Bite Your Tongue
Collision
6:15 A.M
Korinne;;
My alarm clock went off and it was so loud that I jumped a foot in the air before rolling off of the edge of the bed. I glared at the device through the darkness of my room and hoped that it burst into flames.
I picked myself up off of the ground and untangled my legs from the sheets. It was still dark outside, more proof of how insanely early it was. I hate mornings.
I went into the bathroom and showered quickly; the warm water woke me up a bit more. When I was done, I wrapped a towel around myself and reached for a comb to work on my hair. I didn’t even know why I bothered; even if I did comb out all of the tangles, blow it dry, and straighten it, it still didn’t have any effect on my appearance.
The wide orbs on either side of my face stared back at me as I worked through the knots. I hated my eyes. They were brown—not a warm brown, or a pretty brown, but just plain brown. At least they were partially hidden behind my hair. Thick side bangs swept over the left side of my face, almost completely covering my eye with a veil of pink and blue strands. Good; the less of myself I have to show to the world, the better.
I finished combing my hair and blow-dried it as quickly as possible. Then I dashed back out into my bedroom, alarmed to see that nearly forty-five minutes had passed. I threw on the first pair of jeans I saw and my comfiest black t-shirt, along with the red ballet flats I wore so often that they were practically falling apart. Finally, I took the small black backpack my mother had purchased for me from off of the floor by the door and, with one final glance back at the room, I headed downstairs.
Upon entering the kitchen, I tensed up. My brother was seated at the kitchen table, tucking in to a bowl of Lucky Charms. He looked up when I walked in and just as promptly looked away. Why does he still hate me so much?
I blinked back the tears that were threatening to drown my eyes as they had so frequently done over the past few months and opened a couple of cabinets, finding nothing but empty space. I looked at Elias questioningly, and he ignored me, so I picked up a pencil from the counter and chucked it at him.
“What the hell? What do you want?” he demanded angrily, milk spewing from the sides of his mouth. I had caught him in between bites of cereal.
I stared pointedly at his breakfast, and he rolled his eyes.
“They’re in the cabinet next to the sink, but don’t even think about it. Touch my Lucky Charms and you die,” he threatened.
I sighed in frustration and looked for something else to eat.
Stupid bastard. It’s just cereal, good god.
After nearly ten minutes of searching, I still hadn’t found anything. I was beginning to panic, and I decided that I would just see if they offered breakfast as school. I hurried outside to make sure I caught the bus and found it odd that it wasn’t even the slightest bit chilly. It was almost February, and yet it felt like August.
I sat on the front steps and focused on the street. I didn’t know where the bus stop was, or if there even was one, but I figured that I should be able to see it. Hopefully. Elias emerged from the house a minute later and walked straight past me to stand at the edge of the driveway. I stayed seated. I had no desire to see the look in his eyes, the look of extreme loathing that’s been present every time he’s looked in my direction since the accidents.
I shook the bad thoughts from my mind as an unfriendly grumbling sound filled the air. The engine of the school bus made all sorts of puzzling noises as it pulled up two houses down. Elias walked towards it, and I followed him. I kept my eyes on the ground as I climbed up the steps into the yellow monster, only looking up to seek out an available seat. I avoided what seemed like dozens of curious stares and focused on my brother’s back as he made his way straight to the back of the bus. I did the same, but instead stopped and sat three seats in front of him. The seat was empty, so I slid over until I could rest my head on the window, and looked out through the glass to see a bit of sunshine starting to peek through the clouds.
Well, here goes nothing.
+++
12:14 P.M
Brian;;
“Jimmy, you fucker!”
Jimmy laughed and pushed past me, snagging the last available seat at our lunch table.
“Sorry, man.”
The rest of the table snorted with laughter, drawing several stares from people at nearby tables. I rolled my eyes and took a chair from the table nearest me, dragging it over to where my friends sat.
“I hate you all,” I declared. I shoved some chairs aside to make room for myself, causing Zacky and Delia, who sat on either side of me, to look at me angrily. A pair of slender arms fell softly around my neck as I sat, and I turned around to see my girlfriend, Zoe, standing behind me.
“Hello, sexy,” she cooed in my ear, nibbling at it lightly. I grabbed her face and turned her chin towards me, kissing her swiftly on the lips before pulling back and looking deeply into her grey eyes.
“You two disgust me,” Matt said, stuffing his mouth full of French fries. Zoe flipped him off as she slid into my lap, her pale blonde hair tickling my face as she did so.
“Please. You know you wish you had a girlfriend,” Stevie snapped. She flicked her shoulder-length, butterscotch colored hair out of her eyes and bit neatly into a chicken Caesar wrap. Matt tossed a French fry at her, and it hit her full on the forehead.
