I hissed as I noticed a couple of the guys on the lacrosse team taking notice of our little argument.
"Do you want to know how many times you've blown me off this month alone?"
"We'll just reschedule to next week" I tried gently. He rolled his eyes and let out a breath.
"Whatever Harper" He sighed.
"Why are you getting so mad at me? It's not my fault I'm busy!"
"I didn't even wanna have this stupid dinner in the first place! You're the one that started shoving it down my throat and now that it's supposed to happen, you happen to always find something more important! It's annoying" He boomed.
I gulped and stared at him as the entire parking lot stopped to stare.
Everything was quiet and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole.
"What happened to the music?" I heard a slight British accent yell.
I looked two parking spaces over, to where the three amigos were slowly getting out of a black SUV.
"Please turn the track up so I can...Hey, Ethan Whats that stupid thing you always say?" I heard Chandler murmur.
"What, Turn up?" Ethan asked confused.
"Yeah, that" He nodded, "Turn the music up so I can turn up!"
I heard a series of laughs and high fives as Jerry began playing a Kendrick Lamar song.
"OOH" Chandler laughed dancing with a short brunette.
I silently thanked Chandler and his adorable accent for taking the spotlight off whatever was happening between me and Tre.
"I didn't know I was so annoying" I spat grabbing my bag from the top of my car and marching up the school steps.
"Harper" I heard his soft murmur but didn't slow my pace.
I was the first one in my English class, which was a first in history, and busied myself with the contents of my bag.
Lip-gloss
Gum
Cell phone
Pad
"You might wanna put that thing away, unless you wanna row to Mexico in it" I heard a deep voice murmur.
I quickly threw the pad into my bag, looked up...and consequently had my heart stop.
Andrew, Chandler, and Ethan all swaggered into the classroom and took their seats; Andrew two seats behind me and Ethan and Chandler flanking me, due to our alphabetical seating arrangements.
"Hey, guys" I gulped.
"You really shouldn't have your hygiene products splayed on your desk, like that" Chandler said in his accent.
Chandler had been born in the UK and lived there with his parents till the fifth grade when he moved to Scottsdale. From what Jerry told me, He was an avid YouTube/graphic designer and I could see why people would love watching his videos; he was always trying new things and had been that way since the day I met him. He was about 5'11 with a lithe build, green eyes, short brown hair, and a smile so cheeky, it would put Finn Harries' to shame.
"It could draw unnecessary attention" Ethan grinned.
Ethan, on the other hand, was a total goofball. He had lived in Scottsdale for as long as I could remember and had claimed the title of 'class clown'. He had short dark brown hair, clear brown eyes, the cutest ski slope nose, and a smile so bright that you couldn't help but smile back...no matter what. Trust me, I've tried. His laughter was honestly infectious.
I turned to look at Andrew and he gave me a fleeting glare before staring out the window.
Now, Andrew was a mystery. He was tall, almost taller than Tre, with clear green, sometimes brown, eyes, a lithe frame, and short brown hair that, if combed right, hid the small spacers in his ears. The thing that drove all the girls crazy was the sexy grin that never quite reached his eyes, making you want to be the one to make him smile fully. He was absolutely irresistible, look wise, but he had a crap personality. If he wasn't hating the world, he was hating on me with his deep glares and scowls.
"Duly noted" I mumbled turning to my phone.
"You wouldn't happen to have a candy bar in that sack, would you?" Ethan asked quietly as our teacher, Mr. Filmore, walked into class.
"I don't understand why you're whispering" I grinned, "We're the only ones in here"
"You didn't get the memo?" Ethan asked seriously.
"What memo?"
"I'm a bad arse" Ethan laughed as Chandler fixed him with a glare, before laughing also.
"I apologize but I don't happen to have a candy bar in my bag" I rolled my eyes as kids began entering the classroom. I briefly caught Tre's eyes as he walked in with his friend Derek Lawson and looked away.
"Alright class~"
"Can I go to the bathroom?" I heard Andrew say from behind me as Mr. Filmore began to speak.
"Mr. Gold, you've been in here chatting Ms. Dale up for almost ten minutes and you didn't realize you had to use the restroom?" Mr. Filmore shook his head as a couple kids snickered to fill the silence as Andrew glared at him. Tre looked at me with a questioning look but I turned to Andrew to see what he would do next.
"Dude, I only asked to be polite" he scoffed grabbing his backpack and getting up.
"Sit down Mr. Gold"
"I love that you think your big boy voice scares me" Andrew said as he shrugged out of class, his black chucks against the linoleum, the only sound I could hear.
"Call you later, bro!" Ethan yelled as the entire class erupted into laughter.
Mr. Filmore cleared his throat and touched his bald head as his cheeks turned pink in embarrassment.
"Onto the lesson" He harrumphed.
~
The bell rang, signaling the end of first period and I jumped out of my seat.
"Ease up, Harvard" Chandler smiled.
