L A N A
HEAVY RAIN WAS SLAMMING down from the gloomy grey clouds the next morning. The tires to my bicycle hissed against the ground carpeted with soaked, colored leaves as I leaped through the street towards Lakewood High. My old, fluffy black coat, flopped behind me like a cape.
"You're seriously going to run away?" Jake snarled from behind, breathlessly. He seemed to have given up on chasing me as his figure shadowed into the gleam of the dawn behind me by the entrance of the building I lived in.
I still didn't slow down though. Instead, I keep peddling forward, causing Jake voice to slowly drift off behind me. "Fine! To hell with you, Takumi! Just remember to pay off the rest of this month's rent tomorrow..."
I was lucky I had brought my bike with me on my way to school today or I couldn't imagine what Jake would've done to me after I told him I didn't have enough cash to pay up for this month's rent. I barely managed to jump on it and escape the rage that started glistening across his eyes and his red face. The guy was decent, but when something pissed him off, he became a completely different person. Sighing, I shoved the thought of Jake's too familiar glares aside and focused on the path ahead of me.
October had just taken a toll on shabby old Lakewood, leaving it with naked trees, slippery ceilings, the crooked streets coated with fallen leaves, a fluid of rainstorms, and sharp breezes stinging everyone's skin.
I liked the fall season because it was soaked, cold, and gloomy and that made the people in this town equally soaked, cold, and gloomy.
I peddled my bike past rows of houses that mirrored small, humble cottages with their gardens carpeted with wet autumn leaves. Kids, teenagers, and adults sprinted towards their cars, bikes, and skateboards with broken umbrellas or newspapers over their heads, eager to escape the downpour slamming down on them.
The school bus drove past me, packed with loud teenagers, none of them actually seated in their seats. That's why I preferred my bike. At least I didn't have to deal with any human contact.
When I reached Lakewood High, the rain had stopped and I climbed off my bike before running my hands through my soaked hair. Throwing my panda backpack over my shoulder, I crossed the parking lot breezing from sophomores to seniors carelessly smoking while dressed in dope jackets and shoes, silver chains around necks and wrists, short skirts or jeans with holes in them while also having their skin covered in pretty mad tattoos and piercings.
While waiting for the girls, I had to pull out my crappy iPhone 4 from my jeans pocket to check the time. Since the school bell was broken and the school was too broke to fix it, the students had to keep track of the time on their own.
08:05
Great. The first period wasn't going to start in another ten minutes and I already wanted to go home and sleep. My bones were aching for my comfy bed and the warmth of my blanket so bad that I almost didn't notice when someone sneaked up on me from behind.
"You seriously need to get yourself a new phone. That thing is getting older than your last Insta post."
As expected, Isha jumped out from behind me but I still punched her arm and quietly muttered, "Don't do that."
Grinning, she playfully punched me back before bumping her fist with mine. "Good morning, shitface."
She was wearing blue jeans with holes in them and a red hoodie with a black beanie, her straight coconut brown hair flowing down to her waist. I noticed the single red strand of hair that marked her as Siren along with the letters S, I, R, E. N on the knuckles of her right hand. However, her goofy smile was not matching this gloomy Monday morning.
Just when she parted her lips to say something, my gaze caught sight of a familiar matte black motorcycle that made the crowds of students huddled all over the parking lot to hurry to the sides, parting way for it. It sped across the parking lot and the girl riding it parked it a few feet away from us. When the girls pulled off their helmets and jumped off the bike, a small smile tugged on my lips.
I met the driver, Carmen's forest-green eyes looking extra gorgeous with her sharp eyeliner, first. It was hard to separate her from her bike as her leather jacket, jeans and timberlands mirrored the same jet black color. Her short hair black as the night, framed her pale-skinned face while her lips coated with a layer of sharp red lipstick pulled up into a smile in our direction.
Jad, who got off from behind Carmen's bike, was running her hands through her curly hair that the rain had left even frizzier than usual. Carmen was a fast biker, the best in town actually, but not even the fiercest racer could outrun the vicious rainstorms in Lakewood.
Jada's lips coated with a deep wine red, almost black shade of lipstick formed a confident smile. Her white top came off completely dry and bright underneath a military green bomber jacket she had paired with black jeans.
