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“I can’t take their shit anymore!” Sam said, as she sat down on the floor.
“Like what are we, toilets?” Greg agreed, also sitting down.
“Like I’m this close to punching one of them!” Sam said.
“And you’d get knocked right out to PASS.” Greg said.
“I could probably take them though! If i wanted” Sam retorted.
“Yeah but you don’t want to!” Greg said.
“Oh I want to!”
“You want the problem to go away, quickest way to do that is to leave”
“‘both alike in dignity’ my ass!” Sam said.
“Journalism gets no respect!”
“Shut up, they’ll hear you!” Sam said
“I don’t care if they do!” Greg added. “I think Football sucks!”
“Ah great they’re coming over, whatever you do make sure they punch first,” Sam said. “Else we’ll get PASS.”
“All I have to do is bite my thumb at them” Greg said.
“Bite your thumb? What is this Shakespear?” Sam asked. “You have to stick your tongue out, like this!” Sam stuck her tongue out at the guy walking by
Ajock came up to them in the courtyard. Bram, the runningback, said. “You stick your tongue out at me bitch?”
“I stuck my tongue out!” Sam said.
“Yeah, but was that at me or your twerp friend?”
Sam whispered to Greg. “Is it instigating if I say yes?”
“Yes” Greg replied.
“Not at you, no!” Sam said. “Or so I say!”
“You looking for a fight or something?” Greg asked.
“A fight, no ma’am!” Brahm retorted.
“If you wanna fight, i’m up for it!” Sam said
“Dweeb, you’d likely die, and I don’t want your murder on my soul!”
“Alright.”
“No, you were supposed to instigate there!” Greg whispered
Ben, another Journalism kid, soon walked over, dropped his stuff and sat near the other journalists.
“If you’re a wimp so be it!” Sam quickly added
“I am not a wimp! It’s the hoco game tonight! I can’t get suspended.”
“Oh my god!” Ben said. “Just shut up! We don’t want a fight,”
“Too bad!” Tyler, another footballer, said, clenching his fists. “I want one!”
“Girl, I am just trying to keep this from escalating!” Ben said. “Unclench those fists lest you want to sit out on the hoco game, or at the very least use them to keep Brahm in line”
“Ugh! I hate to admit it but you’re right! Come on Brahm!” Tyler said, dragging Brahm away before he could cause any trouble.
Soon after, Raven put her backpack down and set her school lunch on the ground in front of her. An unapetizing slice of pizza, still cold. What could barely be considered vegies on the side, and a milk, still frozen.
“Forget your lunch, lovebird?” Ben asked. Raven glared her brown eyes at the twink sitting across from her. His stupid smug face revealing that he knew full and well what happened.
“Sadly the lovebird flew away.” Raven retorted.
“So she wished to take things to a higher level, and you said no.” Ben asked, knowing it was the other way around. Raven hated the way Ben made fun of her plights
“Other way round, smartass!” Raven said, tossing a ‘vegetable’ at him.
“How sad when sweethearts have a sour side.” Ben said.
“They say love is blind, but man do my eyes cause love! Love is so complicated. I just want an easy relationship, but that seems to not be in the cards for me.”
Ben started laughing at Raven’s musings on the essence of love. “Alright romeo!” Ben retorted.
“Stop laughing!”
“I’m not laughing, i’m crying at the pain you must endure!” Ben said sarcastically.
“Shut the fuck up!” Raven said. “For real that’s how love is, a broken heart shouldn’t weigh more than one fully formed, but yet it does. And your wonderful compassion is adding to the kindling and setting my heart ablaze; A fire which can only be put out when doused in tears! And by then, what is left? It’s like those sour candies, by the time you’re done, what have you gained!”
“Dude, just get over Roze” Ben said. “Find a new girl, hoco’s coming up, the theme’s Masquarade, you could even pretend to be a dude to flirt with girls. A night out’s all you need.”
