I let the wave lift my battered board, like a mother to a newborn baby, caressing and calm. The barren ocean; naked of its usual litter of surfers. A sense of peacefulness clothing the bay. Soft sounds of crashing waves ease my heavy mind. The early morning sun peeking over the soft horizon, taunting me. Telling me a new day has started. A new day I have to endure. A new day I have to put on my smile.

I push off my board, diving down, down into the murky depths of the ocean.

Being under the water is so peaceful. How the deep blue stretches for miles and miles, home to thousands of undiscovered wildlife, unfortunately, littered with the evidence of humans destructive existence.

The water itself is cool, covering every inch of your body as if encasing you in a comfortable shell, silky to the touch. Water makes everything seem so much lighter. Being submerged in the salty abyss, where the water urges you up. Up to the surface. Up to finally relieve your lungs with the bay's salty oxygen.

The ocean brings a sense of life, it brings one hope. Even if only for a short period of time.

As I fold my arms across the dented nose of my board, resting my forehead against them, I let out a deep sigh. I wanted to stay here forever. I didn't want to face it all. My mom. My family. School. Everything.

Sometimes I feel completely ready to combust. I ache for things society turns its nose up at. I ache for being free of my mind. One where I never have to return to reality. Not some bender that eventually I'll get pulled from. But an actual escape. A forever escape.

***

"So what do you think Lacey?" Beatrice asks me elatedly. Her blonde hair bouncing in her soft curls. Her electric blue eyes searching my expression as we make our way into the school cafe. She was planning out her outfit to a party that some girl, Elise Walter, was holding at her parent's house while they were out of town.

"The yellow dress for sure," I say with a direct nod of my head. Sliding a salad onto my worn tray, as well as a crisp apple and a bottle of water. The options had been narrowed down between a stunning yellow bodycon dress, which was Bea's signature colour, and a midnight blue bodysuit and white skirt combo.

"Yep," Bea says her lips tugging into a small grin. While she reaches for a steaming carton of mac and cheese. "Luke's favourite colour is yellow." She mutters to herself with a small grin. Bea has been attempting to impress Luke ever since she met him.

"Are we not going to talk about the sexual tension between you two?" I ask her, nudging her slightly. Egging her on, being the good friend that I am.

"Between who?" Seth, Bea's slightly older brother. By five minutes. 'The most peaceful five minutes of my life.' as Seth likes to put it.

Seth was your average teenage boy. Your average dirtbag. Your average high school playboy. Whatever you wanted to call him. I personally enjoyed calling him an asshole. 

"You are so nosy, must be why your nose is so big." I reply, my eyes rolling into the back of my head. The banter between us was not unusual, it tended to ease out the strong dislike we shared for each other. We took a seat at our lunch table.

"Hey Baby!" Mia exclaims, in that condescending voice that our table has grown acquainted with over the past couple of weeks, as she perches herself on Seth's lap.

Mia Olivine Richards. The class A bitch of this story. Her looks struggling to make up for her ugly personality. 

Vomit.

Thank you Seth for gracing us with yet another extremely fake girl we have to endure until you get bored.

"Hi." He says; his voice monotonous, a hint of annoyance behind it. Their lips crush together and I look away.

Nobody needed to see that.

"They get along," Callie says with a roll of her eyes. I meet her eyes and grimace, which she easily returns. I pick at the food in front of me while blondie and Seth play tongue hockey.

"Dude Hot chips five o'clock," Dallas says nudging me. I turn my head slightly to the five o'clock and see Carlos. A one night stand that had developed into a rather occasional hookup.

"Hey," He says leaning over me resting an arm on my shoulder, I arch my head back to meet his gaze.

"What's up?" I ask him genuinely, his head upside down from my point of view.

"Want to hang after school?" He asks giving me a pleasant smile. 

