Chapter 1 - You Are Insane

serənˈdipitē/ (noun): 

The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way

“Alright girls, that’s enough for today. I’ll see you Monday after school. Have a nice weekend.” Coach Petersburg says, dismissing us from this treacherous track practice. The girls and I all disperse, heading over to the bleaches where all of our bags are arbitrarily waiting. 

I push open the little gate, walking up to the second bleacher bench where my black Nike track bag is. I pick it up, my whole body aching in protest. I sling it over my shoulder and walk back down, heading towards the parking lot.

The mildly cool March air chills me, making goosebumps form on my arms. I pull my phone from inside of my track bag, and unlock it. I look at the time, and see that it’s now 6:42 p.m. I go to my contacts, and just as I’m about to call one of my friends to come get me, I hear a honk.

I look up and I’m glad to see Walker’s car advancing towards me. It stops right beside me and I pull the door open, jumping in and tossing my bag into the backseat carelessly. Walker Davis is one of my five best friends. All of which are male. I mean, I do have friends that are girls, but I hardly ever talk to them. Girls are awful and horrible and mean. I just hang out with the guys for that reason.

“How was track practice?” Walker wonders, looking over at me as he shifts the gear back into drive and pulls out of the school lot.

“Horrible. Remind me again why I decided to go out for track this year?”

Walker laughs a hearty laugh, “I have no idea Syd.” He and our other four best friends all call me Syd rather than by my full name, which is Sydney.  “Where are you going, home?”

I nod, “Yeah, I’m tired.”

Walker nods, understandingly and drives at an accelerated speed down street, heading towards my house. About ten or fifteen minutes later, we arrive outside of it and Walker puts the car in park.

“Thanks Walk.” I say gratefully, pulling my bag from the backseat.

“No problem Syd, oh are you coming to Jake Rosenthal’s party tomorrow night?”

“Of course I am. I wouldn’t miss Jake Rosenthal’s party for the world.”

Jake Rosenthal is one of the most popular boys at our high school, and everyone knows he has the best parties ever. His dad - who apparently felt bad for running out on Jake’s mom when she was pregnant with him - lets Jake come up to his lake house a few times a year and throw a huge party. I’ve had the privilege of going to four of them, and I personally think that each one is better than the previous.

“Alright, cool.”

“Bye Walker.” I say, getting out of his and closing the door behind me. I walk up to the front door of my house, and pull my key ring from inside my bag. I unlock the door and walk in, earning a honk from Walker as he drives off. I wave at him and then go into my house, closing the door behind me. I lock it and then head upstairs, glad that seemingly no one else is home. I love being home alone. When the others are here, it’s just too hectic for my liking. By ‘the others’ I mean my mom, my older sister and my younger brother.

I trudge up the stairs to my bedroom and when I get there, I fall back onto my bed, happy to finally be home. I’m not sweating anymore as opposed to how much sweat I produced at track practice. Honestly, I don’t know why the hell I decided that I wanted to do track this year. I think it had something to do with the fact that all of the guys kept saying I was too lazy for my own good. Stupid boys.

My phone rings and I groan, unzipping my Nike bag. I flip it over, letting the contents spill all over my bed. I pick it up, and look at the display, seeing ‘Bradley’ flash over it.

“Hey Bradley,” I say cheerfully, answering the phone.

“Hey Syd.” Bradley replies.

Bradley Edwards. He’s another one of my best friends; I told you I have five. Out of all of the guys though, Bradley is the one I’ve been friends with the longest, and I guess you could say he’s the one I’m closest with. Bradley and I are next door neighbors and we were in the same kindergarten class, so I guess that’s really when we started being friends. I use to hate him, like all those years ago. I distinctively remember him stealing my apple juice and animal crackers on the third day of kindergarten right after nap time. To this day he denies it, but I know the truth. Bastard.

“What’s up?”

"I’m bored.” He moans.

“I’d invite you over, but thanks to your short circuit stupidity, you’re grounded.”

Bradley scoffs, “I’m not stupid. My mom’s just a bitch.”

