This is set before everything happened in this book. We start with their middle school days then we'll go to their freshman year.
“A hundred?” Lucas growled as he stared at the money that my supposed boyfriend was waving at my face.
Blake looked down at the money before pocketing it, “Just a bit of fun before we leave this place.”
I gripped the box in my hand – it contained the watch that I knew Blake was eyeing for a long time. It was supposed to be our one month anniversary and I planned to give it to him as a gift.
Should have known that even this anniversary dinner he was saying that he would take me is all a lie.
“So you’re breaking up with her?” Lucas asked, leaning against the wall nonchalantly but there was something else laced in his voice, I just can’t figure out what.
“Maybe,” he shrugged, “Have you seen her anywhere? I’ve been looking all over the school.”
I was even planning to make sure that I gave the gift after school to make it special. I avoided him on purpose so my surprise wouldn’t be found out.
“Not everywhere!” I finally yelled and that’s when I finally allowed the tears to spill.
Everything was lie, and I was that stupid smitten little naïve girl who thought love was even possible.
Their heads whipped around to see me and shock was written all over their faces. I shook my head in both anger and sadness. I thought that we were going to be one of those rare middle school couples that would last forever.
Nothing lasts forever, I guess.
I chucked the box at his head before I turned around to run. I heard them call after but I just kept sprinting ahead, I never want see those stupid Smith Brothers ever again.
When I was moping around in my room, I should have expected that the new would travel fast and my best friends would eventually find out before I could even tell them.
“I’ll beat up Blake Smith until he can no longer walk!” Jessica growled, barging into my room with Lillian in tow.
“Girls,” I sniffled, rubbing the snot from my nose with the back of my hand, “What did I do to deserve this.”
I started to cry again, tears that I thought had ran out started to flow once again from my eyes.
“Oh Cel,” Lillian cooed, sitting on the bed next to me and she pulled into her arms as I sobbed onto her shoulder.
“That idiot,” Jessica sneered, pacing back and forth on my carpeted floor, “To play with you for a hundred bucks?!” she snorted with disgust, “He’s loaded, a hundred would only be pocket money for him.”
Lillian handed me box of tissue and I plucked one before blowing my nose with it. Earlier today, I overheard Blake talking to his brother that he finally got his payment for making me go out with him. He even waved the hundred dollars as if it was the greatest trophy he achieved.
Love sucks.
“I even gave him my first kiss,” I sobbed, “He must have been so disgusted with me.”
“That’s not true!” Jessica defended, “You’re gorgeous, Cel. Any guy who can’t see that must have been dropped as baby.”
I wiped my tears with another tissue before I escaped Lillian hold of me. I stood up and walked to my full-length mirror, examining my whole body.
No wonder Blake will only date me because of a bet. I was thin as a twig and I’m blind without my thick glasses. The girl that I was looking at was horrible – the scary part is, it’s me.
That’s when I broke into another round of tears. Jessica and Lillian quickly came to my side and they comforted me.
Why can’t I be Jessica who was a beautiful even if she doesn’t try? Or why can’t I be Lillian who was the first one to hit puberty out of all the girls in our middle school and became extremely popular with the boys?
I’m the one different from our trio. I was the only one out of three who didn’t get chased by the boys in our grade. I’m pathetic and I knew it.
*
*
*
“I don’t know about this,” I said hesitantly, wobbling a little on the heels Jessica and Lillian got me.
“Relax, you look good,” Jessica reassured, stabling me by taking a hold of my shoulder, “The Smith Brothers are long gone in Canada and it’s freshman year, everybody is starting fresh.”
“Easy for you to say,” I mumbled, looking down on her outfit.
She turned into one of the biggest girly-girl that I’ve met. Her blonde hair was curled and was currently cascading past her shoulders as she stood with confidence – even in those killer stilettos.
“We did not spend our whole summer to make you back out right now,” Lillian told me, “Now suck it up and let’s get this show on the road!”
