CHAPTER 76: living our best lives
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THIRD PERSON.
Two months after Oscar and Liam were sent off to jail, Brielle and the others had been seeing the mayor more often due to Liam. The two were in jail, but only Oscar was serving more time in there than Liam was. Mayor Smith had said to them that if Liam ever recovers, it was highly likely he was returning to Summer View, but as a child under his roof. Therefore, since we were the closest to his age and have known him a while, we would have to help him get back on the right path of life.
Brielle was worried that Liam wouldn't recover and she hoped he would. Bad mental health doesn't excuse his actions and he will have to work hard to get into their good books, but she felt sorry for him after he endured a mentally abusive childhood like that. She knew what it was like to have a father who simply didn't care and could only wish him the best for his recovery.
Her mother and her were moving back to their house from before the Fire Devils incident which is good because Brielle felt like she didn't want to overstay her welcome. The bad news though is that finding literally anything in her packed boxes was virtually impossible.
Flicking through all the boxes, she tried to look around for her hairbrush before groaning in annoyance and went over to the boxes that lay on the bed. As much as she wanted to help mom sort things out—which would've been extremely useful for her right about now—she had insisted that her daughter go to school to enjoy herself seeing as it was her last week at Summer View Academy.
Instead, Kiara and Alfonso were helping out today whilst she was at school, but her annoyance was quickly building as she hurried to find it. Where is my fucking hairbrush? she thought as she spun my head around countless times to see if she could find it before her mother's voice from downstairs made her pause.
"Love, you're going to be late for school!" she shouted from the stairs. Brielle rummaged through the boxes until her eyes spotted the familiar black spikes and black handle. She grabbed it and ran the brush through her hair quickly before grabbing her books, bag and phone before heading to the bedroom door.
A sudden honk made the girl jump in her place, accidentally dropping her phone on the floor as it landed on her foot. Fuck, she thought as she winced in pain before treading to the window and opening it to reveal Owen outside inside his car with the roof down. He was casually sat there, blasting music from the radio as his girlfriend looked at him with a deathly glare.
"Alright, you dick! I'm coming!" her voice came out loud and snappy before sprinting to grab her phone and head out of her room and down the stairs. Her mother passed her on the stairs and looked back in confusion as she grabbed her trainers and waved up to her.
The girl opened the door and closed it behind her before running down the path to the gate, tiptoeing on the hot concrete with the white trainers in her hand. Opening the passenger car door, she shoved Jaxon's head lightly from in between the two front seats.
"Morning baby," she spoke, giving Owen a peck on the cheek. His hand was casually on the wheel as the girl sat back in her seat, putting her seat belt on. The two boys stared at me in amusement as she settled comfortably against the car seat.
"So you call me a dick ten metres away, but as soon as you're in the same car as me, you love me," Owen retorted before his girlfriend shrugged. He drove down the road before heading to the gate of the entrance of the gang compound, "is Darren coming or is he getting the bus today?"
"He told me he had to finish a few things at home first so I guess he's getting the school bus," Jaxon spoke as he quickly typed on his phone whilst talking to his brother. Owen drove down towards the gate and stopped when a gang member appeared from the side. One of the gang members was there early that morning and he opened the gate for the three and Owen drove out and onto the main road.
Brielle sat back in my seat and listened to the radio that blasted that morning, the wind rushing through her hair and hitting her face. She felt a sudden hand land on her thigh softly and jumped slightly, attracting the attention of Jaxon in the back.
"What the hell is wrong with you, girl?" he spoke before looking back at his phone. As she looked back at him, her jaw went slack before looking over at Owen, who held back a chuckle. His shoulders shook slightly as he grinned devilishly, "anyone would think you were possessed."
"Oh fuck off," she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and heaving out a breath. She swiftly moved her gaze to the window where she continuously watched everything that went past the car, "every chance you have, you always make fun of me."
"All part of the friendship," Jaxon said casually as he flipped his phone in his hand, a smirk playing upon his lips. He released a snort before reaching around Brielle's chair and ruffling her already brushed hair, "that's what you get for being the shortest in our group."
She turned around to glare at him before rolling her eyes. As if I can actually control that, she thought to herself, ignoring Jaxon's existence in general. Next to her, Owen simply tutted in disappointment, shaking his head from side to side.
