hi! i've had the idea for this story for SO long and i've had this chapter typed up for a few months now! poppy and jupiter (the main chars) are my babies and i'm happy to finally write about them! i have my major high school exams this year and i'm hoping this can be a nice stress-reliever for me to bring these characters to life. once again, they're my babies and i'm so happy to finallY UPLOAD THIS (:
-:-
"Just two red apples please!" I yelled to Mrs. Finch as I ran across the street to her wooden set-up. Crates of bright yellow bananas, vivid red apples, and punnets of strawberries were laid out across the slabs of wood pieced together with rusty nails.
"On your way to school, darl?" she queried while packing up the fruit into a paper bag. I nodded my head in reply while trying to dig into my pockets for change. Pulling out two 50 cent coins, I placed them in her outstretched hand before grabbing my apples and fleeing down the bitumen sidewalk. I yelled out a loud 'thanks' as I did.
My hair blew furiously behind me as the wind lapped at my bare legs and arms. I had remembered to apply copious amounts of sunscreen this morning, knowing that today's sunshine was going to be scorching.
The weather today was going to be amazing, I could already tell. Looking out past the pier, I could see the fisherman boats already starting to depart and the nets being thrown into the clear water of the lake. Just across Lake Shoalman, dots of people furiously worked through the fields, hoping to collect as much produce as they could. And beyond that lay the tall curvy slopes of Mount Idris that housed most of the native plants and animals. Bright sunshine illuminated from behind it, making the tops of the mountain appear to be showered with flames.
After much running and crossing of roads, the gates of the school finally loomed over me. Pushing it open with one leg and holding the lock open with my hand, I quickly crawled into the school and made a mad dash for the main quad.
"Where have you been, Pop?!" Posey called out to me after hearing the soles of my sandals loudly slap the concrete, annoyance laced in her tone. "You weren't even up when I left the house this morning!"
That's Posey, my younger sister. She has straight black hair and dark eyes that are decorated with dark-rimmed glasses and fake eyelashes laced with dark mascara and dark eyeliner. Can you tell she loves dark shit?
"I woke up late! But I did stop for apples though!" I announced, holding up my paper bag proudly. She tsked at me before jumping forward to grab the bag, with a huge grin on her face.
Beside Posey were Flo ("Florence") and Zach ("Zachary"), my two best friends. All four us have grown up and lived all of our lives in Sherry Coast.
We grew up with the sand, the fish and the constant smell of salt water embedded into our hair and skin. Our childhood was frolicking in rock pools and collecting broken seashells, charming the socks off of fruit-pickers in exchange for red apples, learning to surf on the beach with slabs of wood as boards, jumping into the water from the muddy banks of Lake Shoalman, and staying up late on the beach to watch the clear sky's stars.
The bell, sounded by Ms. Greer, started to furiously ring, interrupting my conversations with Flo and Zach. Picking up our backpacks and cleaning up our mess, we ran across the quad to the brick buildings.
Sherry Coast isn't big. It's that type of tiny town in the middle of nowhere where everyone seems to know everyone, and everyone seems to know eachother's business. There's only one of everything. One post office, one medical centre, one doctor etc. And despite having "one" of everything, we lack one school.
Since Sherry Coast doesn't have a school, there's one high school just outside of the town that every teenager from the district goes to. Students from all the neighbouring fishing or fruit-picking towns in the district attend this high school and due to different towns congregating together, we've developed some sort of... beautiful rivalry.
Walking into the rollcall room, I'm greeted with the sight of Ms. Greer standing at the front of the classroom in front of the board.
"Hello students! Before I get into the daily announcements, I've got some pretty rare and great news!" she squealed, clapping her hands together and waiting for silence to envelop the room.
Rare news, as it obviously says, is rare. Any news to any of the towns, including Sherry Coast, is big news. Nothing ever happens in the towns, since we're all fishing and fruit-picking towns with little to no tourists for good enough gossip, but when something does, it spreads like wildfire.
"Sherry Coast is getting a new teenage incomer!" she yelled, arms waving in the air with enthusiasm. Everyone suddenly burst into conversation and questions, asking for any news on who it was, how old they were, where they'll be living.
"Okay, class! Calm down!" Ms. Greer commanded the room. Everyone shut up, eager to know more information about the new incomer. I was curious too. This was a rare occurrence!
"The new incomer is from Sydney!"
"Sydney?!" someone yelled from the back of the classroom. "As in the city, Sydney?!"