Before her familiar brown eyes could meet mine, I quickly darted my gaze down to the ground, staring at my ratty brown Uggs instead. Jada had many talents up her sleeve and one them was reading people's faces. And right now, I didn't necessarily want her eyes to catch the stress of being unable to pay this month's rent to my apartment, creasing my features. Jada has other things to worry about and I knew she would give me the rent money once she had it.
"Morning, babes," Jada said, stepping between Isha and me and looping her arms around our shoulders, practically a head taller than us.
Carmen, on the other hand, was too busy texting on her phone. Her inky black painted nails were flying across the keyboard on the screen while an intensely focused expression held her sharp features together.
Rising on her toes, Isha peeked at her phone. "Who are you up against tonight?"
Carmen finally looked up and a thrilling glint spread across her eyes. "Some Mexican dude named Diego. They say he's pretty good."
"Ooh, Mexican? That's hot. Don't you want some of that? You sure people only said he's good at racing or in bed too?" Isha teased, smirking while repeatedly nudging her shoulder.
Carmen threw an arm around Isha's shoulders as we headed towards the main entrance. "I'm sure he is. But I'll decide that after I've crushed him on the road."
"Great! Since I'm getting only more gay day by day, what about you two? Interested?" Isha asked, grinning at me and Jada.
In response, Jada and I scrunched our noses in utter disgust because getting laid was something Jada and I never thought about, let alone had any interest in.
"Are you coming to the race, though? People are saying he's pretty good so it'll probably turn out to be a fun race."
"Sure, but everyone knows who the best racer in Lakewood is. He should too," Isha clarified, earning a huge grin from Carmen.
Carmen was the towns' queen of bike racing. I couldn't remember the last time she lost a race. It was what she spent most of her free time doing when she wasn't doing the gang stuff with us or running shifts at the town's local diner owned by her dad. Even in class, she was on the hunt for her next component on her phone.
"It still sounds legit though. I'll be there," Jada said, smiling.
Sliding her phone back into her jeans pocket, Carmen averted her gaze to me, arching a questioning brow. "Lee?"
While I preferred to spend my free time locked up in my apartment, either lazily eating gummy bears and playing Nintendo, studying, or just sleep the day away to add more fuel to my depression but I did enjoy Carmen's races.
I met her eyes. "Will there be beer?"
Carmen ruffled my hair. "Dude, chill. I'll get you vodka and beer. Plus, some cheap champagne. Mix your strawberry milk with whatever you want."
Just like that, I was in and nodded to Carmen.
Afterward, Isha grinned amusingly at Jada. "So, J. Ready for that glossary test in French?"
Pulling her headphones up to her ears, Jada groaned. "Kill me now."
The girls laughed and we fallowed Jada towards the entrance. The gray school building loomed ahead, mirroring a prison more than an actual school. I dragged my left foot forward but struggled to push through the crowded hallway, because everyone was too busy bullshitting about people they didn't know a damn thing about, laughing over tiktok videos on their phones, exchanging cigarettes, complaining about teachers and assignments and last but not least, picking fights with one another and shoving each other's heads into locker doors.
Luckily, one of the advantages of being in the most feared and powerful gang in the whole town, was that the sea of students always parted the way to let us through.
Jada was in the lead, as always, keeping her head high and taking confident strides towards the lockers. Carmen tucked her hands inside the back pockets of her jeans and rolled her eyes when some of the boys' eyes traveled up and down her curves. Isha sucked on her lollipop and stretched her arms up in the air.
Meanwhile, I held my blank gaze ahead but couldn't help but ignore the sideways glances towards my left foot that I was limping with. That was the thing about disabilities, disorders, and illnesses. No matter how long someone had known you, nobody could help but eye you with the same curiosity or in my case, just plainly stare from the corner of their eye. All the damn time.
Having cerebral palsy used to suck. Mostly because it used to be really bad when I was a kid. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to get surgery, causing me to be able to walk as a result but with a limp ever since. I was used to it by now, but even being The Wolf, there were times when it was difficult to get away from things that I wanted to escape. For example, the occasional stares and Jake. Thus, my bike may have been rusty and old but it was and always would be my ride or die.
When I reached my locker, a few more "compliments" had been scribbled across my grey locker door with a sharp black marker. This time it was an asshole and ugly bitch. The words just passed through me without any effect whatsoever. I honestly didn't give a shit anymore. Nobody did. Everyone vandalized each other's lockers here. I couldn't remember the last time anyone saw a clean locker door in this school.
