an inconvenient flame, n. goode

Chapter One

Song - "Greyhound : Calpurnia"

The sun blinded me as my eyes fluttered open. The burning rays stung until I adjusted to the surroundings. Dragging myself out of the naked mattress that resided on the floor, I slugged to the mess of the corner kitchen, tripping over the occasional trash and paperwork. I've been on my own for a few months now. After my dad died in a brutal car crash not too long ago, my mom left to find a better life. Can't say I blame her though. She wasn't exactly ever mother of the year. She would always drill into my brain that I was a mistake and she wished that I had been the one in the car that night. I think she's in Maine now, but I wouldn't know. I'm a 17 year old only child living on her own in a run down apartment in Shadyside.

Yeah..........shittyside.

For weeks, police had been coming to my house with child services at the ready. Sometimes I don't even answer the door. Other times, I continue to lie to them that my mom is on her way back from a business trip, but that lie can only go on for so long. Sooner or later I'll be put into foster care. I'd be taken far away from here. I know that doesn't sound like the worst case given where I live, but I can't leave Shadyside. It was my home and the last thing I had to remember my dad. He was the better parent — always supporting my childish hopes and dreams, never caring if I failed at school, just happy that I was trying my hardest. He always had my best interests at heart, that is, until he died. When he died, he damned me to a horrific life. I miss the bastard, I do, but at the same time, I hate him.

I threw on a sweatshirt, tight shorts, and a pair of sneakers that had seen better days before grabbing my backpack on the way out to school. My once tamed hair became the definition of chaos as I rode my skateboard to school. I never passed my drivers test, not that I had a car to drive anyways. My skateboard was my only means of transportation and I would never degrade myself to ride the bus to school. I didn't need kids at my school to see the shithole I was living in.

Passing through the town, I was reminded of how awful us shadysiders had it. Even those more fortunate than I didn't have much to brag about. When I got to the school, kids were already flooded around the front doors as they piled in. It took me a solid 10 minutes to finally reach my locker. Next to it was a locker swamped with "RIP" signs and pictures of the girl it belonged to — Heather. Holy shit! Was she dead? Not that I would know, my electricity got cut since I couldn't pay it forward, so daily news updates weren't an option anymore. I didn't know Heather that well. She sat next to my in AP English, but that was all. I didn't have that many friends either. Just a small group of buddies, I suppose.

I quickly headed to the bathroom to fix my wind blown hair before Homeroom could start. On my way, I ran into two of my good friends, Deena and Kate. Deena and I go way back to when we were both in pre-school. She's the only one that kinda knows about my situation. She just doesn't know the severity of it and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't need anyone's sympathy — I can handle things on my own. Kate and I had only met a few years back when I started cheerleading. I know cheerleading is just seen as a popularity driven sport, but I needed something to do with my free time. I wasn't into music and I hated most of the clubs at this shitty school. Besides, I'm not horrible at it either since Kate taught me a few of her tricks.

"Jesus! what happened to you" Kate laughed as she took notice to my hair.

"Shut up" I sighed, backing into the door.

When we all entered inside, we were greeted with the graffiti that decorated that bathroom stalls. The childish witch rhyme was painted. Kate took it upon herself to poke fun at the situation. "She reaches from beyond the grave to make good men her wicked slaves!"

"She'll take your blood!" Simon yelled as he jumped out from one of the stalls, wrapping his arms around me.

"Simon!" I yelled, pushing him off of me.

"She'll take your head. She'll follow you until you're dead!" He continued as I walked over to the mirror to fix my appearance.

"Do you ever stop talking?" I rolled my eyes.

"C'mon, babe. We're just having some fun." He smiled, wrapping his arms around my waist and planting a kiss on my cheek.

Yeah, Simon's my boyfriend. At first it was just a joke to prank Deena and Kate, but eventually he actually asked me out and I just went along with it. And here we are today. We've never actually done anything but kiss and lightly makeout. There's nothing wrong with that, hell, I can't even say I'm ready to lose my virginity, so I'm happy with the way things are.

"You guys are dicks" Deena commented.

"It's just fun" Kate protested.

"It's sick" I scoffed before turning away from the mirror to face them. My hair was finally back to its original state. Simon rested his arm on my shoulder as I gave them my undivided attention.

Kate cocked her head. "Lighten up, Y/n"

"The dude was wearing a Halloween skull mask" Simon explained, looking at me to back him up on his argument.

"Wait, what?" I questioned.

"Didn't you hear about the mall murder last night? Didn't you see Heather's locker? It's all over the news" Kate explained.

Quick — lie. "Sorry, I don't watch the news."

"I don't blame you. Nothing good ever comes from there." Deena added.

"But, c'mon. How is that not fun?" Simon continued on with no sympathy. I swear, I wish this man had an off switch.

"People died. Heather died. The dude was probably just some sad sack who hated his life, like the rest of us, except he decided, "Hey, why don't I get out of here for good? And, hey, why don't I take Heather and a couple other mall rats with me?" There's no angry dead witch who made him go postal. The only thing that made him go crazy is this town!" Deena tried to catch her breath as me and the others were left silent, until I spoke up.

"Are you ok?"

She was hesitant, "Yeah, I'm fine."

I wish Simon had kept his trap shut. "Seems like...maybe you got a little witch in you." I hit him in the gut with that remark.

"Dude, why are you even in here? This is the girls' bathroom?" Deena asked through a laugh.

With that, Simon reached up to retrieve a box hidden in the vents before presenting it to us both.

"Candy store"

That was all I needed to know what they were up to.

"Simon! I thought you said you'd stopped after your brother OD'd?!" I opened the box to see what he was dealing now.

"Timothy?" He asked with a higher pitch.

Kate began to back him up with a stupid excuse. "Timmy wasn't a real OD. He didn't actually die. They brought him back."

I rolled my eyes as Deena approached me, holding out a box.

"What's this?"

"I need you to give this to Sam tonight"

Fuck. Not this drama again. I thought she had moved on when that bitch moved to perfect Sunnyvale.

"Nope. Not happening. I didn't like her then and I most certainly don't like her now."

"C'mon, Kate already said no."

"No ma'am. You can give it to her yourself tonight-"

I was then cut off by the PA.

"Y/f/n to the main office. Y/f/n to the main office"

"Oh shit" I sighed