Chapter One
CALM BEFORE THE STORM

The Marvel anthem blared loudly on the TV as Mara sat a bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table. She took a seat next to Eli, who was sitting on one end of the couch, while Demetri sat on the floor in front of it (according to him sitting on the floor helped with posture).

The three had been binge-watching all of the Marvel movies to lift their spirits before school the following day. It was a way to cheer them up before their happiness was deflated the next day. None of them liked going to school for many reasons.

Eli constantly got bullied for the scar on his lip. He was born with a cleft lip and the surgery left a small scar on top of his lip. It was barely visible but bullies made sure it was the main focus whenever anyone saw him. If you were to ask Mara, she loved Eli's scar and hated when he tried to cover it.

Demetri was your stereotypical "nerd". Yeah they were all nerds but Demetri was the most open about it. He talked a lot and he was very blunt when it came to his opinions but if you got to know him you would love him. Bullies made his life a living hell for no reason, but Mara admired how Demetri never stopped being himself even after relentless years of teasing.

Mara was constantly made fun of for her freckled-covered face and under-developed body. Puberty hadn't hit her yet and it wasn't a problem. At least to her. She guessed not having big breasts or a nice ass was a problem. Which was ironic since Yasmine always purged in order to look exactly like that. The girl had learned to get used to the teasing over the years. She would often find her clothes in the trash after gym class and find mean notes in her locker. She just didn't care anymore.

The only time she actually felt like she could be herself was around her best friends. They liked to call themselves the golden trio (yes they were Harry Potter fans. So what?). It was with them where she felt the happiest.  They always knew how to cheer each other up and every moment together was a great one.

"Hey you ok? What are you thinking about?" Eli had taken notice of the girl's silence the whole day. He always noticed when something was off with her. It's like he got this feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him something was going on with the girl. Especially today since she was uncharacteristically quiet. She didn't talk much in public but she was always a big ball of energy when they were alone. He reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Mara smiled softly at the boy and squeezed his hand back. "Nothing. I'm just not excited for school tomorrow."

"Hey, don't worry I'll be with you all day. If someone messes with you they have to mess with me too."

"I believe the correct saying is they have to come through me first," Demetri interrupted from his spot on the floor. "But we all know none of us can fight...so I guess your version is correct."

The two turned to their friend and gave him an unimpressed look. Of course, they loved Demetri but sometimes he said the stupidest things. The boy didn't notice their faces and continued talking. "You know, maybe this year will be different. Mara, you could definitely hang with the hot girls this year. You definitely got hotter over the summer. Don't you think Eli?"

Eli's cheeks flushed bright red as he struggled to come up with an answer to Demetri's question. "I-I uh— I don't—"

"Don't answer him." She pointed a finger at Demetri and motioned to the tv. "Just watch the movie Demetri."

     Demetri looked down with furrowed eyebrows as he slowly turned himself around. "Well ok Miss Buzzkill," he muttered to himself. Mara shot a glare at the back of his head, not going unnoticed by the blonde beside her. Eli chuckled softly and pulled the girl into his side, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. He truly loved his friends. He didn't mind Demetri's bluntness since the boy had always been that way and if it wasn't for Mara he would have never joined their little group.

You see Demetri met Eli and Mara at the beginning of middle school. The two were sitting at an empty table and talking about the new episode of Doctor Who that came out and their opinions on it when Demetri suddenly sat down at their table giving his own opinion on the episode.

The two were in a state of shock, not because he had interrupted their conversation and went off into a full-on monologue on why Matt Smith was the worst doctor (in Mara's opinion he was the best) but because someone decided to sit with them. Noticing their shocked faces Demetri had immediately apologized and asked if he could be their friend since he was new. Of course, Eli didn't answer, his jaw still on the floor from the shock of someone actually talking to them, but Mara had smiled and welcomed the boy into their little group with open arms, although she made sure to give him a lecture later on about how the eleventh doctor will always be the best. It was an unexpected friendship between the three of them but one that lasted a long time. Five years to be exact. Now they were in their junior year of high school and Demetri hadn't changed a bit.

The three teens had focused their attention back on the movie, quickly forgetting about the earlier conversation as they got sucked back into the world of heroes and villains in front of them. But leave it to Mara to ruin the moment.

"Bucky is so hot."

"Shut up Mara."

