Teresa ~

Monday mornings – every student's nightmare. They call it 'Monday Blues' for a reason, you know. And, like every other student in the world, I hate Mondays. Shit always happen on Monday.

Let's see; last Monday, I lost my favourite watch – a watch that Grandpa Samos gave to me on my 16th birthday. Two Mondays ago, Simon – my best friend – and I both tripped over the same rock and fell into a puddle of melted snow. Last summer, on a Monday, I dropped my lunch tray in the middle of the cafeteria.

Now, do you know why I hate Mondays?

Mondays are a little more bearable, now that I've got a whole crew of five to back me up. They pick me up when I fall, turn my frowns into smiles, and stand up for me when some idiot laughs at me. They were my strong and solid wall, my pillar of support.

They've never let me down before.

"Tessa!" the door to my bedroom flung open and my five-year-old sister, Izzy, stood there, hollering my name at the top of her lungs. She bounded over and jumped on top of me.

"Wake u-u-p Tessie! You have to go to school," she whined.

Geez, a girl can't get a moment of peace in this house.

"I'm up already," I said through gritted teeth, giving Izzy a sharp push. Don't get me wrong, I love my younger sister, just not in the morning.

Izzy shrieked with laughter as she slid off my blankets and onto the floor.

"Mummy, Tessie pushed me off the bed!" she screeched, running out of my room.

"Teresa Evangeline Samos! Get your ass over here!" Mum screamed.

I fucking love Mondays.

-

I trudged into the kitchen, yawning and trying to get my eyes used to the sunlight. Dad grinned at me from the top of his paper, "Monday blues?"

"Please, Dad, don't ever use the words 'Monday blues' when you're talking to me," I cringed in embarrassment. I love my parents to hell and back, but they could be a bit overenthusiastic at times.

Back in 2nd grade, I was playing the lead in my school play, Overhill Elementary's very own 'Beauty and The Beast'. I made the mistake of getting front row tickets for my parents. Halfway through the play, Dad stood up and screamed, "That's my little girl!" and Izzy started to jump up and down shouting "Tessie, Tessie! Over here!"

Needless to say, the hallway became a gauntlet for me. For a week, all everyone could talk about was how I was daddy's 'little girl'.

Thank god a new kid whose father had just landed in jail transferred to Overhill and all the attention shifted away from me and to the new kid. Everyone found it fascinating that his father had been jailed for drunk driving and nearly taking away the lives of a young woman and her unborn child.

I knew all too well what the feeling of everyone staring at you and whispering about you behind your back felt like.

I felt so sorry for him that I decided to sit with him at lunch.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is how I met Levi Alexander, my best friend since we were in 2nd grade.

Unfortunately, my happy little trip down memory lane was interrupted when a cup of milk toppled off the table and landed on my lap, upside down.

Guess who's responsible?

What did I tell you, shit always happens on a Monday.

I stood up from the table, "I'm going to change, and then I have to go, or I'll be late."

Mum's forehead creased, "Are you taking the bus to school, Tessa? I don't want you sitting with a bunch of hooligans to school."

"They are not hooligans, Mum, they're just more...wild than the rest. And no, I'm not taking the bus, I'm getting a ride from Margo."

"Thank God, I wouldn't want you to be influenced by them, they're such a bad crowd honestly, they should be expelled. It wouldn't make a difference; anyway, they don't even go to school."

The 'hooligans' my mum talked about were a bunch of kids that sat at the back of the school bus. They're your typical gang; pretty girls, hot guys, lots of smoking, fighting, and tattoos. They aren't all that bad, just a little out of control.

I went back up to my room and changed into a new pair of jeans before grabbing my bag, pulling on my shoes and leaving the house.

-

"Hey beautiful," Margo smirked at me, leaning against the door of her car. Margo was one of those people that are a little bit of good, a little bit of bad. She was the wildest among the six of us. Her name's actually Margery, but she made as swear never to call her by that name, ever.

I couldn't help the smile spreading across my face, "You always know how to brighten up my Mondays don't you."

"What can I say, it's my specialty; turning people's frowns upside down since 2001," Margo grinned, pushing herself off the car and coming over to give me a big hug. "Now come on, you were taking forever; we still need to pick Laines up."

