"Helaina! Dinner is ready!"
I jump up from my bed, closing my laptop and pushing it off of me in the process. I run downstairs and into the dining room, sliding into my usual seat. I am greeted by two pizza boxes on the table and two liters of soda; one coke and one root beer. I grab a cup and a plate, opening up the pizza box and pulling out a plain slice. I lick my lips at the sight of the pizza, my stomach rumbling in hunger.
"Ava, can you hand me the root beer?" I ask, looking at the bottle that's right in front of me. She rolls her eyes before handing it over to me. I grab the bottle out of her hand and twist off the lid, pouring the contents into my own cup. I screw on the lid and set the bottle back down onto the table.
We sit in silence for a minute before Mom comes into the dining room, sitting next to Ava and directly across from me.
"Is Dad coming home for dinner?" Luke asks hopefully. Mom shakes her head and grabs a slice of pepperoni pizza out of one of the boxes.
"He should be home in an hour or so, but he won't be back in time for pizza." Mom says. Luke nods, silently taking a bite out of his slice.
"So Helaina, when are we finally going to meet your boyfriend?" Mom asks me, and I nearly choke on my food. I cough and drop the pizza onto my plate, grabbing my cup and taking a big gulp of my root beer. I look to her with wide eyes.
"My what?" I yell.
"Your boyfriend. Isn't he that boy you've been spending all this time with lately?" she asks nonchalantly.
"I thought we weren't allowed to date until we're in college. That's what Dad told me." Ava says glumly, frowning at her plate.
"Helaina is old enough to date. You, on the other hand, are only in middle school. You have the rest of your life to date boys, Ava. Don't try and rush it." Mom says before looking back to me. "Helaina, what's his name? Shane?"
"First of all, no; his name is Shawn. Second, he's not my boyfriend! We haven't even been friends for a week!" I yell, feeling my face turn red.
"Wait, Shawn Mendes?" Luke interrupts. I look at him in surprise.
"Yes, why?" I ask.
"You know Helaina's boyfriend?" Mom asks. "What does he look like?"
"Mom!" I scream. "He's not my boyfriend!"
"I know him indirectly. He's in my gym class." Luke says.
"Oh." I say, taking a bite out of the crust.
"It's so unfair that Helaina gets a boyfriend and I don't!" Ava yells, pushing her chair back in anger. "Mom, all of my friends have boyfriends! Why can't I?"
"You don't need to be kissing boys when you're barley thirteen! The same rules applied to Helaina and Luke at your age, so you just need to accept it."
"But Mom, no one wanted to date Helaina or Luke in middle school!" Ava screams.
"Hey!" Luke and I scream in unison.
"This is the end of the conversation Ava!" Mom yells. "Now you can either finish your pizza or go upstairs and starve the rest of the night!"
"Fine!" Ava screams back, stomping out of the room. She runs upstairs and I hear her bedroom door slam behind her.
"Ava! Stop slamming your door!" Mom screams, jumping up out of her seat and running upstairs to continue to fight with Ava. Luke and I sit there, taking in what just happens.
"Why did you lie to Mom about where I was?" I ask Luke. He just shrugs, taking another slice out of the pizza boxes. I grab myself a pepperoni and begin eating my second slice.
"You pissed me off, so I decided it was an easy way to get back to you." Luke responds.
"I pissed you off? Luke, you were the one who took my phone and started the whole altercation!" I say, feeling my blood boil.
"Do you really want to start a fight with me right now? Mom's already mad at Ava and if she hears us fighting, she's really going to lose it." Luke says, and I sigh, knowing that he's right.
"Whatever. Let's just both agree to avoid Mom and Ava tonight as much as possible. I'm already on thin ice with her and I don't want to get involved." I say, and he nods.
"Agreed."
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I wake up the next morning to the sound of my alarm going off beside me. I groan and groggily feel around until my hand makes contact with my phone, pulling it to my side. I rub my eyes and sit up, turning the alarm off. I roll out of bed and make my way over to my makeup table, sitting down and turning on the extra lighting. Thirty minutes later, my face is done with my usual makeup; foundation, concealer, eyeliner, mascara, eyebrow pomade, and highlighter. I brush my hair until it's neat and stand up, opening my closet and pulling out a striped t-shirt dress. I throw it on and grab a jean jacket, slipping it on. I take my pair of white Converses off the floor, sliding my feet into them as well.
I grab my phone and charger, heading downstairs to eat breakfast. I pour myself a bowl of cereal and quickly begin eating, wanting to be ready before Julia comes to pick me. I finish the bowl in five minutes and get up, placing it in the sink. Just as I turbo exit the kitchen, I run into Mom. She stops and looks me up and down before moving out of the way.
"Are you sure that isn't too short?" Mom asks, and I roll my eyes.
"It's fine, Mom. None of the teachers ever enforce the dress code, and if they do, I have clothes I can change into in my gym locker." I say.
