The city of Simport, Maine; a town of fun, a town of amazement, and a town where one can party all night and enjoy a beer or two, or five, with a couple friends. Some would say that living there is absolute paradise, while others would call it 'Hell on Earth', while others...just called it 'home'. The only downside to this city is that, like everywhere, the people who reside there have their own personal lives, drama, and frustrations that they have to deal with every day; but even then, it seems like not even that is enough to kill the party-mood and reputation that the town had made for itself. Despite all of that though, the town was what it was, and it knows what it was: the 'party capital' of Maine itself.
Now, we're not starting in that town just yet; in fact, we're starting off with a girl who used to live there, along with her best friend, who were both living in a college dorm building somewhere in the southern part of New York. The girl, in question, has shoulder-length dark-brown hair with freckles on her face; she wore a dark-blue baseball cap, a light-blue t-shirt with a black jacket over it, as well as dark blue baggy jeans. This girl is named Katie Morris; a tomboy whose skills involve dentistry, academics, and skateboarding.
At the moment, Katie was sitting at her desk, looking through photos of the many sights that Simport had to offer; from the dance-clubs to the mall, and from the monorail-station to the skatepark. It wasn't hard to tell that she used to be a resident from that town, given the rather fond look in her eye as she was taking a look at each picture that was scattered right in front of her. She didn't want to move away, but given that she needed a few years of college in order to be given the position of the job that she's currently hoping for, she had no other choice but to attend; and since there weren't any good colleges for her to go to in Simport, she had to find one somewhere outside of town. New York was an odd decision for her to make, given that it was located far outside of her home state; but she only picked one that was here because her cousin lived here, and attends college here too; she felt better leaving for another town as long as said town has a relative of hers living there.
Unfortunately, while she was busy reminiscing on her past, Katie was immediately taken out of her thoughts thanks to the sound of party music blaring from underneath the floor where she stood. She always hated it whenever her dorm suddenly has a wild late-night party such as this one, and out of the blue as well. Most of the time, she'd just let it slide; but since this was possibly the fifth weekend that she had to endure one of these made her blood boil at this point. Now annoyed, Katie stood up from her desk and marched downstairs in order to stop that party or try to anyway.
Once Katie got downstairs to the dorm's lounge area, she saw that there were students, both male and female, dancing or drinking or making out with one another; and here she thought she'd only witness this kind of behavior back in Simport. She glanced around the party was for minute or two, until she finally found what she was looking for: the plug to the dorm's radio. With a smirk now on her face, Katie began to make her way through the crowd of people; but right as she was about to kneel down and unplug the radio, a voice spoke up from close by.
"Hey, Katie!" A female voice said, coming from right behind the tomboy. "I'm glad you finally decided to join the party!"
Katie immediately turned around, seeing a familiar face standing there with a smug expression and her hands shoved in her pockets. The girl, in question, was somewhat shorter than the tomboy, has dark skin, and has short black hair; and her outfit consisted of a purple t-shirt with a black vest over it, as well as a red plaid skirt with black and white striped leggings underneath it. This girl was none other than her classmate, and best friend, Crystal Montell.
Just like Katie, Crystal was also a tomboy; but despite that, the two girls were a lot different from each other. Katie was usually a very studious girl, always being smart and diligent in any given situation; despite what her outfit and skateboarding habit may imply to some people. Crystal, on the other hand, was a lot more rebellious than her best friend, always being the cool one of the two and always attracting the most attention from the boys, and some of the girls too. Now, despite their differences, it's hard to believe that the two would wind up being close friends for a very long time, ever since they've first met back in middle-school; it was somewhat of a miracle that the two's friendship had lasted this long, to the point where they're willing to go to college together. Although, the two tend to get in each other's hair at times, regarding some of their aspects, such as Katie's goody-two-shoes nature, as well as the 'bad-girl' ecstatic that Crystal harbored since the start of high-school; but the two mostly find common ground afterwards.
"I'm not here to join this party." Katie told her best friend, clearly annoyed. "I'm here to put an end to it."
"No offense, dude; but you wouldn't be able to do that even if you try." Crystal mocked before wrapping an arm around her best friend, guiding her away from the wall where the radio's plug was at. "Anyways, it's the end of the semester, dude; you should be down here partying with the rest of us, live a little."
