OCTOBER 16th

7:43 AM

"LYNN... LYNN!"

I rolled on my bed and slowly opened my eyes, as my mom's yelling voice stopped, I got to my phone under the pillow to check the time. My mom always told me to stop placing it there, saying something along the lines of it causing cancer. As I opened my phone, the light from it caused me to scrunch up my face. But that quickly went away as I realized the time.

"7:43, I'm fucked." I said under my breath.

Today was Monday, which meant that I had a French class at exactly... 8:00 AM. I quickly threw my warm covers off me, which caused me to get some shivers and so I groaned. I ran to my really, not organized closet, I quickly threw on a decent outfit which consisted of baggy light-colored jeans, a simple white crop top, a warm puffer jacket, and some white Jordans.

I quickly made my way into my bathroom which was in the farther corner of my room, quickly washing my face, brushing my teeth, and styling my hair. I put on some light makeup because I do look like a ghost without it. Blame my anemia.

I ran down the stairs to find my mom watching TV with a croissant in her hands. I guessed that my dad had already left for work, like every weekday. And that my brother, James, was still asleep.

"Late again, are we?" she said in a teasing tone.

"Yes, mama..." I replied as I approached her.

I kissed her goodbye, which made her smile.

My relationship with Mom has always been amazing, I love her and I'm proud to be her daughter, she has always been the cool mom, and even my friends love her.

I got to the entrance; I took my bag from the handle on which I left it on Sunday. I threw it on my back and then ran out of the house, closing the door behind me. Only to stop again.

My cat was lying on the porch, I named him Theo, the name of a French YouTuber that I just adore. I gave him some pets, then ran to my school. Our house is surprisingly really close to that hell hole, JUST a 15-minute walk.

As I ran there, I couldn't stop thinking about what Ms. Alice would do to me. She was the French teacher, and she was fucking crazy, but I know she secretly likes me, I'm the best in her class after all. I've always hated French, but it's a language that my parents use a lot, which made me a French talker as well. They're not French but they both studied in Toulouse and met there. Yes, my parents are college sweethearts, isn't that cute?

I finally got to the school gates, I ran in not daring to look at the huge clock on top of the building, the hallways, which are usually full, were too empty for my taste.

I suddenly bumped into some stupid blind bitch guy, only to realize that it's no other than, Diego, my stupid cousin, he had this stupid teasing smirk on his face, and I hated it. Me and that motherfucker are really close, I considered him as a brother. He was older than me by a year, but he was still in high school because he somehow failed a primary school class. I find him crazy sometimes, but he has always been there for me when I needed him. And even though he was family I also considered him as a friend.

"What the hell Diego!?" I whispered angrily, not wanting us to get in trouble "Look where you're going dumbass" I continued.

"Sorry, Lily, I'm colorblind" He whispered back then continued his way.

I mumbled some cuss words as I went back to running. I reach my classroom door. And before I knocked, I peeked at my phone's screen. The time read '8:13 AM', I'm fucked. Without warning the door in front of me bursts open, to show a very angry woman. She took my arm and dragged me in.

I looked at my classmates, Nayla, my best friend was there sitting in the second row on the right, she saved me the seat next to hers.

I smiled at her; she looked pretty amused by the show me and Alicia were creating. Nayla has always been really pretty, her curly long shiny black hair is always PERFECT, and the round glasses she wore matched her face perfectly. I really am jealous of her boyfriend, Sebastien, who apparently wasn't coming today.

"Pourquoi êtes-vous en retard mademoiselle?" she basically asked why I was late, in French...

"Traffic sorry ma'am that'll never happen again" I smiled cheekily

She looked up and down at me with a frown on her face, and then she nodded, meaning I could sit down. I made my way next to Nounou, I loved this nickname for her, it matched her perfectly. I sat and put my bag on the floor. Her notebooks and papers were, as always, all over the table.

"Should I take some notes for you as well?" she asked without looking at me.

I smiled as I replied: "Yes please"

She nodded as I put my head on the table and just stared at her, I wasn't planning to pay attention to what the teacher was saying that day.

............................................

"BITCH WAKE UP!"

"Huh?" I woke up suddenly to see Nayla's angry face. "I slept?" I must have dozed off.

