The peaceful chirping of birds was weaving through the air, serenading a dreaming blonde. The blonde rose out of her flowery bed and greeted the day with grace and dignity.
The tweeting of the house sparrows was interrupted by Brooke's Hello Kitty alarm clock beeping, and Brooke shot out of bed, slapping herself awake at five am. Brooke stretched her arms, and yawned, standing up from her bed. Good morning, sunshine. Brooke thought.
Looking in the mirror on her dresser, Brooke smiled wryly, picking up a brush. She brushed the fairy-tale golden locks into a bun, securing the bun with a hair tie. Then she picked up her make-up, deciding on a minimalistic look today. She had no one to impress. No one but her friends at school, and they didn't care if she wore make-up or not, they said she was beautiful anyway. Brooke finished by swiping on a cheery pink lipstick, and let her hair fall down, the various waves settling. She opened the dresser drawers to pick out her first-day-of-school outfit.
~~~
After a further thirty minutes or so of getting ready, Brooke made her way downstairs. As usual, her mother was at work, having taken the car (It was only for Brooke to use on the weekends). Brooke rolled her eyes, knowing she'd be riding the city train today. Last year, she would've gotten a ride from Chloe, or maybe Rich. But...Rich was having issues at home (Most of the friend group knew about Rich's dad.), and Chloe...wasn't Brooke's friend like before. Brooke mixed a kiwi smoothie.
Ever since Chloe and Madeline had started dating, Brooke felt as though she was slowly being pushed away, to a lesser spot of importance. Before she knew it, she was only just 'friends' with Chloe, not even her best friend. Of course, their friendship hadn't been exactly the same after the events of last Halloween. Sure, it seemed like Brooke had forgiven Chloe, but she was only pushing the problem away, wanting to stay friends with Chloe. Without Chloe, Brooke was only herself, nothing.
Brooke sipped from her smoothie quietly, relaxing in the quiet of the morning. The occasional noise of a dog barking, or an early commuter driving by interjecting itself. "I wish I had Chloe back..." Brooke whispered. No one answered. There was no one there to do so. Brooke sighed, and threw the rest of her smoothie away, grabbing her bag and a baseball cap. She'd better catch the next train to school.
~~~
Not really watching where she was going, Brooke stepped onto the train and ran into someone. "I'm sorry!" She chirped, backing up. The person seemed absorbed in the notebook in their hands. Looking at the person closer, she saw the familiar star barrette a certain theater geek she knew wore. "Oh, Hi, Christine!" Brooke greeted. Christine turned around and smiled, her eyes sparkling.
"Brooke! Hi!" Christine returned cheerily, moving so that Brooke could get onto the train before it started moving. The two sat down in seats near the doors and started chatting about the most random topics, before Christine brought up the fact that Brooke wasn't with Chloe. "So, why are you riding the train? Don't you usually get a ride from Chloe?" Christine was genuinely curious, used to seeing the two drive up to the school in Chloe's car.
Brooke looked down and shook her head. There was a moment of silence before Brooke spoke. "Chloe's picking up Madeline, and Madeline lives on practically the other side of town. Plus, I don't want to seem too dependant on Chloe." And to think that Chloe hated Madeline all of last year, now they're dating... Brooke silently added. She looked up and put on a fake smile for Christine. "It's fine. I thought I should get used to taking the city train more."
Christine nodded, apparently satisfied with that answer. She pulled out a notebook from her backpack. "I got sucked into another musical!" Christine exclaimed, grinning. She held the notebook out to Brooke. Brooke looked at the cover, before taking the notebook and flipping through it. Heathers?
"I wouldn't have thought you one to be interested in Heathers." Brooke laughed, handing the notebook back to Christine. Christine bobbed her head, smiling widely. She put the notebook back in her backpack, touching each of the musical buttons on it before she put it to the side.
"It's actually quite a good musical, and story, if you...ignore the fact that there's a lot of triggering topics," Christine replied. She reached over for her backpack and then hugged it to her chest. "Jenna found it and showed it to me." Christine confided, eyes alight with happiness. Brooke nodded, knowing how Jenna always seemed to know about everything. I should ask her abou--
"Next Stop, 64th and West street, also known as the stop for all of you high schoolers." The announcement jolted Brooke out of her thoughts. Brooke made sure that she had everything in her bag, and looked at Christine, her eyes twinkling with amusement. A small smirk appeared on Brooke's face.
"Are you ready for the first day of our senior year?" Brooke asked. Christine jumped out of her seat, now in the middle of the aisle in the train. She was posing, her backpack on, and her notebook and pen out, so it seemed like she was writing in a diary.
"September first, nineteen eighty-nine! Dear diary, I believe I'm a good person. You know, I believe there's good in everyone..."
