SMACK!
The small, black alarm clock slammed against the wall. It's big, red, digital numbers, still shining, but the annoying weather forecast was at least done.
Orion began to stir in his bed, slowly beginning to prop himself up on his elbows as he looked around his room.
The window to his left showed that either the weather man was lying, or he needed to go back to meteorology school because it was about as cloudy as he had seen it in days. Between him and the window was his nightstand where he had a picture of his family, or lack there of. His father was in the center, with his mother to his right, and him, the eldest, at 17, in the family to his left, and in front of them both was his younger sister, Alayna, 14, and her twin brother Ethan who was the family favorite by far. The picture didn't do many of them justice, but Orion loved it, as it was the one picture that he can remember where they were smiling for real, and not faking it. The one time he remembers being truly happy.
A trunk lay at the foot of his bed, in which he kept the majority of his most prized possessions, including his journal, his other favorite photos, and other random items that meant everything to him, but practically nothing to anyone else.
As he pushed his covers off and put his feet on the floor, he stretched, reaching his arms straight into the air, and arching his back, causing it to pop many times. He then proceeded to run his fingers through his medium-length black hair and got up and headed into his bathroom.
Unlike the rest of the family, Orion didn't live in the main house. Since his family was quite wealthy, on his 16th birthday, his parents had his own smaller house built in what would be considered the backyard of their estate, which pleased Orion more than they would ever know. Although he loved his parents, he couldn't stand being around them all the time. He was also given all the money he deemed necessary to decorate his room in any way he wished. To much of his parents dismay, the majority of the house has a dark feel to it, and every time Orion bought something else that his parents didn't like, he always reminded them that they said he could decorate it anyway he chose, which also made him happy. Not only to fluster his parents, but that he had the freedom to make it the way he wanted.
It had four rooms and three bathrooms, as well as a two-car garage. Mainly in-case he had company, which was quite often, however, the company pretty much consisted of one person, Orion's best-friend in the whole world, Hayden Corvus. Hayden lost both his mother and his father two years ago and since then has been living with Orion and his family. Once Orion's parents built him the separate house, Orion insisted that Hayden come and stay in the house with him, there was plenty of room, and Orion wasn't too enthused about living in there alone. As Orion had expected, Hayden agreed.
Orion walked into his bathroom and closed the door behind him. He walked over to the shower and turned on the hot water and some of the cold, just the way he liked it and walked over to the mirror while it got to his liking. The purple dye he had on the tips of his hair was beginning to fade, and his hair was close to his shoulders, so he decided that he would drive into town today and get it fixed before tomorrow night.
Tomorrow night he had a date with the one girl he had a crush on since he was 11. Danielle Riley was going to be hosting a graduation party for everyone who graduated, and surprisingly, she invited him to come. Danielle wasn't considered the prettiest girl in the school, but she was definitely considered so by some, but not just because of her beautiful face, or her stunningly fit body, or her long, black, silky hair, but because she was by far, one of the nicest, if not the nicest girl in school. She never told anyone to get lost, if you approached her and tried to start a conversation, she would actually talk back, which was odd for a girl of her repoirte.
Orion's deep blue eyes stared back at him, blank and glazed over as one's eyes typically did when they day-dreamed of that first kiss from a special someone. Although Orion knew that nothing would probably ever come of him and Danielle, nothing could stop him from dreaming about it. Not even the one thing that he knew stood in the way of him and the girl he loved, the one thing that was probably still asleep in the next room, Hayden.
He ran his right hand over his body, which unlike last year, actually had quite a bit of definition to it. Orion had decided that he was going to enjoy his senior year, and nothing would make him happier than to play baseball for the school team with Hayden. Hayden was the ace of the school team's starting rotation, and was used frequently as a pinch-hitter. He led the entire region in strikeouts and was the only pitcher who had led his team in homeruns. When baseball season came, Orion was originally going to be cut because Coach Hinderson felt that 'the team needed more of a power-hitter playing shortstop'. After Orion begged and pleaded with the coach, he was still going to be cut. It wasn't until Hayden took the coach aside and insisted that he would work with him and get his hitting up before the season started that he was allowed to join the team.
Orion and Hayden spent the next three weeks working out diligently to get into the best possible shape they could before the season started. Hayden also helped Orion with his batting and helped him change his swing to allow him to hit the ball with more power instead of just trying to pull the ball. As time progressed, Coach Hinderson became more and more pleased with Orion and after just the first five games, named him the starting shortstop over the original shortstop, Michael McCreary, who had played on the team since his freshman year. Needless to say, this brought an unusual amount of attention to Orion, both good and bad.