"We all know what you mean so you don't have to sugar coat it," Luke says with a gag. Luke is Seth's best friend. Obnoxiously loud, undiagnosed ADHD and pretty much says whatever he wants.

Carlos gives him a look and I flip Luke off. He grins in response and sculls back his Powerade.

"She's got practice surely you should know this, you know being her boyfriend and everything," Seth says his voice harsh and threatening, I hadn't noticed him turn his attention away from blondie, who sat there wearing a rather pissed off expression.

"He's not my boyfriend," I mutter mocking his harsh tone and throwing him a glare. Which he returns without much hesitation.

"Ahh, that's right. See you anyway." Carlos says chuckling before he nods and heads back to his lunch table.

"See you," I say as he heads away.

Eventually the bell goes and I drag myself to the last class of the day. English. With Callie and unfortunately, Seth.

Callie was in my English class and my Home Ec class. And she has been one of Bea and I's best friends since freshman year. She was your sweetest, most motherly girl ever. Who literally deserved a Grammy for keeping Bea and me safe the number of times that she has. We were extremely lucky to have her.

"I'll see you after school. Meet me in the locker room." Bea calls out as we go our separate ways.

"Will do." I wave to her as I fall into stride with Callie.

"You know Lace, some would say you're stalking me," Seth says from beside Callie and me.

"You know Seth some people would ask you to pull your head out of your ass," I say annoyed, trying to walk faster to break away from him.

But he remains in stride next to me.

"You love it," Seth says sarcastically, with a chuckle.

"Mmm," I say my shoulder connecting with the door as I shove it open. Before dropping into my usual seat next to Callie.

"Ouch, cold shoulder. Think of my poor heart. Thought you thought more of me Lace." Seth says with a dramatic shake of his head.

"Aww, your poor stone-cold heart," I say my eyes rolling halfheartedly.

"I think that deserves an apology." He says his eyebrows raised in amusement, his voice condescending, sending waves of frustration through me.

"I think you deserve-" I start with as much acid I can in my tone.

"What are you going to do?" He starts a small smirk tugging on his lips. "Tell my mommy on me?" He finishes with a sarcastic pout. He knows that his teasing doesn't equate to me telling Trina. I loved Trina. She was like my second mom. And I also know that Seth didn't need Trina on his back for something so mild.

"No. I haven't quite decided between castrating you or ripping your head off." I reply with a small smirk. I feel Callie nudging me urgently.

I look at her and she's carefully watching something ahead of her. I turn to see where she's looking and make eye contact with Mr Ford who is eyeing me, his arms folded sternly. Like he's waiting for me to finish my conversation.

"Miss Carter. Anything you would like to share with the class?" The teacher, Mr Ford says, strictly. His eyes narrowed like a cat hunting its prey.

"No sorry," I say slumping back down in my seat shrugging innocently.

"No. Please share." He says gesturing for me to speak up.

I let out a small sigh and I know I'm in the shits.

"What did you say? Come on.. tell the class." Mr Ford says from beside me.

"If you want to know so desperately." I start. Mr Ford nods in anticipation.

"Seth and I were discussing whether he wanted either get his head ripped off or to be castrated," I say with a wince.

"I'm accepting votes now." I finish directed to the class, turning my head with a small smile.

"Miss Carter. That is highly inappropriate for school." Mr Ford says raising his eyebrows at me.

"Mr Ford. If you didn't want to know. Then don't ask." I say with a small shrug.

"Miss Carter. Please apologise to the class for taking up some of their lesson time." Mr Ford says sternly gesturing to the clock. I can feel Seth kicking the back of my seat, trying to get a rise out of me.

"I'm so sorry that I didn't realise class had started and brought my private conversations into the classroom. " I ask seriously a mocking concerned look on my face.

Mr Ford raises his eyebrows at me and turns away with a shrug.

"I'm sO SOrRrY ThaT i dIDn'T rEAlIsE CLaSs hAD stArTEd.." Seth starts before I flip him off over my shoulder.