"Yes," Ms. Greer confirmed. Everyone stared at her with fascination. People from Sherry Coast rarely EVER go to Sydney. It's only our fish that goes on the trip there. Sydney's hours away, down a winding stretch of road leading down a mountain and half of the trip's just vast fields and a small brick cottage every once in a while.
"Ms. Greer! What's his name?"
"I'll tell you, but you can't laugh... No laughing at all!" Everyone nodded eagerly. "It's Jupiter."
Jupiter? As in the planet Jupiter? What a weird freaking name...
"He's arriving tomorrow, and I want all of you to be on your best behaviour to welcome him! Especially all of you Sherry Coast citizens! I know you people from other towns may be hesitant, but please remember that he's new! Be kind!"
A chorus of "Yes!" and "Of course!" erupted throughout the classroom.
-:-
Posey tried slapping me awake the next morning. Her dark hair and dark eyes were the last thing I saw before I drifted back to sleep. I heard her loudly shut my bedroom door shortly after, then her clunky sandals were stomping down the stairs in annoyance. I sighed before pulling the covers back over my head.
It wasn't until I woke up again that I realized how utterly late I was. My body, noticing the dilemma, jumped out of bed immediately and dove to my closet to collect a change of clothes. Dark shorts. Cropped tee. Red bandanna. Nice. With the bundle of clothes in my arms, I crawled to the bathroom and started to get ready.
I am so late. So freaking late. Holy crap. And the new guy is coming today too!!! Out of all days!!!
Bundling out of the house minutes after with an apple attached to my mouth and my backpack hanging off my shoulders, I started to jog down the road to the school. Late pass, here I come!
-:-
"Poppy. Of course it'd be you who's late today," groaned old Mrs. Myers, the front office lady. Her thin-framed glasses were pushed up her nose as she sifted through the papers to get my class's roll.
Before she could continue talking to me, the office doors were loudly swung open and a brown-haired boy, whose eyes were looking down towards the ground, stomped in, muttering under his breath.
"Oh, Poppy dear, can you just sit to the side in the seats for a bit? I just have to tend to this kid first," she asked politely, quietly ushering me to the side. Quite annoyed as I didn't want to be missing out on more class time, I disappointedly stalked to the plastic seats that lined the wall and sat down.
Mrs. Myers and the boy talked quietly for a few moments before he too was pushed to the seats. His eyes were still staring at the ground, but other than that, I took time to observe him. He had dark brown hair with hints of light brown in them. It was messy, with some parts curled upwards and some parts just sticking out. Others were curled in waves and then the rest was a haphazard mess. It was a wild bush of crazy. I stared, mesmerized.
"I can see you looking at me. Can you not?" a husky voice grunted out. I stared, bewildered. "Are you deaf or something?"
"Sorry..." I muttered. "No need to get all angry and shit."
"I'm not going to condone the actions of someone if I don't like it."
Who was this punk?
"Which town are you from?" I asked, needing to know whether or not I was able to hate him. Sherry Coast citizens stick together. No hate at all. If this guy was from another town, I'd gladly punch him, and I'd be able to. As I said before, rivalry between the towns existed.
"This fishing town in the middle of nowhere..." he mumbled, running a hand through his shaggy and curly hair before slumping into the seat.
"A fishing town? In the middle of nowhere? That's basically every town in the goddamn district," I said, waving my arms in the air. "Stop messing with me."
He grunted again, not replying with any words.
"What's your name then?" I asked, grinning. Probably to show that I actually could be a nice person if I tried. "What class are you even in? I've never seen you before!"
"Jay. My name's Jay."
"Have you heard of the new guy coming today? He's been the top of gossip since yesterday's announcement!" I gushed excitedly. It was true though. Ever since the announcement yesterday, he'd been all everyone could talk about. The school's Facebook group blew up after school with people talking about his arrival, claiming to know what he looked like and which subjects he was going to take.
"I heard his name is Jupiter though. I mean, what type of name is Jupiter..." I queried while fingering with the hem of my shorts. "It's the weirdest name I've ever heard..."
"Sounds horrible," Jay yawned, still slumped in his chair. I looked over at him. Was the guy warming up to me? He didn't seem like a total jerk anymore.
"Young lady, here's your late pass!" called Mrs. Myers from her seat. I quickly leapt up from my seat and grabbed my bag before rushing over to collect the slip of paper.
"Thanks Mrs. Myers! You're the best!" I grinned at her, hoping to get back onto her good side. She gave me a wave before ducking back down to her paperwork. "And see you around, Jay," I said to him as I walked past, before exiting the office.