"It rang 10 MINUTES ago!" she said angrily.

I groaned as I mentally decided to skip math class which was my next one.

"I'm skipping," I said and then she replied "I was waiting for you to say that"

I laughed knowing how good of a student she was. As we got out of class, waiting at the door was Diego. I didn't notice him at first, which made him hit the back of my head. I turned around furious, and he smiled innocently.

"I'm hungryyy," he said. Annoyingly.

"What am I supposed to do about that" I replied.

Nayla started laughing loudly. And then she said directing her gaze to my cousin: "So we're skipping, do you wanna come along?" She then held my hand and started swinging it.

I always felt comfortable around my little friend group. I just felt like they always understood me.

"Duh you know me four eyes, I'd rather dance naked in the middle of the cafeteria than attend a Monday class" Diego replied to Nounou's previous question.

"No wonder all teachers hate you..." I said looking at him directly in his eyes.

"Ugh... Shut your big mouth, and by the way, where's my boyfriend?" The question was for Nayla, Diego always called HER boyfriend HIS boyfriend, I mean they are pretty close, and it's funny hearing Diego talking about another guy like that, everyone knew he was straight trust me, but I wouldn't mind having an unstraight cousin.

"He said he was going to the doctor with his little brother..."

They continued their conversation about Seb as I got lost in my thoughts. We were heading to the football field where we usually sat at the bleachers, it's always empty on Mondays, the players never train on this day, and nobody else heads to the field when there isn't a game.

As we reached the big doors of the school building, the cold breeze hit my face, "I miss summer so much.." Diego complained.

I nodded agreeing with him, winter was overrated for sure.

As we reached the grass field, Diego stopped us and pointed to two guys sitting in our spot, one holding what looked like a cigarette.

"Who are they?" Nayla asked squinting her eyes, trying to see their faces.

"Ugh this is so annoying," Diego said loudly, which made the two guys look at us.

I kicked his foot "You're fucking loud." I said also looking at the two.

I can't stop wondering about how stupid you got to be to smoke on the school grounds, it could get you in so much trouble. "Let's just go and sit they can't tell us not to, right?" I said in a sure tone.

Both my companions agreed. We sat on the bleachers opposite them, and we tried to just ignore them. But that was hard knowing that they were staring at our souls.

"What the hell are they doing here anyway?" Diego asked.

I then put my head down on Nounou's lap as she played with my hair, she and Diego then started talking about randoms, with me making some comments from time to another. I never knew a lot about people in our school, it just was not that interesting to me.

Diego then looked at me after a minute of silence, "Do you have a boyfriend yet?"

I shot up and yelled, "WHAT. NO?" which made me look at where the two guys previously sat, they weren't there anymore.

Diego observed me, making sure that I wasn't lying. Then said "Well if you ever do you gotta tell me"

"What if I don't want to" I replied.

Nayla and Diego both looked at me then and said simultaneously "So you do have a boyfriend"

"NO, I DON'T..." I yelled closing my eyes. I could feel the embarrassment reaching my cheeks.

They laughed and then continued their conversation, I laid back down on Nayla, and then we talked and laughed until lunchtime came by.

...........................................

Diego was yelling the word 'lunch' repeatedly and I couldn't blame him, I knew how much he loved food. I slowly got up and stretched, I already started to miss my house.

On our way to the cafeteria, Diego opened his mouth.

"What did one butt cheek say to the other?" he said obviously holding in his laughter.

Me and Nayla look at each other and then at him.

"Together we can stop this crap" he started laughing his teeth off and I laughed at how lame it was. Nayla wasn't amused though.

"c'mon it's funny," he said trying to breathe.

"no," she said then continued without us only to laugh mid-way.

We caught up to her and continued to laugh at some other jokes Diego told. As we reached the massive doors that led to the most chaotic place in this school, Diego pushed the door with his back, Saying something about germs. I hated the canteen's food, so with time we got used to me going to save a table and waiting for them to get back from buying what to eat.

