Bullet

Chapter 2 - Snaky Personalities

Chapter 2
Snaky Personalities

A/N - Photo off to the side is of Marnie :) & Thank you all so much for the love & comments I've gotten so far. You're all the best!

One Month and Three Weeks Before…

Today marked the first day of school, my junior year and the hardest year of high school yet.

To say I was far from thrilled was an understatement. All junior year meant was being piled to the brim with SAT study textbooks and level-headed college decisions. Teachers constantly reminded you of the deadlines to sign up for the multitude of dates lined up in the year, tying in useful vocabulary tactics and calculator-free math problems. All anyone would care about in the next few months leading up to our first taste of prom were the numbers in bold print on your computer screen that somehow determined your scored intelligence.

Clay told me all about it last year when he was thrusting his face into the pages of the official study guide and practicing example problems every night after his other homework was already finished. He would complain about the utterly impossible wordings of English problems and stupidity behind a test marking how smart you were to the college admissions offices.

The first few days of the official start week hadn’t been so terrible. Most of the classes consisted of supply lists being handed out and outlines for when certain chapters needed to be read by. I’d barely opened a textbook since I walked through the metal double doors on Monday morning, which was a good sign. I’d much rather focus on prom in April than the haunting SAT at the first week of November.

“I have news!” a familiar high-pitched voice erupted behind me while I fiddled with the lock in the North hallway.

Only deterring my gaze from the mission in front of me to show her I was listening, I grumbled beneath my breath as the wretched lock still wouldn’t budge. Her pixie cut blonde locks barely bounced as she jumped on the balls of her feet in excitement. The dark makeup clouded her lids and her perfected cat-eye was lined perfectly above her top lashes. A smile danced across her lips as the words begged to burst from inside of her.

When she didn’t respond right away, I said, “What news?”

“Carter Wayland just asked me out!” she squealed, her books almost falling from the crevices of her fingers as she continued to move like a jumping bean next to me.

I immediately dropped the lock from my hands, freezing at the mention of the school’s quarterback who just so happened to beat the crap out of my brother just a week ago. Turning on my heels slowly, I looked at her carefully.

“Carter Wayland…he…” I went to say, but she was already nodding her head fervently.

“I was just coming out from Physics and he was waiting by the door. Carter Wayland was waiting for me of all people!” Marnie squealed, her eyes alight with a sort of excitement I hadn’t seen from her in a while.

I closed my eyes, taking in a breath to give myself time to process this information. Marnie was my best friend, one who had been there for me during the hardest of times. She was there when my father first decided to attend his AA meetings, stayed on the phone with me for hours when I needed to vent about Clay’s ever-changing personality over the past few months and was the all-knowing social butterfly who had introduced me to all of my former friends.

I found it gut-wrenching, the thought of crushing her hopes by telling her that Carter was the man behind the fists that were constantly wailed against my brother. She knew all about Clay’s lack of acceptance in school and all of the times I had to protect him from everyone else around us. While she loved my older brother like her own, I didn’t have the heart to spoil her excitement.