Status: finished by the end of september~
Alex Gaskarth Must Die
TWO
Finally first and second period had ended, and with it Alex Gaskarth and his one friend with the weird hair. They were together in chemistry and had been laughing and attempting to throw things down somebody’s shirt- the girl next to me, in fact. Naturally, their aim wasn’t the greatest and I got hit too. ‘How were your first two periods, milady?’ Robin Butler says as I walk out of chemistry. I grin and hug her, stealing her sunglasses in the process. She rolls her eyes but doesn’t comment; I always do this.
‘Absolute shit,’ I say as we stop at my locker. I twirl my combination into it as I bitch about Gaskarth and his friend- ‘What’s his name? Zack, or something?’
‘Jack Barakat, Rebecca,’ she says with an eye-roll. ‘He’s only been your neighbour since you were thirteen.’
‘Living six houses down does not make him my neighbour,’ I remind her as I grab my math binder. ‘Can’t help it if I’m not good with names.’
‘Your memory does suck,’ she relents. ‘I just want to punch you and force you to have photographic memory sometimes.’
‘You can settle for slamming my locker shut,’ I offer, and she obliges with a bang. A few stares come, but not many; locker slams were common in Dulaney, hormonal bitches that we were.
‘Shame it’s not your face,’ she shoots back.
‘Sorry you can’t do that, Butler.’
‘I apologise master, I’ll be polishing your shoes with my spit now so I don’t get fired.’ We look at each other, deadpan for a couple more seconds and then burst into laughter.
‘We’re so cool,’ I laugh as we walk into math class.
‘The coolest. I still don’t understand why we aren’t the most popular girls in school.’ She flips her hair over her shoulder and makes a mock duck face, but quickly goes serious as the teacher walks in. Robin’s trying to get into Yale to major in Engineering or something equally as boring and smart, so she’s trying incredibly hard to stay on top of her game for senior year. More than normal, and that was saying a lot.
Robin and I had been best friends since seventh grade- we’d met when we both moved into town and were too shy to introduce ourselves to anyone else. Nothing's much changed since then, to be honest. I’m still as shitty with new people as ever, and she just doesn’t have any interest in them at all. She's pretty much the stereotypical ginger; all red hair the colour of fire and pale skin that burns after five minutes in the sun and, of course, no soul. She's the most sarcastic and studious person I know and despite being 5'11, sucks at sports.
I, on the other hand, run a mile every day and three when I have the time. It’s not so much I love running, just that running gives me an excuse to plug in music and listen for half an hour without interruption. I’m a little taller than average, hovering between 5’8 and 5’9, and I’m rather plain-looking, if I do say so myself, with curly brown hair and blue-grey eyes. There’s not much that’s special about my physical appearance, but I have this scar on my arm that looks kind of like a sword if you squint, so that’s really it as far as looking unique goes.
‘Jesus, get some food in me now,’ I complain to Robin as we meet outside the cafeteria. She rolls her eyes and pats me on the head, already heading towards our table where our other friends are waiting.
‘Last day of the first week of school!’ Jenny chirps happily, flinging her arms up in greeting.
‘Fuck yess,’ Robin groans, plopping herself down happily next to her. I laugh and hug Jennifer, sliding in on the other side and taking out my Nutella sandwich.
‘Bad day?’ Elise says, grimacing sympathetically at her.
‘Only the first week of Calculua and we’ve already got a test next week,’ Robin explains.
‘Ha- I’ve got Leuchars,’ I gloat, smiling smugly. Mr Leuchars and Mr Grenstead were the two teachers for Calculus and they were notorious for their ongoing rivalry. It wasn’t anything serious - more of a joke, really, since the two were the best of friends - but they had horrifyingly different teaching strategies. Mr Grenstead pushed his class to the brink of death, while Mr Leuchars gave us donuts when we did well on tests. Grenstead had a quiz every Monday and Friday; Leuchars took us all out to the pier every day on the last week of school. Needless to say, I planned to rub it in Robin’s face as much as possible.