Lorraine Yeshara, also known as Laines, my favourite half Korean, half American girl in Overhill High – also my best friend. We've all known each other since 3rd grade when we were put together for a Science Fair project. That was when we discovered that Lorraine was a Science genius.

Needless to say, we won first place in the Science Fair.

I laughed, strolling over to the passenger side, "I think Laines can wait a few minutes more, don't you think?"

Margo pulled up in front of Lorraine's house with a spray of gravel and pressed the honk, "Honk honk!" she stuck her head out of the window and hollered.

"Margo!" I cried, giggling, "Her parents are still at home."

"So what? Get your ass over here!" Margo continued to yell.

Both of us burst into fits of giggles.

"Calm your pants, ladies! I'm coming, I'm coming," Lorraine hurried down her driveway, her hair blown away from her face by the wind, a big smile on her face.

"Hey sexy," Margo winked at Lorraine, fingers tapping on the driving wheel.

Lorraine laughed, "Hey Marge! And hello to you too, Tess."

Margo honked again, sending all of us into peals of laughter. Lorraine let out a cry, "My parents! Oh my gosh, go go go! " Margo screeched and slammed her foot on the accelerator; the car zoomed ahead, throwing all of us forward.

All three of us looked at each other and started to laugh again.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe we were this close to getting caught by your parents," Margo held her index finger and thumb an inch apart. "That was terrifying, holy shit. Did you see your Dad coming down the driveway with his newspaper?"

I laughed, "I do not want to be there when he starts swinging."

"Trust me, you don't," Lorraine warned, still giggling.

-

Margo put the car into reverse and parked it in an empty lot. Students milled around, chatting and laughing; all getting ready for the first period. I lifted up my hand and shielded my eyes from the sun. God, it was bright.

"Ugh what's with the bloody sunlight," Margo complained, copying my actions.

"There, I see them!" Lorraine pointed to three guys sitting at a table.

Time for you to meet my three other best friends.

Levi Alexander, Simon Vega, and Holden Diaz; the guy half of our little group of six.

Simon looked up as we got closer and waved, "Hey guys! Over here!"

Holden whooped and Levi managed a smile.

"Hey boys, miss us?" Margo grinned, plopping down beside Simon.

Simon snorted, "I was just telling the guys how peaceful it was without Margo Kelson around."

Levi gave a small smile, "Nah, he wasn't."

He looked tired; his skin was chalky white and there were dark circles under his grayish blue eyes. His eyes were red, as though he hadn't slept for days, and his hair cheeks no longer had a pink flush.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who noticed.

Margo frowned at Levi, "Lev, is everything alright? You look...tired, and strange," she said, her forehead creasing in concern.

"Yeah, everything's fine," he mumbled, his eyes downcast.

Margo threw one arm around Levi and another around Simon, "You guys look so down, some cheering up would do you good. You guys look like you need a dose of Vitamin-Me."

Simon groaned, his head falling onto the table, "That is the lamest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. Your jokes used to be good, what happened to them now?"

She smacked him on the arm and said in mock rage, "How dare you insult my skills? And mind you, Vitamin-Me is actually a really good cure for sadness. It helps a lot of people to cheer up. All you need is Vitamin-Me and you'll feel brand new, trust me. Anyone with me?"

Simon pursed his lips and Lorraine bit hers. Holden's eyes widened and he opened his mouth, but now words came out. I was still trying to think of an appropriate response when the bell for first period rang.

"Saved by the bell," I blurted.

All five of us fled, leaving Margo behind.

-

I hope this chapter was long enough :) In this chapter, I've introduced the six main characters! I also tried to show some of their personality. Can you tell what kind of person Margo is? Or Tessa?

Who do you think will be your favourite character? I think I'm going to fall in love with Levi haha, he seems like such a quiet, reserved kid who actually cares a lot about his family and friends.

Poor Levi, his father's in jail :( I feel so bad for him, thank god Tessa was there to save the day.

BTW, Teresa is Tessa's real name, Tessa, Tessie and Tess are just her nicknames :) So if the chapter has her name at the stop (it'll look like this : Teresa ~)

This chapter is dedicated to 3pointt14 for being one of my biggest inspiration, her writing is amazing and her books are super addictive. Plus she's super nice :)

Leave some feedback in the comments so that I can improve my writing!

Remember to vote, comment, and share this story with your friends!

xx Maddie