Buttercup's Point of View –
Today was Tuesday, the second week of school. I was impatiently waiting for Hanna and her mom to come pick me up when the doorbell rang.
"Sweetie, is that Hanna?" my mom called from the sofa.
I opened the door.
"Yes ma'am," I answered.
"Hey, you!" Hanna greeted, giving me a quick hug.
"Ready to go?" I asked.
She smiled and nodded. I grabbed my phone and stuffed it into my pocket, along with my money, and followed her to mom's Escalade.
"Hey Mrs. Lawson," I said to her mom as I climbed into the backseat.
"Hey, sweetie."
She had the same creamy complexion as Hanna along with frosty blue eyes and golden blonde hair.
"Hey, BC!"
I turned to my left to see Bella, grinning bashfully.
"Oh, hey! I didn't know you were coming," I replied.
When we pulled up to the Evergrande Mall, Hanna's mom dropped us off at the entrance before hesitantly driving off.
As we walked past the food court, I asked:
"Where do you wanna go first?"
"My fishnet gloves ripped yesterday, so let's go to Hot Topic," Bella recommended.
Hanna shrugged in agreement.
"So… what happened?" Bella asked as she examined the assortment of gloves.
"What do you mean?" I replied nervously.
"At the date, dipshit," Hanna said, lifting a Far East Movement tee shirt to her torso. In pink letters, it read: 'Fly Like a G6.'
"Oh—cute shirt. I love Far East Movement. I might buy it," I choked out as a desperate attempt to change the subject.
"Shut up and tell us already," Bella ordered.
I sighed and retold the story as I retold to Bubbles.
"Aww… BC's a mommy now?"
"Whatever. I was just helping him. He was lost," I said defensively.
"I think you and Mitch would be cute together," Hanna suggested.
"As if! I'm not even interested."
"You're in denial," Bella replied in a singsong voice.
I frowned and furrowed my eyebrows.
"Am not! He isn't my type…"
"You don't know that," Hanna responded.
"Yea, I do, actually. How would you know?"
Hanna raised her hands in defeat.
"Fine – you win. I just wish you'd give the kid a chance."
I pondered the idea for a moment. The thought of becoming more than friends amused me. A slight grin formed over my face.
"You two are just alike, but you're too much of a dumbass to notice," Bella stated as the cashier handed over her bag.
"What do you mean by that?" I scoffed as we walked out of the store.
"Need I make a list?"
"We're not alike!"
"If you would let me explain…"
I impatiently waited for her reply and lowered my head. She smiled before starting.
"Well, you're both stubborn and defiant… you're both kind of cold on the outside but also bad-tempered…on the inside, you're both really affectionate and talented… you both have complex personalities and you both are unpredictable."
Whoa. That was a long list. I blinked for a moment, in profound thought.
"See, look! You even both have the same look on your face when you're pretending that you're thinking! You can cut it out, though. We all know it's nothing in there," Hanna pointed out jokingly.
After seeing the death glare I shot at her, she raised her hands in surrender.
"Kidding… but really—both of you really are artistic and creative… and very intuitive."
I raised my eyebrow, both out of contemplation and me not knowing what the hell intuition was.
Before I could open my mouth to protest, they dragged me into American Eagle.
Today was Wednesday, 5:00am. I yawned and groaned in aggravation before rolling out of my messy, comfortable bed. I crept over groggily to the bathroom and washed my face and brushed my teeth.
About forty-five minutes later, I was fully dressed. I had my long, layered hair in a side ponytail, teased at the top, with my glossy side bangs grazing my eyelashes. I had an oversized pullover hoodie that was gray and black over my skinny jeans with gray and white graffiti Converse.
I was too exhausted from yesterday to really do anything fancy. As I slouched down on my bed, Bubbles sashayed into my room, gingerly stepping over the shoelaces and video games strewn and scattered onto the ground. Her honey blonde hair fell down her back and shimmered a slight golden in the sunlight that radiated through my window.
As usual, she looked gorgeous. With her sun-kissed hair, her glistening teal eyes, and her smooth, tan skin, she looked as if she was from California.
"I see somebody's sleepy," she teased in a singsong voice, grinning widely.
I yawned to further prove her point. She simply nodded understandingly as Blossom, like the motherly sister she was, called us down to the kitchen. Grabbing my key chain necklace and throwing it over my head, I switched off the light and followed Bubbles down the stairs. Blossom was standing beside the door impatiently, repeatedly glancing up at the clock.
"Finally! You know, you guys either need to take less time getting ready or get up earlier," she scolded when we arrived. I felt my rage build up inside of me.
"Is that all you do all day, everyday? You just love to tell everybody else off and feel that you're perfect, huh? Besides—I only take around an hour to get ready at the most!" I protested angrily.
She sighed in exasperation and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down before she said anything she would regret.
"Must you be so aggressive? Calm down, will you?" she retorted, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Where's Bubbles?"
I reluctantly shifted my gaze around the room and snorted. Bubbles wasn't in there. She must have slipped off the fix her makeup.
"Ugh! I'm about to leave – you can wait for her!"
And with that, I marched outside and slammed the door behind me. I could still hear her ranting about how I have no sense of responsibility or how I'm never accountable for my actions. Whatever the hell that means.
I picked up my pace a bit until I reached the front gates. I walked around wearily to our table.
"… So my mom grounded me because my jackass brother broke the damn glass table…" I heard Melvin say. He must have been telling a story.
"Buttercup!" Butch exclaimed as we met eyes. I grinned slowly, my eyes dreamy, eyelids heavy, my mind anywhere but school. I was so groggy that I barely noticed Butch slapping me on my back after executing our secret handshake, one that we had made up in the fourth grade.
"Whoa, BC. Rough night?" Melvin asked sympathetically, his red and black cap turned backwards.
"I don't even know…"
I sat down beside Hanna and Butch, Mitch diagonal from my left. I glanced at him, and then looked away, embarrassed. I must have looked pretty frightening to him with my pale skin and bags under my eyes. When I looked back up at him, he smiled. I blushed a rosy pink before turning my gaze elsewhere.
Melvin hesitantly continued with his story, his expression of concern unwavering.
"I can't take it! Can't take it anymore! Dammit, BC! Why do you have to look so miserable?" he suddenly screamed, startling everyone. He snatched his hat off of his head, exposing his disheveled, mocha brown hair. He threw his hat over my head and turned it backwards.
"That's better. You don't look like a zombie anymore," he replied, letting out a sigh of relief.
"But zombies are cool!" Bella protested. We all laughed as the bell rang.
I lazily slumped over to the entrance as Butch and Melvin whizzed by on their skateboards.
"You gonna be alright?" Hanna asked, her mouth formed into a distressed frown.
I simply nodded in reply as I turned to my locker to retrieve my books. Not that I would be paying attention, anyway. The only class I liked was P.E.
If that even qualifies.