I found a good empty spot next to a window, so I sat and put my bag on top of it. The cafeteria was really crowded and loud, smelled like wet food, and always felt sticky, I hated it, but the school didn't allow us to eat somewhere other than this musty place. I kept thinking about the physics class that I had later. The two lunch trays slamming on the table scared me, and so I frowned at my two babies.

"you're not going to eat again?" Diego said as he shoved some pasta up his face.

"This place serves disgusting food" I reply coldly

"It's not disgusting when you're hungry," Nayla said with a full mouth and high-fived Diego.

"Just don't forget to eat, again, once you're home," he said emphasizing the 'again' and looking at me with the most serious face ever.

It scared me, but I still nodded.

"Lily, do you want a boyfriend? I know a guy and you might like him" Diego said winking at me.

"Stop calling me that and I don't want a boyfriend" I replied

"Girly, you shouldn't give up on dating because of some stupid relationship that didn't work... that guy was annoying anyway," Nayla said, and Diego nodded showing his agreement with her.

"I know but Diego, you only know weird guys," I said avoiding both their gazes

"If you say so" Diego then stopped talking and focused on his food.

The silence was uncomfortable, it made me want to leave, I turned to look around and accidentally made eye contact with one of the two guys that we met earlier. Why was he staring? annoying.

I slammed my head on the table "I wanna go home", I felt Nayla's comforting hand stroking my back. I looked her way, head still on the table. She smiled lovingly.

Nayla then looked at Diego, who was so focused on his food that he didn't even hear me, so I kicked his foot.

"Ow" an angry but funny expression on his face.

Nayla held her laughter and smiled innocently at him, I held up my head and followed Nayla's actions.

"Take me home please," I said in the nicest way possible.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin he got out of his bag. He then looked at me and shook his head.

"whyyy?" I said giving Diego puppy eyes.

"I have an exam," he said closing his bag's zipper.

I sighed, he then just smiled at me.

Nayla had also finished eating. "should we go now?" she asked us.

We both agreed and got up. Diego reached the door first and held it open for us to pass.

"Ladies first," he said bowing.

"Oh, thank you dear gentleman" I replied jokingly.

We walked out of the noisy canteen and then turned to Nayla and Diego.

"Um guys I have to leave, I have a student to tutor in a few.." Nayla's voice echoed in the empty hallway.

"Oh alright, good luck!" I replied opening my arms to hug her.

She hugged me and waved at Diego. "Bye guys!" she said walking away.

"Bye!" Diego replied.

I looked at him in the eyes.

"Last one that reaches the end of the hallway is a wet asshole" and without waiting for a reply I ran as fast as I could. I heard footsteps behind me, Diego was a fast runner, but I was convinced I was faster.

I looked back to see his expression; he grimaced to mock me and so, as a reply, I pulled out my tongue at him. As soon as I looked back to where I was going, I stopped right away when I saw Director Joey talking with no other than Ms. Hannah, the teacher who taught in my next class.

I then started walking, Diego, who caught up to me, saw them as well. If Miss Joey had seen us running, she would have thrown a tantrum. She probably had some sort of trauma when it came to running. We got closer to them slowly, trying not to draw their attention to us, but apparently, that wasn't a possibility when Diego was around.

"Diego Ramos, what a surprise seeing you in the same hallway as me!" The principal spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"Don't say such words, Miss Joey, you know you're my favorite!" Diego replied with the fakest smile ever.

"That is not the impression you give when you're at my desk young man..." she said patting him on the shoulder,

Next to him, she was really short, they looked funny, both really uncomfortable.

Ms. Hannah smiled. Oh no.

"I'll get going now, Lynn, I'll see you in class?" she said, voice soft as always.

"Of course miss! Haha," I said in the most positive way possible, why did she have to be so nice?

I looked at Hannah's retreating figure, the floor then at Diego who was still smiling awkwardly at Principal Joey.

"Okay you two go to your classes the bell will ring soon," she said not even looking at one of us, and then she left.

"I hate her so much." the words left Diego's mouth as he cracked his fingers.

I sighed and then looked at the hallway which was starting to fill up with some students. I wondered if Nayla was also there.

I looked at Diego.

"Can you come over after school, momma misses you." he smiled at what I said. His gaze was directed somewhere else, probably at a girl he found cute.

