A/N: I've been dying to write a high school AU for soooo long now and finally got round to starting it. These current chapters will be transferred from Ninelives.
Opinions would be most appreciated! Thank you!
A strip of blinding light broke through the gap in her curtains, hitting her right in the face as she rolled over, signalling it was time to start yet another mundane day.
As if on cue the sound of a fist meeting her door made her jump and groan in protest.
"Carol…Carol Grace Miller!" a demanding voice came through the door, "get up for school right now!"
Carol resisted rolling her eyes even though she knew her mother wouldn't see her doing so through the closed door, it was a bad habit to get into for fear she'd slip up in her parents' presence.
"I'm up, I'm up," she called back, peeling back the covers to the not so welcoming, almost bitterly cold, room.
Dragging her tired form to her wardrobe she picked out an outfit for the day, chucking the hangered items onto the bed before padding over to her ensuite bathroom, starting up the far more welcoming steamy shower.
Spending ten minutes too long in the shower she heard that all too familiar banging start up on her door again.
"Time, Carol! You'll be late for school!" the shrill voice of her mother went straight through her as she turned off the shower faucet, like nails to a chalk board.
"Alright!" she yelled back, hoping her tone didn't come through too abrupt as she wrapped a towel tightly around herself in preparation for the coolness of her room.
Gooseflesh immediately breaking out she chucked on her clothes as swiftly as possible, starting up her hair dryer in an attempt to tame her long curls before they started to frizz.
Hair dry, she applied some makeup, not enough that it would cause any upset amongst her and her parents but enough to know it was there.
Assessing herself in her full-length mirror she sighed, smoothing down her thigh length skirt, no doubt her mother would have something to say about the 'inappropriate' length of it. Too bad, she thought with a huff, she was running late as it was.
Scooping up her bag, she took a glance to check all the needed books were there before slipping on her ballet pumps on and heading downstairs, preparing herself for the criticism that was likely to follow…
By the time she made it to her car she was well and truly done with the day…already. As expected her mother had made some comment at her about attracting unwanted attention if she carried on dressing like that. Carol made a feeble attempt to argue that she had dark tights on and a long-sleeved sweater it wasn't exactly like- but her mother cut her off, saying she had to go to work and they would discuss it later.
Her father had mentioned for the third time that week that Ed Peletier's family would be coming around tomorrow night and she was to be on her best behaviour- what was she five years old? The urge to roll her eyes was stronger than ever as he father sang Ed's praises, despite the fact he'd never even met the idiot. That's what he was, a complete idiot. An egotistic and misogynistic prick who thought he was God's fucking gift that could have any girl he wanted, and damn did he go through a lot of them.
She would never understand the hype, but apparently her parents were on board with the hype so that meant for all intents and purposes she had to be as well…brilliant.
She used the drive to school to calm her nerves, her parents were really something else, they expected nothing but the best from her and anything less was a disappointment. She worked damn hard to get the grades she did and although she was grateful for her parents pushing her to strive to be the best, it wasn't what she wanted to be.
Art had always been her favourite class, she loved all different artistic forms, painting, sculpture, drawing, her passion for the arts was one that was never really allowed to blossom though. Her teachers always drove her in a more academic direction, curtsey of what she believes to have been her parents doing.
God she was sick and tired of living under her parents thumb, she was eighteen years old now, she should be able to make her own life choices.
Her parents even refused to let her have a job in fear it would distract her from her school work, they provided her with money day to day, no issue, but the threat of being cut off was always there if she wasn't living up to standards.
A few times she'd tried to discreetly to get herself just a small part-time job, even just one day a week so she could save up her own money. However it seem all the local businesses either had no vacancies or she just wasn't what they were looking for, how convenient.
Pulling up into school, she cursed under her breath as she realised the time. Quickly she ran towards the doors, rummaging through her bag as she went in search of her biology book for her first class.
In her haste of wrenching open the door though she failed to see the person heading the opposite way, colliding into them with such force she dropped the entire contents of her bag to the floor… typical.
"Oh god, I am so sorry," she apologised, frantically picking up items and shoving them into her back, not yet looking up to face the shadow of a person looming over her.
"I was just-"
She fell silent as she sprung back up, bag repacked, coming face to face with none other than the infamous Dixon, well one of them anyway.
His intense stare seemed to bore into hers as he held out in his hand her biology book, the one previously tucked under her arm.
She took it graciously mumbling a thank you, her eyes struggling to leave his as she side stepped out of his way, allowing him to go off to wherever he shouldn't be going she presumed.
"S'fine," he spoke gruffly in response, fetching a cigarette and lighter from his back pocket.
Her eyes fell on him as he brought the cigarette to his lips, sparking up the lighter in a flick of his thumb, inhaling deeply as he burnt down the end, smoke trailing from his nostrils as he took a breath out.
"Don't ya have somewhere to be?" he questioned with a raised brow.
This snapped Carol out of whatever daydream she was in, "uh, yeah- thanks again- y'know- yeah," she rambled as she slid past him through the door, breaking out into a jog as soon as he was out of sight.
The name Dixon was like a bad taste in your mouth around this area and although she wasn't one to listen to idle adolescent gossip it still made her wary of the Dixon brothers. There was something impishly charming about the younger brother though, his boyish good looks and yet manly defined features. It's not something she ever entertained much thought for though, their worlds rarely ever crossing, just something she'd viewed once or twice in passing.
Pushing her encounter with Daryl Dixon out her mind, she made it into class with just a minute to spare, the last thing she needed was to more grief from her parents for her tardiness, that would just be the icing on the fucking cake.