~~~
Inside the school, Brooke looked around for somewhere to wait around. Chloe and Madeline were making out by the lockers (Jenna getting a lot of pictures for later) and Rich and Jake were nowhere in sight. Brooke tried not to gag at Chloe and Madeline. If you're gonna do it, do it somewhere semi-private. Michael was in a corner playing on a Gameboy, and Jeremy was watching him with fascination. Christine glided over to Jeremy and Michael, proceeding to geek out about Heathers. Jeremy started talking to Christine, and the two laughed at what must have been either a funny reference or a regular joke. Brooke sighed and walked over to the water fountain, leaning over to drink from it, careful to not ruin her make-up.
She stood back up and looked around for someone to talk to in the few minutes before they were all unceremoniously rushed to class. Only Mr.Reyes, the drama teacher was unoccupied. Or, as Brooke recognized him, from his full-time job at the Hobby Lobby (There, he went by 'Paul'). Brooke groaned and walked over to him. Mr.Reyes smiled at her.
"Hello, Ms.Lohst!"
That's what I am...lost. Brooke thought.
"I'm sorry, what?" Mr.Reyes said, looking at Brooke with an expression of confusion. Brooke jumped. Did I say that outloud? She shook her head and smiled.
"Nothing, just....you know, senior year and all!" Brooke answered, hoping her smile was genuine enough to convince her teacher. He seemed fooled by it and shrugged. Brooke rubbed her arm, glancing to the side, before focusing back on what Mr.Reyes was talking about.
"It is indeed a big year. You'll be graduating! I remember my graduation from here. It seems like just only yesterday..." Mr.Reyes' eyes glazed over, no doubt he was remembering his graduation. He snapped back to attention and turned to look at Brooke, clapping his hands together. "Oh, I do hope you will join this year's after-school play. Last years was deemed incredibly successful. The audience enjoyed the effects and choreography we had, so we have a bigger budget this year!" Mr.Reyes cheered. Brooke gave Mr.Reyes a thumbs-up and then walked into the classroom, taking her usual seat in the middle. She set her bag down, and took out her composition book for this class, opening it and doodling with her yellow lemon pen.
The rest of the students filed in later, Chloe and Madeline having an incredibly heartfelt and tearful exchange in the doorway, before Madeline went to her class. Brooke attempted to not make any comments on that, but noticed that Chloe sat down next to her. Oh yes, the only class Chloe has with me this year. "Oh my god, Brooke, you will not believe what's going on with Jake." Chloe smiled. Brooke sighed and attempted to listen to Chloe, but there were too many other thoughts in her head at the moment. "So like, Jenna Rolan told me that during the beach party last week Rich and Jake totally fu--"
"Ms.Valentine, I would rather you discuss such matters after class," Mr.Reyes announced. Chloe frowned, before nodding and pulling out her phone. He'd ask for the news later, most likely from Brooke. Mr.Reyes shrugged and started teaching. "Now on the subject of Shakespeare's famous tragedy..." Brooke was only half-listening, thinking about what she was going to do when Mr.Reyes cornered her for the details on Rich and Jake. She was interrupted in her thoughts by a slip of paper on the corner of her desk. It was in red pen. Michael. She turned to look at him. He raised an eyebrow, his eyes looking at the paper next to her. Brooke looked at the paper.
Are you ok? ~M
Brooke scribbled on the backside of the paper, folding it in half, and holding it behind her for Michael to grab. He grabbed it, and opened it up, looking at what she wrote. Brooke had scribbled out her first answer, but it was still somewhat readable.
N̶o̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ Yeah, I'm okay. -Brooke
Brooke absentmindedly doodled on her notebook, drawing little sunflowers or swirls. When class finally ended, she closed the notebook and stood up, collecting the rest of her stuff. Brooke slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of class, keeping a confident air around her so that no one would think anything was wrong. Mr.Reyes did not in fact corner her. Instead, Chloe approached her again, her strut sassy, sparkly jacket reflecting the light that shone upon her.
"So like I was saying, I heard they did it in the show......er, Brooke? Are you listening?" Chloe asked, her earrings swinging as she moved her head.
"I'm sorry, Chloe, I'm a bit tired right now. But you have to tell me all about it at lunch!" Brooke turned away from Chloe and walked to her locker. Turning back to look at Chloe, she saw Madeline latched onto Chloe, smiling. Brooke frowned, turning her head back to her locker. She opened it and stared into it. Madeline acts like she can't live without Chloe. So clingy. I can't believe it. Brooke adjusted the small mirror on the door of her locker, before slamming it shut and making her way to her next class.
((Thank you for reading the first chapter of "Lohst Without You". Hope you're enjoying it.))