"By 'live a little', I'm guessing you mean 'let's get drunk and hope we wind up in a bed with, like, one or two of these guys'; am I wrong, Crystal?" Katie asked bluntly, with an eyebrow raised at her best friend.
"Well, you should probably take into consideration that not everything in life revolves around books, science, and other shit like that; and like I said, it's the end of our college semester, meaning that tomorrow is the first day of summer vacation-"
"That's actually what I've been hoping to talk to you about once you got upstairs; because I've been thinking about it recently, and-"
"What's up, ladies." A male voice chimed in, interrupting the young soon-to-be dentist in the middle of her sentence. "I couldn't help but notice that you two are all by yourselves over here."
"Yeah, I already know where this is going, and it ain't gonna work out, Rob; because I don't go for losers like you." Crystal says as she pushes the geeky guy out of her and Katie's way. "Now get lost, will ya?"
"Fine...fuck you too then..." Rob muttered as he began to walk away.
"Now that he's out of the way, go ahead and tell me what's on your mind, Kate." Crystal urged her best friend, as the former of the two tomboys proceeded to continue the conversation from where they've left off.
"Do you mind if we talk about it upstairs?" Katie asked the rebel, before turning her head to glance at the party around them. "I'm better if we have this conversation elsewhere, so that no other person can interrupt us again."
"Alright." Crystal simply replied back.
Putting a halt to their conversation there for a moment, Katie and Crystal maneuvered their way through the large crowd of partying students in order to get to the stairs. After a few struggles trying to reach their way to that location, along with a few plastic cups almost thrown their way by some reckless partiers, the two eventually made it to the staircase. They immediately went up them and headed straight for their dorm-room, which was thankfully not hard for them to find, even though it's one of the ones that were at the far-end of the second-floor hallway; the fact that none of the partygoers were hanging out up here made it a lot easier for them to find it.
Once they found their dorm-room, they went inside and sat down onto their perspective beds, which was where their conversation began to pick back up. "So, I've been giving it some thought for the past few days, and since you and I have been enrolled here for the past four years, I believe it's only fair that you also lend me your input on the matter." Katie explains to her best friend. "Before I proceed to go into any further detail, I must ask you one simple question."
"W-What is it?" Crystal asked, now confused with where this conversation was going.
"Throughout the past four years we've spent here, how much have you missed Simport as a whole?"
Crystal thought about it for a minute, before scooting back onto her bed and answering the brown-haired girl's question. "Honestly, I miss that town a lot." She answered. "Now, don't get me wrong, Simhatten is a totally awesome town to live in; but compared to a place like Simport, it's just...you know, not the same. Hell, I know, like, a handful of people there who probably miss having me around them; there's Goth Boy, Violet...Yuki, I'm pretty sure she's a wreck without me around her and the rest of our old clique."
"So, the feeling's mutual then?"
"Is it?"
"Yes." Katie's serious stoic frown soon became a smile after that. "Which is why I have come to the decision that both is us should go back."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Katie answered while nodding her head. "As I've stated before, we've already been enrolled here for four years, which is approximately the amount of time here needed in order for me to earn my dentistry degree and my bachelor's degree, which I have achieved both of them already." She then turned her head towards their desk. "Also, I've been looking through some photos of our town recently, and I couldn't help but reminisce on all the good ol' times we had back then, when we still lived there."
"Do you think things there have changed after we left?"
"I believe some changes are bound to be inevitable, but I wouldn't doubt if, like, one or two things are a little bit different..." Katie then chuckled a bit at one idea. "I wouldn't be too surprised if Derek Oaken is in juvie again for another ridiculous reason."
"It wouldn't surprise me either; the dude's a fucking dick..." Crystal muttered as she laid down onto her bed. "I can't believe I ever thought it was a good idea to date that bastard..."
"Hey, I've always told you that dating him was a bad idea from the start; you didn't listen."
"I know, I know...there's no need for you to sit there and scold me for it..." Crystal muttered while rolling her eyes. "When we get back to Simport, I'm going to find a dude who's a way better boyfriend than him."
"I'm sure you'll be able to find the perfect somebody for yourself one of these days, Crystal; but for right now, let's focus on one thing at a time here." Katie says as she proceeded to lay herself down onto her own bed. "Tomorrow, I'm going to wake up early so I can make some arrangements with the administrator so that we can leave; so in case you wake up and see that I'm gone, that's where I'll possibly be during that time, other than buying us breakfast or coming my way back here."