"Just because she's the shortest doesn't mean you can mess with her. That's just low, bro," he told him as his brother rolled his eyes before a small smile appeared on his face, "plus, that's my job."
Gasping, Brielle furrowed her brows at her boyfriend before hitting him lightly on the arm, which might not be the best of ideas due to the fact he was driving, but at least they didn't die yet.
"I hate you both," she mumbled under her breath as she turned away from all of them and remained there for the rest of the car ride until she decided she would forgive them.
That didn't take long though.
When they all got to school, Owen had found a parking space and everyone got out of the car. Jaxon had walked off to join Nicole at the school steps whilst Owen waited for Brielle to walk passed him and his hand landed a hard smack upon her ass. She yelped in response before glaring up at him in which he just stared down at her without a care in the world, hand upon her waist as they headed into school together.
As her eyes wandered down his arm, she noticed he no longer had his sleeves rolled down and instead, had them up to his elbows which showed the recovering slash he had upon his right forearm. He was returning back to his normal self after getting injured and was able to continue with the final lessons of the school year before we graduated. There were still some times where she could see the strain on his face whenever he lifted her up, but he masked it over with a cool expression on his face.
"Good morning, students of SVA. Congratulations to all senior students on striving through their final year at this school and on behalf of the headmaster and every member of staff here, we would love to wish you all good luck wherever you go in the future!" people from Owen and Brielle's senior group began cheering and hollering that morning, big grins on their faces as they felt as if they had accomplished everything in the world.
The two joined their friends in one of the empty classrooms and Owen placed her upon the hard desk before pressing a firm kiss upon the side of her head. She smiled up at him, fixing his slightly crooked tie before he leaned in to whisper in her ear.
"I'll meet you in psychology later, okay?" he told her in which she simply nodded before he waved goodbye back at her and headed over to his gang. The group seemed to be talking in a huddle which sparked Brielle's curiosity as she arched an eyebrow at them. When Owen joined, they opened up to let him into their discussions before closing their arms in once more.
I wonder what they're talking about, she thought as she prodded Kelly next to her. Her eyes never left the boys as Kelly's attention to me. It's like they're working for the FBI, she thought again as she turned to her suddenly.
"What do you think they're up to?" the girl asked her best friend, hoping for a useful answer, but instead, she shrugged. Kelly was unable to answer her question because she as well did not know the boys' antics and simply said,
"I don't know, but whatever it is, it can't be good." Kelly gave her a look she only knew so well. Oh brother, she said to herself, what are we getting ourselves into? Those boys were so quick to get themselves into trouble and since it was their last week in school, Brielle one hundred percent assumed they wanted to go out with a bang, "still, it could be funny—whatever it is."
When the teacher arrived to set up the classroom for the lesson, everyone began dispersing to their rooms and seats. Brielle stood up from the table to see Owen and his friends walking out, arms over each other's shoulders as she threw her bag over her shoulder. Her boyfriend threw her one last wave over his shoulder before he disappeared out of the room.
"Great...mathematics," Nicole said, her tone sarcastic as she looped her arm in Brielle's. The two headed for the door, their heels clicking against the ground as Cassidy joined them, "I still can't believe we can't just not to lessons anymore. What's the point anyway?"
"I heard we're getting our test papers back. I want to see whether I got question twenty-eight right," Brielle muttered, knowing full well she didn't feel as if she did as well as she could've for that question. However, even after getting one of the highest scores overall in her SATs, she still couldn't stop thinking about that one question during her calculator exam, "I could've sworn I wrote one hundred and twenty five."
"One question isn't going to harm your already impeccable math scores, Brielle. Don't worry because I also got one hundred and twenty five." that made the girl lose a bit of tension in her shoulders. It was such a silly thing to be fussing about, but when she's so uncertain about something, it would stay in her mind until she's seen that it definitely is or isn't true, "wait, isn't Jaxon in our class?"
Brielle had told her Jaxon had already left with Owen before, but when they all arrived, Jaxon wasn't there in class. This confused Brielle, but something about how he skipped a math lesson wasn't so surprising. She remembered he used to skip lessons because he disliked the teacher and subject, but that led to him ending up being tutored for missing so many lessons. In a sense, he ended up taking a fat L because of it.
As everyone got their papers back and exchanged different answers, Brielle sat in her seat at the back of the classroom, one leg over the other as she spoke to the people around her. She was focused on the situation but could hear the faint sounds of something hitting the window. Her brow arched before she turned to see something stuck to the window and by squinting her eyes, she noticed it was...a condom.