Olivia giggles into her rice and Jennifer raises her hand for a high-five. ‘Bitches,’ Robin says, glaring at us all. ‘Deserting me already?’
‘We love you,’ I coo. ‘We keep you around because you’re so polite and keep us drama-free.’
‘Speaking of drama,’ Jenny puts in, ‘I heard you have basically every class with Gaskarth this year?’
‘Oh, do tell,’ Elise prods.
I roll my eyes and cross my arms, huffing around my mouthful of bread and chocolate-nutty goodness. ‘There’s nothing to tell,’ I say once I’ve swallowed. ‘He’s in my English class-’
‘How did he even get into AP English?’ says Robin.
‘-and his best friend, what’s-his-name-’
‘Jack,’ the three of them say together.
‘-is in my Science class, and then basically the only class I don’t have with one of them is French. And Calculus.’
‘Wow,’ Jenny says with a whistle.
‘Somebody’s been hijacking your schedule for the past four years,’ Elise says.
‘And the seating schedule? I don’t think so,’ I laugh. ‘No big deal, we’re out of here in a year anyway.’ I grin and change the subject. ‘Hey, you guys hear about the new girl?’
- - -
The new girl turns out to be 5’11, brunette, and completely gorgeous. I have to admit, I’m jealous. Although, one thing I’m not jealous of is the way Alex Gaskarth is shamelessly hitting on her in front of me- they’re cute and all, but Jesus, I see him do this to a girl practically every period we have together. She doesn’t deserve that; nobody does.
‘See you tomorrow then?’ he asks, twirling a lock of her hair around his finger.
Zoe Garrett nods, a blush creeping into her cheeks. ‘Okay.’
He grins, winks at her, and leaves the room.
No sooner than ten minutes after this exchange, our ever so interesting lecture on the merits of acoustic guitars vs. electric guitars (music theory was a class most took just so they could text or sleep for an hour- examples, Brittany the cheerleader, 90% of the class) is cut short by the door being flung open with a bang.
‘I cannot believe you!’ somebody shrieks. The class is deathly quiet now, and Mr Quick is looking at us in amusement. Or, more accurately, looking at Lauren Dufresne, who’s just stormed in and is now ranting to Zoe, the new girl.
‘You’re not even a day through Dulaney and you’re already stealing my boyfriend?’ she screams. ‘Alex is mine, and if you dare even set a finger on him, you will be dead,’ she threatens. Lauren’s basically known as the smartest girl in school, although she’s equally famous for being incredibly anal and controlling. Her friends are mostly just kids who follow her around like sheep and do whatever.
‘I-I’m-I’m sorry,’ Zoe says, the color quickly rising to her face. ‘I didn’t-’
‘Know? Please.’ Lauren glares at Zoe. ‘If the whole-’
‘Wait, are you guys talking about Alex Gaskarth?’ Brittany says, frowning.
‘Yeah, my boyfriend.’ Lauren says pointedly. The expression on Brittany’s face couldn’t change fast enough. She gets up quickly and starts walking over and fuck, I can’t move my chair away from them fast enough.
‘Your boyfriend? Mine, I think,’ Brittany says cooly.
‘Ooh, catfight,’ somebody whispers loudly, and we all snicker awkwardly.
‘Mine,’ Lauren states slowly. ‘I have a date with him today at seven.’
‘I have one with him at four!’ Brittany shrieks.
‘Tomorrow at one?’ Zoe says timidly.
There’s a moment of silence before all hell breaks loose- or rather, two teenage girls with major, major hormonal problems. ‘You bitch!’ Lauren screams at the same time Brittany yells, ‘He’s mine!’ and they both hurl themselves at each other. Zoe squeaks a little in terror before they both turn on her as well and it’s all she can do to put her hands over her face and stop her eyes from getting gouged out.