“Bradley, you crashed her car, don’t you think that’s cause for bitching?”

“Um no, not really.” He replies. 

“Right, of course it wasn’t. Nothing’s ever King Bradley’s fault.” I reply.

Bradley has what one could call a ‘large ego’. I mean, he’s an attractive seventeen year old boy; he has reason to think highly of himself. Sure he may come off as a jerk, but he’s actually one of the best people I’ve ever met. Despite what you'd think, he's actually very modest and not arrogant.

“There you go Sydney.”

I laugh, “Yeah, well. Anyways, I just got home from track about ten minutes ago. I’m tired and dirty, so I’m gonna go take a shower. I’ll call you later though, okay?”

“Alright, bye Syd. Have a good shower.” He adds, and I can practically detect the smirk in his voice.

“Goodbye Bradley.” I say, hanging up the phone. Bradley’s such a perv. He’s lucky he’s my friend, or else I’d be pretty pissed at all the comments he makes.

I put my phone down, and gather up my things, not putting them back in my track bag. I zip it up, tossing it to the floor and stand up. I put my shirt and jeans that I wore before changing into my track clothes in my dirty clothes hamper, and stand up, sleepily.

I go over to my dresser and pull it open, taking out a red t-shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants. Down the leg they read, ‘Lakeside High Basketball’, and no they do not belong to me. Track is kicking my ass enough, I wouldn’t dare play basketball, it’s just too much running. Anyway, they’re Drew’s. Drew Rogers is another one of my friends.  There’s also Mikey Coleman and Tanner Foster, and they complete my group of friends. The six of us are extremely close, though it isn’t completely evident from the outside looking in.

I close the drawer and then leave my room, going to the bathroom. I close the bathroom door, and peel off my track spandex shorts, and the maroon t-shirt which reads ‘Lakeside Lionesses Track’ in gold lettering across the front. I pull off the rest of my clothing and jump into the shower, turning the hot water on. I wanted to actually take a hot bath, but on the rare occasion that I take a bath and not a shower, I use bubble bath, and apparently I don’t have any more bubble bath, so I decided to take a shower.  

After about a twenty minute shower and an intense hair washing session, I get out, wrapping my towel around me and tucking it in the corner at the top. I leave the bathroom, taking my clothes with me and turning the light out. Going back to my room, I dry myself off and then toss the towel along with my track clothes into the hamper.

I grab my hairbrush and my cell phone and lie down on my stomach on my bed. I yank my hairbrush through my wet hair a few times, getting the tangles out. I unlock my phone and then look at the time. It’s 7:21 now. My phone rings in my hands and I hit the answer button, pulling the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey, will you open the door? I can’t find my house key.” My older sister, Arianna says from the other line.

“Yeah, here I come.” I say, hanging up the phone.

My sister is nineteen and she’s in college. She doesn’t live in a dorm though at her college, she lives here at home. I don’t know why, and honestly I wish she’d moved into a dorm. I mean she’s my only sister and I love her, but she kinda annoys me like a lot of the time.

I get up from my bed, walking down the stairs to the front door. I pull it open, and my sister walks in, her on again-off again boyfriend - Jared - behind her. God I hate Jared. I hate their whole relationship. They’ve been dating on and off for like four years, that’s not even right. Not to mention I’ve always had a very strong belief that Jared is and has been cheating on her. I’m not the type to judge people by their covers or whatever, but he doesn’t even look like the type to stay faithful.

“Hey Syd.” Jared says in greeting, trotting behind my sister.

“It’s Sydney.” I remind him, locking the door behind them both. I don’t like when other people call me Syd; I don’t even really like it when the guys call me Syd all that much, but they’re so damn difficult and stubborn that they manage to get away with it.

“Oh Sydney,” Arianna says, turning to face me as if she’s suddenly remembering something. “Mom told me to tell you that she’s going to be home a little later, she has to go over to a client’s house and get some information on the new case she’s working on.” My mom is the district attorney, well one of the few in our town.

“Okay, well where’s Josh?” I wonder. Josh is my and Arianna’s seven year old brother.