“A night with someone else would only make the love for Roze in my heart grow twelve sizes. I’d be comparing them the whole time, and what of when the night ends, I’ll be down two lovers rather than one!” Raven said. “A rebound is the last thing I need right now!”
“Dude, trust me. This plan is golden”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Elsewhere, in the courtyard, Tyler started ranting “Dude, I don’t get it!” He said. “What the actual fuck is their problem.”
“No, yeah, i think they just think that just because you’re a jock you’ll hate them!” Perez, the QB said. “But like, me and Jules.
“Dude, Jules is a sophmore, you’re a senior. It’s kinda weird. Wait till you’re both in college at least.” Tyler said. “Like, I know she’s just my sister and I don’t have any real authority, but like… dude!”
“I mean, plenty of sophmores date seniors!” Perez said.
“Yeah, but… that’s weird. Again, it’s your choice, but like, I’ll judge you forever if you make her sad. Like you’re going off to college soon, do you really wanna be in college dating a junior in high school? Whatever, do it, i don’t care… Or you could meet someone else at HOCO, or the afterparty., who knows. I mean, Bro, come on, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Speaking of, Pete!”
“Yeah?” Pete, another footballer asked.
“Pass these invitations out to the people on the list. I’m having a HOCO after party!” Tyler handed him a stack of invitations. “Just the cool kids, you know.”
Soon the bell rang and it was time to head to class
“Alright, i guess…” Pete said, walking off. He started walking off. “I don’t even know half these names.”
“Dude, i’m telling you!” Ben said, walking by, “Plenty of fish in the sea! If you get dizzy, you just spin the other way, I’d much rather you yearning after someone than moping about a breakup.”
“Oh, do you have your crutches?” Raven asked.
“I don’t need crutches.”
“You will after i break your legs”
“Girl you’re insane!”
“No, but i feel like i’m in a fucking straight jacket the way i’m anguishing! Plus the cafeteria food’s worse than a hospital.” Raven saw Pete walking up to her. “What?”
“Do you know, Sarah Jones?”
“Sorry, i’m not friends with her.”
“But do you know who she is?”
“If i have a yearbook, i will!” Raven said.
“Thanks anyways…” Pete said.
“Dude I can help… wait.” Raven pulled out her phone… “Damn that’s a lot of people… Marty, Victor, Sid, Mark, Tina, Roze, Liv, Lucas, that’s a lot of people, are these invitations?”
“To a HOCO afterparty, Tyler’s hosting.” Pete said.
“Could we maybe come?” Ben asked.
“I don’t see why not!” Pete handed them two invitations. “Could you help me find them?”
“Yeah, here are their student emails, just email them the invite.” Raven said, checking the index of student emails she gets access to as a yearbook student.
“Thanks!” Pete said.
“What was that about? I don’t wanna go to a Jock party!” Raven said, once Pete had left.
“Dude, Roze is gonna be there. So we go, i show you all the hotter women, and you’ll instantly be over her.”
“Dude, you’re gay, since when can you say a woman is hot!”
“I know that some women are objectively hot,” ben claimed
“Regardless, someone hotter than Roze, i’ve yet to see it. Not even the sun is hotter than her. She burns at like a gajillion degrees!”
“You haven’t been looking at the market for like, what, two months, compare her to someone else, you’ll see she’s not all that!”
“I’ll go, but just to prove you wrong!” Raven said, heading to class
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“When is your sister going to get here?” Jules’s friend asked. She’d been waiting in the carline for what felt like an hour.
“It’s not up to me. She’s probably hanging with her friends.” Tyler commented, putting in his earbuds.
“Sorry I’m late!” Jules said, opening the doors.
“So Jules, you’re… of a certain age.”
“Gross Sarah, while I’m in the car!” Tyler commented.
“It’s not that!”
“I’d bet my last dollar it is, but my mom hasn’t paid my allowance in a week.”
“She’ll get to that.”
“Sure she will, as sure as the stars will fall from the sky where pigs fly when heaven freezes over. Anyways, can you not have this conversation while I'm in the car? I don’t want to think of this.”
“Enough of this, please be quiet.”
