This Chapter is dedicated to dreambigbae for introducing me to this site and being an amazing friend. Thank you for all you've done and continue to do. :)

Senior Year

After an amazing summer in Europe, coming back to start school is a nightmare I apparently can't avoid. Another year of pure hell is about to begin. And if it wasn't for France and the people I met there, I would have had a mental break down before I made it through the summer.

My alarm blared over thirty minutes ago, but I am still in bed, holding the comforter over my head. As cowardly as it sounds, I just want to close my eyes and sleep the rest of my life away!

Unfortunately, I don't get to ponder on that lovely thought for too long. Because the next thing I know, mom is bursting through the door.

"Jessica Grayson!" She calls in disbelief. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

I lower the covers, and she doesn't give me a fighting chance as she opens the curtains and momentarily blinds me.

"Mom!" I whine, covering my face with my pillow.

I wish I had the discipline to suffocate myself with it right now.

"I hate to do this but..." She snatches the pillow away, exposing my face to the harsh sunlight. "You need to get up and get dressed. You are not missing school on the first day!"

I don't think I have ever dreaded anything more than I dread going back to that place. But I get up because that's what we do. We get up and hope for the best.

Things weren't always so bad. Well, actually, they were. But then they got better. I was well-liked in school and had what you would call "a perfect" sort of life for a little while. To outsiders, at least. Having a wealthy father had its advantages too. It's once my father built his empire that I even managed to make friends and won myself the quarterback as a boyfriend. And it was all fun and games until it all went to hell.

"I have to take the twins to school, so please hurry up." Mom says.

I pause halfway to the bathroom.

"Didn't you say dad was taking them to school?" I ask.

Mom looks away, then down at her feet.

"He called to cancel. And to think they were so excited to see him." She sighs.

I roll my eyes, fuming with anger.

"This is so typical! He always does this."

"I told them he came down with a cold. So, stick with that." She tells me before walking out.

Ugh!

My father was never really around even when he was around. He was too busy climbing the ladder of success. But as the years went by, it started to get worse and worse. The constant business trips and late nights at the office took a toll on mom. He basically left her to raise the twins alone.

Then one night, he sat her down and confessed that he had been having an affair with her own best friend. Then to top it off, he said he was leaving to move in with her. The news was hard to swallow as it was. But thanks to his newfound fame, they got an ugly public divorce which made the whole thing ten times worse. And being the oldest, it mostly damaged me.

***

I take a quick shower and get dressed. I would usually go to the Hasting's for a swim, but I woke up late today. So I don't even have time for breakfast.

I pick up the phone to dial Steff. I won't even attempt to drive my piece of crap Car. Daddy dearest promised to take me car shopping months ago. But in a typical Jonathan Grayson fashion, he "keeps forgetting". I can't believe he doesn't care that I got stranded twice because the car had to get towed while he's sleeping on a goldmine.

"Hey, babes." She says, picking up on the second ring. "I hope you're not calling to tell me you are skipping school."

"Ugh, I wish! I actually need a ride."

"Oh! Sure." She chews on something. "I'm supposed to pick Jeremy up too. So I'll see you in a bit."

She hangs up before I have a chance to thank her.

The one thing I'm eternally grateful for are my friends. It took me a while to find them, but I'm so lucky that I did.

After the story about my parents came out, all my then friends now turned enemies, made me feel like an outcast. And to make matters worse, my boyfriend of three years dumped me for the girl I thought was my best friend. People laughed, Like mother, like daughter.

That's when I turned to alcohol and fell into depression. When I got myself kicked off the swimming team for showing up to practice intoxicated, my parents tried to force me into rehab. But I knew it wouldn't help. I wasn't addicted to alcohol. I was addicted to numbing the pain.

I finally managed to make decent friends in my Junior Year. Stefani was my Biology lab partner, but we barely even said hi to each other outside of class. But when we run into each other at an Imagine Dragons concert one night, we unexpectedly ended up bonding over Demons. Then she introduced me to Jeremiah, who had been her best friend since childhood. They were both there for me in every way I needed, and things were starting to look up until a bag of Cocaine was found in my locker last year.

I would have ended up going to juvie. But sooner than expected, the police found out the real owner of the drugs that my so-called old friends paid to frame me. So he got sent to Juvie while they suffered the consequences of their action. Of course, I still have no idea how they managed to get themselves out of getting expelled, but I'm sure it involved bribing.

A lot of it.

