Forest High School Chapter 1: A Microwave Tries to Ruin my day:
"Manic! Get up for school!"
I groaned and slowly rolled over. My hand slammed my alarm clock again. Except, it wasn't actually going off. My other alarm was going off.
My sister stomped into the room.
"Matt Rush Mach, you get up for school this instant! Mom had to leave early and I'm not having you be late for the first day of our senior year!"
"What do you mean? School isn't for another week and a half..." My hand climbed to my eye to rub at the sleep still lingering.
"School starts at 7! It's almost 6! We gotta leave in half an hour!"
I got up, but I complained about it the whole time. My right hand groped absently for the light switch that was already turned on. I blinked. My eyes scanned the floor for a shirt, maybe clean, maybe not. My dresser lay open and barely used since the start of summer. I scratched my back as I yawned.
I've never understood how she can get up and be so peppy about it. Or rude. Who has the energy to be that cruel in the morning?
I picked up a black shirt and sniffed. Smelled a bit musty, but good enough for me. I tossed it on my bed, only after noticing that I kicked my jeans to the floor in my sleep. My socked feet dragged my tired body to the bathroom.
"Soooooooooonic, why do you take suuuuuch looong shooweeers," I droned, using my brother's nickname. All of us had one, because Manic was somehow easier to remember than Matt, Sonia better than Sophie and Sonic better than... wait for it...
Stanley.
I guess that one does sound cooler.
The shower shut off.
"Is that why you're pouting, big baby boo? Manic didn't get to wash his hair last night?"
"Sonia was taking too long, but the teachers will all get mad at me if I don't take a shower now, you know that," I knocked on the door again. "Are you done, yet?"
"Dude, I just turned the shower off, why would I be ready to come out?"
"Because High School is about discovering who you are, and you need to get the courage to accept it."
"I'm not gay, you idiot! I meant the bathroom. See how Sonia likes me just waltzing around in my boxers like you. You already blind people at the pool in the summer!"
I looked down. Oh yes, I was pale. I never went outside without padding and protection, but I loved going outside. I had too many bloodied knees to prove that. My brother was the stupid tan one, that all the girls fawned over. Won almost every track meet, and, well, was a football player. He had about three lettermens stacked up by this point. Yeah, one girl asked me to Prom last year to be able to show up with Sonic. I was fooled.
My sister walked down the hallway, saw me, and didn't bother to comment on my lack of clothing. Her pink tipped blond hair was up in two braids leading to a bun. Her skirt went to about mid-thigh and her blouse was slightly low cut. Her socks had slight frills on the tips.
"Occasion?"
"First day of school, Matt," Sonia placed her hands on her hips as she noticed the closed door. "Stanley! Get out the shower!"
Bossy? Oh yeah? Totally there for you when you need her? Just as definitely. Highest Grades in the class? Not quite. But she tutored me on my pre-cal last year all the same. I really should give her more credit, she cleans up after me most of the time.
Am I aware I am irresponsible?
Yes.
Do I care?
No, not really.
Sonic opened the door and threw the towel at Sonia, which I caught it before it could land on or near her.
"This belongs in the towel hamper," I said calmly. Sonic smiled and patted my shoulder as he passed by in his pants.
While we're at school, you couldn't tell we were siblings. Sonia and Sonic both have blond hair, like our mom, and they're both happy all the time. I, by contrast, got my dad's dark hair. I hated it, though. It reminded me of him. I think it reminded them of him, too.
Reason #2 why I wear a beanie to school everyday. Reason #1 is because it looks cool.
Out of the four of us, I take the quickest showers, beating Mom's time by about two minutes. I don't know what they do in here, I mean maybe I know why Mom and Sonia take longer, they have a metric ton of hair to wash, but Sonic? No clue.
I walked down the stairs, my tennis shoes held in my hands. Sonia called out she had made breakfast for me, which I shouted a thank you. It was the first day of school, maybe I should eat breakfast. Sonia considered it an occasion anyway, right? I walked in, looking at the pancakes on the plates with the bottle of syrup from the plate. Sonia turned around from the stove and slid more onto the plate, the last of 'em, then walked around the island to wash the pan immediately. It sizzled.
"Thanks, sis. Where's Sonic?"
"I don't know. School, probably. One of his friends came to pick him up when you were upstairs."
"Was it the hot one?"
"I didn't get a good look at him, all I know is that he drives a truck and it's a dude. He had dreads, I think."
"Haven't seen him before. Maybe he knows Sonic through Football?"
"I wouldn't doubt it, this guy was huuuge." She placed the pan on the stove to dry, then grabbed three cakes for herself. I picked one up and grabbed a small bowl for the syrup.
"If you want backup today, I can beat up Bartlebum," I offered, watching her stare at her wrist, where her bracelet used to be.
"Not necessary, Matt, but thanks. I'm totally over it, my wrist just feels empty, you know?"
"So I'm getting you a watch for your birthday? Got it."
"That would be nice. It's 6:42, we gotta go."
