A car honks from outside the front window. Laurance looks at me from over the kitchen island, signaling he's just as confused on the sound as I am. It goes off once more after I sit on a chair, deciding the honk was for us. I look up to Laurance, but it's evident he's more worried about his cereal going soggy than who could be honking in our driveway.
I glare, rolling my eyes and mumbling how I hope it wasn't an axe murderer. I'm first to glance out the window, peaking through the blinds. My eyebrows furrow when I open the front door to see Garroth's light blue car.
He's always taken great pride in it. He got it a few months ago as a present for his sixteenth birthday, and I don't believe I've seen it covered in the smallest bit of bird shit yet. Vylad tells me Garroth obsesses over it considering it's a classic, and he's constantly cleaning it to keep it at utmost perfection.
Meanwhile, Laurance had gotten his Toyota 4Runner a little while ago, and I'm still terrified to step foot into it with him. But, sadly, I have to because he's my ride to and from school. He had a part time job over the summer and helped coach children's summer late spring, so he saved every penny towards his car.
"Garroth? What the hell are you doing at my house?" I ask, jogging out from the door. Kandi pops her head out from the passenger side window while Garroth turns the car off. He rolls down his window, smirking towards me.
"Being a good homecoming date. I'm driving you to school."
At this point I'm standing beside his car window, looking in. The front door cracks open, Laurance slowly emerging into the doorframe. He's still eating his bowl of cereal.
"Laurance is my ride to school," I respond.
"Laurance can't drive for shit."
Laurance's voice bounces into the conversation. He's defensive, and it's only a reminder of how Garroth has been able to legally drive alone for six months. The two have a minor stare down, eyes narrowing. Kandi and I lock eyes with one another, hers breaking when she rolls them.
"Vylad didn't want to ride with us. He went with Zane."
Zane got his license last month. I can only assume that he's not pleased about driving Vylad around. But knowing Zianna, she wouldn't allow the fight and would make Zane do it anyway under the label of "brotherly love."
"That's weird for him," I comment, face scrunching up from slight confusion. "He normally just sits in the back with his headphones in."
"Well, not today. He has decided that he hates the world."
It's weird hearing about such a sour attitude from Vylad. He's always been the one to scold me about my negativity and to instead see it as the glass half full. I roll my eyes each time, but a squeeze from his hand keeps me grounded.
"Let me grab my backpack," I say, turning on my heel to the entrance. "I'll be out in a moment."
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
Dress up days are exceptions to the school uniform. Under a temporary dress code, we can dress in our street wear. For the past week, we've dressed up to daily themes until we've hit the "school pride" theme day.
It's Friday, meaning it's the day of our Homecoming game. After tonight, I will cheer one last time next week in an away game.
"Do you like being stared at?"
Kandi's question receives no response. Her lips are curved up in a sly smile as she looks around at the lingering eyes around us.
My grip tightens on the textbook in my hands. I press it tightly against my chest, feeling my knuckles go white.
"You wouldn't be stared at if you went with Vylad to homecoming."
"Regardless of whom I'm going with, I'd be stared at from showing up in Garroth's jersey," I comment, shaking my head at her words. The two of us make it to the math room, me dropping the textbook carelessly on the desktop. "Besides. Vylad didn't ask me. Garroth did. End of story."
I've heard small digs like this all week long. I didn't know that Vylad was going to ask me to homecoming, but I didn't mind going alone to begin with. I don't understand why they try to make me feel guilty.
"You decided to go with my brother," I say. "I think you lost on this one."
"You're right. Laurance doesn't have a game day jersey for me to wear."
I glance over to Vylad. His nose is buried deep into the textbook. He's reading next week's chapter in advance. I've heard he's felt ill lately, but he hasn't said much to me. I thought maybe it's because he may not feel well, but he acts perfectly healthy to me.
Kandi plops herself in her chair, and I sit in between the two Ro'meave siblings and turn my body towards Vylad. It takes minutes before he closes the book and gives me the time of day.
"Are you feeling okay?" I ask him, reaching forward to check for a temperature before he swats at my hand to go away.
"I'm tired."
"You've been tired all week."
He shakes his head, turning his attention away from me again and reaching for the binder in his backpack. It opens, revealing different binder tabs and multiple pages of handwritten notes.
"Nothing a little bit of tea can't fix."
I reach for his hand, stopping it from flipping any more pages. Vylad looks at me once more, his face downturned. "Why don't you come to the game tonight? A little bit of fresh air can do wonders."