"I miss Auntie too, what a coincidence. I guess I'll have to skip swimming today." he wore a childish expression, it made me want to squeeze his face. Hard.

Diego was a part of our school's swimming team. Expected from a guy who spent all his summer at the beach.

"so you'll drive us there!" I say happy, I hated walking back home, it was too much for my little feet.

"you bet.." he waved at someone. "well toe head I gotta go now so, I'll see you later." he smiled at me and then walked to the hallway which was now busier than earlier.

I went the other way heading to my next class, which I told Miss Hannah I would attend and I started singing some songs in my head, I quickly reached the wooden door. I knocked twice and got in.

Miss Hannah was at her desk like usual looking at some papers, she looked up at me and smiled.

All the windows were open. Miss Hannah hated closed spaces. As a result, her class was the coldest one in winter. I looked around to find myself a spot, the seats were still empty, so I had a large choice. I chose to sit in the third row on the left.

I sat and got my stuff out. After that, I pulled out my phone. I had no notification, but it wasn't a surprise since everyone I knew was either studying or at work.

A few minutes passed by and a few students had already came, and then the bell rang.

The other students came barging in, all of them greeting the teacher. In no time the spots that were just seconds ago empty were now occupied. We were around 19 students and I knew some of them, like two of Diego's friends from the swimming team, and some girls who were with me in some other classes.

Seeing that everybody was seated, Miss Hannah got up and clapped her hands to get our attention. Everybody looked her way, and those who chatted stopped. Miss Hannah was again known for her extremely nice and calm character, but angering her was something you didn't want to do, and she hated two things: a noisy class, and late students.

"Is everybody ready for today's class?" she had the cutest smile on.

Everybody replied positively including me. She laughed and started her introduction. Just as she turned to the board to write the title, the door swung open to show a panting teenager.

Everybody looked his way, and I heard some giggles from the back of the classroom. I didn't recognize who it was, but it didn't interest me. So I looked at the teacher to see her expression. She was frowning.

"I'M SO SORRY MISS" the boy screamed.

Miss Hannah looked at the watch on her wrist and crossed her arms. I was so interested in what was going to happen.

"what is your excuse, young man, it better be convincing," she said in a stern voice

"welliwasstuckinoneofthestallsinthebathroomandthenthelightsturnedoffitwassoscarymiss?"

What did he just say? I didn't understand, he talked too fast.

Miss Hannah sighed "Well I don't want to waste any more time so just go sit Josh"

Josh then walked to an empty spot next to the guys that laughed earlier. What a day.

After that, the class went smoothly and nothing out of the norm happened. I even focused this time, I'm so proud of myself.

....................................................................................................

"Isn't that imposs-"

The bell suddenly rang, stopping a girl from finishing her statement.

"Okay guys we'll finish this lesson, next class, you're dismissed." the teacher smiled at us.

Everyone got their stuff and left the classroom.

"bye miss Hannah!" I said as I left the class.

I ran outside to the parking lot, I was so excited to go back home and finally get warm and comfortable. I tripped and almost fell, which was embarrassing but I made it to Diego's car without incident, which I was thankful for. His car was always clean which wasn't like him, he was messy as hell. Diego was already there, he was leaning back on his black vehicle, and somebody was standing next to him. Both of them were laughing. As I got closer, my cousin noticed me, and so he turned my way and waved, and as a response, I waved back.

"Loulou" Diego greeted when I got to him.

"Hey," I said to both guys.

"hi," the unknown guy replied.

This mystery man had long brownish hair and a beauty mark on top of his eyebrow. Cool.

"Well Jackson, I gotta go now, cya!" Diego said to his friend.

"bye mate, bye Lynn." the guy stared at me weirdly

How does he know my name? "uhm, bye Jackson?"

Ok, that was weird. Diego unlocked the car, and I quickly got to the passenger seat slamming the door.

"chill, what's wrong?" Diego said as he closed his door and turned on his car.

"Who is that guy and how the hell does he know me?" I say mad at him

"He asked me earlier, chill"

"Is he your friend?" I ask actually curious.

"yes," he drove us out.

The car ride was short of course, Diego only asked if we had food at home and I replied with nothing more than a yes.