"My name is Harper" I clarified.
"I know your name" He nodded sending Ethan a look, "I just heard it through the grape vine that you were the future of Harvard Business"
"Well the grape vine isn't a real thing, so can it" I grumbled stomping out of class.
"What crawled up her~" Chandler's comment was drowned out as I bumped into a tall figure.
"Watch out" Andrew Gold muttered side stepping me and continuing down the hallway. I rolled my eyes and marched after him, to Biology, wondering how this day could get worse.
"Could you stop breathing so hard?" I snapped looking at my biology partner, Agnes Finkelstein.
She chewed on one of the two braids that decorated her head and looked to the front of the class, where our teacher sat marking papers, oblivious to her nasal wails.
"It's a condition" Agnes breathed.
"Condition?" I scoffed as Jerry caught my eye from across the room, "If you knew what the word condition meant, your hair wouldn't sound like crunching paper whenever you moved it"
The entire class burst into snickers as Agnes looked down at her books.
"I'm sorry Harper" she said to her desk.
"I'm up here" I whispered with a smirk, "Aww is widdle agnes scared?"
"I know I am" Austin Micheal's, one of Tre's lacrosse buddies, hollered, "What is that, a skirt?"
I cast a glance at Agnes's puke green skort and held back a laugh.
"Burn it, for your own good" Jerry called as the class descended into another fit of laughs.
Agnes, if possible, shrunk further into her seat and turned her attention to the clock.
"Counting down, Aggy?" I whispered into her ear.
"No" She said shakily.
I rolled my eyes and flipped my auburn hair off my shoulder before I caught a pair of bright eyes glaring at me.
"What?" I mouthed as Andrew stared at me from his seat in the back of the class.
He only watched me with slitted eyes before standing up and making his way over.
"My partner's home sick today" He said gruffly, "sit with me"
He didn't wait for her reply; he just turned on his heel and made his way back to his seat, a scowl on his face. I watched as Agnes scurried after him and sighed. What was his problem?
"And superman saves the day" Jerry rolled her eyes as the classroom went quiet. No one dared make a sound, not even I.
"And the wicked witch loses" Andrew replied without skipping a beat.
Jerry stared at him wide eyed before turning to the front of the class with her jaw clenched.
"At least I'm not failing this class" Jerry said under her breath.
The entire class turned to see what Andrew would say next, but his headphones were already fashioned onto his ears, blocking the world out.
"Jerry" I hissed across the class.
"What?" She asked feigning innocence, "This makes it, what, like the fifth time he's come to class all year?"
Jerry wasn't wrong, there. In all my years of knowing Andrew, I couldn't remember the one class he attended regularly; It was like he let a magic eight ball decide whether he would come to class or not. And even when he did come to class, he spent it either glaring at me, with his headphones on, or both. I honestly didn't even know how he passed any of his classes, or was in AP bio anyways.
"Don't forget to clean out your filthy lockers!" Mr. Ray yelled as the bell rang and the class piled out of the classroom. I honestly wasn't even listening; I just wanted food at this point.
"Where's Jerry?" I asked Dana as I sauntered into the cafeteria and plopped at our usual table next to the soccer table, "She was just in bio with me"
"IDK girl" she smiled and flipped her red hair, "I last saw her talking to Tre about that stupid senior seminar or something"
I didn't even comment on the fact that she had used 'IDK' outside of a text message and looked around the cafeteria.
"Imma go find her" I muttered to Dana who was already deep into a conversation about Si. If you asked me to, I probably couldn't explain who or what Si was, to you properly. Si wasn't a person or a thing...Well, it probably was but I had never seen it...or him...or her.
Ever since I was in the ninth grade, the name had been circulating massively.
"Si changed my grade!
"Si got me into AP physics even though I didn't sign up for it next year!"
"Si made me a fake ID!"
Si was kind of a saving grace. Si, in all simplicity, was the resident computer hacker...that no one knew. In my experience using Si, only to change my final math grade to an A last year, there was never a number to call, a house to show up to, or even a person to ask questions to. You simply sent your problem and all your info to a provided PO box and BOOM! You were Si'ed.
In all my years at BV, Si had been the talk of the halls and had the answers to every question possible. It was crazy, and seemed incredibly fishy, but, hey, Si got the job done.
Casting all thoughts of Si out of my head, I exited the cafe and went down the halls looking for my best friend.
Where could she be? I wondered.
A light bulb went off in my head as I thought to 'our special place'.
Jerry and I had snuck to the library stairwell, where no one ever went, in the ninth grade to skip health and an incredibly uncomfortable birthing video, and had dubbed it 'our special place' ever since.
I climbed the dirty stairs and almost laughed as I noticed a couple making out near the top
"Get a room!" I mumbled going up the remaining stairs, where the doors to the main library were.
"Oh my God" I heard a gasp and my heart, for the second time that day, subsequently stopped.