"Mr Nixon, please. Do not encourage her." Mr Ford says giving him a stern look.

"You are the one who asked Mr Ford," Seth says with an amused chuckle, leaning back in his seat arms folded.

At this Mr Ford's face turned red with annoyance you could tell he really wasn't having any of it.

"Actually you know what. Both of you. Stay in after school for an hour." Mr Ford almost spits.

"I have soccer practice, Mr Ford. You know how Coach Colton gets when I'm not there." I explain with a roll of my eyes.

"Yeah so do I," Seth says in protest.

"Well. That's a shame. You will have to be late." Mr Ford says with an annoyed shrug as he flicks through the textbooks.

"No can do buddy," I say shaking my head, twirling the pencil on my fingers.

"Detention for two days then." Mr Ford finishes giving me a stern look, telling me to hold my tongue.

"Actually Mr Ford, It was just a statement made to me during class. It doesn't exactly warrant you to give Lace two days detention." Seth argues, my eyebrows almost shoot up at Seth's arguing for my after school freedom.

"You too then Seth, two days. Ok class I'll be back, I just have a few detention forms to get from the office. Please carry on with pages 23 and 24 in the textbook." Mr Ford announces, giving both Seth and I glare as he walks out.

"Jesus, don't you know when to shut up." I snap at Seth as the whole class bursts into chatter. Seth flinches as if I touched a nerve. 

"Woah, you're the one that was answering back. Not my fault you're a loudmouth and can't talk in a quiet voice." Seth replies with a hint of aggression.  

I turn to where everyone is looking and see the Principal.

"Miss Carter. Mr Nixon. My office now." She says nodding towards the hallway. 

I slowly grab my things and walk to the door. Seth trailing behind.

***

"This is the third time Mr Ford has come to me about you two's behaviour in his class. As captains of your teams I expect both of you to be behaving with dignity and respect." Mrs Simmons says looking between Seth and me.

"No disrespect or anything Mrs Simmons, but it was a conversation between Seth and I. It was practically over as Mr Ford got annoyed at us anyway." I argue. 

"Faculty talk Miss Carter, you two are quite well known for your bickering." Mrs Simmons says.

"Yeah, but we weren't disrespectful to Mr Ford. How is bickering landed us in the principals office?" I attempt to protest.

"Miss Carter. You are not setting an example of teamwork, respect for our teachers and I am concerned that this may have implications for our soccer teams. I have decided you two will serve one week of detention. With Mr Ford. And if you two do not begin to display respect towards each other and teachers Coach Colton might have to reconsider both of your captaincies." Mrs Simmons explains.

"We have soccer practice." I exclaim. It was one statement, blown so far out of proportion that this might have involved Zinc oxide and a heck of a lot of magnesium.

"Well. Maybe you should have thought about that before you disrupted the class." Miss Simmons says. Gesturing for us to leave.

"Your parents will both be notified." She says as we make our way out.

"My mom is going to kill me," I mutter closing the office door behind me.

"Tell me about it." He says shaking his head. As we walk back to Mr Ford's classroom.

"And I'm missing soccer. That's the only thing I look forward to." I say with an annoyed huff.

"Not even my company?" Seth says jokingly. I throw him a dirty look and he holds his hands up in surrender.

"Are you guys at ours for dinner tonight?" Seth asks me.

"Yep," I reply. We have dinner at the Nixon's every Monday. And then they have dinner at ours on Saturdays.

Our parents are extremely close. Like best friends. So Bea, Seth and I grew up together as well as my older brothers that are away at college, Jacob and Leroy and my younger sister who's a sophomore, Molly.

I push open the door to Mr Ford's classroom and see Mr Ford standing in front of the class while the class all hang their head.

"Welcome back. Please take a seat." He says calmly. I give Seth a look before taking my seat next to Callie.