Of course, Lillian’s bossiness never faded. She walked ahead of us while Jessica looped her arm with mine to support me while I’m walking.
My two best friends were kind enough to help me make the most of puberty. They taught me the basics of the girl world, from matching the outfits to knowing the correct shade of a lip color. They did nothing too drastic, they told me how to make sure that I was the one wearing the makeup, not the other way around.
We climbed up the steps of the school and I swallowed hard. This is it, we were finally entering the place where we’ll be studying in the next four years.
“Let’s rock this school,” Lillian grinned, turning to the both of us, “We’re going to be the most popular girls on campus.”
“I find it hard to believe that we’ll even be known by the people in our year,” I snorted, shaking my head at Lillian’s goal of being well-known in the school.
She was always ambitious, but it’s the same line I used back in the start of middle school. Looked at what happened, she became the muse of the school, practically every boy was drooling all over her.
“Anything can happen in four years,” she shrugged, “Maybe we’ll find ourselves in one of those romance novels.”
I rolled my eyes but I walked side by side with both of them, looping my arms with theirs for support. Even if I trained myself to walk on heels during the whole of my summer, the accompaniment of anxiousness experience during the first day of high school was enough for me to trip and fall all over the place.
“Who knows, maybe I’ll be the cheer captain,” Jessica joked lightheartedly, but the twinkle in her eyes showed that she was determined to claim the position.
“Yeah, and I’ll be the student body president,” I laughed sarcastically. I think I’ll be considered lucky if my name was even recognized by most of the teachers.
“You may never know,” she winked, “Now come on, I don’t want to be late for my very first class in this school.”
Just in time, the warning bell rung. I almost lost it when the three of us started to get squished in the huge mass of rushing students. I gripped my best friends’ arm tightly, wobbling a little as a few people bumped into my shoulder.
Looks like this would be fun. Not.
We have most of our classes with each other, but there was one period that I had to deal with alone. Peeking into the lab that was filled with excited freshmen; I meekly entered and claimed my spot at the corner, where nobody can bother.
I felt so awkward, especially when our bossy teacher started to assign lab partners to each other. One by one, she called up the surnames then pointed at an empty two person desk.
“Graham and Simmons,” she pushed her glasses up her nose as she read through her class list.
I looked around to know who this Simmons is, but every face looked the same to me. They were all unknown.
I made my way to the table she assigned to me but nobody sat next to me. That itself was enough to make me panic and feel all my insecurities come back in an instant.
Oh no, please don’t tell me that she was so ashamed to be paired up with somebody like me.
Everybody got partnered up until no student was standing any more. Still no sign of my partner anywhere, I looked around to find anybody who would fit the last name Simmons but I was horrible at judging people by their name. Our teacher scanned the classroom before nodding in contentment and she dropped the class list on her desk before clearing her throat, “Good day, class…”
Suddenly, the door slammed right open to reveal a girl with her ginger hair disheveled, probably from sprinting.
“Sorry I’m late,” she huffed out, pushing her wavy locks out of her face, “I got lost.”
Our teacher glared at her, clicking her touch in annoyance, “Because it’s the first day, I’ll let you off this time. Just make sure that it won’t happen again.”
“Yes ma’am,” she nodded, still slightly out of breath.
“Name?” our teacher demanded, placing her reading glasses back on.
“Annabelle Simmons,” she said, her southern accent slipped when she said her name.
Wait a minutes, did she say Simmons?
“You’re partnered up with Graham,” she informed, placing the list back on her table. When Annabelle looked around the classroom to figure out who her partner was, the teacher spoke again, impatience laced in her voice, “Don’t just stand there, hurry up and sit down.”
She looked around for help. I wanted to raise my hand to indicate that she was my partner but I was too shy, and too afraid of that terrifying teacher. She spotted the only empty seat which was the one next to me and she walked up to my table, “Are you my partner?”
Slowly, I nodded and she sighed in relief. She pulled out the stool next to mine and sat on it, “I’m Annabelle.”