I start forward to try and push them apart and I’ve got a hand on Lauren and Brittany, holding them apart before Mr Quick finally, finally speaks up. ‘Kids! Inappropriate behaviour, and the four of you will be serving a one hour detention after school today!’ he booms. ‘Now, Lauren, out. Brittany, Rebecca, back to your seats. And Zoe, I sure as hell hope this isn’t how you’re going to be at this school.’ He glares at us all and gives us a stern look and ugh, are you fucking kidding me? Brittany huffs and returns to her seat in the back of the room and I plop back down in my chair as Lauren leaves. So much for being a good person and helping stop a fight, I guess.
- - -
Robin B. to Rebecca H. at 3:30PM
dude, where are you? waiting for you at the car…
Rebecca H. to Robin B. at 3:30PM
was just about to txt you about that-
got in detention for stopping a fight, you’re gonna have to hitchhike today. sorry.
Robin B. to Rebecca H. at 3:30PM
um, did i just hear ‘stop a fight’??
deets, now please.
Rebecca H. to Robin B. at 3:31PM
music theory w/ brittany and the new girl, zoe. lauren storms in. guess what’s next.
Robin B. to Rebecca H. at 3:31PM
oooooooooooooo
cat fight
moremoremoreplease
Rebecca H. to Robin B. at 3:32PM
oh my god robin, shameless much?
l and b get in a classic catfight, z’s in the middle.
i jump in bc i’m a nice person and mr quick puts us all in detention
Robin B. to Rebecca H. at 3:33PM
niceee
so now it’s just you, brittany, zoe, and lauren for the next hour and a half?
Rebecca H. to Robin B. at 3:33PM
fun. i am having a blast.
the teacher is asleep and they are having a ‘whisper’ argument
Robin B. to Rebecca H. at 3:33PM
jesus. wonder if gaskarth’s heard about this yet
Rebecca H. to Robin B. at 3:34PM
probably will soon, if he hasn’t already. gtg now too, get to work on that calculus hw i know you haven't done.
i’ll see you tomorrow
Robin B. to Rebecca H. at 3:34PM
YOU MUST TELL ME EVERRRRYYTHINGGG
Rebecca H. to Robin B. at 3:35PM
why am i friends with you
why
- - -
‘Absolute shit,’ I say as we stop at my locker. I twirl my combination into it as I bitch about Gaskarth and his friend- ‘What’s his name? Zack, or something?’
‘Jack Barakat, Rebecca,’ she says with an eye-roll. ‘He’s only been your neighbour since you were thirteen.’
‘Living six houses down does not make him my neighbour,’ I remind her as I grab my math binder. ‘Can’t help it if I’m not good with names.’
‘Your memory does suck,’ she relents. ‘I just want to punch you and force you to have photographic memory sometimes.’
‘You can settle for slamming my locker shut,’ I offer, and she obliges with a bang. A few stares come, but not many; locker slams were common in Dulaney, hormonal bitches that we were.
‘Shame it’s not your face,’ she shoots back.
‘Sorry you can’t do that, Butler.’
‘I apologise master, I’ll be polishing your shoes with my spit now so I don’t get fired.’ We look at each other, deadpan for a couple more seconds and then burst into laughter.
‘We’re so cool,’ I laugh as we walk into math class.
‘The coolest. I still don’t understand why we aren’t the most popular girls in school.’ She flips her hair over her shoulder and makes a mock duck face, but quickly goes serious as the teacher walks in. Robin’s trying to get into Yale to major in Engineering or something equally as boring and smart, so she’s trying incredibly hard to stay on top of her game for senior year. More than normal, and that was saying a lot.
Robin and I had been best friends since seventh grade- we’d met when we both moved into town and were too shy to introduce ourselves to anyone else. Nothing's much changed since then, to be honest. I’m still as shitty with new people as ever, and she just doesn’t have any interest in them at all. She's pretty much the stereotypical ginger; all red hair the colour of fire and pale skin that burns after five minutes in the sun and, of course, no soul. She's the most sarcastic and studious person I know and despite being 5'11, sucks at sports.