Mara woke up to someone shaking her shoulder. She didn't even realize she fell asleep. Groggily she looked over at Eli who was pointing to her phone that was lit up on the table. Mara leaned forward and picked up her phone looking to see who could be messaging her this late.

Ryan
You can come home now. Yasmine, Kyler, and Moon are about to leave.

Mara
ok

Ryan
By the way we ate all the food.

Mara scoffed at her brother's messages. It was clear her brother and his jerk friends didn't care about her basic human needs so she decided she would make a quick stop somewhere to grab some food.

She said goodbye to Eli and Demetri, the latter was fast asleep on the floor and was drooling onto the carpet. She laughed lightly at the boy. Eli grabbed her hand and walked her out to her car.

"Are you sure you don't need a ride home?"

"No, I'm just sleeping over and Demetri's mom will bring us to school tomorrow." She nodded and stepped forward to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him into a hug. Eli's arms wrapped around her waist and he rested his head on her shoulder. The hug lasted a little longer than it needed to and the two teens found themselves awkwardly pulling away.

"Well, I'll uh s-see you at school tomorrow."

Mara nodded at the boy giving him a half-smile before climbing into her jeep and exiting Demetri's driveway.

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As Mara entered the driveway of her two-story house in Encino she took notice of the red car that was still parked in her driveway. She knew exactly who owned it and she didn't feel like having a conversation with her tonight.

Turning off the ignition she reached over the center console to grab the ll Tramezzino bag that was sitting in the passenger seat. The lights were off in her house, from what she could see from the driveway, so she assumed her father and Ryan had already gone to bed. Thank God.

Mara was still wearily eyeing the car that was silently sitting in her driveway as she walked to her front door. She tried to sneak pass but as soon as she got close the window to the car rolled down to reveal an awkwardly smiling Moon. "Heyyyyy Maraaaa."

"What do you want?"

Moon frowned at the girl's harsh tone but if she was being honest it was completely justified. "Look, I know we haven't talked in a while —"

"Two years."

"But. We were cleaning up and I saved you a slice of apple pie. I wasn't sure when you would be home... so I've been sitting here for like an hour."

Mara gave the girl a weird look and took the pie from her hands. "Um, thanks I guess. You didn't need to do that."

"I wanted to."

Mara moved her gaze to the side and crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever."

Moon placed her hands on the steering wheel, stretching her arms out as she she sighed in frustration. She didn't know why she thought Mara would react any differently to seeing her again. It was her fault they stopped talking. Accepting her defeat, Moon turned on the ignition and looked back at the girl whose eyes were still glued on her front door.  "I'll uh see you at school tomorrow. Have a good night Mara." With that, the blonde backed out of the driveway and left.

Mara let out a breath of relief as Moon's car drove out of sight. The two had a complicated past. She didn't know if the blonde was trying to make amends, but it would take way more than a slice of pie to get Mara to forgive her.

Opening her front door, Mara made sure to be as quiet as possible on her way to the kitchen. She didn't want to risk waking her dad up. She set the pie down on the kitchen counter, quickly pulling out a sharpie from one of the drawers and writing her initials on top of the container.

After placing the container in the fridge she sat down and ate her sandwich while she scrolled through Instagram. Her feed was mostly filled with bikini pictures and videos from a pool party that happened earlier that day. Apparently Samantha LaRusso had thrown a party and she got busted by her dad. That explains why Yasmine and her group decided to hang out at her house. She scrolled through some more posts eventually coming across a post making fun of one of her classmates. Aisha.

Mara felt her blood boil. Did people have nothing better to do but make other people miserable? Aisha was a sweet girl. They weren't close friends but she had gone to robot camp with her when they were younger. She hoped one day Yasmine and her little followers got what they deserved.

Mara pushed the negative thoughts away and stood up from her seat. She wasn't hungry anymore so she decided she would just go to bed. She went to her room and changed into some pajamas (which was just one of Eli's old shirts and a pair of shorts). After brushing her teeth she climbed into bed and checked her phone. There was a message from Eli which made her smile.

Eli
I hope you got home safe. Goodnight Mars

Mara
Night E ❤️

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I hate first chapters so much so I really hope this was ok. Don't forget to leave a comment and tell me what you think. I would appreciate some feedback.

Next chapter things will start to pick up I promise. I'm thinking of making my update day for this story Wednesday. Thank you for reading!