❝ alexopoulos. ❞
❝ phoenix. ❞

―

LIBBY'S EYES GRAZED OVER THE PAGE.

She sat on her bed with a book in her hands. The noise of music playing in the background as her friends got ready for the party that they were attending later. Libby had just two chapters left to read before she finished the book, and she was determined that she would finish it.

She wasn't paying any attention to the girls around her who were laughing and giggling as they did their makeup.

"Libby, would you put the book down?" Yasmine asked, an eye roll following her question.

Libby didn't respond. Instead, she just kept her eyes on the page, not even realizing that Yasmine had been talking to her.

"Libby!" Yasmine yelled.

She looked up from her book, staring at Yasmine with a confused expression. "Can you just chill for one second? I have four pages left."

"You've spent the entire summer reading!" Moon replied. "I think you're probably the only person to ever do the summer reading."

Yasmine rolled her eyes, applying gloss to her lips. "You know, sometimes I forget that you're such a huge nerd."

Libby shook her head and looked back down at her book. "If I have any hopes of mopping the floor with he who shall not be named, then I have to be as prepared as I can possibly be. If that includes spending my summer reading, then so be it."

Moon tilted her head to the side. "Voldemort?"

Libby looked up; her eyebrows furrowed as she shook her head. "No, Moon. The other he who shall not be named."

"She's talking about that nerd she's always competing with," Yasmine explained. "What's his name again? Damien? Dominic?"

"His name is Demetri..." Libby told them, saying his name as if it were venom on her tongue. "And trust me when I say he doesn't stand a chance this year."

"God, why don't you just kiss and get it over with already?" Yasmine turned around. "It's so obvious that you're in love with him."

Moon and Sam giggled beside her. Libby's jaw clenched as she looked up from her book once again. She glared at Yasmine, a fiery look in her eyes. Yasmine didn't even flinch as she stood leaned up against Libby's vanity. She looked directly at her, the same intense stare.

"I am not in love with him," Libby shook her head. "I'd rather chew off my own arm."

"Famous last words," Yasmine responded. "Now would you hurry up and finish your book so that you can get ready?"

Libby's top lip curled up as she silently mocked Yasmine's words. She looked down at her book once more, ignoring her friends as they chatted.

When she finally finished, Libby closed the book gently and placed it on her nightstand. She swung her legs off the bed and went to her closet to find something to wear. She got dressed and then made her way over to her vanity to do her makeup.

Libby preferred to do simple makeup if she even wore any at all. She had never really been all that into makeup and only had a vanity because it belonged to her late mother.

Yasmine, Moon, and Sam sat on Libby's bed as they waited. Libby made sure to take her time because she knew that Yasmine could be very impatient, and it was always fun to push her buttons.

"Finally!" Yasmine groaned when Libby finished getting ready. "Can we go now?"

The four girls walked downstairs and down the driveway to Yasmine's car. Libby sat in the back seat with Sam as Moon took the passenger seat.

Libby stared out the window the entire time, looking up at the nighttime sky. There wasn't a single star shining, but that didn't stop her from admiring the darkness of the night and the beauty of the fluorescent lights that lit up the streets.

When they arrived at the party, the party host, Kyler, came waltzing up to them. Libby rolled her eyes. He had to be one of the most obnoxious people she'd ever met. Libby was supposed that there wasn't a picture of him next to the word 'obnoxious' in the dictionary.

Sam smiled the second he stood in front of them. Libby had to fight the urge to gag when they just stood there, staring at each other. She didn't know what Sam saw in him. If you asked Libby, besides being a wrestler, he had nothing going for him.

"I'm going somewhere that's not here," Libby announced, not giving anyone the chance to respond before she walked away.

She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a drink. When she took a sip from her red cup, she instantly spit it back out. She had no idea what it was, but she knew for certain that it wasn't beer. She dumped it down the drain and threw her cup away.

Libby walked out of the kitchen and back into the living room. She leaned up against a wall in the corner of the room and pulled out her phone. She opened a reading app and began to scroll through the list of books, settling on "Wuthering Heights" which she had read a dozen times.

She tuned out the voices and the music around her, focusing solely on reading. If she had it her way, she would be sitting at home in her pajamas thinking of all the comebacks that she could use when she finally stomped Demetri into the ground once and for all.

"What are you doing in the corner?"

Libby turned at the sound of Moon's voice. She turned off her phone and placed it back in her bag.

Libby shrugged. "Just not really feeling the whole party scene tonight."

"Are you ever?" Moon questioned. "Look, I know you're a loner and you would much rather be reading right now but have some fun!"

"I am having fun," Libby replied.

"Standing in the corner is not fun, silly!" Moon shook her head, grabbing Libby's hand. "Come on, dance with me. Let loose a little."

Libby sighed but allowed Moon to drag her by the hand to the middle of the living room. At first, Moon was just swinging their arms back and forth while Libby stood in front of her frozen in place.