“Bastard!” Stevie reached for the open packet of Ranch dressing in front of her and aimed it at Matt.
“You guys, please. If I get one more detention for being involved in a food fight, my mom will kill me,” pleaded Delia, tugging nervously at one of the black curls that framed her face.
I shook my head and dug into the ham and cheese sub on my tray, letting a piece of ham dangle out of my mouth as I chewed. Zoe sighed and reached for a napkin, wiping away the ham. I sighed as well.
“I’m a handful, aren’t I?” I asked.
“Yes, but you’re my handful,” Zoe responded.
“Oooh, dirty!” exclaimed Stevie.
“Shut up,” I said, laughing.
“So, Zoe, is he really a handful?” Johnny asked, his voice thick with implications.
“Shut up,” I said again. Zoe giggled and ran her hands through my hair.
“I guess that’s for me to know and you to never find out,” she quipped. God, I love that girl.
“You’re all a bunch of sick perverts.” Delia picked at her high-protein fiber bar, licking the chocolate off of her fingers. She was a gymnast, so she ate a lot of health food crap all the time to stay in shape.
“You know you love it,” Zacky said in between bites of a pepperoni calzone. Delia blushed slightly and looked down at her food. Everyone else rolled their eyes; it was so obvious they liked each other. If only Zacky would stop being such a coward and ask her out for real already.
I laughed again, loving the feeling of being surrounded by friends. I honestly couldn’t be happier.
“Hey.”
We all looked up to see a guy standing next to the table, holding only a bag of Hot Cheetos. He looked to be around our age, seventeen or so, with brown eyes and dark brown hair that hung messily down by his shoulders.
“Hey,” Stevie said cheerfully.
She was the nicest and most social person I knew, and of course, she was the first to introduce herself to anyone new.
“Uh…can I sit here?” the guy asked.
“Of course,” Delia said. We all greeted him in various ways as he grabbed a chair and took a seat between Jimmy and Matt.
“So, what’s your name? Are you new? Where’d you move from?” Stevie asked.
“For the love of Christ, Stevie. Give the guy a chance to breathe,” I told her.
She shot me a glare before turning back to the guy.
“Uh, well, I’m Elias. Elias Reynolds. And yeah, I’m new; I just moved here from Atlanta,” he said. Elias tossed a few Hot Cheetos into his mouth.
“Atlanta? Really?” Stevie finished the last of her lunch and looked at him interestedly.
“Do you like it here so far?” Zoe asked.
Elias shrugged. “It’s hot.”
“What about the school? Are you finding it confusing? Because I’d be glad to help,” Stevie offered.
“It’s okay,” Elias said.
“What about-”
“Stevie, shut up!” Jimmy exclaimed. “You’ll have to excuse her; Stevie’s a bit nosy,” he explained to Elias.
“So, Elias, did you see any girls you like yet?” Matt asked.
“Nah,” he replied.
“Monosyllabic man strikes again!” Zoe exclaimed, quoting her favorite show, Gilmore Girls. I didn’t watch it, except for when she forced me to, and I found it rather sad that I even recognized the quote. I needed to get a life.
I glanced at the clock quickly, seeing that there were only a few minutes of lunch left. I nudged Zoe and she got off of my lap so I could stand.
“I’m going to get some ice cream,” I said.
“Ooh! Bring me some!” Johnny threw a five dollar bill at me.
“Me too!” added Zacky. I rolled my eyes.
“Do I look like the goddamned ice cream man?”
“For the moment, yes,” Zoe replied, smirking. I sighed and turned away from the table, heading for the ice cream line. Hmm, should I get mint chocolate chip or birthday cake? I wasn’t really paying attention to anything except what flavor of ice cream to get, so I was caught totally off guard when someone collided with me. I stumbled slightly, but the person went flying to the floor.
“Oh my god, I’m sorry…I wasn’t paying attention,” I rambled, reaching down to help the girl up.
She was tall for a girl, with huge chocolate brown eyes that were half-hidden by pink and blue bangs. The rest of her hair was dark brown, falling in a curtain to her shoulders. She looked absolutely mortified as she allowed me to pull her to her feet.
“Damn, I’m such a klutz. Sorry about that. You okay?” I said, nervously babbling. I hated making other people feel bad, though most of my friends seemed to have no problem with it.
The girl merely looked at me. It appeared as if she wanted to say something, but she didn’t. Instead she nodded quickly in response before turning and dashing off in the opposite direction. I stared after her, confused, before shrugging and going to get in the ice cream line.
