Forget About It

I woke up suddenly, drenched in a cold sweat. I had the nightmare again. The very same one I always had where I was reliving all of the events proceeding Daniel’s death.

I got up and hurried over to my desk and opened the drawers, pulling out a sealed envelope; the exact one Mrs. Gaskarth handed me two years ago. I had yet to open it because I was scared that when I actually did, I would lose the part of Daniel I was holding onto forever. Part of me was still clinging onto the old times we shared even though I should have been moved on just like everyone else.

I shoved the envelope back in the drawer and hurried over to my closet, opening a small trunk I had hidden away in the back corner. I pulled out a bottle of vodka and took a long swig since there was absolutely no way I could make it through my first day back at Dulaney High School.

It had been two years since I moved away, and now my parents were forcing me to come back to complete my senior year with all of my ‘friends’. Although when I left, no one even tried to get in touch with me, so what friends did I really have here still?

“Have a good first day!” my father yawned as I walked out of my room and down towards my car. I rolled my eyes and gave him a wave before I was out the door. Today was going to be a long day and I didn’t need to exchange false pleasantries with my father as we were both in terrible moods early in the morning.

I knew my day was going to be terrible from the very moment I woke up. It certainly didn’t help when a silver Audi cut me off and stole my perfect parking space close to the school. My instant reaction was to honk my horn and shoot them a bird, to which the boy laughed and winked when he walked by. I watched as his crooked grin faltered once he got a good look at me, causing him to rush into the building.

It only got worse once I actually stepped foot into that hell hole so many actually liked to call school. Somehow, word had already gotten around that I was back in town, even though I had been back for seven days. I didn’t even realize it was such a big deal, but apparently it was.

“She looks anorexic.” A girl whispered loudly as she walked by with her friends.

“Look at her hair!” Another girl whispered. I just rolled my eyes and shoved right past them to get to my locker.

“I heard that at her new school, she was really easy. Maybe she’d get with me.” A guy laughed.

“Nah, man. She only blew guys for drugs from what I heard.” Another one laughed.

“Daniel was better off without her.” The first one scoffed, causing tears to well up in my eyes. I slammed my locker closed and walked straight over to the two talking across the hall.

“Look Kyle,” I sneered, “Say whatever the fuck you want about me, just like everyone else does. I really don’t give a fuck. Just leave Daniel out of it all, do you understand?” He only nodded nervously as his friend next to him snickered.

“That goes for you too, Maverick.” I glared at him, “Go tell all your little buddies too.”

“I go by Jason, you know that Marina.” He muttered and looked at his feet as Kyle burst out laughing.

“I’m warning you two.” I growled before I turned on my heel and walked into first period.

I found a random desk in the back corner of the room and immediately laid my head down on the desk. I really hoped that my class was full of kids that moved here after the incident, so they wouldn’t know me, or at least whatever they heard about me. But seeing as this day was already going terribly for me, that wouldn’t be the case.

I heard two loud voices walking into the room and laughing together as they came in. I didn’t even have to look up to recognize one of them, and apparently neither did they.

“Holy shit! Corinna, you really are here! I thought Alex was just fucking with me!” I heard Jack squeal as he ran over and took the seat next to me. I didn’t even bother to look up at the hyperactive boy next to me. That was until he started flicking my ear over and over again.

“What do you want, Jack?” I rolled my eyes at looked at him. I saw sitting next to him was the guy from this morning. It took me a moment to recognize him to be Alex, but when I did I was shocked. He looked so different from when I saw him last, granted the last time I saw him he was red-faced and teary-eyed. His hair was now shaggy and long, and while he was still lanky, he did have a good amount of muscle on his body. He was almost... hot.

“Corinna, I’m over here.” Jack waved his hand in front of my face causing me to look at him again, “You’re back!”

“No shit Sherlock, you’re really observant.” I rolled my eyes and began to lay my head back down. I probably would have fallen asleep if the teacher didn’t come in and immediately started chastising me for sleeping while he was teaching. He went straight into his lesson and I sighed as I let my eyes wander around the room at all my former friends. I felt a piece of paper hit my hand so I looked down to see Jack’s messy scrawl on it.

Why won’t you talk to me, Corinna? :(

I sighed and wrote back to him quickly. Sorry Jack, we’re not exactly “friends” anymore.

I passed it back and heard him snort until a few minutes later, he passed it back.

Why not???

I groaned and looked over at him before I raised my hand, “Um, Mr. Klinect, can I please move? I can’t see from back here.”

“Sure.” He smiled, “Come take a seat by Steven.” I nodded and picked up my stuff before I moved to the front of the room. Steven smiled at me before I began to take notes diligently, something that I never had done before.



Lunch period could not have come any slower than it did that day. I spent my entire morning avoiding Jack Barakat, which was not an easy task to accomplish considering he had the next two classes with me. Finally, I lost him in Physics where I was taking an AP level course. Jack was never bright enough to handle classes like that, so I was safe for the time being.

