╔ ——————————————— ╗
CHAPTER ONE
"the unexplainable irritability
of jules monroe"
╚ ——————————————— ╝
(ace dengenerate)

JULES MONROE WAS pretty much done with all of this shit. 

 She was tired, for one. Every step felt like her legs being pulled through a meat grinder, and the wind was blowing in just the right direction so that her hair flew in her face and got in her mouth. The air smelled like smoke, and it was dark enough that she felt the need to look over her shoulder every second to make sure she wasn't being followed. 

 So not only was she incredibly pissed off, she was also paranoid. Oh, and cold, she forgot her hoodie on her bed. So tally up the pissed off, paranoid, tired, and cold, and you get a girl you would really not want to meet in a dark alley. 

 And coincidentally, she was currently walking through a dark alley, on her way to get her mother some cough drops at the nearest mini mart... well, technically it is more of a glorified gas station that doesn't sell gas. 

 So, rightfully, Jules was done with all of this shit. This shit being life in general. 

A gust of wind made the girl shiver, pulling her jacket tighter around her shoulders and wondering the exact science of why it got so fucking cold at night in West Valley. She was sure she could ask her best friend the reasoning, but Demetri would probably respond with a statement so damn nerdy it would make Jules want to jump off a bridge. 

 She finally exhaled as soon as he pushed open the door to the convenience store, the familiar smell of greasy food and cigarette smoke consoling her in the slighest as she shook her arms to try and regain some warmth in her limbs. She lifted a hand in greeting to the cashier, bee-lining for the medical supplies at the back of the store. 

 "Hola Jules!" 

 She turned to raise her hand in greeting at the man behind the counter, a smile tugging at her lips. "Hola, Ricardo, how's buisness?"

"Same old, same old." The man grinned as Jules walked over to the counter, leaning her elbows against the tough surface and fiddling with the wrapper on a pack of gum. "How's tu madre?" 

 She shrugged nonchulantly, "sick. Are the cough drops in the back?"

 There was a soft ringing as the door was pushed open, and Jules turned to glance over her shoulder, only to turn back to Ricardo when she saw it was just some blond man who looked like he was coming in for a six pack of beer. Ricardo gave a not so subtle eye-roll, leaning in slightly to whisper to the girl. "Ugh, white men." 

 She snorted, grabbing a pack of gum, "tell me about it." 

 As the man took her place at the counter, she made her way to the back of the shop, only managed to breath for about three seconds until someone else entered the mini mart. Jules couldn't help but roll her eyes. Three people may be the maximum capacity of this shithole, if anyone else comes inside it may burst at the seams. 

 "Dónde está el pepto-bismol?" 

 She perked her head up at the unfamiliar voice, right as a boy passed her. She turned her head, cocking an eyebrow slightly in surprise when she realized that she didn't know this boy. The fact was surprising for the simple reason that Jules knows pretty much everyone on this side of the Valley, whether it be from working at the strip mall, (well something she did until she got fired by making a rocket out of Coke and Mentos with Eli and Demetri, promptly breaking an entire case of glass displays and earning a very loud cussing out by the owner of the hardware store) or simply from just living there her entire life, it was an uncommon occurance for Jules to see an unfamiliar face. 

 And this boy was an unfamiliar face. 

 The girl quickly grabbed a small bottle of Pepto-Bismol from the shelf, turning it around in her hand for a second before looking up. "Hey!" 

 His head darted up so fast you would have thought she shot a bullet in the air. Jules held the container up, flashing the boy a grin. "Looking for this?" 

 "Uh, yeah." He chuckled nervously, his cheeks turning pink. "My grandma sent me out to get her some." 

 "I get that," Jules tossed him the container, and he caught it in two hands, proceeding to almost drop it before he finally got a grip. "My mom sent me out for cough drops." 

 The boy laughed, his tone still holding a light hint of nerves that made Jules raise an eyebrow as she turned to snag the nearest roll of cherry flavored cough drops. She scrunched her nose at the bright packaging. Her mother loves the cherry flavored cough drops, and only the cherry flavored cough drops. It's like the bittersweetness is more of a drug to the woman than the actual medicine. "I haven't seen you around," she mused nonchulantly, "are you new around here?" 