After grabbing my books, I closed the door shut and let my gaze linger just for a mere moment on all the shitty words scribbled on it
Stupid shit on lockers may have not bothered me, but people actually spitting them out in front of me and that to my friends, was the total opposite. Thus, I froze when I heard some girl jokingly mumble to Isha, "Fag."
The moment I saw the sting cut through Isha's goofy smile and drain the shine on her face, I was already shoving her body against the metal lockers with my bare hands around her neck.
Choking, her neck started turning blue while the rage in my eyes had slashed through the amusement across her eyes, compressing it with terror instead. My fingers clenched around her blue-now purple neck while I harshly whispered through my gritted teeth, "The fuck did you say?"
"Lana! Lana, let him go. It's fine. Leave her," Isha assured, hurriedly. Her hands gripped my waist, pulling me away from the bitch who even had the nerve to open her mouth like that. Isha yanked me off her and my hands reluctantly dropped from her neck. Heart pounding against my ribcage, I rubbed my sore palms on my jeans while glaring at the girl still gasping for air.
"Fuck you," Carmen muttered pushing her towards her friends who dragged her away, careful to not meet any of us in the eye.
"Aree Yaar, you idiot," Isha said, her sentence half Hindi, half English like it always was when I lost control over my temper.
"She's fucking mad, bro," some guy whispered from the crowds of students carefully watching us-me from the sidelines.
While I stood in the silence with my gaze cast down to the dirty floor and my pulse roaring against my neck, Isha cupped my cheeks and smiled before pulling me into a safe embrace. "Just breathe, okay? It's fine."
When the bell rang, Isha picked up my books and patted my back, taking the lead with me. When we entered the classroom, Jada and Carmen sat down in the back row together while Isha and I grabbed the two empty seats in front of them next to a familiar blonde.
With her bright blue eyes, creamy white skin, and wavy blonde hair, Lily Dawson was the only white kid in the whole town, leaving her friendless and defenseless when the other ghetto kids picked on her. When our eyes met across the classroom, a soft smile forming her pink lips and complimenting her delicate features appeared. The smile was indeed polite but it was so forced it was honestly too cringe to look at.
Ignoring her, I slumped down in my seat, pulled my legs up, and crossed them before bringing out my baby which was my blue Nintendo 3DS from my backpack. Meanwhile, Miss Daisy started her five-minute-long speech about the importance of history, smiling like she was made of the fucking sun.
Glancing at my Nintendo resting in my lap, Isha slumped over her table and yawned. "You should really start paying attention if you're planning on graduating this year."
I nodded and turned on Mario Kart. That pretty much summed up how I felt about first periods and mornings in general. I just wanted to disappear somewhere else entirely.
After her speech, meaningless chaos burst out in the room and Miss Daisy spent half an hour silencing the students before starting the class by scribbling today's topic of discussion on the blackboard. As soon she was done, the class lasted for two solid minutes before breaking the silence by irrupting into loud chatter about parties, drugs, clothes, and other stuff that had absolutely nothing to do with The French Revolution. Miss Daisy sighed like she did every time she lost control over the class and sank down in her chair and started massaging her aching temples.
Just like that, the situation would repeat itself in every classroom during all six periods of every school day, but just with a different teacher every time dealing with even worse students.
In Lakewood, either the kids had no interest in studies or they had always just been academically weak. The eldest generations turned out pretty well, but the academic scores of the students in general and their interest in studies had gotten worse generation after generation when crime, gangs, violence, and drugs increased over time across the whole town, causing lots of kids to drop out, join gangs, and live off by selling drugs to 13-year-olds.
Meanwhile, the student council slacked off with communicating with the principal, let alone the students themselves, and didn't make up a plan on how to create a better environment for the students to study in. Instead, the members spent their cheques on too much pizza while fourteen-year-olds died of overdose and seniors joined gangs instead of going off to college.
This town was fucked, this school was fucked, the residents were fucked and I was pretty much fucked too.
In nine months, life might be different but I would still be stuck in this body and in this mind. I guess that's why the saying said that running away never solved your problems. It was true, because even though I would be in a different place with different people, I know I would never be able to free myself from this cage of a mind that I found myself trapped in.
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Author's note: Hi, everyone! This was the second chapter of Colliding Stars. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for 1k reads! Truly means a lot.
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