Korinne;;
My alarm clock went off and it was so loud that I jumped a foot in the air before rolling off of the edge of the bed. I glared at the device through the darkness of my room and hoped that it burst into flames.
I picked myself up off of the ground and untangled my legs from the sheets. It was still dark outside, more proof of how insanely early it was. I hate mornings.
I went into the bathroom and showered quickly; the warm water woke me up a bit more. When I was done, I wrapped a towel around myself and reached for a comb to work on my hair. I didn’t even know why I bothered; even if I did comb out all of the tangles, blow it dry, and straighten it, it still didn’t have any effect on my appearance.
The wide orbs on either side of my face stared back at me as I worked through the knots. I hated my eyes. They were brown—not a warm brown, or a pretty brown, but just plain brown. At least they were partially hidden behind my hair. Thick side bangs swept over the left side of my face, almost completely covering my eye with a veil of pink and blue strands. Good; the less of myself I have to show to the world, the better.
I finished combing my hair and blow-dried it as quickly as possible. Then I dashed back out into my bedroom, alarmed to see that nearly forty-five minutes had passed. I threw on the first pair of jeans I saw and my comfiest black t-shirt, along with the red ballet flats I wore so often that they were practically falling apart. Finally, I took the small black backpack my mother had purchased for me from off of the floor by the door and, with one final glance back at the room, I headed downstairs.
Upon entering the kitchen, I tensed up. My brother was seated at the kitchen table, tucking in to a bowl of Lucky Charms. He looked up when I walked in and just as promptly looked away. Why does he still hate me so much?
I blinked back the tears that were threatening to drown my eyes as they had so frequently done over the past few months and opened a couple of cabinets, finding nothing but empty space. I looked at Elias questioningly, and he ignored me, so I picked up a pencil from the counter and chucked it at him.
“What the hell? What do you want?” he demanded angrily, milk spewing from the sides of his mouth. I had caught him in between bites of cereal.
I stared pointedly at his breakfast, and he rolled his eyes.
“They’re in the cabinet next to the sink, but don’t even think about it. Touch my Lucky Charms and you die,” he threatened.
I sighed in frustration and looked for something else to eat.
Stupid bastard. It’s just cereal, good god.
After nearly ten minutes of searching, I still hadn’t found anything. I was beginning to panic, and I decided that I would just see if they offered breakfast as school. I hurried outside to make sure I caught the bus and found it odd that it wasn’t even the slightest bit chilly. It was almost February, and yet it felt like August.
I sat on the front steps and focused on the street. I didn’t know where the bus stop was, or if there even was one, but I figured that I should be able to see it. Hopefully. Elias emerged from the house a minute later and walked straight past me to stand at the edge of the driveway. I stayed seated. I had no desire to see the look in his eyes, the look of extreme loathing that’s been present every time he’s looked in my direction since the accidents.
I shook the bad thoughts from my mind as an unfriendly grumbling sound filled the air. The engine of the school bus made all sorts of puzzling noises as it pulled up two houses down. Elias walked towards it, and I followed him. I kept my eyes on the ground as I climbed up the steps into the yellow monster, only looking up to seek out an available seat. I avoided what seemed like dozens of curious stares and focused on my brother’s back as he made his way straight to the back of the bus. I did the same, but instead stopped and sat three seats in front of him. The seat was empty, so I slid over until I could rest my head on the window, and looked out through the glass to see a bit of sunshine starting to peek through the clouds.
Well, here goes nothing.
+++
12:14 P.M
Brian;;
“Jimmy, you fucker!”
Jimmy laughed and pushed past me, snagging the last available seat at our lunch table.
“Sorry, man.”
The rest of the table snorted with laughter, drawing several stares from people at nearby tables. I rolled my eyes and took a chair from the table nearest me, dragging it over to where my friends sat.
“I hate you all,” I declared. I shoved some chairs aside to make room for myself, causing Zacky and Delia, who sat on either side of me, to look at me angrily. A pair of slender arms fell softly around my neck as I sat, and I turned around to see my girlfriend, Zoe, standing behind me.
“Hello, sexy,” she cooed in my ear, nibbling at it lightly. I grabbed her face and turned her chin towards me, kissing her swiftly on the lips before pulling back and looking deeply into her grey eyes.
“You two disgust me,” Matt said, stuffing his mouth full of French fries. Zoe flipped him off as she slid into my lap, her pale blonde hair tickling my face as she did so.
“Please. You know you wish you had a girlfriend,” Stevie snapped. She flicked her shoulder-length, butterscotch colored hair out of her eyes and bit neatly into a chicken Caesar wrap. Matt tossed a French fry at her, and it hit her full on the forehead.