I, on the other hand, run a mile every day and three when I have the time. It’s not so much I love running, just that running gives me an excuse to plug in music and listen for half an hour without interruption. I’m a little taller than average, hovering between 5’8 and 5’9, and I’m rather plain-looking, if I do say so myself, with curly brown hair and blue-grey eyes. There’s not much that’s special about my physical appearance, but I have this scar on my arm that looks kind of like a sword if you squint, so that’s really it as far as looking unique goes.
‘Jesus, get some food in me now,’ I complain to Robin as we meet outside the cafeteria. She rolls her eyes and pats me on the head, already heading towards our table where our other friends are waiting.
‘Last day of the first week of school!’ Jenny chirps happily, flinging her arms up in greeting.
‘Fuck yess,’ Robin groans, plopping herself down happily next to her. I laugh and hug Jennifer, sliding in on the other side and taking out my Nutella sandwich.
‘Bad day?’ Elise says, grimacing sympathetically at her.
‘Only the first week of Calculua and we’ve already got a test next week,’ Robin explains.
‘Ha- I’ve got Leuchars,’ I gloat, smiling smugly. Mr Leuchars and Mr Grenstead were the two teachers for Calculus and they were notorious for their ongoing rivalry. It wasn’t anything serious - more of a joke, really, since the two were the best of friends - but they had horrifyingly different teaching strategies. Mr Grenstead pushed his class to the brink of death, while Mr Leuchars gave us donuts when we did well on tests. Grenstead had a quiz every Monday and Friday; Leuchars took us all out to the pier every day on the last week of school. Needless to say, I planned to rub it in Robin’s face as much as possible.
Olivia giggles into her rice and Jennifer raises her hand for a high-five. ‘Bitches,’ Robin says, glaring at us all. ‘Deserting me already?’
‘We love you,’ I coo. ‘We keep you around because you’re so polite and keep us drama-free.’
‘Speaking of drama,’ Jenny puts in, ‘I heard you have basically every class with Gaskarth this year?’
‘Oh, do tell,’ Elise prods.
I roll my eyes and cross my arms, huffing around my mouthful of bread and chocolate-nutty goodness. ‘There’s nothing to tell,’ I say once I’ve swallowed. ‘He’s in my English class-’
‘How did he even get into AP English?’ says Robin.
‘-and his best friend, what’s-his-name-’
‘Jack,’ the three of them say together.
‘-is in my Science class, and then basically the only class I don’t have with one of them is French. And Calculus.’
‘Wow,’ Jenny says with a whistle.
‘Somebody’s been hijacking your schedule for the past four years,’ Elise says.
‘And the seating schedule? I don’t think so,’ I laugh. ‘No big deal, we’re out of here in a year anyway.’ I grin and change the subject. ‘Hey, you guys hear about the new girl?’
- - -
The new girl turns out to be 5’11, brunette, and completely gorgeous. I have to admit, I’m jealous. Although, one thing I’m not jealous of is the way Alex Gaskarth is shamelessly hitting on her in front of me- they’re cute and all, but Jesus, I see him do this to a girl practically every period we have together. She doesn’t deserve that; nobody does.
‘See you tomorrow then?’ he asks, twirling a lock of her hair around his finger.
Zoe Garrett nods, a blush creeping into her cheeks. ‘Okay.’
He grins, winks at her, and leaves the room.
No sooner than ten minutes after this exchange, our ever so interesting lecture on the merits of acoustic guitars vs. electric guitars (music theory was a class most took just so they could text or sleep for an hour- examples, Brittany the cheerleader, 90% of the class) is cut short by the door being flung open with a bang.
‘I cannot believe you!’ somebody shrieks. The class is deathly quiet now, and Mr Quick is looking at us in amusement. Or, more accurately, looking at Lauren Dufresne, who’s just stormed in and is now ranting to Zoe, the new girl.