“Alright. Anyways, Jules.” Sarah continued. “Surely you’ve met lots of guys this year, did any of them catch your eye?”
Jules groaned, “I’m glad, none of them did.” she said.
“Girl, you’ve gotta get a boyfriend so we can go on double dates. What about that Perez on the football team? I swear he’s been looking at you
“I mean, I guess, he’s fine.”
“Quite fine, I'm just looking out for you, you don’t want to be made fun of for being lonely, do you? There’s nothing to lose.”
“Except your virginity!” Tyler commented.
“Quiet, Tyler!” Sarah commented.
“I’ll look at him, but I doubt I'll fall in love. I’ll try though”
“Now, let’s get this party started!”
“It’s not even the Hoco game yet!”
As the HOCO game came and went, so too did the hoco dance, and all that was left was the afterparty.
“Ok, so what’s the plan? Ben, Mark?” Raven turned to ben, who was carrying a flashlight for the walk in the dark
“No one asks where you came from! It’s not chique. Instead we just waltz in like we’re meant to be there, and everyone will believe it. Then, we get wasted, and dance! Dance like nobody's watching.”
“Give me that light. I’m not gonna dance anyways so i’ll keep it in my purse.”
“I still can’t believe you wore a dress.” Mark commented “But Non non, you simply must dance, that’s what the plan relies on!”
“In these heels? You’ve got sneakers on, I can barely dance in those, much less heels, not to mention I'm dragging my feet in loss.”
“You know wicked, it’s like that song, Defying Gravity” Mark said. “Borrow cupid’s wings and soar!”
“His fuckass arrow pierced my heart, it encased me in grief, I am sinking, not flying!”
“How about you sink into something else, catch my drift. Get over yourself.”
“No way… Love’s too rough, too jagged, too prickly to treat that gauche.”
“If love is rough with you, be rough with love, no? Prick it back, you know, a little give a little take?”
“You’re gross.” Raven said.
“I’m also right!”
“Let’s head inside guys!” Ben said, interrupting their gaudy dialogue.
“I shall carry this torch!” Raven proudly proclaimed, grabbing the flashlight. “Those who shine bright enough already should dance! I’ll hang out in the corner. Maybe I can convince the DJ to play Hot to Go or something.”
“To Go, or not to go, that is the question, and the answer is to get your sorry excuse for a self into the room and dance the night away!” Mark said, grabbing back the flashlight. “We’re wasting daylight!”
“It’s night time!” Raven said.
“It’s a figure of speech, we’re wasting battery on the flashlight, that’s just as bad, nay worse than wasting daylight. Take stuff less literally, that’s smarter?”
“What’s smart is not going to a jock party”
“Why?”
“I had a dream night”
“And so did I. I dreamed that you’re a liar!”
“Yeah, I lay in my bed dreaming that things are gonna go wrong!”
“Ah, so you’re Raven Symone? Huh?”
“Who’s Raven Symone?”
“She’s someone who could gaze into the future, and you’d think that’d make life a breeze, seeing trouble from a distance, but it’s not that easy. She’d try to save the situation, but end up misbehaving, but she found that if the future looks gray now, then everything’s gonna change now. Because that’s so-”
“That’s so bullshit!”
“Aye it is bullshit, and so are dreams. They are no more than firing synapses, so get off your high horse, and get into that party.”
“Please, before the clock strikes midnight and my fairy godmother’s transformation is undone!” Ben commented.
“I just have a bad feeling about tonight, like tonight’s a catalyst for change. I feel like I'm walking right to my doom, but I guess that’d be your fault, no? Onwards! Lusty Gentlemen!”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Pete started clearing empty drinks of the tabe. “Where’s the other dude?” He asked.
“I don’t know,” A jock said. “If he’s not even helping, then… that’s not good.”
“Ok, well, take those stools away, we need room to dance. And save me a bit of the Eddibles!”
“I’m here” The second cleaner said.
“It’s been a while!”