“Bastard!” Stevie reached for the open packet of Ranch dressing in front of her and aimed it at Matt.
“You guys, please. If I get one more detention for being involved in a food fight, my mom will kill me,” pleaded Delia, tugging nervously at one of the black curls that framed her face.
I shook my head and dug into the ham and cheese sub on my tray, letting a piece of ham dangle out of my mouth as I chewed. Zoe sighed and reached for a napkin, wiping away the ham. I sighed as well.
“I’m a handful, aren’t I?” I asked.
“Yes, but you’re my handful,” Zoe responded.
“Oooh, dirty!” exclaimed Stevie.
“Shut up,” I said, laughing.
“So, Zoe, is he really a handful?” Johnny asked, his voice thick with implications.
“Shut up,” I said again. Zoe giggled and ran her hands through my hair.
“I guess that’s for me to know and you to never find out,” she quipped. God, I love that girl.
“You’re all a bunch of sick perverts.” Delia picked at her high-protein fiber bar, licking the chocolate off of her fingers. She was a gymnast, so she ate a lot of health food crap all the time to stay in shape.
“You know you love it,” Zacky said in between bites of a pepperoni calzone. Delia blushed slightly and looked down at her food. Everyone else rolled their eyes; it was so obvious they liked each other. If only Zacky would stop being such a coward and ask her out for real already.
I laughed again, loving the feeling of being surrounded by friends. I honestly couldn’t be happier.
“Hey.”
We all looked up to see a guy standing next to the table, holding only a bag of Hot Cheetos. He looked to be around our age, seventeen or so, with brown eyes and dark brown hair that hung messily down by his shoulders.
“Hey,” Stevie said cheerfully.
She was the nicest and most social person I knew, and of course, she was the first to introduce herself to anyone new.
“Uh…can I sit here?” the guy asked.
“Of course,” Delia said. We all greeted him in various ways as he grabbed a chair and took a seat between Jimmy and Matt.
“So, what’s your name? Are you new? Where’d you move from?” Stevie asked.
“For the love of Christ, Stevie. Give the guy a chance to breathe,” I told her.
She shot me a glare before turning back to the guy.
“Uh, well, I’m Elias. Elias Reynolds. And yeah, I’m new; I just moved here from Atlanta,” he said. Elias tossed a few Hot Cheetos into his mouth.
“Atlanta? Really?” Stevie finished the last of her lunch and looked at him interestedly.
“Do you like it here so far?” Zoe asked.
Elias shrugged. “It’s hot.”
“What about the school? Are you finding it confusing? Because I’d be glad to help,” Stevie offered.
“It’s okay,” Elias said.
“What about-”
“Stevie, shut up!” Jimmy exclaimed. “You’ll have to excuse her; Stevie’s a bit nosy,” he explained to Elias.
“So, Elias, did you see any girls you like yet?” Matt asked.
“Nah,” he replied.
“Monosyllabic man strikes again!” Zoe exclaimed, quoting her favorite show, Gilmore Girls. I didn’t watch it, except for when she forced me to, and I found it rather sad that I even recognized the quote. I needed to get a life.
I glanced at the clock quickly, seeing that there were only a few minutes of lunch left. I nudged Zoe and she got off of my lap so I could stand.
“I’m going to get some ice cream,” I said.
“Ooh! Bring me some!” Johnny threw a five dollar bill at me.
“Me too!” added Zacky. I rolled my eyes.
“Do I look like the goddamned ice cream man?”
“For the moment, yes,” Zoe replied, smirking. I sighed and turned away from the table, heading for the ice cream line. Hmm, should I get mint chocolate chip or birthday cake? I wasn’t really paying attention to anything except what flavor of ice cream to get, so I was caught totally off guard when someone collided with me. I stumbled slightly, but the person went flying to the floor.
“Oh my god, I’m sorry…I wasn’t paying attention,” I rambled, reaching down to help the girl up.
She was tall for a girl, with huge chocolate brown eyes that were half-hidden by pink and blue bangs. The rest of her hair was dark brown, falling in a curtain to her shoulders. She looked absolutely mortified as she allowed me to pull her to her feet.
“Damn, I’m such a klutz. Sorry about that. You okay?” I said, nervously babbling. I hated making other people feel bad, though most of my friends seemed to have no problem with it.
The girl merely looked at me. It appeared as if she wanted to say something, but she didn’t. Instead she nodded quickly in response before turning and dashing off in the opposite direction. I stared after her, confused, before shrugging and going to get in the ice cream line.