My first attempt at writing! This is just the kinda introduction to a story that I've had in my head a for a long time.

Scarlett Smith sighed as she woke up too early for yet another day in hell. To say the 17 year old hated school was a total understatement. She was literally counting down the days until graduation next year, when she would be free forever & finally able to live her dream of moving to Seattle with her boyfriend where he would own a record store & she would sell her art & they would live happily ever after.

Madly in love, both having their dream careers & living in an apartment that looked out onto the city. The city that brought up their favorite musician, Kurt Cobain & would solve all of their problems, letting them live a normal life like they both had dreamed for so long. That dream was the thing that kept her getting up in the morning & facing the day.

June 1995 couldn't be here quick enough.

Kicking the red sheets from her body, Scarlett forced herself to stand up & accept that she was doomed to face another day in Westfield High & the plastic, spoiled Barbie doll bitches with fake noses, short skirts & Daddy's credit card & the dumbass jocks who couldn't spell football if they tried yet managed to get pretty much perfect grades to keep them on the team. She didn't fit in & truth be told, she really didn't want to because she hated them all with a burning hot passion. They had reached their peak in high school while she had higher hopes, bigger dreams & plans beyond this place & unlike them, she would work her damn ass off to get to them, refusing to fall into the rut they all seemed to have found themselves in. No one expected the weird grunge girl to make it out of the school, let alone out of Los Angeles but it just fuelled the fire inside of Scarlett even more.

She glanced at the alarm clock on the floor next to the mattress she slept on & groaned. She had 20 minutes to shower, get dressed & leave for school so she took a deep breath & got to work, deciding to head to shower first for the quickest shower of her life.

She carefully unlocked her bedroom door before tiptoeing as quietly as she could manage, sneaking by her passed out father, Brett on the sofa who was barely showing signs of life. It was just the two of them after Scarlett's mom, Cynthia had took off one Friday night when her daughter was five years old, never to be heard from or seen again. The father/daughter relationship was non existant. Brett was a full blown alcoholic who could barely hold a job down longer than a few months & at least twice a month when he had been on the Jack Daniels for a few days, would try to force his way into his daughter's bedroom. It wasn't for bedtime stories. For her own protection, Scarlett got a decent lock for the door when she was 12 years old & it had kept her safe ever since.

After successfully getting to the bathroom, she quickly showered, brushed her teeth & headed back to her bedroom. She locked the door, picked up a black Pearl Jam t shirt & a pair of dark blue velvet shorts off of the bedroom floor before sniffing them & then when she was sure they were okay, she pulled them both on & sat on the mattress, pulling on black thigh high socks & her battered, beloved knee high black Doc Marten boots. When she was dressed, she stood up & walked the few steps to her full length narrow mirror that rested against the far wall of her room. Her pale skin was painted with foundation, her green eyes circled with thick black eyeliner before her already long lashes were coated in a layer of equally thick mascara. To finish it all off, she applied dark red lipstick to her full lips. She looked like herself. Grabbing the hair brush, she ran it a few times over her mid length bleached blonde hair, parting it in the middle & fixing her DIY blunt bang.

Glancing down the clock, it was time to go. She sprayed some of her cheap perfume that burned her skin but she wore anyway, grabbed her red & blue plaid shirt along with her navy blue backpack & ran out of the door & into the warm California morning air.

Wrapping the shirt around her waist, Scarlett walked as fast as her legs could manage the 10 minute walk to school. As she approached, the bell rang & everyone started to head inside, all in their little groups & cliques while she walked alone. Where the hell was her boyfriend? The couple was their own little team, spending all of their time together, the strange grunge kids who were always holding hands & looking like a teenage Kurt Cobain & Courtney love. They had friends but they weren't really the socialising type, never going to parties or hanging out at the mall at the weekend. No one really got them like they got each other.

Scarlett opened her locker, grabbing her English books then slammed it shut, heading to class. She kept reminding herself it was Friday & that tomorrow she could sleep in late then do whatever she wanted.

"Nice of you to join us, Scarlett" Mr Nelson was standing in front of his desk as she walked in the class. Jackass. Ignoring him, she sat in her regular seat at her desk at the back of the class. The seat next to her empty. "Will your companion be joining us today?" His deep voiced asked, arms folded, heavy brows scrunched. She shrugged. She honestly didn't know. Sighing, the older man told the class to open their books at page 35 & read to page 40 so Scarlett did as she was told.

She was staring into space when Mr Nelson ended her daydreams, pulling her back to reality.
"Mr Langdon, how nice of you to honor us mere mortals with your presence" His voice full of annoyance as the chair beside me was filled. Her boyfriend was finally here & only an hour late but at least he was here. Deep brown, almost black eyes met hers as she looked over at him, waiting for an explanation.
"Hi baby" He smiled, making Scarlett's heart feel like it had skipped a beat before he put his backpack on the floor next to his desk.
"Why are you late again, Tate? You promised the guidance counselor you would be here on time" she started, trying to maintain the hard ass routine but feeling herself failing miserably as she took her soft hand in his large round hand & kissed it gently, clearly trying to distract her.
"It was the alarm, Scar. I swear." Why did he have to be so handsome & so damn irresistible? It was pretty much impossible to stay made at him. His eyes were endless pits that she lost herself in daily. His dimples were her undoing. His smile melted her. He was a babe to put it bluntly, a mega super total babe & she loved him with every single fibre of her being.
"You better be here early on Monday morning" she warned, shaking her head in defeat. He leaned in & softly kissed her cheek, getting them both a stern warning about displays of affection in the school enviroment.

Man, this place seriously sucked.