Bite Your Tongue

My Candy Love Fan Fiction

Prologue:

There is something refreshing about moving to a new area in the summer. It's like a fortune cookie: you can either get a really good fortune, a mediocre one, or one that is as confusing as Confucius. I have never enjoyed seeing things in a bad light so I was excited about the move; more or less, anyways. In truth, I despised my old school. It felt like a Hollywood movie on high school, like Mean Girls or Gossip Girl. The majority of the girls were backstabbers and because of that I had never had a true friend. I was lonely. I was The loner at school.

I didn't mind the sneers or jabs, but I did mind the pitiful looks or sayings. I enjoyed being alone because I was afraid to be out of my comfort zone, and speaking to a group of strangers was daunting. Now however, I was going to change that. At this new school, I could be more open. Besides, I was sure that the people over there were less rude than the students at my school. I had gone to a private Catholic school, and the students there were always hungry for a fight. Lucily, Sweet Amoris High School was a public school and I heard public school kids were always nicer.

Even if I didn't make friends right away, that would be okay. It was my junior year of high school, and I was sure that everyone already had their own group of friends. Hopefully, I would be able to fit in and not go back into my loner ways. I had a lot of hope in my new school and in myself, and I was excited. Sweet Amoris High School sounded lucky and sweeter than Los Osos High School: Home of the Grizzlies.

I still had my two Los Osos yearbooks inside my small bookshelf, and even though I was hardly in the year book, I enjoyed looking at my old pictures. I liked seeing how much I had changed over the years, and I couldn't wait to receive my new picture that would be in the Sweet Amoris yearbook. As every girl knew, junior year was an important year, and of course what better way would there be to start the school year off than by having an awesome year book picture?

Which was why my eccentric aunt was trying to place my overflowing, thick, long hair into a french twist. My hair was not complying and the entire room smelled of hairspray. I looked at my reflection in the mirror through half lidded eyes in an attempt to keep the chemicals from entering. Although I was grateful for my Aunt's kind gesture of help, my hair didn't look as good as it did down.

I didn't say anything and let her continue, knowing that if she finished she would be satisfied and then perhaps I could persuade her in letting me just straightening my hair instead of the large fanciful, intricate twists that would not stay. My aunt grabbed the last bobby pins on the counter top and harshly used them to hold a braid tight.

Her hand then reached for more but there were none to be found. She had used them all up- a set of twenty- and only half of my hair was in the twist. She sighed, releasing frustration through her breath. I took this time to turn my head around and before I could open my mouth to speak she began undoing all the braids and removing the bobby pins.

"Everleigh, your hair is always such a mess. Honestly, I do not know how you could do a single thing to that wild creature." My aunt told me. Most people would have thought she was being serious and that it bothered her because always held a serious expression when she was making jokes. I smiled at her as she continued to complain about my hair. It wasn't long before my hair was down. I got off the toilet and quickly stood up, checking once again my reflection.

"Thank you Auntie for trying," I told her sincerely. I enjoyed when people played with my hair, it was relaxing and reminded me about my mother.

"Evelynn was right about your hair; even when you were young you had hair that had a mind of it's own." My aunt told me, then grew quiet. We both did. My parents had died 10 years ago in a car accident. I didn't really remember that much about them. I only knew what they looked like when I saw pictures and I only knew their voice when I saw family videos. Other than that, I could only remember what it felt like to be loved by two good parents.

"I think I'll just straighten it on Monday," I told my aunt in a quick subject switch. My aunt nodded in approval and then gasped. She grabbed the straighter on the counter and tentatively touched the plastic heat plates inside. She shuddered and pulled her fingers off the sticky surface.

"Oh sweetie, I forgot to put that under the sink so it wouldn't get ruined." Exclaimed my aunt quickly, as if I would get angry at her. I did give a small frown but I brushed it off with a shrug. Before I could tell my aunt it was alright, and that I was sure Google had some solution in cleaning the heat plates, my aunt rushed off. Auntie Hope was scattered brained and very quick to do things. She could surprise anyone with her actions.

I left the bathroom and saw my aunt hurrying downstairs. Following her, Aunt Hope found her multicolored messenger bag and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. With an "Ah-hah!", she handed me the wrinkled money with a sense of pride.

"Go buy yourself a new hair flattener," she told me.

"Auntie, no. I can clean it."

"Oh." She paused, but then tapped her chin. "I don't care if you can clean it. You might as well go down to that corner drugstore and get yourself a new one. Think of it as a 'new school year' gift from your favorite aunt!" Aunt Hope chimed and then pranced up the stairs. "And no 'and's. 'if's, or 'but's about it." She then disappeared inside her room and shut the door to show me that it really was the end of our conversation.