When the bell for lunch rang, I immediately made my way to the backside of the building and pulled out my pack of cigarettes. As soon as I lit one up and took a long drag, I saw a tall brunette standing above me with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her cherry red painted lips.

“You’re in my lunch spot.” She spat.

“Yeah, and?” I challenged her as I stood up to my full height. I was still shorter than her though, especially since she was wearing heels, but I had managed to perfect the menacing look at my old school in Richmond, Virginia so I caused her frown to falter momentarily.

I watched as her scowl faltered a little bit more until she broke out into a full out grin, “So the rumors are true, Corinna. You really are back.”

“Holy shit, is that you Adrienne?” I gasped as I dropped my half-smoked cigarette on the ground before I stepped on it, “I hardly recognized you!”

“Likewise.” She smirked as she looked me up and down, “Last time I saw you, you were dressing like Daddy’s little princess. I am loving this new rocker-esque look.” I could only help but to laugh as she took in my outfit carefully, scanning me from head to toe.

“And last time I saw you, you were dressing like a skank. I guess some things never change.” I quipped causing us both to burst out laughing.

“I’ve really missed you.” She admitted, “I’m sorry I never kept in touch.”

I shrugged and looked up into her dark brown eyes, “It’s alright, I can’t stay mad forever, you know? I’m over it.”

“Well hey, want to come and sit with my friends at lunch, we’ve always got an extra spot.” She smiled.

I shrugged and looked out at the football field where freshmen were running around the track with pained looks on their faces. I turned back to look at Adrienne and she was smiling curiously awaiting my answer.

“You don’t sit with Jack Barakat, do you?” I twisted my face into a frown.

“Oh, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do, doll.” Adrienne laughed as we walked back in the building and to the cafeteria, “A LOT.”

“So where is Candace?” I asked once we sat down at the table. I had chosen to ignore most of Adrienne’s friends for the time being until I was bored enough to make new friends around here again.

“At the popular table, just as she’s always been.” Adrienne rolled her eyes and nodded to a table where I could see a group of bleach blonde haired girls surrounded by a group of guys I found all too familiar.

“When did that stop being your crowd, Addie?” I questioned as I looked away from the group that had suddenly all burst into laughter.

“When I grew a brain,” She grunted as she took a bite out of her chicken sandwich, “but in actuality, it was probably a short time after you left. Candace pretty much took over your role as queen bitch once you were officially gone.”

“Figures.” I sighed, “Someone had to, didn’t they?” I looked back over at the populars’ table to see a pair of dark eyes boring into my own. I couldn’t help but to stare back, as Alex’s eyes were still void of any emotion, just as they had been in my dreams so many times before.

“So Adrienne, what happened with Jack and Alex?” I asked, hoping I sounded casual and not too concerned.

“They’ve both really changed, Cor. Alex more so than Jack though. After Daniel’s - well, after everything that happened – Alex disappeared for a few weeks. There were rumors flying around everywhere that the two of you ran off together, or you both killed yourselves together to be with- well, it just wasn’t a good time around here.” Adrienne paused and smiled sympathetically, “And then he came back a total arrogant douche bag that all the girls immediately fell for. There was just something about that brooding, depressed musician that girls can’t get enough of. It certainly didn’t help that he was starting to come into his looks.” She rolled her eyes at her last statement, “Especially since he knew it the whole time it was happening.”

“And what about Jack?” I asked as I looked over at him. He was standing on his chair pretending that his banana was a penis causing half of the cafeteria to laugh.

“Well, you know that Jack was also pretty close to Daniel as well. He took it… slightly different than Alex. While Alex used and abused girl after girl for sex as comfort, Jack began acting out as the class clown. He gets more detentions for his attempts to be funny than anyone I know.”

“That still sounds like the Jack I used to know.” I noted before I turned back to look at Adrienne, “What about Rian?”

“Rian is still the sweetest guy.” Adrienne gushed, “Out of all of them, he is certainly the only one to stay normal.”

“Do you still hang out with him?” I asked as I played with the spaghetti on my plate.

Adrienne shrugged, “Occasionally. Mostly on weekends or at parties, et cetera.”

“Do you still think he’s cute?” I winked as she blushed furiously, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Shut up!” She squealed, “Oh, here he comes now.”

“Hey Adrienne.” Rian blushed as he took the seat next to her. They exchanged a few words before he turned his gaze to me, “Hey Corinna.”

“It’s Cory now, I go by Cory.” I muttered without looking him in the eyes.

“Well, it’s good to have you back around here Cory.” Rian smiled. I noticed how bright his smile was now. Those braces really paid off for him freshman and sophomore year. We sat there awkwardly for a few moments just looking at each other before he cleared his throat, “Listen… uh, I’m having a party on Friday. You two should come.”

“We’ll be there.” Adrienne smiled and batted her eyelashes at Rian before I could protest. She shot me a warning glance and then smiled flirtatiously at Rian, “The both of us."