 "Yeah, um-" he took a half step closer to Jules, reading the label on the Pepto-Bismol like it was the worlds most interesting novel. "Me, my mom, and my grandma moved in a few blocks away last week." 

 "No shit, maybe I'll see you around," she stuck out her hand, and then immediately retracted it when she remembered that they were teenagers meeting in a mini mart, and shaking hands would probably be weird. She resorted to brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm Jules." 

 The boy grinned, his dimples showing as he finally made eye-contact with her, "I'm Miguel." 

 "Well it's nice to meet you, Miguel." 

 "You too, Jules."

With one last small wave, the girl spun on her heel, carefully avoiding the razor sharp edge of the metal cabinet, having slammed her elbow against it one too many times, as she walked over to the counter where the blond man was lurking. She realized upon closer inspection it was Johnny Lawrence - he lived a couple doors down from Jules, and was known notoriously between her and her mother as the man who can make you equally angry and sad at the same time.

 She gave him a small nod, staying silent and rolling her eyes to herself. The mans very presence irritated Jules to the point of homicide, so she averted her eyes and tapped her foot against the floor. 

 The man let out an exasperated sigh. "Hey, what's Spanish for 'just give me my damn slice'?"

 Jules turned her head to share a look with Miguel, before pursing her lips. "What's asshole for 'show some damn respect'?"

 The boy laughed quietly, ducking his head to hide his grin as Johnny turned to give Jules an unimpressed look, to which she replied with a sarcastic grin. Ricardo's head popped back up, shooting Jules a thankful smile before turning to Miguel. "Maldito idiota." 

 Jules licked her lips, sharing another amused look with Miguel as Johnny Lawrence furrowed his eyebrows. "What did you just say?" 

 He turned to Miguel and Jules, "what did he say?" 

 The girl shrugged. "I only speak Hebrew." 

"I know it was something bad, just tell me-" 

 "You don't wanna know." 

 "He literally didn't say anything."

"I thought you didn't speak Spanish."

"I don't, but I speak fluent asshole." 

 With one last scoff and a withering glare shot at the two teens, Johnny Lawrence snatched his manhandled slice of pizza, tossing a crumbled up five dollar bill on the counter before turning and stalking away. 

 The three proceeded to burst into laughter as Jules slid a five dollar bill across the counter, pocketing both the gum and the cough drops as the other two shared a few words in Spanish. She looked up, proceeding to scowl when her hair got in her face. She tried in vain to smooth it back, exhaling sharply as she raised her hand in a salute. "Thanks, Ricardo, I'll see you later." 

 "Bye, Miss. Monroe," the older man winked teasingly, before bending down to grab a pile of paper plates from the lower drawers. Juliana turned to Miguel, backing away slowly and praying she won't run into an aisle and knock anything over. "Are you at school or what?" 

 "Yeah, tomorrow's my first day." 

 "Cool," Jules smiled again, her face beginning to hurt from the effort, so it probably looked more like a wince. "I'll see you there." 

 Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked back out of the door. The cold air blew her hair back in an unexpected gust of wind that made her shiver. It had only gotten darker in the time she spent in the mini mart, which really wasn't helping as her usual sense of paranoia crept up on her. 

 Neither did the loud sound of laughter from a group of teenage boys making their way towards the strip mall. However, Jules's paranoia turned to annoyance when she realised who it was, internally cursing out the boys as she walked past. 

 "Hey, Monroe!" 

 The words from Kyler didn't make her stop. If anything, it made her quicken her pace. Jules figured she has had enough confrontation for one day, so she silently stuck her middle finger up over her shoulder and turned a corner to disappear from sight. 

A/N:

guys why is this chapter so short?

that i do not know, but i do know that i have had a very eventful day, so writing this kind of kept me from killing someone! i hope you enjoy besties, and please vote and comment <3

(side note: i'm pretty sure jules is my spirit animal)

(side side note: i have an english paper due friday and i have only done one page of the four... i think it's fine, i would rather write about my husband miguel, and next chapter we get to see demetri and jules being chaotic so i am more than excited for that)

lots of love!