𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨-𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 ☾ 𝐥. 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

𝟐. 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐢𝐬

— LOUIS.

MY ROOM IS dark as I wake up from my grey bed and check my phone. No notifications other than Issie telling me that Mum made pancakes. Mum always made pancakes on the first day of school. It was like a tradition among our family. I guess I won't be getting that at Uni, right?

I race to the kitchen with grey shorts and a plain white T-shirt.

"Hey, Mum" I sit down at the table, piling two blueberry pancakes onto my plate.

"Last year, darling— how are you feeling?" she asks as she starts to add more pancake mix onto the pan.

"I am so excited. I'm pretty sure i'm going to get into all of the colleges I'm applying to," I reply, scooping a forkful of pancake into my mouth.

Ever since freshman year, I dreamed of going to either NYU, Julliard, or Harvard, and now, I can make that a reality. I plan on pursuing acting at either NYU or Julliard, but if that falls through, I have Harvard to which I'll end up going into law to become a lawyer, or maybe a governor and then, you know, maybe the prime minister when I get back to London.

Just ideas though, you know?

I finish eating breakfast and put my dishes in the kitchen sink. I climb back up the stairs into my bedroom, putting on the school uniform. I have on a white button down shirt, a dark blue neck tie with white stripes, a black blazer, and black dress pants.

I walk to school everyday with my best friend, Thomas James. We live a close proximity to school, so it's not a long walk.

We stop at an intersection, waiting for the Walk sign to light up.

"I heard there's an audition for a big Netflix movie downtown. You thinking of auditioning?" Thomas asks as his eyes stay down on his phone.

"Yeah, I am actually, but I don't know, I kind of want to do more serious movies. I heard this one is about love, I say with a fake gag.

"But if I get through the audition, it'll kickstart my acting career." I smile.

Thomas just hums in response as the Walk sign finally lights up and we cross the intersection.

—

I walked into Ms. Lee's AP literature class. I see the piece of paper with my name on it and unfortunately I also see the sheet of paper on the desk beside me saying, 'Cleo Sanchez.'

We've always had a rivalry. Ever since I moved here freshman year. Cleo was always the top of the class until I disrupted her path. Now, it's always me on top one week and her on top another week. I wouldn't say it's exhausting, but she definitely throws me in for a spin from time to time.

I sit in my desk, writing in my black notebook. My guidance counselor told me to write in here whenever I'm feeling any sort of negative way. Apparently moving from a different country in the middle of the school year requires "guidance."

Journal Entry #355, 08/16/2021.
I have yet another class with her. If I want to get into Harvard, I need to get on the top of every class I'm in. The only thing stopping me from getting in would be her. Why can't she just be in regular lit like everyone else?

After 40 minutes of going over the syllabus, class was over. I walk over to my group of friends— the theater kids, this time.

"Louis!" they shout as I walk over.

"Are you auditioning for the movie?" Maia asks.

"Yeah, I am. Are you?"

"We all are!" my face drops down into an expression that's even hard for me to read. I don't want to compete against my friends, but I want this role— and I'm gonna get it.

So, game on.

* ⭐️ *

It's finally time for lunch as I walk around, looking for the table with Thomas and my other soccer friends. That's when I bump into someone. Carrots and ranch hit my shirt. I look up to see the culprit who did it.

And just as I suspected.

"Cleo! What the hell!" I stare at her. She tries her hardest not to laugh, but she can't stop it. She bursts out in laughter, almost shedding a tear.

"Um I- I think you have something on your shirt, Partridge," I roll my eyes, looking down at the mess on my nice white button down. "Here," she holds out a white tissue. I stare at the paper she's holding.

"It's a napkin, not an atomic bomb. Take it," I huff, grabbing the napkin from her. I start to scrub my shirt the best as I can.

"My mum is going to kill me, and if I get in trouble I'm killing you," I say as Cleo rolls her eyes.

"Calm down, Partridge. I'm sure Mommy can just buy you a new one."

I groan. "It's no use. It's not coming out," I stare at her furious for ruining my nice button down.

She sighs and grabs my hand, leading me to the outside of the girl's restroom. She opens her metal water bottle, pouring water onto her hand and rubbing it onto my shirt. "What are you—"

"Wait here," is all she says as she walks into the bathroom, leaving me in the hallway. I roll my eyes and leaned against the wall behind me. She comes back out with soap in her hand and scrubs my shirt with it.

"This is so stupid. You're going to make it worse," I say.

She opens her water bottle again and pours more water onto her hand. She reaches for my shirt. It starts to smell better and fortunately the ranch and my shirt were the same color.

Once she finishes, she let go of my shirt. "If you don't touch it, it'll dry before you even get home."

And before I can even say "thank you," she walks away, once again leaving me alone in the hallway.

A/N
this one was little short, but i hope you liked it. i was starting to get writer's block halfway through, so i hope this chapter is okay. happy wednesday. bye!
-xx, she