I can feel myself being shaken awake, and blink my eyes open with a groan. Oh my Lord, does my shoulder hurt. Never will I sleep on this God awful couch ever again.
"Mitchell Coby, wake your cute little butt up!" My eyes focus on Kirstie's face, inches from mine.
"What the he-"
"It's Tuesday! School! Let's go, we have like literally ten minutes! Come on you... big... lump!" She pushes my shoulders off the couch with each word, and I stumble to my feet, still disoriented.
"Shit." I look around to the clock on my living room wall. '7:46.' "Shit shit shit!"
I'm already running, stumbling up the stairs urgently, my heart racing.
"Come on, Kirstie, we're late!!"
"That's what I've been saying!" She hollers from the bathroom, frantically applying toothpaste to her toothbrush.
"Oh my goshhhh." I groan when I finally see myself in the mirror. "I look like the Night of the Living Dead!!"
"We don't have time for your three hour morning routine!" Kirstie slurs, her toothbrush hanging out of the corner of her mouth as she pulls clothes out of her overnight bag. "We'll both be clean-faced today, I guess."
"Easy for you to say, you look like a goddess no matter what." I mumble, hearing her scoff from behind me, spraying dry shampoo on my fringe. "Ugh, this makes my hair look freaking grey! I'm done."
I grab a rubber band from my desk drawer, wrapping it in my hair to form a tiny bun on the top of my head.
"That's actually kind of adorable." Kirstie's mouth is brush-free now as she pulls her t-shirt off over her head, comepletely shameless.
I do the same, scampering over to my closet to look for an outfit that's easy yet socially acceptable.
"Can I borrow a shirt? Please?" She pleads, pouring her lip out and fluttering her eyelashes.
"Fine." I sigh, tossing her a random graphic tee from some one-hit wonder band I don't even listen to anymore.
"I love you."
"Girl, these pants have a stain on them!" I whine, holding out the garmet for her to see.
"I packed two pairs of leggings, just wear one of mine." She smirks while pulling on a pair herself, "Scott will love it."
"Shush it."
~
We both end up running out of my house in black leggings and oversized sweatshirts, our hair in buns, and our phones almost dead.
"I'm driving this time because your literally an old man!" I warn, pushing past her to the driver's side of her car.
"I'm not gonna disagree." She laughs, tossing the keys onto my lap.
"Okay, we can make it. 4 minutes 'till the bell. I've got this."
Yeah. Long story short, we didn't make it, and I obviously had nothing but a false hope of making it to school on time.
I groan loudly after I pull in to a student parking spot, having just heard the morning bell ringing from outside. I bang my head off the steering wheel in frustration, grumbling profanities as Kristie gathers up our bags.
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter now, we're late anyways." I growl negatively, annoyed with myself.
"It does matter, graduation is like three weeks from now, we need to get those last few in-class study sessions in before finals."
"I'm so tirrred." I whine for the millionth time this morning.
"Yeah, and you'll be tired of your life when you're 30, looking back on this day saying, 'well shit, maybe I should have studied that one day or I wouldn't be here. My best friend Kirstie was right.' You'll look around at the underside of a bridge that's your home, alone, sitting in a cardboard box-"
"Okay Mom, I get it, education is important. Now shut your mouth and let's go."
~
Walking through the quiet halls of my high school now, void of the hustle and bustle of noisy sexually-awkward teenagers, of course, is kind of comforting. Knowing I have only a few months left in this Hell is surprisingly satisfying, too.
"At least we have Choir first, right? I don't think Mr. Olusola will mind too much..."
"Yeah, he's pretty chill. I doubt he'll get too upset."
I lean my shoulder against the metal choir door, pushing it open. No one really noticed we were late, everyone just wandering around, mingling with friends and relishing in the freedom of the uneventful class. Since it's nearly the end of the year, all we've been doing is working on the graduation song, but that was long finished a few weeks ago.
"Hey guys! Rough morning?" Mr. Olusola's warm voice rings over the chatter of the students.
"It wasn't bad." I lie.
"Well, it's fine, regardless. I'm not gonna get on you two for being a bit late, it happens, right?"
"Yeah, it does. Thanks, Mr. Olusola." Kirstie smiles sweetly at the older man.
"Yeah, thanks Mr. Olusola!" I mimic.
"Of course!"
Scott waves at us from the corner, looking just as tired as the both of us. We trudge over to him, plopping down on the carpet when we reach the tall blonde. Scott sinks down in front of us, crossing his legs.
"I see you guys s-slept... slept in a bit?" Scott yawns, rubbing one of his eyes with his fist like a child.
I groan in exhaustion to answer, catching his contagious yawn. I stretch a bit, then pull my knees to my chest.
"When did you get home last night, Scooter?" Kirstie chirps.
"Oh, maybe three or so..."
"Jesus!" I whisper, chuckling a bit. "When did I pass out?"
"Like two, maybe? You were kind of out of it for a while beforehand, so I let you curl up on my chest and you fell asleep almost instantly. You were so cute, I didn't want to wake you up right away." He smiles at me with crinkled eyes. I guess his smiles are contagious, too, because one spreads over my face as well.
"Scott," Kirstie bursts out, suddenly remembering something, "I didn't post that video of you two I took last night, I know you haven't come out to a lot of people, and you're not a thing officially yet, and-"
"I know, Kirst, it's okay. I was planning on slowly showing we're a thing, I don't really care. People will have to find out eventually, right?"
"But... what about your other friends? Will they like... care?" I ask, not forgetting that his 'friends' were the ones who used to call me names.
"Whatever. I feel like Avi just says that stuff to be funny or cool or whatever, it's dumb, but the other guys are just stupid. They don't even know what they're really saying, if I'm honest." He places his hand on Kirstie's arm, smiling a wide smile. "You guys are cooler than them anyway. I'd much rather hang out with you after last night. It was much more fun than anything I've done with them."
"That's sweet!" Kirstie and I say together, locking eyes and giggling.
I sigh, crawling over to Scott's side and lying down, resting my head in his lap. I close my eyes when he begins playing with my hair, smoothing the few fly aways back and messing with the tiny bun on top.
"This bun is absolutely adorable. I think I'm in love with it." He laughs.
"I thought so too! You should wear it like that more often, hon, it's cute."
"Oh my gosh!" Scott gasps, placing his hands on my cheeks and scanning my face with his eyes. "You look like a cute lil' berry! Your bun is the tiny little stem!" He throws his head back with a laugh, still holding my face in his hands.
"He does!" Kirstie giggles.
"I'm gonna call you Berry forever now." Scott says, continuing to play with my hair while practically recording my features by how intently he's staring at my face.
"I'm all for original nicknames." I mumble, my eyelids fluttering shut once again. I remember the flower and the fruit, blooming in my chest. "I am your Berry. I'm pretty and tempting, but you have to wait until the perfect time for you to pick me. If you want sweetness, you have to be patient for the right opportunity. If you rush things, it'll all end in bitterness. Don't forget the annoying seeds stuck all up in your teeth."
"Wow, poetic Mitch is something to get used to. Who thought you could be so insightful?" I can hear the smirk in his voice.
"I'm full of surprises."
"Trust me, I know." I open my eyes to see him glancing around. He must not see anyone watching, so he leans down to give my lips a small peck, pulling away quickly. "Beautiful little Berry."
~~~
Who doesn't love adorably original nicknames in relationships