I sighed, but decided to take heed to my aunt's words. If I didn't buy the new straighter, she would be hurt. Placing the bill inside my pocket, I put on my sandals and left my aunt's condo. Being immersed in the sultry summer air was welcoming, especially since the bathroom had grown extremely stuffy. I knew my way to the Dollar Shop; it was only two blocks away and was near Sweet Amoris High.

I ran my fingers through my hair to try and make it less stiff. It was a feeble attempt but it gave me something to do to distract me from thinking. In two days, I would be a new student at Sweet Amoris. A pang of longing filled my essence and I was curious to know how the students at Los Osos were preparing for their first day of school. I wasn't missing anyone. I was regretting that I didn't have any friends there or someone my age to talk to about the nervous, excited butterflies in my stomach that appeared whenever I thought about my new school.

As I neared the Dollar Shop, I saw a group of four teenagers standing outside. Three girls and one boy, quickly noticing how the boy was short and scrawny while the girls looked ready to walk on a runway. I walked through the parking lot, which was surprisingly empty except, for two cars, and tried not to make eye contact with them. I bit my tongue and was angry at myself for not making my hair look nicer: these kids were probably from Sweet Amoris. Sweet Amoris was the only high school in this small town, so my reasoning couldn't be that far off. As I was rushing to the entrance, I witnessed something that made me stop in my tracks.

A beautiful girl with full, bouncy blonde hair harshly pushed the awkward boy onto the side walk, making his spiral glasses fall off his nose. She did it quickly and held no remorse by her posture: placing one hand on her hip and held out her hand.

"C'mon, give us the money. You really expect three girls to suffer in this heat?" She scolded him. I stared at her in shock. She was exactly like the girls in Los Osos, only more blunt and physical. The boy muttered apologies as he tried to reach for glasses. Before he could grab them, the blonde used the heel of her boot to break them half. I gasped.

A tall Chinese girl turned around and glared at me, placing her purple compact inside her pocket. Then the blonde and her other friend with brown hair, with dyed blonde streaks making her hair look caramel turned to face me. Three pairs of eyes were glaring at me. I wanted to shrink away and run into the store, and I would of, until I met the eyes of that young boy. His eyes were glassy with embarrassment and perhaps a sheen of tears. I knew I couldn't be a bystander. I gritted my teeth and turned both of my hands into fists.

"Leave him alone," I warned them, and took a step forward. "He doesn't give you any money." The two girls behind the blonde looked shocked. I assumed that the blonde was the queen bee at Sweet Amoris. Of course she was, power made people act like jerks.

"Who the hell are you?" The blonde prompted, placing both her hands on her hips and standing up straight. She was almost as tall as me; I was 5'8, and she was wearing heels. I grinned, and leaned up on the tip of my toes to seem above her: to intimidate her.

"Why is my name important? Does it matter? I'm sure you don't know this boy's name and you still decided to push him." I replied. The blonde rolled her eyes, but didn't look too confident anymore.

"Fine, I'll give you a nickname if you want since your name must be as plain as you. How about, Fluffy?" She crooned, making a baby noise as if she were speaking to a dog. "The name does suit you, your hair is such a disaster. Charlotte, Li, look at how... coarse it is. I guess they don't make doggy conditioner." She added, giving me a smirk. My silence had gave her a small surge of power, her confidence returning, especially since she had brought her friends into the conversation.

"Wow, Amber," The Asian girl said, imitating the blonde's smirk, "Looks like the cat got her tongue; maybe she's a-"

"I'm sorry," I interjected, my stomach dropping as the words were about to tumble out my lips, "I can't seem to understand what you're saying. Let me go get the Dog Whisperer so he can translate for me." The three girls became silent, either because they couldn't understand what I had said or no one had spoken to them like that before. I assumed it was because of both reasons. "Nothing else to say? Good, now get going." Amber opened her mouth but I loomed over her, knowing my height intimidated her. She turned on her heel and began to walk towards a red Mustang with the two of her friends strolling behind her. I watched them speed out of the parking lot and took a deep breath. My stomach felt hollow and I felt adrenaline rushing through my body. It was a common side effect whenever I spoke commanding to a person.

It was scary. Yet, exhilarating.

I bent down to get the boy's glasses while the boy stared at me in awe. I gave him a tentative smile and handed him back his broken glasses.

"Thank you," he murmured shyly, and looked down at his glasses.

"Anytime." I said slowly, then offered him a hand. He took it and I pulled him up with me as I stood. "I'm sorry I didn't do anything sooner." The boy shook his head and gave me a sheepish smile and a shrug of the shoulders.

"It's a okay," he told me. "It happens a lot. Usually no one helps me." I frowned when he said this. Maybe Sweet Amoris wasn't going to be all that great after all. "My name is Kentin, but you can call me Ken. What's your name? I've never seen you around here before." He said, and I saw his face brighten immensely. I smiled warmly at him.

"I'm Everleigh, and I guess you can say that I'm the new girl around here."