I shoved the pancake into my mouth and grabbed my board from the garage before locking the front door. Sonia brushed her teeth and grabbed her bag before turning on her scooter that she had bought with her summer money. I shut the garage behind us and readied myself for another school day.
We only live a few blocks from the school, so I usually take a shortcut. I attached my skateboard to my bag as I got to the school. Seven minutes to get to class. I turned into the main hallway, reminiscing the school colors of green and gold. The hall was flooded with students, most talking, but all in line to get their schedule for the year. Lucky me, M was the longest line. I sighed and got in line to wait.
"Is there two lines, or is it one and then diverges at the letters?" a voice inquired behind me. I turned to answer, only to realize that the new person was talking to someone behind me. I hid my face from their view so they couldn't tell.
'Excuse me, do I know you, dudebro?"
"Anne, please don't use that. That's not something that cool people say," another voice echoed.
"How else am I supposed to get his attention?"
I turned around. A shorter girl looked disapprovingly at the new girl. The shorter girl had her reddish blond hair up in a ponytail, but it was already falling out because it was so pin-straight. I sometimes wished I had straight hair, that would be waaaaaay easier to manage. The other girl though, had the most curly hair I had ever seen in my entire life. The ponytail curled around her neck in tight coils, but wow.
"I don't think so," I replied, looking both of them in the face. The shorter one, I knew. Her name was Amy, and she had been Sonia's fishy once upon a time. This year, though, she was a junior. "It's nice to see you, Amy. How is your brother?"
"Almost through his bachelor's. Matt, this is Anne. Anne, this is Matt Mach, Sonic's brother."
"Still got that crush, Amy?" I teased, she turned red and hit my arm. Amy's always been cool. Foolish to like my rustbucket of a brother, but cool. "Hi, Anne. To answer your question, the lines are more like suggestions than lines."
"Oh," she smiled, her hazel eyes sparkling. "Your eyes are a pretty blue."
Wow.
"Thanks," I pretended to not be flattered, but instead confused. I'm a pretty good actor, so I'd say it worked pretty well. Most people don't notice my eyes. They'll comment on my clothes or my hair, or comment about the deals on eyeliner in case I wanted some. I don't wear that. Too hard to get off.
She wasn't wearing any makeup either. She had redness and blemishes, but they just seemed to add to her face rather than take away from the beauty of it.
"Are you a senior, then?" She smiled again, her full lips spreading.
"Yeah. Are you a junior then? Oh shoot, wait- You're with Amy, you must be a junior."
She mmm-hmmmed in agreement, which I turned back around.
"Matt, can I be your friend?"
Why was this startling?
Because no one had asked me that since the fourth grade.
"Yeah, sure. You can be my friend."
I didn't see her again until lunch. I observed her, my curiosity peaked. She smiled and laughed, and seemed to blush a lot. She sat with Amy, at the shorter one's insistence, no doubt. She didn't seem to talk a lot in a larger group, which was weird considering she had been so friendly earlier.
"Hey, Manic, your food is done," Espio poked my leather jacket sleeve. This dude was sometimes creepy. I could never tell when he was coming or when he had left. He was like the human incarnation of Kitty soft paws. One time, he tried to warn me of a puddle, but instead made me fall into it because he startled me. "What are you looking at?"
"She's an anomaly," I said. Espio rolled his eyes, whispered something about girl trouble, then walked away. I opened the microwave, releasing the smoke and thick smell of burnt popcorn. I swore and grabbed the paper bag form the microwave and tossed into the trash. The whole cafeteria soon reeked with the scent of it, for burnt popcorn travels fast. I looked back up at Amy's table, and Anne was gone. I don't know where she went. I probably wouldn't get to ask her any questions about her weird behavior.
You see, this is why I don't have any friends. I'm always trying to figure people out, and some people find it creepy how good I get at reading them.
Three periods after Lunch, I walked into choir hungry.
The one class I do like all the time is my choir class. We wouldn't be doing any singing today, more than likely, but I liked it well enough anyway. The harmonizing we learned came in handy when I pretended I was part of a rock band when listening to "emo music' as my sister called it to drown out my sobbing while doing homework.
So I walk in, and who would be sitting in the highest riser but Anne, the weird junior. She had somehow made it into the varsity choir of Forest High her first year. She waved and smiled.
"Hi, Matt, it's nice to see you!" She said excitedly. Her backpack lay discarded across the room. She had taken off her jacket, too. Her pink top was just as bubbly as her tone.
"I like your jacket. Where'd you get it?" She clasped her hands behind her back.
"I- uh- my mom bought it for me when she went back to school shopping. I wasn't there that day."
"Oh cool. I meant what store, but okay. This is gonna be fun! Seeya around!"
Weird. Sonia thought it was weird, too.
HEY guys! Long time no see! Remember how I said I was gonna rewrite it? Well I finally got inspiration for it! I love Manic, and although this story will have an OC, she won't be the main character, so it's okay, right? WOO MATT FOR THE WIN! Anyway, as you could probably figure out, this is a human AU kinda thing. It'll be fun this way! Teehee! Leave a review if you can. It would be greatly appreciated!