Chapter 2

Gabriella's POV

I woke up to my plain white walls, the sound of Analeigh singing in the shower, and the aroma of cinnamon pancakes. It was a sunny Friday morning and Ana and I had the choice to start school today, but we opted to start on Monday, truth is we were just being lazy.

I heard the water stop in the bathroom down the hall and counted the seconds until Analeigh would poke her head in my door. It was like a routine, she would always greet me in the morning by knocking on my door twice then slowly her head would enter my room. It used to upset me, water droplets would leak from her long dirty blonde hair and sometimes she even woke me up, but you learn to tolerate and even enjoy her antics.

Like clockwork, I heard her knocking then saw her face.

"Morning Ella Bella!" she called. I groaned, still semi-asleep.

She laughed then asked "And how are we feeling this fine Thursday morning?"

"It's Friday Analeigh" I said, but I knew she knew what day it was, she just said that to elicit a response from me, she would say the weirdest things to get a rise out of me in the morning. She was an 'early bird' and I had no tolerance for the sun.

"Your mom made a fucking feast this morning, and I'd hate to see you starve. You know how I eat!" was the last thing she said before leaving my room. Then I just stared at the white walls for a few more minutes.


Troy's POV

My alarm sounded crisply at 5 am. I remember when my mother used to wake me up, but I relieved her of that duty when Trish and I (mostly Trish) decided now would be a good time to start being 'self-sufficient' and depend less on our parents.

But I hated my alarm clock, who wants to start every day with a mini heart attack? My mom was more soothing and loving, but whatever, it wasn't a big deal to me.

It was Friday so it was acceptable to dress a bit more casually, so I just wore a beige sweatshirt, some slacks, and dark dress shoes. I was headed downstairs to eat breakfast when my phone buzzed, notifying me of a new text message, which read

"Got the profile on the new students! Meet me my locker in 1 hr."

It was from Trish. I was racking my brain for the easiest way to let her know I couldn't care less about the new students when my phone buzzed again. This time a message from Chad, and it read

"Crisis. Code Red. My House."

Simple and to the point, much like Chad was. So you see where my dilemma lies. If I don't meet Trish, she'll assume I'm breaking up with her, which she does a lot. If I blow off Chad he'll throw a hissy fit about how I'm "neglecting the bros" which he does a lot. I just wish there was one person in the world who didn't expect so much from me, someone who would understand that I'm just one person.

Ultimately, I decided to meet up with Chad at his house and hoped to God that whatever this 'crisis' was about wouldn't last longer than an hour, no reason I couldn't try to meet up with the both of them.

In my head I honestly thought I could make time for the both of them, honestly I did.

I didn't know then how wrong I was.


Gabriella's POV

I sat at the brand new glass dining table surrounded by more white walls. I don't know why but they're really starting to get on my fucking nerves.

Anyway, Analeigh sat directly to my left and my brother across from me, they were chatting about something Adam had seen on TV last night. He was all worked up and I could tell Ana didn't give shit about what he was saying, but she was really good at humoring people.

"…and then a huge dinosaur came and was like ROAR! And the little boy was trying to run away with the old guy, but the mean old Dino kept on chasing him and roaring so I guess he was hungry and…" was the only part I really heard of his fascinating recap of Jurassic Park.

Analeigh would just casually nod and once in a while she'd say something like "really?" and "That's so cool!"

Then my mom emerged from the kitchen carrying a huge platter of pancakes, another of eggs, and a third holding bacon. My mom used to be a waitress in Detroit to 'put food on the table', that was before she was a business woman. Who would've guessed?

"Adam what did I tell about watching scary movies before bed time?" she asked sternly.

"It wasn't scary mommy, I promise and Leigha watched it with me" he supplied, and my mother looked to her from confirmation and Ana swiftly nodded her head.

The fact that Adam and Analeigh's relationship was a tiny bit stronger than mine and Adam's used to bother me, but it doesn't any more.

I mean, you would think she was his older sister if it weren't for the fact that Adam, my mother, and I had the same features: dark hair, tan skin, and brown eyes. Analeigh's blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin made her stick out like a sore thumb. If it did bother her, she hid it well.

15 minutes into the breakfast, my mother instructed us to take Adam to a nearby park she had seen on her way to work the other day. I was reluctant to go, but Analeigh really wanted to go, so I agreed.

20 minutes after that, we were on our way down a road we'd never been on, on our quest to find this magical park. I had on headphone in and Adam was on Ana's back while she and I talked about anything and everything that popped into our heads.


Troy's POV

I had to change out of my dress pants and put on a pair of sweats and sneakers in order to run to Chad's house. It was preeeeeetty far but I'm in shape so I was there in about an hour and 12 minutes, Trish was going to flip!

I was welcomed by Chad, Jason, and Zeke, relaxing on Chad's porch, drinking lemonade and chatting. Now I don't usually curse but WHAT THE HELL?

"Bolton!" Chad called "you made it, man! Now the fun can begin! Someone get this man a glass of my famous homemade lemonade." He said.

I was fuming "Where's the crisis!" I asked angrily. Then Jason spoke up.

"Crisis? There's no crisis, just four buddies playing a little hooky together, glad you could make it, Chad thought you'd bail" he said.

This was ridiculous, and I guess my friends noticed how pissed I was because they all turned to Chad to say something, so I guessed it was his idea.

"Look, Troy we-"he began to say, but I cut him off, something I rarely ever did to anybody.

"NO! You mean to tell me that there is NO crisis, AND you want me to cut school?" I asked, well, screamed.

Chad just nodded his head.

"No! No way I'm missing school! Look, you've done some mean stuff in the past but this was just plain stupid? Why do you even want to cut school? Don't you guys care about-" I said but was interrupted.

"School" said Chad.

"Grades" mocked Jason.

"Learning" added Zeke.

I stayed quiet, and then Chad rose from his spot on the porch and moved so he was about 2 feet away from me.

"Here's how I see it, you haven't missed a day in like, 2 years, your dad is cool and he'd cover for us, and most importantly, you already missed homeroom and half of first period" he said.

I checked my wrist watch and saw that he was right, it was 9:45!

I just looked at him for a long time, then I looked at Jason and Zeke behind him, then back to him, and I looked at the sweatpants and sneakers I had worn for the first time in months.

Then I thought about what he said to me yesterday in the hall, and put it all together. I guess they really did miss me, and I can admit I did change a little.

"So…" I started "if I were to agree to this heinous plan, what exactly would we do?" I questioned actually beginning to consider this.

"I don't know maybe hit the mall, or better yet the park! You know it'd be just like old times!" Chad explained.

"Yeah, I mean, you are already here." piped Zeke from behind.

"Yeah and only one condition, you can't use words like 'heinous." said Jason.

"So…you in?" asked Chad.

I swear, I don't even remember agreeing, and I don't even remember the walk to the park. I didn't even remember my prior engagement with Trish. Looking back, all I can remember about that day is the girl I met at the park that day; the girl with the torn Rolling Stones shirt and the big brown eyes.

I remembered the conversations we had and how different she was from Trish. Her long almost black hair looked soft and welcoming, and Trish's short blonde bob looked and felt stiff and strong. Her tan skin could run laps around Trish's pale complexion, and her voice was friendly and nurturing. Trish's was a little soft at most.

All these features I had memorized as if I were preparing for an exam. The only question I'd get wrong would be the one asking for her name.

Because I never caught it.


**Hoped you enjoyed it, and thanks for all the constructive criticism and all the reviews!

***Oh and this is very important:

Should I write their meeting at the park, or just go further into the plot and use flashbacks I can't decide? Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.