Sacrifice Gone By

“Marnie! Jay!” George’s deep voice boomed through the tiny house. “Time to get up!”
I groaned, rolling over and pulling the duvet over my head. I looked up at my clock. It read 6 a.m.I groaned again and forced myself to stand.
I stumbled out of my door, heading for the bathroom. Jay appeared from his door, already dressed. I rolled my eyes as he smirked at my bed hair. I entered the bathroom and stared at my hair in the mirror. It was awful.
I grabbed my brush and quickly tackled my hair, then moved onto my makeup. I sighed as I applied my basics, thinking about what colour eyeshadow to wear. I opted for my very favourite Naked 2 palette, choosing some darker shades. I finished the look with a thick cat-eye and deep burgundy lipstick. I styled my hair into two braided pigtails and hurried back to my room.
I opened my closet, scanning my clothes for something suitable. I opted for burgundy jeans and a black vest, with a green flannel over the top. I pulled my combat boots onto my feet and finished the look with a choker and some black jewel earrings.
I trudged down the stairs, heading for the kitchen where I could hear noises. “Just so you both know,” I began as I approached the counter, plucking toast from the toaster, “Just because I’m dressed, doesn’t mean I’m willingly going to that hell hole.” I flopped down at the table and began to butter my toast as Jay stifled a snigger.
“You’re going.” George said, leaning against the counter and rolling his eyes. I scoffed.
“Who’s going to make me?” I quizzed, raising an eyebrow and crossing my arms. “You?” He raised his eyebrow right back and straightened up.
“Don’t try me.” He said, sounding exasperated. I know my dad had told him to treat me like anyone else, and let’s be honest, he was in charge when my dad wasn’t here. That meant that I had to do as he said as well. But he was fun to wind up.
“Why?” I asked, “What happens if I do?” I supressed a giggle this time. He sighed and smiled. Jay stood up.
“We’re going to be late.” He said, taking a slice of my toast. I batted his hand, but gave up. I threw my head back over the back of the chair and faked a wail.
“I don’t wanna go!” I whined. Jay smirked. George walked over and grabbed the top of my arm, lifting me out of the chair.
“Too bad.” He said, practically shoving me down the hallway. I stooped to grab my backpack that was sat by the door. Jay pulled out his car keys and we piled in the car.
“Straight there, straight back.” George instructed Jay, leaning through the window. Jay nodded. “And Marnie,” He added. “Try to blend in?” I laughed.
“No promises.” I said, winking as Jay pulled out of the driveway.
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We pulled up to the school and got out of the car. The building was huge, full of windows. I glanced around at some of the kids, who were all stood around in groups. The small group of girls closest to us were all dressed in designer clothing, standing next to a Barbie pink convertible.
The one who seemed to be getting all the attention from her friends noticed me looking and pulled down her Ray Bans to size me up. I scoffed and looked over to Jay, who made a ‘pfft’ sound and laughed.
“C’mon.” I said, “Let’s ditch.” I gestured towards the road that led into the school and pulled my skateboard out of the back seat of the car. Jay hesitated, but followed. He knew he’d be in big trouble if he left me alone. We walked right past Barbie and her fan club and I knocked shoulders with her as we did.
She scoffed at me and shouted, “Who does that bitch think she is?” I didn’t reply, just laughed. If she only knew, she’d keep her mouth shut.
I walked briskly down the winding path, laughing openly at all the students giving me horrified looks, as if ditching school wasn’t a common occurrence. Jay dropped his board to the ground. “Let’s find somewhere to skate.” He said, looking over his shoulder nervously. I nodded before following suit.
We skated down the road for a small ways before turning off to another road. As we followed that, we came across a small, run down skate park, consisting of a halfpipe and some stairs with a bar down the middle.
I groaned. “Well this sucks.” Jay nodded in agreement, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. He handed me one and we both sat for a while, chatting and smoking. After a while, Jay checked the time on his phone.
“We should go back.” He said, standing up. I rolled my eyes as I took his hand.
“Don’t you like to walk on the wild side, Jay?” I asked, picking up my board. He chuckled slightly and picked up his own board as we began to walk toward the road we came down.
“You know I don’t care what you do, Marnie.” He said. “But it’s my head if you get hurt.” He explained and I knew full well that my dad would genuinely have his head if I did. I sighed.
“Fine, we’ll go to school like good little nerds.” I said sarcastically. Jay looked over to me, smirking again. He narrowed his eyes and dropped his board.
“Race ya!” He dared. I smiled and dropped my board.
“You’d think one day you’d get sick of losing.” I answered.
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I crumpled up the piece of paper I had just written on and handed it to Jay who was sat next to me.
He unfolded it and chuckled. I had written something rather nasty about the teacher, who was currently droning on about something neither of us cared about.
Jay began to write something back, when the teacher appeared right over his shoulder.
"Something you want to share with the rest of the class?" She asked, plucking the scrap of paper from Jay. He looked at me, widening his eyes.
The teacher scanned the writing and widened her own eyes, which darted between me and Jay.
Jay looked at me, his hand over his mouth, trying to suppress his laughter. I smirked at the teacher and raised an eyebrow, as if daring her to challenge me.
"Detention." She said, crumpling the paper. "Both of you." Jay continued to snigger as she made her way back to the front of the class.
---------------------------------------------------
After school finished, we walked back to the car in the parking lot. We lit up a cigarette each, not caring who saw us.
The girl from the morning was standing by her barbiemobile, glaring at us. I shot her a glare right back as we stubbed out our cigarettes and hopped in the car.
When we got home, we both dumped our bags by the stairs. I began to ascend the staircase, kicking my boots off at the bottom. I reached the top and entered my bedroom. I pulled out my braids and took off my jewellery before heading back downstairs. I headed for the kitchen and grabbed some ice cream out of the freezer, then went into the living room where Jay was already on the couch channel surfing.
"Shall we watch some cartoons?" I joked, digging my spoon in the ice cream tub. Jay chuckled just as George came in, slamming the front door.
"Uh-oh." Jay said, faking fear. "We're in trouble." He lounged further into the couch.
George entered the living room and flopped in a chair, shooting us a glare.
"Damn right." He said, opening a can of lager. "I said blend in."
I sighed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.
"We did!" Jay argued. "Are you telling me you didn't skip school when you were a teenager all those centuries ago?" He said, lighting a cigarette of his own.
"Ha-ha." George replied sarcastically. He rubbed his temple.
"Fine." I groaned. "We'll be good little nerds from now on." Jay rolled his eyes.
"Good." George said, "that means doing all your homework as well, you know." He chuckled.
"Don't push it." I warned.