In the rest of the class, Mr Ford talks about respect and constantly throws me stern glares. Seth kicks the back of my chair a few time and I flip him off over my shoulder.

He's so annoying.

I sit there looking bored. Eventually, the bell rings and the class clears out. Seth and I remain in our seats.

"Good luck," Callie says squeezing my shoulder softly as she makes her way out.

"Thanks," I say giving her a small smile. Mr Ford leans against the desk in front of me, facing towards me and folds his arms. He gestures for Seth to move to the seat next to me, where Callie normally sits.

He remains silent for a few moments before opening his mouth.

"I am extremely disappointed in you both. Your high-grade averages do not reflect your poor behaviour in class. Now I want you here for an hour. Thinking about what you've done. And then you may go to practice. You'll only be twenty maybe thirty minutes late. Consider this me being nice." Mr Ford says to us sternly before making his way to his desk, but not before sliding us two detention forms.

Does Seth actually have a high-grade average?

I fill out the form quickly. Making sure to keep the answers brief.

I put my pen down and loll back in my seat. Seth puts his pen down as well and raises his eyebrows at me.

"Highest grade point average?" He mouths a teasing confused look on his face. I lightly smack his arm.

"Says you." I mouth back and folding my arms.

After the rest of the long hour passes, of clicking of my pen, tapping of my leg, almost falling asleep on my arm. Mr Ford lets us go.

"Coach is going to kill me," I say with a small sigh.

"I would say unlucky. But I no doubt have the same fate." Seth says with a sigh.

I make my way into the girl's locker room and slip on a pair of athletic shorts and a singlet over top of my sports bra. I tie my hair up again and put a headband on to keep the wisps out of my face. I lug my soccer bag over towards the field where the girls are running drills and the boys team are on the other side of the field with their Coach. I drop my bag onto the bleachers and jog over to Coach.

"Hey, Coach. I'm sorry I'm late, I got detention this week and.." I start.

"Lacey. I know. It's fine. If this behaviour continues there will be serious consequences." Coach says holding up her hand to stop me from continuing. "Now. Go for a run. Seth will be doing the same." She says gesturing towards where the other co-coach is ripping into Seth.

I sigh and make my way over to the track and start jogging. I wave to Bea as she gives me a sad smile. A few of the other girls give me an encouraging shout and I give them a small smile. Seth jogs to join me after a fair grilling.

"Gotta love punishment." He says with a sigh as he falls into stride with me.

"You really do," I reply with an equal sigh.

"Lucky us." He says with a small grunt.

We run in silence. He stays at my pace the whole time which I'm thankful for. I'm fit, but so is Seth, by quite a bit more.

"Speed it up!" My coach yells and I sigh and kick it in. Lengthening my strides. Seth keeps up easily.

"I don't want to have to deal with my parents tonight," I say with a huff as we run.

"Yeah. Neither do I. They might not let Bea and I have that party on Friday." He says with a small huff.

"Yeah. I was looking forwards to it. I need to just get out of here for a while." I say gesturing towards my head.

"Get out of where?" Seth asks me curiously.

Oh shit.

"My head," I reply timidly.

I had not meant to say that.

Seth just nods in understanding and we continue jogging. My legs ache and sweat streams down my face, I had pulled my singlet off earlier as it was clinging to me drenched in sweat.

Mia had been throwing me glares from the bleachers where she was waiting for Seth to be finished practice.

Finally, after my legs feel like dropping off. Coach signals that I'm done. I jog over to where the team is gathered.

"So ladies. Our lovely captain here is living proof as to what happens if we act up. Got it?" Coach asks as I grab my knees to catch my breath.

"Got it." They all say. Sending apologetic glances my way.

Bea pats my back reassuringly and I give her a small smile. We pack up the gear before I pull on my hoodie and make my way to Bea's car, where we head to her's. For our weekly dinner.

My stomach clenches, the anxiety ripping through me at the thought of what my mom would say.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Edited (1) December 7th 2020