‘You’re not even a day through Dulaney and you’re already stealing my boyfriend?’ she screams. ‘Alex is mine, and if you dare even set a finger on him, you will be dead,’ she threatens. Lauren’s basically known as the smartest girl in school, although she’s equally famous for being incredibly anal and controlling. Her friends are mostly just kids who follow her around like sheep and do whatever.
‘I-I’m-I’m sorry,’ Zoe says, the color quickly rising to her face. ‘I didn’t-’
‘Know? Please.’ Lauren glares at Zoe. ‘If the whole-’
‘Wait, are you guys talking about Alex Gaskarth?’ Brittany says, frowning.
‘Yeah, my boyfriend.’ Lauren says pointedly. The expression on Brittany’s face couldn’t change fast enough. She gets up quickly and starts walking over and fuck, I can’t move my chair away from them fast enough.
‘Your boyfriend? Mine, I think,’ Brittany says cooly.
‘Ooh, catfight,’ somebody whispers loudly, and we all snicker awkwardly.
‘Mine,’ Lauren states slowly. ‘I have a date with him today at seven.’
‘I have one with him at four!’ Brittany shrieks.
‘Tomorrow at one?’ Zoe says timidly.
There’s a moment of silence before all hell breaks loose- or rather, two teenage girls with major, major hormonal problems. ‘You bitch!’ Lauren screams at the same time Brittany yells, ‘He’s mine!’ and they both hurl themselves at each other. Zoe squeaks a little in terror before they both turn on her as well and it’s all she can do to put her hands over her face and stop her eyes from getting gouged out.
I start forward to try and push them apart and I’ve got a hand on Lauren and Brittany, holding them apart before Mr Quick finally, finally speaks up. ‘Kids! Inappropriate behaviour, and the four of you will be serving a one hour detention after school today!’ he booms. ‘Now, Lauren, out. Brittany, Rebecca, back to your seats. And Zoe, I sure as hell hope this isn’t how you’re going to be at this school.’ He glares at us all and gives us a stern look and ugh, are you fucking kidding me? Brittany huffs and returns to her seat in the back of the room and I plop back down in my chair as Lauren leaves. So much for being a good person and helping stop a fight, I guess.
- - -
Robin B. to Rebecca H. at 3:30PM
dude, where are you? waiting for you at the car…
Rebecca H. to Robin B. at 3:30PM
was just about to txt you about that-
got in detention for stopping a fight, you’re gonna have to hitchhike today. sorry.
Robin B. to Rebecca H. at 3:30PM
um, did i just hear ‘stop a fight’??
deets, now please.
Rebecca H. to Robin B. at 3:31PM
music theory w/ brittany and the new girl, zoe. lauren storms in. guess what’s next.
Robin B. to Rebecca H. at 3:31PM
oooooooooooooo
cat fight
moremoremoreplease
Rebecca H. to Robin B. at 3:32PM
oh my god robin, shameless much?
l and b get in a classic catfight, z’s in the middle.
i jump in bc i’m a nice person and mr quick puts us all in detention
Robin B. to Rebecca H. at 3:33PM
niceee
so now it’s just you, brittany, zoe, and lauren for the next hour and a half?
Rebecca H. to Robin B. at 3:33PM
fun. i am having a blast.
the teacher is asleep and they are having a ‘whisper’ argument
Robin B. to Rebecca H. at 3:33PM
jesus. wonder if gaskarth’s heard about this yet
Rebecca H. to Robin B. at 3:34PM
probably will soon, if he hasn’t already. gtg now too, get to work on that calculus hw i know you haven't done.
i’ll see you tomorrow
Robin B. to Rebecca H. at 3:34PM
YOU MUST TELL ME EVERRRRYYTHINGGG
Rebecca H. to Robin B. at 3:35PM
why am i friends with you
why
- - -
♠ ♠ ♠
desperately desperately hoping somebody - anybody! - is reading this story. feedback, and i'll love you forever and never ever even dream of finding somebody better. :)-x, max.