To Orion's pleasure the girls were starting to notice him more and actually acknowledge his presence when walking down the hall. He would occasionally even get a 'Looking good Orion," or a "Hey, good game the other day." On the other hand though, Michael and his friends were not too pleased that a 'walk-on' took Michael's starting job, so they constantly bullied him.
One day, when Michael saw Orion coming his way, talking to Danielle, he stuck out his foot and tripped him, causing him to hit the floor face-first, bust his nose, launch his books halfway across the hall, and look like a fool in front of the one girl everyone knew he had a crush on, and was trying to impress. Much to Orion's surprise though, this strengthened the friendship between the two. Danielle shrieked once she saw the blood on the floor, and hurried to help Orion get to his feet. Once she managed to do so, she yelled rude and obscene comments at them, even a couple obscene suggestions as she helped him to the nurse.
Once they got to the nurse, the nurse dismissed Danielle to return to her class, but she explained that this was her free period, and she would prefer to stay here to make sure Orion was going to be okay. After the nurse had stopped the bleeding she gave him the choice to go back to class, or retire to his home for the day, seeming as there was only one more class left and it was a nasty fall. Naturally Orion chose to go home, and as Danielle and Orion exited the nurse's office, Danielle wrapped her arm around his and they walked out the main doors and out to Orion's car, talking the whole way.
"Ya know Orion, I have been thinking a lot lately-" started Danielle, before Orion interrupted her.
"Uh-oh, we're in trouble. You're trying that thinking thing again," he retorted sarcastically.
Danielle just laughed and nudged him in the side with her elbow. "Seriously though, I have, and this is going to be the last year that most of us will ever see each other, and well," she paused both her talking and walking as they approached Orion's black Dodge truck.
Orion, not noticing that she had stopped, continued to walk forward, but was brought to a sudden halt by the two's arms still being interlocked. He turned around and faced Danielle, both relinquishing their grips on the other.
"What is it Dani?" he asked, with concern in his eyes.
"It's just, I'm going to miss you Orion. I know we don't spend a lot of time together, but of all my friends, you're the one I can count on the most, you are the one who is least afraid to be himself, you are the one-" she paused again. Looking into Orion's eyes, she slowly reached and grabs hold of his hand. "That I am going to miss the most," she finished as a smile spread across her face, and as he opened his mouth to say something in return, Hayden came sprinting out of the front doors headed towards the two.
The two quickly let loose the grasp they had on each others hands and waved towards Hayden, Danielle beaming to see her beloved, and Orion beaming a fake smile, wondering in his head just why Hayden had to come running after them now.
When Hayden reached the two, Orion pulled his keys out of his pocket and acted as if he was waiting on Hayden to say what he had to say before he headed off to the house.
"Hey babe," Hayden said, smiling, as he walked up to Danielle, wrapped his right arm around her waist and kissed her. Then he turned to face Orion. "Hey bro, I just heard what happened. Man those guys just don't know when to quit do they?" he asked. "Once Coach found out, he kicked Michael off the team. Michael swore up and down that he didn't do it, but even his own posse ratted him out. Pretty sad huh?"
Orion nodded his head, now fiddling with his keys to attempt to show his impatience.
"You headed home?"
"Uh, yeah. The nurse said I could if I wanted to, and so I'm gonna head home and maybe lay down or something. Why? You comin?" Orion asked.
Hayden looked at Danielle and then back at Orion. "Sure, I can come. I have History last class, but we're not doing anything important today, and I already told Coach that neither one of us were going to be at practice today, so yeah, I'll go," and Hayden turned back to Danielle again. "You wanna come to babe?"
"No, I got a calculus test next period, and I can't afford to miss it, Mr. Knightly doesn't allow make-up tests unless you have a doctor's note," Danielle replied. Orion could tell she was lying and just didn't want to be around the two of them right now, but Hayden didn't seem to pick up on that.
"Ok, I'll call you later then," he added as he opened the passenger-side door and plopped into the truck. Hayden kissed his hand and pretended to blow his kiss towards Danielle as Orion hopped in and started up the truck. Danielle pretended to grab it and stick it on her lips. Orion just drove off wanting nothing more than to just get home and chill out for the rest of the day.