I found it quite fascinating that her accent only showed whenever she was saying her name; maybe I’ll ask about it at some other time.
“I’m Celeste,” I introduced myself quietly.
“Graham, Simmons, stay quiet before I make you two go to the principal’s office!” our teacher scolded before she proceeded to relay the basic precautions that should be observed in the lab.
A piece of paper slipped on the table in front of me. I turned to Annabelle but her attention was focused to the front of the classroom.
I picked up the paper and there, a few words were scribbled with neat cursive handwriting.
Want to eat lunch together?
I took out a pen and clicked it to produce the tip and I wrote down my reply.
Eating with my friends but you can join us you want.
After rereading the sentence, I slipped the paper back to her and she read it. She smiled and nodded at my offer.
The teacher droned on and on, my mind was practically asleep with boredom as she did. Even Annabelle was already asleep; she had her head propped at the palm of her hand while her elbow rested on the table. She had an amazing posture that you will never realize that she was asleep unless you come near and here the quiet snores she produced.
When the bell rang, our teacher looked displeased that she was cut off midsentence but she let us out anyways. Strictly reminding us of the things she told us about.
Annabelle was still asleep when I was already packed and ready to go. I shook her lightly, that made her elbow slip from the table, causing her whole face to slip from her hand to fall flat on the table.
“I’m so sorry!” I quickly apologized. Well, at least she’s awake now.
“You know, the crackers are really good,” Annabelle laughed as we went out of classroom.
“Huh?” I asked, slightly getting lost.
“You know, graham crackers,” she giggled.
“Like I never heard that joke before.”
We shuffled into the cafeteria while I clutched my paper bag which contained the lunch that our maid made me. Her name was Jazzy, and my parents had the ultimate faith in her that they allowed her to take care of me while they go overseas, seeing their business and all.
“Celeste,” Jessica called out, waving her hands frantically in the air to grab our attention. Looks like she already reserved a table for all of us.
“Hey,” I greeted, she looked curiously at the southern belle next to me and I smiled before gesturing to Annabelle, “This is Annabelle, and she’s my lab partner.”
“Hi,” my best friend grinned, “I’m Jessica,” instantly, she became the girl that you would have the impression of being perfect, she grinned from ear to ear before saying, “And the girl behind you is Lillian.”
Lillian?
We both looked behind and we jumped a foot when we saw Lillian standing there with a smug smile on her face.
“Don’t scare me like that,” I complained.
“Scardy cat,” she sang, sitting down.
“Don’t be too hard on them,” Jessica chided, though it was obvious that she was trying to contain your laughter.
What would I do without the two of them?
I looked around and just as I speculated, each table had a set group of people. Just by looking at them, you’ll be able to identify the seniors – the ones that are set to rule the new school year – from the freshmen, the ones who are still trying to maneuver themselves from the huge buff bodies that scattered around the room.
“So learned anything new?” I asked Jessica, the queen bee of gossip.
“Yes,” Jessica grinned with pride, “I learned the cafeteria system?”
“The cafeteria system?”
And here comes the lengthy lecture about the status quo.
“The best people in the school sit at the center,” she pointed at the table that was placed at the middle of the cafeteria where a few seniors sat, “It’s kind of a rule.”
Those seniors, looked like they couldn’t even be touched by the other students. Everybody was looking at them with both envy and adoration. To them, they looked like they blocked out the world completely, only paying attention to each other.
Somehow I liked that about them, they don’t allow the judging eyes of the room to bother them.
“We’re learning the rule of social high school, already?” I inquired.
Jessica nodded in response before nudging her thumb to a group of boys and girls wearing their jock and cheerleading uniforms. They shoved about three tables together in order to sit their whole clique, “Those are the varsity jocks and cheerleaders, the second in line to the throne of high school popularity.”
How cliché did they look, but I do agree with the fact that they had some charm in them. They looked like they trained well and hard to be part of the popular group, their amazing figures and athletic vibe gives them away instantly.
“Where do we come in?”
