Vanessa

"Today we will be reviewing the War of The Old World, there will be a pop quiz on this subject next week, so make sure to be prepared" Mr. Williams exclaimed.

 Everyone in the class groaned in annoyance as if we hadn't been learning about the war for weeks now. I had a good feeling that I would receive a perfect score on this quiz. I looked around the class for Julie, knowing she would be smirking at me because I'm such a "smart-ass" in her words. Speaking of the devil, Juliette walks in unbalanced with what I recognize to be bloodshot eyes. She's in a whole different world but honestly, what's new. " Nice to see you in class today, Ms. Simons", Mr. Williams says disapprovingly. Julie is not seen as a great student by teachers, but I think she has potential even if she doesn't think she does herself. She takes her seat in the back of the class with a grin on her face and it takes all of me not to laugh as I hear a chip bag crinkle from behind me. I don't even need to look to know that Julie is snacking on Lays "secretly".

"Who in this class can answer what the War of the Old World was?" my history teacher questions. I raise my hand knowingly and wait for Mr. Williams to call on me...except he doesn't. " What if I offer access to the teacher's private vending machines for the year?" Mr. Williams challenges. And what do we know, for the first time in years Julie raises her hand. Of course, she raises her hand when food is on the line. Mr. Williams calls on her with a satisfied expression, as if his goal was for her to participate in class this entire time. Maybe he sees the spark in her as I do. " Well..the War of the Old War was a war...that happened in 2009...between the countries of the world to determine the best country. Uhhh... The United States won and everybody else died because of the powerful bombs America dropped on its opponents" Julie uttered as if she was in deep thought. " Amazing Job, Ms. Simmons, I think she deserves a round of applause for that explanation" Mr. Williams grins.

 We all start going crazy for Julie, and she is loving it and laughing her ass off. I can't help but join in because her laugh is contagious. Eventually, even Mr. Williams is laughing. I check my watch to see that we have less than a minute left of history class and start to prepare my things. As expected, the bell begins to ring and we are dismissed. I wait for Julie to join me so we can meet up with Evelynn, Cole, and Peter for lunch. After stopping by the teacher's vending machine, because Julie would NOT stop bugging me, we try to navigate our way down the halls. Out of nowhere Julie starts laughing to herself but when she starts to giggle it doesn't stop. I give her an odd face and it causes her to laugh even harder. At this point, she's hanging onto the locker next to her for support. "What are you laughing at?"I say full of amusement. My eyes are full of humor as she looks up at me.

"I just thought of a teenage cow," Laugh. "She had a phone and was wearing Evie type of clothes." Laughing harder. "SHE WAS MOOING!" Julie lost her grip on the locker and fell laughing.

"Jesus Christ. How much weed did you smoke?" I laugh and pull her up off the floor. A few seconds later her laughing frenzy is over and we are finally getting out of the school doors. The others are already there waiting for us.

"I highly recommended going to Chick-Fil-A" Julie suggests with undisguised happiness. Peter groans with disgust just as she finishes her sentence. " We ALWAYS go to Chick-Fil-FUCKING-A, I think my taste buds are tired of the damn Chicken Sandwich" Peter snapped. " Oh calm down Peter, Julie answered a question today in History, she deserves it" I beam at him. I bat my eyelashes for extra effect but I know I've already won this battle. "God Damnit, we can go to Chick- Fil- A, but it's on you Vanessa," he says sticking his tongue out at me. We huddle in Evelynn's Range Rover and head to the nearest Chick-Fil-A. Julie and I head to the back seat together like always. It's a routine I've come to love. "Oh calm DOWN Peter" Julie whispers, mocking me. " SHUT UP" I giggle. I can feel the heat rising to my cheeks, I have to keep it together before the others start wondering what's going on back here.

We arrive at Chick-Fil-A and order our regulars and we talk about what we should do after school. "My parents are out of town this weekend, do you guys want to come over after school" Evelynn questions. " Of fucking course, we would have you forgotten that you're rich and you basically have one of the best houses in the state" Peter exclaims. Peter comes from a wealthy family but his dad gambled all of their money away when we were in middle school. He's had a rough time growing up so he likes to be around what he could have had. "Let's meet in the parking lot after 7th period, I'm going to stop by my house first so I can tell my parents where I will be," I say with a hint of annoyance in my voice. My parents are always around watching me. I'm 17 years old and I feel like I can't even be myself with them around. I literally bring a change of clothes to school so my parents won't call me a slut as I walk out of my own home, where I'm supposed to feel comfortable.

 " Do you guys want to go on the playground?", Julie offers, noticing the change in mood amongst us. "Hell yeah and that's for all of us," I say eagerly. We rush to the Chick-Fil-A playground, some more eagerly than others, and have fun. It's like an escape from the real world and we're just being kids for once. Nothing is expected from us in these moments, nothing else even matters. We're together and that's always been enough for me. "Holy shit, we have to go," Cole says suddenly. "Why, what's wrong?" Julie responds still in a high state of mind. I check my phone and see the time. Damn it. We were supposed to be back at school 10 minutes ago. We crawl out of the play area laughing hysterically because the boys are having trouble getting out. I help Peter get out trying not to stare in awe at his muscles and Julie helps Cole get out. I can see the hint of red on her cheeks and she can't tell me it was because she was out of breath. She's lucky I'm not the type of person to rub that in her face later.

