TEENAGE KICKS

PROLOGUE: CHEERLEADING?

RORY LAWRENCE WAS what many would describe as reckless, some going as far to paint her as someone who had no future ahead of her. And eventually, the young girl began to agree with them; If that was what everyone saw her as, then that was who she would become.

Her eyes cracked open as she tried to blindly search for her blaring alarm clock, hand smacking around before coming into contact with the object and shoving it harshly to the floor below. The loud crash made her lips tug up ever so slightly, sighing blissfully before turning over and pulling the duvet up to her chin.

"Rory Anne Lawrence, you better not still be sleeping!" 

A short groan left her lips as she stretched her arms over her head, smiling lazily at her glaring mother as she sunk back into the comforting warmth of her bed. But that seemed to be the wrong choice as seconds later she yelped at the cool air that attacked her bare limbs.

The brunette tried to curl up into a ball, absorbing whatever was left of her sleep before the older woman huffed and rested her hands on her hips. "What did I say about skipping school?"

"That it's bad?" Rory finally moved her gaze over to her mother, "now, can I have my covers back?"

She narrowed her eyes dangerously, "the lack of respect you have for your elders is astounding, and for that, give me your walkman."

"But-" Rory sat straight up, fully awake, "you can't just do that!"

"I can and I will," she couldn't help but force down a smile at finally getting through to her daughter, "that, or you get ready within the next five minutes and I'll only take it for a day."

Rory weighed her choices, but sighed when she realized that the woman was serious and jumped to her feet, trying to smooth down her dishevelled hair as she passed the mirror. Laura Lawrence began laying back down the duvet and fixing up the imperfections, never one to allow one piece out of place in their house.

Her daughter, who had caught sight of the action, rolled her eyes and shut herself in the bathroom to quickly (in record time) brush both her teeth and hair, not bothering to do anything else except spray on some deodorant before moving back to her bedroom.

Before she could finish tying her shoes, Rory was abruptly cut off by her older brother, Johnny, "Rory, I've been waiting for 2 minutes! If I'm late because of you, heard the bus has some extra room!"

Grumbling under her breath about his impatience, Rory didn't bother tying her shoelaces as she begrudgingly swung her backpack over her shoulder and practically stumbled down the stairs. She jumped off the last step, grabbing an apple from the basket in the kitchen before taking a large bite.

Johnny stood by the entrance, foot tapping against the ground as he danced to an imaginary beat. Noticing her staring at him oddly, he glared spitefully at her before tossing open the front down and making his way towards his car.

"Someone's emotional," Rory snickered to herself, wondering if he had heard her as he seemed to subtly pause for a mere second. But then the two were soon sat in the new vehicle that he had been given for his birthday, so new that the car smell didn't smell like Johnny's disgusting hairspray yet.

And she stood corrected when he whipped out his pocket spray to quickly fix imperfections as he ogled himself in the rearview mirror. Rory leaned back into the passenger seat, rolling her head over to look at him, "if only Fix-It Spray could fix-your-face."

"Ha-ha," he shoved the can back into his backpack and tossed it into the back, "if only you could shut up, so I don't have to hear your annoying voice."

Rory refrained from laughing out loud, "planning to woo Allie with that grade-a insult? Can't say she's into the brainless kin-"

Her hands shot up to her ears as Johnny turned up the sound on his car radio, the song currently playing blasting from it loudly. His fingers had turned white from how hard he was gripping the turn dial, a permanent glare set on his face as he pressed harshly on the pedal.

Teenage Kicks by The Undertones formed a barrier between the two as Rory yelled for him to turn it down and Johnny only smirked over at her as his fingertips drummed against the top of the steering wheel.

Rory went to crank it down, but a hand slapping her hand away made her slump back into her seat and divert her attention to the window. She would've fought with him over it, but after staying up late the previous night listening to the new mixtape Cindy had gotten her, she barely got 4 hours of sleep.

And her short temper only showed itself when they arrived at school and she immediately jumped out to escape the presence of both her brother and his music. His hand wrapped itself around her arm before she could run away, causing her to rip herself away from him and give him a shiner.

"I can't take you home today, I gotta talk to Ali after school."

That definitely wasn't what she was expecting, and so this time it was her grasping at his t-shirt sleeve, "what do you mean you can't take me home?" She mocked him obnoxiously, dropping her tone down a few octaves, "Allie doesn't want to fucking talk to you, dumbass!"

"And how would you know that?" He huffed, "you're not even friends with her-"

"-I don't have to be friends with her to know she hates you-"

"-Just hitch a ride from your hot friend! Later!" He ignored her snide comment and jogged to catch up with one of his friends, not sparing her a glance as she flipped him off from behind. Letting her arm drop back down to her side, she stormed into the school, ignoring the stares she got from multiple students crowded around the entrance.

