(UNTIL GRADUATION)

Now that summer is over and classes have started again, I must, regrettably, learn all about Lia's new crush that she had while I was away in Hawaii.

Her squeals penetrate my ears as I return to reality. "Then he asked what I was wearing, and what I was wearing wasn't pleasant, so I just said a t-shirt with no undies, and he freaked out," She giggles. "Boys are so gullible sometimes."

"Are you even paying attention, Aurora?" She asks as she slaps her long nails in my direction.

I instantly want to tell her I don't care, but I have to keep up appearances with the popular kids until graduation. Then I'll be able to start my internship at Westbrook-Attlia.

"Yeah," I tell her, rolling my eyes mentally, "I'm listening."

I observe her as she straightens her hair and checks her make-up. "Two o'clock," she says, twisting her index finger around one of the stands of the curly mess she calls her hair.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I have no idea what you're talking about?"

She groans before speaking once again, "Right in front of me," she mutters as she places the brightest smile on her face.

I turn to face the entrance of the school, and there he is, Christian Westbrook, in all his obscurity.

On the inside, he wears a white long-sleeve button-up shirt, and on the exterior, a black blazer. The pocket blazer is emblazoned with the school's crest. To complete the look, he wears black tailored trousers and a white, mustard yellow, and black striped tie, with perfectly polished black shoes.

His eyes are dark brown, and his hair is jet black with slight curls that lighten up the natural colour of his hair. His hair appears to be longer than usual, almost meeting his eyes; he has a sharp but subtle jawline, small but noticeable freckles are scattered across his face and he always wears a small beaded necklace around his neck. Even though jewellery is not allowed.

His hands remain in his pocket, and he walks past everyone, including Lia.

"God, he's such an asshole," she scoffs, and I shake my head as I laugh softly at her remarks.

"I'll talk to you later, kay?"

Just then, she turns on her heels before following behind him. I shake my head.

Another year of her trying.

When Avery finally enters, I sigh at her outfit. She wears our uniform a little differently.

Her skirt is the same length as mine—short. But not too short; her shirt falls out over her skirt while mine is tucked in, she foregoes the tie entirely and opts for white knee-high socks. She also takes off her blazer.

"Can you believe that guard stopped me?" she says in an unbelievable tone.

"You do realise you follow none of the school rules," I chuckle.

"Never give in to oppression," she mutters as she wraps her arm over my shoulders.

Avery and I have been friends before we were even born, we were destined to be best friends since our mothers met. Avery is her mom's first child, while I am my mother's second.

They both work at the same law firm and hold the same position. Senior partner.

Avery and I have experienced our first breakups, first kisses, and, most importantly, first love.

Our ways differ, yet it is what makes us; Us. There wouldn't be any Aurora without Avery, and there wouldn't be any Avery without Aurora. That's the way it has been, and that's the way it'll always be.

"I don't know how you do AP chemistry, I can't even keep up in regular Chemistry," she jokes as we stop at the Chemistry lab.

"Well, you do benefit from me being in this class because you get a free tutor," I tell her.

"Yeah, so be a good girl and get that education for us," she mutters, and I shake my head.

"I'll see you at lunch," I tell her.

I walk into the class and wave her goodbye before she leaves.

⋅───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───⋅

A tray smacks onto the lunch table, sending echoes throughout the entire cafeteria, and I'm sure a few heads swing in our direction.

"Please break it, none of us is eating," I mumble as Avery chuckles.

Lia takes a seat and shoves her bag alongside her, entirely ignoring Connor.

"Can you believe this asshole?" She asks, but no one cares to answer.

Here we go.

"I walked up to him, and before I could even say anything, he sighed and said, shut up, I've been trying with him for two years, two years. I never chase a boy for that long," she rants.

"Babes, we don't care," Avery mutters. Although I can be blunt, Avery just does it better.

Lia groans before crossing her arms across her chest.

"Christian Westbrook is an arrogant prick who sees nothing but the two steps in front of him," Avery says, "He's practically a dumb blonde,"

"How hypocritical," I joke, causing her to laugh a bit and roll her eyes.

Avery's blonde hair is always down with two braids to the sides; she has green eyes, which compliment her well, and an attitude most boys hate.

