Project Heartbreak - Charlie Gillespie {a.u.}

1. the beginning

March 5, 2018
Long Beach High School

High school was definitely not how the movies made it out to be, though it was very close. There were cliques everywhere. The popular group, the stoners, the athletes, and the nerds. They all had a place in high school, except me. I didn't really belong to any group. It was just me and Ryder, my best friend. 

Ryder and I have been best friends since we were born, our parents being best friends as well. We grew up one house down from each other and ever since then, we've been inseparable. He's the one who has made this damn high school, so bearable.

"Hey, twinnie," Ari, my twin, said as she walked up to my locker.

"Hey, sis," I smiled at her as I grabbed my books.

"So, I have a date tonight," She said smiling from ear to ear.

"With who?" I asked quite, shocked. She never goes on dates.

"Charlie Gillespie," She said as my eyes widen.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" I asked as she nodded her head.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She asked, looking at me confused. 

"You know his reputation. He doesn't keep a girl longer than a month then goes to another girl right after," I said. I honestly felt like I was her mother, trying to talk her out of this.

"He said I'm not like any other girl he's been with," She said as I rolled my eyes.

"Just, be careful. Okay?" I said, putting a hand on her arm.

"Don't worry, I will," She said smiling before walking away, leaving me to my thoughts.

Charlie Gillespie was the most popular guy here at Long Beach High School. He had a reputation of being the heartbreaker here, having a new girl on his arm every week. It scared me that Ari was going on a date with him, but I couldn't necessarily stop her. I just had to prepare myself for when she came home, heartbroken over the boy.

"Hey, Mi," Ryder said as he approached his locker next to mine.

"Hi, Ry," I smiled at him. "Ari's going on a date with Charlie Gillespie tonight,"

"Is she stupid?" He said, making me giggle.

"That's what I was thinking. He's just going to break her heart," I said looking at him, a confused expression plastered his face.

"You're gonna let her go?" He asked, looking at me confused once again.

"I can't really stop her," I said shutting my locker. "We may be twins, but she can make decisions for herself,"

"So you're just going to let her get her heartbroken?" He asked as we walked through the halls, towards our next class.

"There's nothing more I can do, honestly. I know for a fact that she won't listen to me," I sighed.

It was true. Not once has Ari ever listened to me. In our 17 years of living, she always made it her mission to never listen to me. Whether I am right or not, she always went against everything I told her. She would learn her lesson sooner or later and I feel it might be sooner.

We walked into Mrs. Harper's Spanish class just in time and took our seats. The seats in the back were filled up by none other Charlotte Smith, the most popular girl in school. You would think being the two most popular people in school, she and Charlie would be together. But, you'd be wrong. The two absolutely hated each other and as we all know, Charlie can't keep a girl. I rolled my eyes as I continued looking straight at the board. They were always the most obnoxious people in the class and it was honestly distracting. 

"Buenas Tardes, clase," Mrs. Harper said as she walked into the classroom. "Today we're going to start with a group project. And before you ask, I'm assigning the groups,"

Everyone groaned at her words, not wanting to work with someone they didn't like. The only thing I was really worried about was getting paired with Charlotte because I knew I would be the one doing all the work.

"I'm going to putting you into groups of three since that'll make the groups smaller," She said grabbing her clipboard from her desk. "Ryan, Miller, Ava. You guys will be in a group together. Ryder, Mila, Charlotte,"

My stomach twisted at her words. Why did I have to jinx myself and be in a group with her? I mean, at least Ryder will be with us so I won't be doing all of the work. I turned my head towards Ryder, smiling slightly. He rolled his eyes at me, knowing exactly what was going through my mind right now. 

I looked back towards Charlotte who had a snarky look on her face as she looked at me. She was so full of herself and I absolutely hated it. We were definitely going to make her do so sort of work and I knew Ryder would do something about it. 

"Each group will choose a Spanish-speaking country and make a PowerPoint presentation. You will discuss the culture and environment, as well traditions from each country," She said as she passed out papers with our specific country on them.

"We got Chile," Ryder said turning towards me.

I nodded at him and turned back towards the front.

"This project will be due a month from today. You cannot do this the night before. As you look at the rubric, you will see I will be grading this very rigorously. I'm not saying it needs to be perfect, but it needs to be factual. You will have 15 total slides, each having a picture and a sentence in Spanish," She said as she made her way to the front of the class. 

Everyone nodded their heads in agreeance as she began to teach the lesson for today. I sat back in my seat as I listened, thinking about how awful this group was going to be since Charlotte was in it. 

-

"Mila!" Ari called from her room. 

"What do you want?" I said walking into her room. "Why are you crying?"

"You were right," She said as I tried my hardest not to smile. "You were right about Charlie" 

"What happened?" I said, sitting down on her bed.

"We went out and he tried to sleep with me. Whenever I told him I wasn't ready he told me he didn't even like me and he just wanted to get in my pants," She said as tears fell onto her face.

I immediately brought her into a hug as I rubbed her back. I knew he was going to do something like this. As I hugged her, a notebook on her desk that said, 'Project Heartbreak' caught my eye.

"What's that?" I asked, motioning towards the notebook.

"I had an idea," She said looking up through her tear-filled eyes. "To get back at him,"

I looked at her, my eyes wide. "You're going to get back at him?"

"No, you are,"

-

HI!!!!

The first chapter is always the hardest, trying to set the mood for the rest of the book. But I am very excited about this book. If you guys have seen John Tucker Must Die, it's kinda of the theme of that movie! Don't forget to leave any feedback you have for me! I love you guys :)