“Give him a break!” Tyler said. “Welcome everyone! I hope the party’s going good. Let’s get dancing, you know, unless you’ve got a blister. So if you’re not dancing, I assume that’s why! Am I wrong? Welcome in! I used to sweep girls off their feet at these parties, course now I’m going steady with Sarah!” The music started playing loud, a Taylor Swift song coursing through the air, as people started entering.
“Jeeez, it’s been a while since i threw a rager like this!” Tyler said, drinking something he shouldn’t have been drinking as a highschooler.
Raven swooped up, “Hey, who’s that in the red dress?” she asked around.
“I don’t know.” Replied one of the people pouring drinks.
“Well she’s hotter than the sun i’d say. She glows like a gemstone, and her beauty radiates. She’s like a white dove in a flock of crows, she stands out from, nay surpass everyone else. I simply must have a dance with her. Roze, who’s Roze… she is my true love.”
“I know that flowery style of speaking.” tyler noted, across the way. “You’re a nerd. What are you doing, mocking and sneering. I think you best leave.”
“What’s wrong Pete?” Jules asked.
“A nerd came to our party out of spite.”
“That’s Raven, is it not?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Leave her alone. What’s it worth? She’s not disrupting our party, she’s nice. She even did that feature on the Volleyball Team last year. She’s fine. I wish this silly feud would end in all honesty. If you respect me, you’ll pretend you never saw her.”
“I can’t let her gay up this place.”
“You will, It’s MY party.”
“But she’s mocking us?”
“Is she?” Jules asked, turning a frown. “Or do you simply believe her to be. How rude can you be. Now, turn up the music and shut up.”
“Raven’s going to regret this.” Tyler said, mumbling to himsled.
Raven stumbled through the party, looking for the girl in the red dress she had been staring at in awe, she finally found her, sitting alone outside, blowing a vape. “Mind if I sit here? I know i’m probably not pretty enough to deign to sit next to you… but.”
“Damn girl! Have some self confidence. You’re fine.” The red dressed girl said.
Raven blushed. “Fine you say? Should I take that litterally or figuratively.”
“Jovial are we?” the girl asked. “I guess… both?”
Raven looked at the girl she was sitting next to, her hair, her eyes, all framed her face perfectly… She really wanted to get to know this girl. The music blared from inside. “If you’re jovial, then, may I have this dance?” Raven asked.
“Bold, we just met, and you’re already asking me to dance.” The red dressed girl said. “I like bold, sure.” The red dressed girl swept Raven off her feet, and started leading her in a dance.
Raven felt as if she was living a dream. She was swept off her feet by a beautiful girl, she could really fall in love with… whatever her name was.
They sat back down after the dance, returning to talking. “So, do you… maybe wanna get outta here?” Raven asked.
“Belive me, I wish I could. This wasn’t even my idea, my friends were all ‘Oh the partys so fun, you’ll meet a boy, that’ll be awesome!’”
“Heh, my friends kinda conned me into the same thing. Said it could get me outta my funk after a break up.” Raven took the girls hand in hers.
“He was a fool to give you up.” the red dressed girl said.
“...She actually.”
“Oh… uh…”
“Don’t worry, i’m not gonna ask you out or anything, I get it, you’re straight.”
“What if… i wasn’t?” the red dressed girl asked. “Then what would you do?”
“I… mayhaps i’d ask to lay mine mouth on yours?”
“Why are you talking like that?” The red dressed girl asked. “You’re such a dork.” She leaned in for a kiss, and the two kissed.
“You kiss like you’ve studied how.” the red dressed girl said, as she came up for ar, before returning for another kiss.
“JULES!” Tyler screamed. “Jules, where are you?”
“Crud, i gotta go!” the red dressed girl, jules called out
Raven mumbled to herself. “Crud that was… oh no.”
“Nice one, Raven!” Ben said, coming up. “Lets leave while we’re in the clear.”
“I feel a sense of dread, as if that was the inciting incident in the story of my life.”
Elsewhere, Jules mumbled to herself.. “Just my luck.”