"Alright."
"Oh, before I forget, I want you to do one thing for me once you wake up: I want you to pack up everything that's yours around here, because I'll have all of mine already packed; I'm hoping that if we're quick getting everything packed and ready to go, we'll be able to get onto the first train back to Simport."
"Sounds like a plan to me, dude." Crystal then reaches for the lamp that was on the desk beside her and laid back down. "I'll see you in the morning, Kate."
"I'll see you in the morning too, Crystal." After that was said, the two tomboys drifted off to sleep.
It didn't take long for morning to finally arrive...
The sun shined right through the only window that was in the tomboyish duo's dorm-room, hitting Crystal directly in her eyes, much to her annoyance; she always hated it whenever she had to wake up this way. She swore under her breath as she stood up and closed the curtains, before turning to face the bed where her best friend usually slept in; and as she expected, Katie was gone, presumably still talking with their college's administrator or something. She wanted to just say 'screw it' and go back to bed, since she was pretty much low on energy at the moment and she was still tired as hell; but since she's a girl of her word, Crystal had no other choice but to start packing everything of hers up.
'I sure hope Katie brings back some coffee for me to drink...' Crystal thought to herself as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.
Before she could start packing, Crystal decided to first put on some music for her to listen do while she does so; one, because loud music helps wake her up, and two, because she always listens to pop-punk music whenever she had something chore-related to do. After looking through a bunch of songs that she had on her phone, she eventually picked a song that she personally liked, which was 'The Anthem' by Good Charlotte. Once she pressed 'play', she began to start packing all of her stuff.
Crystal first placed her backpack, as well as her pull-up suitcase, onto her bed; afterwards, she went over to the closet and began collecting each and every article of clothing she had stored in there. Once all of her clothes were packed, Crystal then proceeded to put away all of her electronic devices, which was dealt with pretty quickly, considering that it's just her laptop that she needed to take care of. Last but not least, she went to deal with the bathroom items that she had brought along with her, or in other words, her toothbrush and her hairbrush. Once everything was all packed up and ready to go, Crystal sat back down onto her bed and proceeded to wait until Katie got back.
After about another minute or two, Katie finally returned to their dorm-room, now holding two cups of coffee in her hands; however, she appeared to be pretty annoyed for some unknown reason. "I had a feeling that you were the one who was blasting music up here!" She exclaims as she placed the cups aside onto their desk so that she can turn her friend's music down. "What the heck do you think you're doing anyway?"
"I'm packing everything up, just like you had told me to do last night." Crystal stated as she took her phone out of her friend's hand. "Don't have a fit about it, dude."
"Well, I rather not have any of the students come here and cuss us out for it." Katie told her best friend, before putting on her backpack. "In case you haven't notice, we are on a bit of a time-crunch at the moment; and I rather not have any altercations that could result in us missing the train."
"You're acting like one person complaining at us is going to cost us our ride home-"
"It's not just one person who inhabits this building, Crystal; there's approximately one-hundred and fifty-three students who reside here, including us too." Katie then paused for a moment so that she can pick up her sports-bag off of the floor beside her. "Anyway, we should get a move on if we want to be the first ones on that train."
"How long do we have until the train arrives?" Crystal asked, collecting her backpack and suitcase.
"In an hour."
"Well, this doesn't sound like you getting us ready for the school-bus all over again, doesn't it?" Crystal remarks with a scoff, as the two began to exit their room together.
"Hey, no back-talking to me here, dude; if I say we gotta go now, then we gotta go. Besides, the train-schedule's a bitch here compared to the one back home."
"Not that we don't use our town's monorail anyway."
"I know." Katie and Crystal both went down the stairs and proceeded for the dorm's exit. "Thankfully for us, the metro shouldn't be too far from here; in fact, it's approximately five blocks from here. If I estimate the time from here to there correctly, then I believe should be able to arrive there in about twenty minutes..."
"All the more reason why I think you're taking the time-scheduling thing a little too seriously..." Crystal said as they were now exiting the building.
"What did I say about back-talking here, Crystal?" Katie asked, turning to give her best friend a glare.
"No back-talking..." The rebel then replied while rolling her eyes. "Can we change the subject now, please?"