“He’s staying the night over his friend’s house. Luke, I think.”

I nod, “Alright.” Then I avert my attention to Jared, “Are you staying the night?”

He nods proudly, “Yup.”

“Great,” I say sarcastically. I walk past them, going up the stairs to my room. I go in it and then close to the door behind me, pulling my fingers through my now damp hair.

My phone rings - gee I’m popular today - and I retrieve it, answering it. “Hello?”

“Hey Syd.” Mikey’s voice greets me.

“Mikey, hey. How are you feeling?” I wonder. Lately Mikey’s been missing a lot of school because he has mono. He’s had it for at least a good three weeks, so I’m guessing it’s almost over.

“I’m good, the ‘rents aren’t letting me out of the house, but I’m good.”

“Are they gonna let you come to Jake Rosenthal’s party tomorrow?”

Mikey clears his throat, and I can imagine him flicking his blonde hair out of his eyes. He’s quite fond of doing that, and sometimes Bradley and I joke around about how he’s eventually gonna get whiplash from doing it so much. “Yeah, I think so. If not I’ll just sneak out.”

"Good, you can’t miss Jake’s party.” I inform him. Mikey is definitely the mischievous one of the six of us. He’s always the one you’ll find in detention or in the principal’s office. “So what’s up? Why’d you call?”

“I’m bored, come over.”

I roll my eyes, “I’m not coming over to your house while you still have mono, which is contagious by the way.”

He scoffs, “You’re such a girl, Barker.” Mikey says, addressing me by my last name.

“Gee, just now noticing?”

Mikey laughs, his voice raspy still.  “I’ll talk to you later Syd.”      

“Bye Mikey, oh once you get better I’ll come over.”

“You better.” He says, hanging up the phone.

I put my phone down and stand up, stretching. I’m not quite ready to go to sleep, but there’s nothing else for me to do. It’s Friday, therefore I don’t need to do my homework until Sunday. The doorbell rings downstairs, and I leave my room, padding down the stairs. I don’t know who it is, my mom has a key and Arianna’s already here.

I go up to the front door, and pull it open, not asking who it is or even looking through the peephole. In front of me I see Drew and Tanner standing before me. They walk in past me, without being invited, and plop down on the couch. I close the door and turn, looking at them.

“Hey guys, what are you two doing here?”

“It’s Friday, no one cool is having a party and so here we are.” Drew explains.

Tanner grabs the remote and turns the television on, skyrocketing the volume. “You just gonna stand there?” He wonders, looking at me.

“Guess not.” I reply, sitting down in between the two of them on the couch.

Tanner flicks through the channels, and stops on some football game. I’m not really a big football watcher, I mean usually the guys all come over here on Super Bowl Sunday and watch it, and I kinda feel inclined to watch it with them. He turns the volume to the maximum level, deafening my ears. Someone gets a touchdown and him and Drew some obnoxious cheering over my head, slapping hands.

“Hey, you know what you should do?” Drew shouts at me over the sound of the television.

“What?” I yell back.

“Order some pizza, I’m starving.”

I hold out my hand, waiting for him to give me the money. He looks at it and then back at me, “What?”

“I don’t have any money.” I tell him.

“What?”

“I don’t have any money.” I repeat.

“What?!” Drew yells, not able to hear me over the sound of the TV.

“Turn it down!” Arianna shouts, coming down the stairs, putting her hand son her hips.

Tanner looks over at her, his face going a shade red. “Sorry Arianna,” He says apologetically, and then turning the TV down to a normal volume. Tanner has never confirmed nor denied it, but I think he’s always had a slight crush on Arianna. I’ve known Tanner nearly as long as I’ve known Bradley. Tanner and I met fourth grade, and he soon became best friends with Bradley and me.

“Boys.” She mutters, shaking her head as she goes back up the stairs.

“Okay,” Drew says, looking at me. “Run that by me one more time, Syd.”

“I said, I don’t have any money.”

He gives me an incredulous look. “Bullshit, you always have money, Sydney.” 

I roll my eyes, “No I don’t. I don’t even have a job, where would I get this money?”