“Freshmen are the lowest beings,” she stated, “We’re lower than the senior and junior nerds.”
“Ouch,” I commented.
From what I heard, nerds are already at the bottom of the high school food chain. I never knew being a freshman was being lower than them.
“Nothing a little perseverance can’t fix,” Lillian butted in, continuing her speech about a little hard work from earlier this morning.
Jessica rolled her eyes at our other best friend before she stood up, “I need a drink from the vending machine, you want to come Cel?”
I looked at Annabelle and I hesitated a bit. She still didn’t know my friends really well and I’m afraid she’ll be uncomfortable by herself.
“I won’t eat her, Cel,” Lillian teased, “I’ll keep her company.”
I nodded and followed Jessica to the vending machine. Thankfully, nobody was buying anything from it so we approached it with no hesitation. Somehow being at the bottom makes you feel like an awkward potato for most of the time.
Jessica slotted in a bill and pressed some buttons before a bottle of iced tea dropped. I bought my own bottle of water and gestured to Jessica that I was done with the machine.
“So how’s your first day so far?” she asked, unscrewing the cap and taking a sip.
“Alright, I guess.”
It’s actually been productive; I finally met my first high school friend. She was the first student that I was able to interact with except from Jessica and Lillian. So far, it hasn’t been hell yet.
Somebody bumped into her causing the contents of Jessica’s iced tea to spill on her white blouse. Her eyes widened in shock before letting out a screech.
Oh no, everybody knew that you don’t do that to Jessica Oliver.
“Look what you’ve done!” she yelled, looking up to the guy that bumped into her.
He looked down at us, a face of no emotion was present in his features. He had brown hair and dare I say it, gorgeous green eyes.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, though his expression wasn’t exactly as sincere as Jessica wanted it to be.
“Sorry doesn’t do it, buddy,” she hissed, stepping to slap him but I pulled her back.
People were already staring and I don’t want her to cause a bigger scene that this.
“Let it go, Jess, it was clearly an accident.”
“Hey Drew,” another boy greeted the one who just ran into us, his brown eyes glimmered with amusement and it sported the same shade of brown the other guy had on his hair, “New chicks?”
My best friend snorted at his term and face away in disgust. I gave her a warning look, silently telling her to tone down her attitude.
“Shut it, Axel,” the guy named ‘Drew’ said.
“Here,” he fished out some money from his pocket and slammed it on my palm, “For your friend’s drink,” he said another apology before walking around us with his friend by his side.
Jessica glared at their retreating figures before letting out a frustrated groan, “Please don’t tell things like this will happen more often,” she pouted at her stained blouse.
Looking down on the money on my palm, I couldn’t help but let out a slight giggle. Somehow, I have a hunch that I’ll be running into that guy again in the future.
Mimicking Lillian’s words from earlier, I shrugged, “A lot can happen in four years.”
------------------
Time to finally place this story as 'Complete' thank you for this wonderful journey. Back then, I would flip out if I saw ten people actually took the time to read this, but now, oh gosh, I never knew I'll hit the million mark. Thank you for being such a quirky bunch of readers, I'm truly blessed that I have you guys. Honestly, I would have been contented with a small amount of reads but I'm really amazed and grateful with the numbers I got.
Oh, by the way, the spin-off would be posted very soon and here's the summary.
"You know the good old days when we were joined at the hip? How about we just go back to being like that?"
Jasper and Savannah.
Those two has been inseparable since the day they met, they’ve been through everything together. Apparently, high school changed the both of them – from being the best of friends to total strangers.
Sometimes, life just needs a reset button.
[This is the spin-off for Falling For The Opposite. You don’t need to read the book in order to understand this story.]
Yes, the next genration of the student body president is none other than Drew Everett's little sister, Savannah. I know you're all mad at me for leaving so many unanswered questions, like what happened to Dreleste? Did they go to the same college? Got married? I've made sure I had enough openings for a spin-off and all your questions shall be answered once you read it.
This is my last goodbye to this book, once again, thank you so much and I love you all.