"Oh god, what are they up to?" Nicole asked as Brielle turned to her right to face her. They both gazed up at the windows where multiple condoms were now stuck there. The teacher seemed to not take notice of what was happening to her windows, but nearly every student had, "I'm guessing because it's their last week, they're going out with a bang. My idea? Prank week."
A prank week was something senior students did every year, pranking teachers and students when they could. Everyone laughed and jokes around, but since the 2016 fire, the prank week was yet to be done. Owen and his gang wanted to bring back the tradition and it seemed everyone was in for the surprise of a lifetime.
"We better brace ourselves then," Brielle said, rolling her eyes as she smiled before turning back around in her seat. She knew the boys loved pranks which is why is was trying to prepare herself for what she was getting herself into. Who knows what they've done to certain things in order for a good laugh.
Nicole and Brielle were stood near the entrance of the school where students were slowly filling the corridors. They were busy talking to one another when their other friends arrived, Coco bubbling with excitement.
"Look how jumpy she is," Michael spoke in exasperation as he leaned against the lockers with his arms crossed over his chest, "she's been like that all morning."
"Oh shush, she's the happiest she's been all day. I mean, look at her. Seventeen years old soon and not leaving for another year. I feel quite bad for her," Cassidy explained, her voice slightly quiet as she joined her cousin.
As they looked at Coco, she was talking happily, a huge grin on her face as she clutched onto Kelly's arm. It was true that since the SAT scores have come back that she's been unhappy with how things were. Most of her friends were leaving high school whilst she was stuck there for another year.
Then there was Michael.
It was clear to everyone that she had taken quite the liking towards him. The same could be said in Michael's perspective. The two seemed extremely close last year, but that had since changed in the new year, which confused their friends.
For Coco, she was only sixteen--seventeen this year whilst Michael was already eighteen. To her, he held the heavy responsibility of his family's future whilst she was simply still living her life. He was already an adult compared to her which made her feel slightly creeped out. Still, in a sense, she did sort of fall for him, but the two would've never lasted. When Michael's family is the way it is, she would only be constantly compared to every rich person in his family and what happened at Christmas had only pushed her away from him even more.
Now he was leaving, she didn't know how to feel. He was heading to New York City to stay with his family. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, she didn't know yet. Her heart still wanted to be around him, but her head was telling her they can't be together. Him leaving was a chance for her to focus on herself and to forget him which sounded incredibly harsh, but she knew it was better for both of them.
"Yeah," Michael spoke, staring longingly at the girl in front of him. He admired how happy she was and she reminded him of a 'normal' life without the strict toxic family environment. He wanted that for himself, but he could never selfishly make her unhappy just for his personal gain, "I feel bad for her as well."
As hard as it was for him, he just couldn't stay in Summer View anymore. He needed to step up and had bigger responsibilities now. That was what he had zero say in the matter.
He shook his head, shaking off the thought of Coco and focused on something else. His eyes went over to the entrance to the school where Coco was originally pointing during her excitement rush.
Apparently, the boys were busy with pranks and tricks this week. He couldn't get involved because pranks weren't really his thing. After a free period with Owen and the others, he found out that at some point today they were going to be bringing some skateboards in to help them. Although, he thinks they may have had a few drinks when they said that.
Everything seemed to suddenly pass by in a blur when Jaxon appeared at the entrance with his skateboard. He seemed to say something Michael couldn't understand before Owen and his gang joined, some of them carrying balloons and confetti. They got on their boards and hollered down the halls with the balloons and threw confetti around them.
Whilst the boys continued down the corridor, Owen paused by Brielle with a smirk playing upon his lips, getting off his board and placing a soft chaste kiss upon her cheek. She smiled up at him with an arched brow.
"I knew you were up to something and don't think I didn't see the condoms you had been throwing onto the windows." Owen simply shrugged as he stared down at the girl in front of him, "how did you even get it to stick there?"
Whilst she tried to pry an answer out of him, he simply kept his lips sealed as he didn't give away anything to his jokes and in the end, got back on his board, kissed Brielle's forehead before setting off down the corridors again.
Well, this week is about to get more eventful, she thought.
END OF CHAPTER 76
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[new chapter for you guys :) ]