"Sure." The two then proceeded to head off to the campus's main gate. "So, when we get back home, what job are you thinking about applying for?"
"Right now, I don't know..." Crystal replied with a shrug. "However, I have been considering the possibility of applying to become a pharmacist."
"Really?" Katie then asked with an eyebrow raised, only to receive a nod as her answer. "I never would've imagined you working at a place such as that."
"Truthfully, I wouldn't have thought so either; but after thinking about for awhile, I felt like it would be an easy enough job for me to do. Also, I did spend the past two years studying different types of medicine and medical procedures, so..."
"It's totally up to you on this one, dude. If you want to become a pharmacist, then I'd say go for it; whatever you decide, you'll have my support."
"Thanks."
"No problem, dude."
"So, do you mind if I ask you a question of my own?" Once she received a nod from her best friend, Crystal continued to speak. "Out of all the boys you know from our hometown, which one are you hoping to ask out?"
"None of them." Katie answered bluntly. "Dating is not one of my top priorities when we get back to Simport; and even then, none of them interest me."
"Bullshit..." Crystal muttered as she turned to give her friend a smirk. "You might not have shown your feelings for any of them, but I know you had your mind set on, like, two or three guys: more specifically, Ian Arneson. You always had a thing for guys with intelligence."
"We're not into each other like that, Crystal; we're just friends. I mean, yeah, we used to be partners during a lot of school-projects in the past and all, but our relationship had never blossomed anywhere further than 'just friends'; and besides, he has a girlfriend already."
"Bummer, dude; because I was so expecting you and him to wind up together."
"Damn it, you sound like Sapphire Byers whenever you talk about what guys you see me going out with..." Katie muttered under her breath, before deciding to ask her best friend the exact same question that was previously asked. "Is there anyone that you're interested in?"
"There's a few I can name off the top of my head, but I doubt you'd recognize any of them...well, aside from Goth Boy, Ray, and Yuki, that is."
"Does Derek Oaken count, considering that there might be the slight chance that you still ha-"
"The slight chance that I still have feelings for him?" Crystal interrupts, turning to glare at her best friend. "Haven't I already told you that me and Derek are over? There is no way in hell that I'll ever go back to dating a remorseless asshole like him; I'm better than that and you know it."
"Chill, dude." Katie assured the rebel, holding her hands up in a defensive manner. "I was just joking with you."
"Ha...I must've missed the part where the punchline comes in, and the part where I'm supposed to laugh." Crystal muttered, as they were now arriving at the train-station. "I'm just hoping that the prick's moved on to someone else, because the last thing I want to deal with when it comes to him is the whole sentimental 'Please take me back' bullshit that comes with almost every break-up. I just want my first day at Simport to be completely drama-free."
"Well, it has been five years already since you guys have broken up, let alone have even spoke weird each other, so...if you ask me, I'm sure he's gotten over you at this point."
"Do you really think so?" Crystal then asked as the two stopped in front of the railway, right as their train was starting to pull up into the boarding-area. "Derek's not exactly the type of guy to not move on from something, or something, so easily."
"Who knows; maybe he'll get back together with some other ex-girlfriend of his, or something. You can't be the only girl he's ever been with, right?"
Crystal simply shrugged at what her friend had just asked. "Damned if I know..." She said softly, as the two tomboys boarded the train.
"Let's just save the 'romance talk' for another time. For now, let's just enjoy this train-ride; it's going to be a bit of awhile before we finally get to Simport." After Katie says this, the two girls sat down in one of the seats as the train began to take off.
Note: So, I am fully aware that I'm infamous for deleting my stories and starting over on multiple occasions, but recently, I was starting to become unhappy with the direction that my previous story was going; mostly, I felt like the revenge-plan Crystal had made her seem a little unlikeable (even thinking about it for future chapters at the time). There were also (and I guess this is a bit of a subjective thing) too many subplots for me to keep track and focus on, it got a little too overwhelming for me; and the fact that this week hasn't exactly been good for me doesn't help either. Regardless, I'm sorry if that this was so sudden for some of you, but I felt like I needed to do this. One thing I will say though is that I'm hoping that there's going to be some big changes from the previous times I've tried to write this story; Crystal being there in college with Katie being one of them, but expect more to come as time goes on.