"I sure hope so, because no ones gonna be home today to drop clothes off to you if you get in trouble." she says.
"I'm fine. Bye Mom, love you."
"Love you. Have fun at school today." Mom says, kissing my head.
"No promises." I say sarcastically, heading out into the living room. I wait by the front door until I hear Julia beep her car horn, signifying that she's here. I sling my bookbag onto my shoulder and head outside, shutting the door behind me. I head out to Julia's car and jump in the front seat, closing the door. She pulls away from the curb and the car lurches forward without warning.
"God Julia, are you trying to kill me?" I joke. "I didn't even have time to put my seatbelt on."
"Maybe I am." she jokes back. We laugh and I buckle myself in. "Do you want to do something this weekend? It's been a while since we've hung out with just the two of us."
"Oh, that reminds me!" I yell. "Kennedy's having a few of us over this weekend. It's going to be Kennedy, Ben, Evelyn, Mason, Shawn, and I. We planned this before you and I made up, so Kennedy didn't mention it to you or Carson because she didn't want to make things awkward."
"Sure, what is it? A party?" she asks.
"No, Kennedy made it clear that it's not." I laugh. "It's just a friend hangout I guess."
"And Shawn's going?" Julia asks, causing me to blush.
"Yeah, he invited himself. Did you know that him and Carson are friends?" I ask. She nods.
"Yeah, I remember Carson mentioning his name a few times before but it never really clicked until half-way through this semester that the Shawn in Physics with us is the same Shawn that he's friends with."
I nod. The car turns and pulls into the student parking lot. We come to a stop once Julia pulls into our usual spot, turning the car off. I grab my bag, step out of the car, and close the door. Julia and I head inside, saying goodbye as we branch off and head to our separate homeroom. I sit on my phone for the ten minutes homeroom lasts, answering snapchats and sending out my streaks. Finally, the bell rings and I file out of the door along with the other kids in my homeroom. I head down the hall until I reach the gym, stepping into the locker room like I usually do. I make my way over to my locker and find Charlotte sitting there. She looks up from her phone when she hears me approaching and smiles.
"Hi." she says.
"Hey Charlotte. Why aren't you getting changed?" I ask.
"We have a substitute; Mr. Hampkins isn't here today." Charlotte says, and my jaw drops.
"Oh my God, really?" I squeal. She nods and we both cheer, my face splitting into a giant grin. "Well then let's go."
We stand up, heading out of the locker room and into the main gym. Charlotte and I walk across the gym and find our way to the bleachers. I see Grayson, who waves us over.
"How happy are you that Mr. Hampkins isn't here?" I ask.
"I don't participate when he's here, but at least today I won't get in trouble for sitting on my ass and looking pretty." Grayson says, causing me to laugh.
"Pretty? Is that what they're calling it now?" I ask, and he gasps, playfully slapping me. I laugh even more.
"Watch it Helaina." he warns.
The sound of a whistle blowing interrupts our conversation. We look down to see Mrs. Lyons- one of the gym teachers that doesn't have a class this block- standing there with a whistle around her neck.
"Mr. Hampkins class, listen up! I'm going to take attendance for him today since he's out. When I call your name, say here." Mrs. Lyons says. I listen carefully and she goes through about half the list until she reaches my name. "Helaina Jefferson?"
"Here!" I yell, raising my hand so she can see me. Mrs. Lyons nods and calls the next name. Beside me, Grayson laughs. I look at him and raise an eyebrow. "What?"
"Nothing, you just look like a little kid when you raise your hand in the air like that." Grayson laughs, making fun of me. I roll my eyes.
"Wow, thanks." I say sarcastically.
"Does anyone want to bring this down to the office for attendance? I'll give you a pass." Mrs. Lyons says suddenly. I shoot up out of my seat, jumping in front of her.
"I will." I say eagerly.
"Thank you Helaina." Mrs. Lyons says, handing me the attendance sheet. She fills out a little blue hall pass and hands it to me. I accept it and begin to walk away, but I hear Charlotte calling my name.
"Helaina! Wait! Where are you going?" Charlotte calls, running to catch up to me.
"Mrs. Lyons gave me a pass to go bring the attendance sheet to the office." I say, flashing the pass in her direction.
"Why'd you volunteer?" Charlotte asks.
"So I can get out of class, duh." I say, pushing open the doors to the gym. "I'll be back soon."
I take the short walk down to the office and hand the attendance sheet over to the secretary. She thanks me with a smile and I nod, stepping back out into the hallway. I pull out my phone and open my snapchats as I walk. As I'm walking, I feel someone come up behind me.
"Hey Helaina."
I turn around and see Shawn standing there, smiling at me with a blue pass in hand.
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AN: new chapter is up! Just a side note that the picture I inserted at the beginning of the chapter is a picture of what Helaina is wearing to school. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to comment/vote!