"I don’t know, your mom?”

“Yeah, she gives me money.” I say sarcastically. I mean my mom isn’t mean or anything, she just doesn’t agree with my belief that she should give me money, an allowance if you will. She says, and I quote, “You’re seventeen years old, you can get a job and make your own money.” I know crazy right? Mothers these days. In truth, I do have money but it’s because I occasionally babysit and I save the money.

“Fine,” Drew groans, lifting his lower body, and pulling his wallet out of his pocket and opening it. “Here.” He says, handing me a fifty dollar bill.

I gape at him, taking the money from him, “And you tried to take my money, you should be ashamed. Why so much? Pizza’s only like $15.”

“Yeah, one pizza.” He corrects. “Get as many as $50 buys. I’m starved.” Drew tells me, running his hand through his newly short blonde hair. He just recently got a haircut - it was about time. His hair was getting ridiculously long.

“You are insane.” I tell him, pulling my phone from my pocket. I hit Speed Dial #9, which is Pizza Hut. I call the place and the guy taking the answer, not at first believing me when I tell him that I want three large pizzas and a two liter bottle of Sprite.

If you’re wondering, I’ve known Drew the least amount of time, but still a long time. I met him in the eighth grade when he moved here to town and started at our middle school. By that time, Bradley, Tanner, Mikey, Walker and I had already been friends. Drew promptly joined the school basketball team which Mikey was on and the two became friends, resulting in the rest of us to befriend him.

-------

Twenty minutes later the doorbell rings and I get up, going to answer it. It’s a boy who I recognize from school. He isn’t a senior though like my friends and I are, so I’ve never really talked to him, but I know he’s a junior, because I’ve seen him around the sector a few times. Jeremy? Jonathan? Joseph? Something beginning with a ‘J’.

“$48.52.” He says to me, handing me the pizza and then the drink. I take them both from him and then give him the fifty dollar bill. “You want the change?” He wonders.

It’s only like a dollar and something, “No, it’s okay. Thanks.” He thanks me and then turns on his heel, walking down the driveway. I close the door and walk back over to the couch, splatting down in between Tanner and Drew, dropping the drink into Tanner’s lap.

“Oh shit, Syd.” Drew whines, inhaling sharply.

“What’s wrong?”

“You got a little too close to Drew Junior.”

I roll my eyes and Tanner laughs, “My apologies.”

“He forgives you.” Drew says, chuckling.

I shake my head, at the fact that Drew is referring to his penis as a person. Opening the pizza box and taking a bite out the steaming hot pizza, shrieking when it burns my tongue. “It’s fresh, hot pizza, smart one.” Tanner says, taking the pizza box from me.

I swallow the pizza bite, it scowling my throat on the way down. “You’re one to talk Mr. 1.3 GPA last year.”

“You know what, shut up.” He says, laughing. “It’s not my fault every one of my teachers last year hated me.”

“I honestly don’t know why I put up with you five idiots.” I tell him.

“Because you looooove us.” Tanner says, drawing out the word ‘love’.

“Yeah, sure I do.”

“You know you do, it’s relationships where you have an inability to love.” Tanner explains.

That’s only mildly true. It’s not that I have the inability to love, because I don’t. I do love; it’s just that I don’t fall in love in relationships that often, but when I do, I fall hard. Like, really hard. Mikey says that I have ‘commitment issues’. That’s somewhat true I guess. I mean, my longest relationship ever has been like five months. Granted I’ve only had about four boyfriends in my entire lifetime.

"Shut up, I do love.”

“So you do love us, you just admitted it.” Drew says, chuckling as he intently focuses on the football game.

“Well you guys are two of my five best friends; I kinda have no choice but to love you, right?” I say, poking them both in their sides.

Yeah, all five of my best friends really get on my nerves at times - and by times I mean, mostly all the time - but they’re pretty incredible guys. 

Author's Note: Hey guys, so this is the story I decided to do first from 'Upcoming Stories'. It was in second place behind The Pregnancy Project, so yeah. I hope you guys like this chapter! Check out that picture!