𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 - 𝙀𝙅 𝘾𝙖𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡

↳ 02

A few minutes later, Gina walked out of the principal's office, giving Autumn a polite smile before leaving to organize her new locker. The remaining girl took a deep breath, trying to exhale her nervousness away. She could sense everything was going to be different in East High but was that necessarily a good thing?

﹏﹏﹏

Autumn exited the office with her class schedule, her book list, and her locker number in her hands. She spotted Ricky, Nini, Big Red, and a girl she presumed it was Kourtney, Nini's best friend, by all the stories the two boys had told during the summer. She rushed to join them, arriving at a not-so-good point of the conversation.

"I met somebody else at camp." Nini broke the news and Ricky frowned, not really believing what he was hearing. Autumn and Big Red exchanged worried looks before Nini's voice grabbed their attention again. "I didn't plan-"

Before Nini could explain, Ricky interrupted her, the shock of the recent revelations evident on his face as he looked at his two friends who were standing behind him. "Wait, is this a joke?" The boy asked, really confused. Autumn placed her hand on his shoulder, her thumb rubbing his skin in an attempt to comfort him, but he gently pushed the brunette's hand away.

"Still talking here." Nini snapped, earning an 'Ooh, snap' from Kourtney. Big Red looked at the latter, giving her a look that indicated she was not helping. She looked back, a sassy look on her face. "I didn't plan for it to happen, but it happened. He was the 'Music Man, I was Marian, the librarian. It's called a showmance." Ricky's ex proceeded to explain.

"Wait, you went to librarian camp? That's a thing?" Big Red asked, shooting a confused look to Autumn, who just giggled at his cute, unaware comment.

"Please, tell me your joking," Ricky said, his voice lower than before as he started to process everything that was happening.

"I'm not." Big Red and Nini answered at the same time, making Autumn chuckle at Big Red's assumption that the previous question was meant for him. Ricky looked at his friend, frowning.

"C'mon, Ricky. You know what you did." Nini said, her gaze wandering to the ground as she spoke her next sentence. "Or what you didn't do."

Autumn was about to step in for her friend when the speakers turned on and the principal's voice was heard, telling the students to make their way to the gym for the annual back-to-school kickoff. Nini shifted awkwardly, visually uncomfortable with the situation before her.

As soon as the speakers turned off, the strange silence that had installed itself between the group was broken by Ricky's voice. "I don't believe this. You're blowing me off for some theater punk you met four weeks ago? At a lake?"

"You kinda dumped me." Nini accused in an attempt to justify herself.

"In Ricky's defense, it was a break, it wasn't a breakup," Autumn mumbled and suddenly the other girls present were staring at her, eating her alive with their gazes.

"Who even are you?" Nini asked, confused. Then, she turned back to Ricky. "And I'm sorry Ricky. It might've been a break, but it's a breakup now." She said firmly, making sure the boy understood clearly the message she was trying to pass.

"Hop off, girl." Kourtney encouraged her best friend, earning nasty looks from Big Red and Autumn.

"Stay out of it, Kourtney." Big Red warned.

"You stay out of it! I'm dismantling the patriarchy this year, and I'm not afraid to start with you and your little friend." The girl threatened, pointing to Autumn and Big Red before Nini grabbed her arm and dragged her away.

The three friends were left to stare as they walked away. Autumn saw Gina not too far away, near what she presumed was her locker. Gina also stared at Nini and Kourtney as they walked away, probably drawn in by the commotion. Soon enough, the two girls disappeared at the corner of the hallway and Gina turned around, waving at Autumn, who returned the gesture.

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂

ɴɪɴɪ sᴀʟᴀᴢᴀʀ-ʀᴏʙᴇʀᴛs, ᴊᴜɴɪᴏʀ

I feel good about this. It's a fresh start, everyone's on the same page.

──────────

ʀɪᴄᴋʏ ʙᴏᴡᴇɴ, ᴊᴜɴɪᴏʀ

This is a nightmare. Everything is terrible, love is dead.

──────────

ᴀᴜᴛᴜᴍɴ ᴄᴀᴍᴘʙᴇʟʟ, ᴊᴜɴɪᴏʀ

I don't know Nini very well, but she was way too harsh on Ricky. Did you see his face? He was devastated. Guess that's a mess Red and I will have to clean later.

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂

Ricky sighed, shocked by all that happened, and began to walk away rapidly towards the gym, followed by Big Red and Autumn.

﹏﹏﹏

Autumn sat near Gina at the kickoff, both engaging in a conversation about their expectations for the school year at East High. The dean was announcing something about seniors being allowed to wear baseball hats on Fridays and, besides one girl in the back cheering, no one seemed excited at all.

The dean then introduced the new drama teacher, which immediately grabbed Autumn's and Gina's attention. The passionate look on the new teacher's face - who Autumn recognized as the lady Ricky almost bumped against earlier - captivated Autumn. And that's when she knew this year was going to be exciting.