Chapter 1: Packing
I sat at my desk near the back of the room, drumming my pencil on my Algebra book. I glanced up to make sure that our teacher, Mr. Thorn, wasn't looking, and sneaked a glance over at Astrid. She grinned and mouthed the word "Montauk". I nodded and returned to doodling on my paper. There was a black pegasus flying over the equation 78=2x+39 I smirked. That would give Mr. Thorn a heart attack as he graded my paper (he has a phobia of horses). I drew a speech bubble emerging from the pegusus's mouth, reading "Yo, boss!".
"—so can anyone tell me what the answer is?" Mr. Thorn asked, his voice full of boredom. "Katie? How about you?" I snapped out of my fantasies of pegasi and heart attacks. "What sir? I'm sorry, I didn't hear the question." I mumbled. He smirked. "I didn't think so." I glared at him, then returned to my drawing, making sure to color the horse's eyes red.
The bell finally rang after a grueling hour and a half, and Astrid came bouncing up to me at my locker. "Schools out!" she barked happily. "Finally," I said, taking my book 'The Last Olympian' and shoving it in my backpack. I grabbed my favorite blue hoodie and slipped it on. "Okay, let's go," I said, slinging my 10 ton bag over my shoulder. Astrid grinned like a maniac, her blond ponytail swinging back and forth. Did I mention that she's A.D.D.?
We walked out of the school and in to the rain. I sighed contently and let the cool raindrops wash over my face. "Uh, hey! Red?" Astrid nudged my shoulder. "You've been standing there for like five minutes!" I shot a look at her. A few days ago, she'd started calling me "Red" because of my strawberry-blonde hair. "Fine, Flowerbrain." I smirked. She glared at me. "Lets go," she sighed. "We're getting soaked. Yo! Taxi!" A bright yellow cab pulled up to the curb. We climbed in to the tight car. "Take us to South Side Ridge," I told the cab driver. The scruffy dude nodded briefly and stepped on the gas pedal.
"Is it just me, or is that guy kind of cute?" I whispered. Astrid gave me the "wolf stare". Of course. I'd forgotten. For the past five months, she'd been stuck on this guy named Noah, and refused to show any outward affection to any other guy. Silly me. I, on the other hand, was a free agent.
"Nevermind." I mumbled, staring out the window. I absentmindedly played with my necklace, a gift I'd found in my locker one day from an unknown admirer.
When we arrived at my apartment building, I paid the cute scruffy guy and hauled my backpack, along with Astrid, up the stairs. When we reached my door, I took out the spare key I had and jammed it into the lock. The door clicked open and I collapsed on the couch inside. Meanwhile, Astrid raided the refrigerator. "Why do you always pick through my kitchen?" I sighed, exasperated. "Because I'm never allowed to eat junk or drink soda," she answered smugly. I rolled my eyes and went to my room, throwing clothes into a "satchel" as Astrid called it. I grabbed a wad of cash from the jar on my side table and put it safely in my pocket. "Let's see, iPod, watch, pencils, sketch book, money, brush, jacket, Converse, books, sandals, swimsuit..." I muttered to myself. Astrid peaked her head through the door, holding a Coke in her hand. "Don't forget your phone." "Happy, Miss Bag Inspector?" I asked sarcastically. "Quite," Astrid laughed. I grinned. "Good. Then you can carry the bag," I said, shoving it into her arms. She narrowed her eyes at me, and dumped the empty Coke can in the trash can.
'Dear Mom and Dad,
gone to Montauk with Astrid. See you Sunday. Love you. ~ Katie'
I finished scrawling the note an taped in to the kitchen table. "Why'd you tape it?" Astrid asked. "Because I felt like it." I retorted, locking the door to our apartment. "Come on." We walked down two flights of stairs and out onto the streets. Astrid pulled out her Smartphone and texted her dad while I flagged down a taxi. To my complete surprise, it was the same scruffy blond guy from before. A little weirded out, I climbed in next to Astrid and said, "Take us to Montauk, please." "Sure thing, beautiful," he winked. I blushed and Astrid smirked. It was still raining outside, a little harder than before, and the raindrops sounded like lead on the roof of the cab. Anxious to avoid any more awkward conversations or looks from Astrid, I curled up on the seat and pulled out my sketch book. Astrid put in her earbuds and played music from her iPod, taking out her phone and going to a fanfiction site.