"You're so stiff," Moon shouted over the music. "You really need to unblock your chakras."

Libby gave her a confused look, but she didn't question it vocally. She just nodded her head, pretending that she knew what that meant.

After a couple of minutes and being guided through breathing exercises, Libby started to loosen up. She was swaying along to the music with Moon and smiling as they swung their arms side to side.

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Libby climbed back into Yasmine's car, shutting the door once she was sitting. As Yasmine drove down the street, Libby rested her head on the window.

"You and Kyler are totally made for each other," Yasmine said to Sam, looking at her through the rearview mirror.

Libby rolled her eyes as she turned to look at Sam. Even in the darkness, she could still see the dark red tinge on Sam's cheeks.

"You think so?" Sam asked.

Yasmine nodded as she reached for her phone. "Totally. Look at this picture I took of you. Hold on...just let me pull up my photos."

Yasmine glanced down at her phone screen, her eyes leaving the road.

"Uh, Yas, you should keep your eyes on the road," Sam warned her.

Yasmine didn't listen. She just continued to look down at her phone. Libby leaned forward, looking at Yasmine's phone.

"Jesus, how many pictures did you take tonight?" Libby questioned her. "Does one person need that many pictures of themself?"

"Yes, grandma," Yasmine teased her.

Libby's eyebrows furrowed together. "Grandma?"

"Yeah, because you're a grandma when it comes to social media," Yasmine responded.

Libby rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she leaned back against her seat, still looking at Yasmine. "Why don't you just hand your phone to one of us and we can look for the picture?"

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "You really shouldn't be on your phone. We could get into an accident."

"Would you two chill?" Yasmine asked, still looking at her phone. "We're not going to get into an accident for heaven's sake."

Yasmine kept scrolling through her camera roll as she drove. Libby looked out the windshield, her eyes going wide when she saw a car parked in the direct path that Yasmine was driving in.

"Yasmine, look out!" Libby shouted.

Her warning was too late. Yasmine crashed into the car, causing the four girls to jolt forward. Libby hit her face on the back of the passenger seat. She rubbed her forehead with her hand.

"Oh, my God," Yasmine said in shock.

"Yasmine, we told you that you shouldn't be on your phone!"

"What are we going to do?" Moon panicked.

"We have to call the police," Sam replied.

"We can't!" Yasmine yelled at her. "My parents will kill me!"

"Yeah? Well, maybe you should have thought about that before you stupidly looked down at your phone despite our warnings!" Libby shouted.

"What the hell are you doing?" A man's voice yelled, as he pounded on the passenger side window.

Libby screamed along with the other girls from the sudden noise. She turned her head, seeing a blonde man standing outside the car. He started hitting the window, shouting at them as they screamed in fear.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he moved to the back window. "Open the door!"

Libby screamed and unbuckled her seatbelt as moved away from the window, leaning on Sam. Libby continued screaming as he hit the window and pulled on the door handle. Sam grabbed her arm, pulling her closer.

"Yasmine! Drive!" Libby screamed at her. "Drive!"

"Go!" Sam shrieked. "Drive!"

Yasmine placed her hands on the steering wheel and pressed the gas. The tires screeched against the road as Yasmine drove away as fast as she could.

Libby sat up, struggling to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding against her chest. She felt like it was going to explode. She had never been that scared in her entire life.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked her.

Libby shook her head. "What the actual fuck just happened? Did we just almost get attacked by a homeless man?"

Moon nodded her head aggressively as she turned around to look at Libby. "Yes. Yes, I think we did."

Libby leaned back in her seat, her chest rising and falling heavily. She placed her hand on her chest. "I think my entire life flashed before my eyes."

Libby's breathing didn't regulate until she stepped into her bedroom. Even then, she felt like she couldn't breathe. She changed into her pajamas before pulling her curtains to the side and opening her window.

She stuck her head out the window and closed her eyes as she breathed in the fresh air. Slowly but surely, she calmed herself down.

Libby opened her eyes, instantly wanting to close them again when she saw her neighbor and academic rival staring at her. Their houses were right next to each other, the kind of house where they could see each other face to face from their bedroom windows.

Libby gripped the windowsill. "Alexopoulos."

"Phoenix."

They stared at each other, neither one wanting to be the first to blink or look away. Libby narrowed her eyes, gripping the windowsill even tighter.

A smirk sprawled across her face when Demetri blinked. He groaned in defeat before slamming his window shut. He still looked at her, his arms folded across his chest. Libby gave him a fake smile before pulling her curtains shut.

Libby sat down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't wait for school to start.

— EMILIA'S NOTES

this was a short first chapter. i hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.

i already love libby and demetri. and yes, they call each other by their first names. i just really liked the thought of showing how their relationship progresses from last name to first name.

anyway, hopefully the next chapter will be out soon!