The halls were crowded with people like they always were. There were the cliquey girls, who were lead by Ali-the most popular girl (and Miss "nice girl") in school. Rory and Ali never really talked...for boys, cheerleading, and makeup were the only things that truly mattered to her. Beyond her were the jocks, and between them, the parade of the band geeks with their huge instrument cases slung over their shoulders. 

When the bell rang, the students submerged into their classes, leaving the hallway empty. Rory had English first hour, but she was never on time no matter how early her mother shoved her out the front door. It was one of her many talents.

Finally deciding to slam her locker closed and head to English, she skidded to a stop as the intercoms flickered to life, "Aurora Lawrence, please report to the principal's office. Thank you." It clicked back off and dead silence followed, even the couple who had been previously snogging against the lockers turned their heads towards her.

She widened her eyes into a what? and they turned back to each other, the girl reaching up to pull him back down and slam her lips against his. Rory groaned in disgust, shivering noticeably before practically racing away from them and in the direction of the school's front door.

But before she could burst through them, a cough from behind stopped her, "Miss Lawrence, lovely of you to see me on such short notice."

Rory slowly turned around, coming face to face with the principal as he forced a smile onto his lips and crossed his arms behind his back. Her eyes flickered over towards the front door, wondering if she could make a run for it before deflating.

"Hi, Principal Parrish."

The two had moved into his office, Rory slumping down into the chair across from him as she let out a grunt of annoyance, "You called for me?"

Principal Parrish intertwined his fingers on the desk, leaning forward slightly to maintain direct eye contact with the distracted teen, "Do you remember what you did last Monday?"

"I don't remember most Monday's, but I do hate them" Rory replied, "why, do you hate them too?"

"As much as I do, that's not why you're here," Mr Parrish clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, having one special reason for his lack of love for Monday's; the girl in front of him. "We have a strict policy here at West Valley High School. One that states that after four violations, you earn a 2-week suspension."

"I distinctly remember reading that...why?" said Rory, crossing her arms.

"Miss Lawrence, this is your eighth violation," Mr Parrish almost snapped, causing Rory's eyes to finally meet his.

"Well, if I got away with that many, it can't be too strict!" Rory chortled, but when he narrowed his eyes, she let hers widen. "I mean, what, no! You're lying. Me? Cause mayhem? Impossible! Name one time that I did something illegal."

Now, he appeared confused, "well, I'm not sure if you've done anything illegal - God, I hope not." He muttered the last part to himself and cleared his throat, "but they have been bad enough where they've been added to your long list of violations."

And Mr Parrish took in a deep breath before he pulled out Rory Lawrence's file from his desk drawer. "two weeks ago when you freed all the frogs from the science lab and then proceeded to open the school doors for them," Mr Parrish began. "This past Monday when you tripped a kid in the hallway for calling your friend, what was it...?" 

"A whore."

He coughed uncomfortably at her bluntness and rubbed his eyes tiredly, "must I go on, or have you gotten the message, Miss Lawrence?"

"Loud and clear, Aaron," she pushed against the edge of the table and the chair twirled around in a circle. When she stopped herself, she immediately shrunk back at his harsh glare, "Principal Parrish, sorry."

"Look," Mr Parrish breathed out, trying to cool down his bright red face. "No matter how...lovely...you could be. At school, I need you to put in your all so, one day, you can go off to college and I can never see you again. I mean that in an endearing way."

Rory muffled a snicker, raising her eyebrows at him, "bet you do."

"So, for extra credit, maybe you could finally pull up your GPA." He meant for it to come out as a question, but the statement left his lips and tumbled through Rory's ears, causing her to mimic his stance. She placed her interlocked hands on the desk and leaned forward.

"Oh, yeah?" Rory muttered calmly, "and by extra credit, what did you have in mind?"

"l heard the girl's Cheer team is currently recruiting," Principal Parrish smiled sweetly, "maybe you could spend more time around kids your age who want nothing more than to cheer on their school, show some team spirit."

"The cheerleading team!?" argued Rory, bolting upright in her chair, "I've got friends my age? 2 in fact!".

The principal raised a single eyebrow, "And those friends don't seem to have a good influence on you as of current. So, I'll be sure to inform Coach Kells that you'll be joining the team."

"Bad influence?" Rory mocked him just like she had her brother that morning, leaning back in defeat with a deep frown pulling down her features.

"Now, if that's all," the Principal ignored her remark, "I believe that you have English right now?"

Rory rolled her eyes and stood up from her chair as she mumbled a yes, not bothering to argue with the stubborn man as she tugged her hair out from under the bag sitting on her shoulder. So, with a quick glance back at the grinning man, she huffed and stormed out of the office.