If We Found Heaven ✓

one ✎

Reid Edwards was the epitome of unlucky. At least, that was the thought running through his mind on one dull June afternoon with the determination and vigor of a track team finalist. The California sun was beating down outside, and Reid was fairly sure that had he cracked an egg onto the pavement, it would've fried.

As the clock ticked on and a few ice-cream-cone-wielding elementary schoolers ran by, Reid felt a pang of envy that had (surprisingly enough) less to do with the embarrassingly loud growls his stomach was making, and more to do with the fact that he was spending his last day of his senior year trapped in a classroom with the most boring teacher on planet Earth.

Despite being rather broke, and in sore need of the little savings he had, Reid would've paid to be abducted by aliens rather than listen to Mr. Tyson continue talking about the same Homeric similes they had been taught in freshman year. And sophomore year. And junior year. The education system was, to put it quite plainly, lacking. As if life was determined to add to Reid's preexisting unluckiness, he felt the sudden urge to, well, relieve himself. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Reid raised his hand.

"Yes?" Mr. Tyson turned, frowning slightly.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" Reid asked.

"I don't know," Mr. Tyson said, his tone cold, "can you?"

Reid cringed. "May I go to the bathroom?" Mr. Tyson nodded, then turned back to the chalkboard where he was writing. Reid slipped from the classroom, walking quickly down the near-empty linoleum hallways. The ugly tiles that adorned the bathroom walls were covered in all manner of obscene Sharpie drawings. Reid couldn't say that he expected any better from a bunch of high schoolers. As he exited the bathroom post-pee, shaking the water from his hands (a result of the severe shortage of paper towels on campus), Reid caught sight of a figure down the hall.

At a glance, one might have mistaken him for an ordinary high school student. However, upon closer inspection, the approaching individual's true identity was practically written all over his form-fitting football jacket and over-gelled hair.

Reid turned his head down, staring determinedly at his shoes and keeping up a brisk pace as he strode towards Mr. Tyson's class. Perhaps he could escape the impending unpleasant encounter if he was fast enough.

"Hey, Edwards," called the vaguely nasal voice that Reid had grown to loathe over the last four years. Reid glanced up to find himself staring into the face of Chase Lancaster - Hemley High School's resident douchebag. Well shit. There was no chance of escaping the encounter now. He'd just have to do his best to keep it from turning unpleasant.

Steeling himself and pasting on a smile that looked more like a grimace than anything, Reid spoke. "Chase!" he said, false cheeriness filling his voice.

Chase made a face at Reid's saccharine tone. "Last day of high school, huh?" Chase smirked. "I'm gonna be glad to finally get out of this shithole."

Reid let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, yeah, totally."

"But you aren't leaving, are you?" Chase sneered. "I guess like calls to like." He gave Reid a shove, and Reid took a few shaky steps backwards. "Shits like you aren't ever getting out of shitholes like this one." Reid swallowed hard as Chase advanced, moving back until he was pressed against the lockers. Where were the hall monitors when you needed them?

Reid wasn't entirely sure why Chase Lancaster hated him with a burning passion. Okay, that's not true. Reid knew exactly why Chase Lancaster hated him with a burning passion. As it so happened, Reid's older brother had preceded Chase as the resident douchebag of Hemley High. Bennett Edwards was tall, sporty, and - as far as Reid was concerned - extremely annoying. The irony of it all never failed to make Reid laugh; Chase and Bennett would've probably been the best of friends, had they met in different circumstances. However, they had not met in different circumstances, and Bennett had spent the entirety of Reid's freshman year tormenting Chase. When Bennett had gone to college the following August, Chase had taken it upon himself to inflict the same kind of misery upon Reid. And here Reid was, three years later, mere seconds away from being pummeled into a wall of lockers.