Connor slides his hand across the back of Lia's chair. "We could try to make him jealous," he says with the biggest grin on his face.

"That's absolutely disgusting," I say, forcing myself not to cringe at it.

They ignore me completely and lock lips. When I peek over to Christian's table, he isn't even looking. His head is buried in his phone, and his facial expressions indicate that he is agitated, probably at Liam, who looks as if he's pleading with him to do something.

"He's not looking," Avery grumbles, but when Lia moves away to see, Connor pulls her closer.

"I can feel the vomit surfacing in my throat," I say.

The two of them finally pull away, and Lia tries to fix her makeup. "Whatever, I'm over him,"

For now

"Connor and his friends are having a back-to-school bonfire party at the Starlight Grove," She says. "You guys are invited, plus Aidan can't stop talking about you."

"One-night stands are exactly what they are, one night," I say, rolling my eyes.

"You should've thought about that before you got in his bed, knowing of his very obsessive ways," Avery chimes in, holding onto the 'I told you so' part I know she so desperately wants to say.

"Speak of the devil," Connor mutters.

Aidan and his group of jocks make their way to the table. Aidan wedges himself between Avery and me, forcing me to roll my eyes once again.

Aidan is arrogant and has less common sense than an ant. Clearly, he doesn't comprehend what it means when I say, 'This will never happen again.'

Sleeping with him was an enormous mistake. The only mistake bigger than that is thinking he would leave me alone afterwards.

"Aurora," he says, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Aidan, if I have to tell you again that having your arm around me makes me uncomfortable, I'll have to resort to violence," I say.

He slides his hand back to himself and smiles, "I didn't know you were so feisty,"

"Trust me, you haven't seen feisty," I retort. "I think I left my phone in my locker, I actually have to go get that," I say.

"I could walk you the-,"

"You're good where you are, Aidan," I tell him.

I walk away from the table and exit the cafeteria, and I can finally breathe so I take a deep breath, but for some reason it's shaky.

God only knows how annoying Aidan is.

"We're running away from our problems, aren't we?" A voice says.

I look up to see Christian and roll my eyes.

"I keep running into them instead," I say as I walk past him.

"Tell your friend I'm not interested and she should leave me alone," he says, his voice is so proper, it irritates me.

That might as well be the reason I can't stand to speak to him for more than five minutes.

I turn to face him. "If you're such an expert at not running away from your problems, tell her that yourself," I say as I go back to my table via the cafeteria door.

Surprisingly, Aidan and his group weren't there, including Lia and Connor.

Avery looks up at me, causing me to raise a brow at her facial expressions. "You should've listened to me when I said not to," she mutters as I take a seat.

"I know, please don't remind me," I say

⋅───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───⋅

"How was school?" My brother asks.

"Terrible, I want to slap Lia in her face every day," I tell him as he flops onto my bed.

"You totally should. Didn't she sleep with that boy you like?" He asks.

"If you say, Aidan, I will knock all thirty-two teeth out of your mouth,"

I run my hand over his spiky buzzcut, which he impulsively dyed blonde. His eyes are a beautiful light green, and although he has a beard that makes him look older, he does indeed have the maturity level of a teenager.

"All of them?" He says it with a fake worried expression, and I playfully roll my eyes.

River is my brother; he's three years older than me and goes to college, but he loves to hear everything I have to say when it comes to my school. He was the popular boy when he was at Blackwood Academy, hence why I have such a high reputation to keep up.

He played hockey so well that his room is basically a storage room for his trophies,

"Where are mom and dad?" I ask.

He sighs as he pulls out his phone, "Still at the office they're supposed to pick up dinner in ten minutes,"

He types a quick message, possibly to our mom, before slipping the phone back into his pocket.

"Have you told the super cute redhead you like her?" I ask.

His cheeks quickly turn red making me chuckle, "I'm guessing that's a no,"

"Hey, don't rush me. It takes a while to walk up to a girl you admire from a distance," he says.

"Not when you're dominating the hockey team and everyone knows your name," I say, and he rolls his eyes, causing me to laugh slightly.

⋅───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───⋅

𝗼𝗼. ⁞ 𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐒!

Hey guysss, This is the end of chapter two, I hope you liked it. Chapter three is coming soon.

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