"Jess, your friend is here." Zach shows up at my door, peering in.

"Steff?"

"Who else?" He rolls his eyes. "You don't have many friends."

I glare at him.

"I'll be down in a minute."

He shrugs and leaves. I throw my books in my backpack in a hurry and make my way downstairs. I can't believe this is how I'm starting my senior year. I should be excited and ready to take on the world or— whatever. But I'm so anxious I feel like I might vomit.

"Did you fly a Jet here? How'd you get here so fast?" I ask, walking into the kitchen.

"I couldn't keep my favorite girl wai. . ." Steff pauses midway into her sentence and gawks at me. "What in the name of Vogue are you wearing?" She stares at me with horror.

"I didn't have time to dress up," I say, kissing the twins.

I didn't want to dress up, more like.

"Are you going with us?" Dean asks.

"Her friend is here to take her." Zach answers for me.

"Girls, have some breakfast." Mom shoves a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of us.

"No. We're super late, mom. But thanks. Save it for later?"

"Yes. Very late! And Jeremy is waiting in the car. Bye, Nina!" Steff shouts, dragging me away with her.

I see the old light blue mustang parked in front of our house and smile to myself. Sometimes I think her car sucks more than mine. But we've made so many fun memories in it, it feels like one of us now. It's an oldie but a goodie.

"Hey, Jer," I say, sliding into the passenger seat.

"Hey, Jess. You ready for the very best year of our lives?" Jeremy says sarcastically.

I chuckle.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Jer, look who decided to murder fashion." Steff glances at him before starting the car.

"I think she looks fine." He shrugs.

I turn around to flash him a grateful smile.

"She looks like she belongs in a nursing home." She snorts and turns to me. "No offense. But that sweater doesn't belong in this century."

I roll my eyes.

"I'm just saying you could've made an effort." She runs on a curb, making us hit our head on the roof of the car.

Ouch!

"Joan Rivers, I don't mean to interrupt your episode of fashion police, but can you just focus on the road! You never pay attention to where you're going and you could get hurt someday." Jeremy says.

"Sorry, Dad. I'll be more careful."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." I look pointedly at her.

"On the contrary, I feel great. This year might actually turn out to be fun." She says.

"Yeah, right!" I snort.

"She spent the whole summer partying. I think she might still be hangover." Jeremy says.

"Shut up!" She laughs. "Not gonna lie, the parties this summer were lit thanks to Liam. But it would have been so much more fun if you were here." She glances at me.

"Who is Liam?" I ask, leaning back on my seat.

"Elliot's cousin. His family moved to New York at the beginning of middle school, don't you remember? You two almost kissed in sixth grade while we were playing seven minutes in heaven." She looks at me with a mischievous grin.

I cringe.

That was arguably the most embarrassing moment of my childhood.

"Thanks for the recap." I glare at her. "Yeah, now I remember him."

"Well, the hottie spent the summer here. The parties were always insane when he was around. This one time, there was a jello wrestling match at this party, and the girl that won went out with him. He's a total womanizer, though. Figures!"

"He sounds to me like another Elliot," Jeremy says, unimpressed.

He moved away right before middle school, and the only vivid memory I have of him is that day in that closet.

"Well, the lucky few that went out with him couldn't stop blabbering about how good he is in bed. Sadly, I couldn't confirm for myself." Steff says.

Jeremy groans.

"You need help!" I laugh.

"I need to get laid." She points. "And this is not confirmed, but there is a rumor he's fooling around with Brittany."

"What?" I sit straighter. "Brittany is cheating on Elliot?"

"Do I need to remind you that he cheated on you and then dumped you for her? The jerk deserves it."

She has a point. But despite everything, I still have feelings for the jerk. I choose to remain silent as we park at school.

"Welcome to hell, little ones," Steff says, unlocking the door.

I grab my backpack, and I take a deep breath before stepping out into the grounds of West View High.

***

I started this story a long time ago but I lost all motivation and stopped writing it. When I finally decided to get back to it, I knew it needed a lot of changes. So, for any old readers that are still around, I'm sorry and thank you. The story will have the same plot, but I'll be introducing new characters and new subplots will be added. I'll also remove some old scenes that don't really fit into the storyline anymore. So essentially, the story is going to be different. If you're an OG I suggest you reread from the first chapter.

There is way more to the story than meets the eye, so I hope you guys stick around to go on this journey with me through all the twists and turns of the story.

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT

Much love,
Becca