Shelby and Toni

Chapter Twelve

**Toni's POV** 

I woke up to the lights in my room being turned on, and someone yelling at the foot of my bed. 

"Up and at 'em Toni, it's the first day of senior year!" Martha yelled, grabbing my blanket and waving it up and down. I managed to squint one eye open and grabbed my phone to look at the time. 

"It's 7 am Marty, I still had fifteen minutes till my alarm went off dammit," I said, rubbing my eyes. 

"We're leaving for breakfast at 7:30, don't you wanna look good for the first day," she said sarcastically, knowing damn well I'd be wearing sweats and a t-shirt, like every other day. 

"Ugh," I said while I pulled the blanket up and put my head underneath until Martha ripped it away again. 

"Come on lazy bones, get up and moving," she said as she walked out of my room, closing the door behind her. I reached over and picked my phone back up to scroll through it mindlessly till I had enough energy to get up and start the day, which was about ten minutes. After that, I got up and threw on some grey sweatpants and a blue t-shirt I got from a thrift store. I brushed my teeth before brushing through my and hair, grabbed my basketball, and made my way downstairs to meet Martha. Our school practices wouldn't be starting for a few months, but a couple of the girls and I like to play after school every day to stay sharp. 

"Ready?" Martha asked and I nodded as I grabbed my backpack from the kitchen table and head to the front door.

"Bye mom, bye dad!" Martha calls out. 

"Bye guys!" I say right after. 

"Have a good day girls!" Mrs. Blackburn replies and we walk out the front door and get in Martha's car. 

"Where are we going for breakfast?" I ask Martha as we pull out of the driveway. 

"Waffle House, your favorite," Martha says and I do a fist bump. "You excited for today?" She asks. 

"Why the hell would I be excited?" I reply, dumbfounded by her question. 

"It's senior year! Our last year in high school, and probably, our last year all together," Martha says, her voice getting a little sadder as she finishes her sentence.

"It's too early in the morning for you to be getting all sappy on me, Marty," I reply, setting my legs up on the dashboard and she chuckled at me. We drove the rest of the way in a comfortable silence, one of Martha's playlists playing softly through the speakers till we approached Waffle House. We hopped out and saw the girls all sitting at the counter, there not being a booth big enough to fit all of us. Martha takes the empty spot next to Nora and I sit in the next one, leaving one seat open left. 

"Hey bitches," Fatin calls out as we walked up, all the other girls joining and greeting us. 

"Hey guys," Martha says, "where's Shelby at?" 

"She's on her way, something about her straightener broke so she had to use her mom's or something, I don't know I wasn't listening," Fatin said and I laughed. A waitress came over and took me and Martha's drink order, both of us asking for water. We waited a few more minutes and Shelby came walking in the door, and I looked over and my eyebrows went up. She was wearing a pale yellow crewneck with a pair of white shorts, her hair straightened and her makeup natural. She looked fucking incredible, but she always did. She walked up and sat down next to me as the girls all greeted her similar to how they greeted Martha and me. 

"Hey guys," Shelby said as she sat next to me and I smiled at her. 

"You look gorgeous Shelbs," I said and her cheeks went red before she mumbled out a thank you. I then felt an elbow to the rib from Martha and I sent her one back without looking at her.