 We run out of Chick-Fil-A and rush to the car. We speed off in a hurry already knowing we're going to be marked tardy. I'm hoping I will be able to delete the message off of our house phone or I won't be able to go to Evelynn's house at all. We run into school and go to our separate classes. Luckily, I have AP Psychology for this period, so I'm already weeks ahead of schedule. I sneak in the back and try to blend in as if I was there the entire time. I don't think I was successful though because Mr. Stevenson looked directly into my eyes during the class, with a curious expression. He didn't say anything to acknowledge my lateness though, so I was grateful.

The rest of the day goes by slowly. I don't really have any other classes with my friends because mine are all AP. I have a few with Evelynn but she sits all the way in the front. I'm more of a middle type of girl. After school, I head out to the senior parking lot to find my friends. " I'm going to go ahead and tell my parents where I'll be and then I will head over to the house," I say waving good-bye. I got in my car and started to change my clothes to what I was wearing when I left home. The sweet and innocent below knee-length dress with a matching belt and tights to go underneath. I hit the gas and sped off, I needed to get home and delete the tardy message. I turned my music up to drown out the thoughts about what would happen if my parents found out that I was late to get back to school. My mom would kill me... well to be more accurate she would probably lock me in my room for the entire weekend. Trust me it isn't something new she would do. I pulled up to the driveway of my house surprised to find that there was no other car there besides my own. I grab my key and get out of the car. I check Find My Friends to figure out where my parents are and I realize they are heading home. I unlock my front door and hurry to the house phone. Shit. There's no message there yet. I pace around the house, checking my parent's location every five seconds. They are less than 5 minutes away and there still hasn't been a call. What am I going to do? All of a sudden I hear my parent's car pulling up in the driveway. 

At that same moment, the house phone rings. I rush over to pick up the phone. " This is Crestview High School. We are calling to inform you-" the automated voice starts but is interrupted by me pressing the delete button. At that very moment, the door opens. I jump away from the phone and try not to act suspicious. I am very anxious. "Hey Mom, how was your day?", I say with as much confidence as I could muster. " I had a great day, your dad won't be home until later on...he's working late," my mom says. Working late is code in this house for sleeping with his office secretary. I don't know why we pretend that it's not happening. She's seen them together with her own eyes but I don't think she wants to accept the facts. My dad's a fucking cheater and my mom is too blinded by her dreams for a perfect little family to see that.

" So... can I stay over at Evelynn's house tonight, I will check with you tomorrow morning," I say in a soft voice. It's all an act, but it usually works to get out of this house. Sometimes I feel like I'm quarantined inside of my house and I just want to escape, but the disease is my mom and everywhere I go she seems to follow. "Well, will any parents be supervising, I need to make sure you are being safe...unlike last time." My mom adds under her breath. It's always about "last time" with her. I can't escape my past no matter how much I've "changed". I thought if I put on this innocent holy girl act, she would start to trust me again and let me live like an adult. It's been fucking 4 years and she still won't forgive me. I honestly don't know what else she wants me to do. "Her mom will be there, she's staying home while Mayor Pendleton goes away for a business trip" I lie. I would say lying is one of my many talents as I'm successful with them 99% of the time. "If that's the case... you can go, but make sure to keep in contact with me every hour" she says sternly. That's her number one rule and I make sure to follow it or I guarantee she would call the cops to come and find me. " Okay, I will text you when I get to Evelynn's house...see you tomorrow," I say as I exit the door. I don't want her to change her mind so I quickly jump into my car and pull out of the driveway.

So, you might be wondering what I did so wrong back all those years ago. I remember it like it was yesterday.

In 8th grade, I got invited to this party in the woods by some sophomores, while I was at cheer practice. I don't know why I decided to go. Even Julie told me that it was a bad idea, and that's saying something. I think I felt special because highschoolers thought I was "cool" enough to invite me to one of their parties. The party started at 10 so I had to sneak out of my house to get a ride. I rode with this guy that I knew was on the high school football team. He was nice to me when I would go cheer for their games, so I thought highly of him. We got to the woods and there were only guys there. That's when a small feeling of uneasiness crept into my stomach. I tried to push it away because the guys seemed nice enough. They offered me weed and I took it once again thinking I was living the life. It was my first time so I coughed a lot. I took a drink they offered me and it tasted good at first but then I felt drowsy. I don't remember anything after that. I just know I was found in the woods only with a bra. I don't know if I got... I can't say it. My mom saw me like that and I think every time she looks at me, that's what she sees. Now every time I even get close to having sex with someone, I think "Is this even my first time", then I freak out and make a lame excuse to leave. I've only ever told Julie about what happened, no one else knows about that day. It's my worst memory and my mom constantly reminds me of it.

I wipe a tear away and blast my music. Only a few more minutes in this car and then I can be with my friends again. A few more minutes and I'll be okay.