Forever, Bleached, and Always

Ch.11~ Seniors

Until my senior year was about to start, I wouldn't come out of my room for much more than meals. When it came to shopping for school, Dad was extremely level-headed; when we were at Staples, Hot Topic, and Forever 21, he was very cool about giving me however much money I needed, no questions asked. I seriously owed him so much.

When it came to be the night before the first day of school, I found myself humming along to Say You Like Me by We the Kings. That was when Dad called me out for dinner. I shuffled out to the table, and ate half of what was on my plate.

"You want something else?"

I shook my head, No.

"Stomach hurt again?"

No.

"You excited about tomorrow?"

Not really.

He tilted his head to the side, "Worried about tomorrow?

I shrugged.

He moved over to my side of the table, and put his arm around me. "Sweetie, you'll be okay. Everything will be fine. I know your senior year will be great, On."

I shrugged him off and took my plate to the sink. In my room, I played Mess I Made, by Parachute, and stared at the ceiling. After an hour or so, I slipped into a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top. I sat in bed, and listened to the random music that emanated itself from my speakers until I fell asleep.

The next morning, I put on a black V-neck and blue skinnies. After tieing my Converse, I pulled my hair back into a loose pony-tail. I was no more than ten feet out of my room, when dad sprang in front of me and shouted, "Good morning, beautiful!!"

"D-Dad?! What are you doing?!"

"Being excited for my little girl's first day of senior year!" He stopped bouncing off of the walls and looked at me with the straightest face. "Hey," he said. "You talked."

"Well, yeah. I figured I'd have to sooner or later."

He smiled sweetly and pulled me in for a hug. "I am so proud of you, Onyx. Look at you! You're a senior in high school, and soon you'll be eighteen. You watch, Onyx. You'll blink, and you'll be graduating. Please make this year specual, love. Get yourself a boyfriend, go on a date! Make today famous."

I smiled at the goof I had for a father, "Nu-uh, Dad. Don't use the Famous Footwear slogan on me."

In responce, he kissed my forehead and I rolled my eyes at my dorky dad. I grabbed my cross-and-skull-covered backpack and we headed out the door.

Seeing a blonde head out of the corneer of my eye, I told Dad that I'd catch up to him in a minute. Not seeing Collin for the remainder of the summer must've made him worry at least a little. "Hey, blondie."

"Hey, Onyx."

"You okay? Haven't seen you since the graveyeard. What happened, by the way?"

"Oh, he just knocked me out and left me somewhere. I mean, I'm fine, buuuut... Anyway, what about you?

"Better than I thought I would be, at this point. You comin' to school?"

"Um, no. Not today, anyway. Maybe tomorrow."

"Alright, then. I'll see you after?"

"Yeah, sure."

I smiled (which, by the way, was creepily more and more common in one day than it was in my entire life) and ran to my dad's car. I could've sworn I heard him say something, but it must've just been the wind...?

Collin's POV

"I love you..." I barely managed to whisper. Did she hear me? God knows, but she probably didn't. I sighed in defeat.

I went back into my little apartment, and just sat on the couch, alone. Mom was at work, I didn't turn on the TV, and the blinds weren't going to be opened any time soon. If Onyx wasn't with me, then this was how my life usually was. Wuiet, solitude-filled, and lonely.

Born a saint, but with every sin I still want to be holy. Andy Biersack was a wise man. Well, a wise vocalist, I guess.

Nothing was worth the movement. I sat like a lump all day eating nothing, doing nothing, never getting up, and barley moving my arm to drink my cup of cold coffee. Occasionally, I dozed off and slept for a few seconds, but the day still sent on incredibly slowly.

That night, I was in bed, and I thought about July. A lot happened, I realizd, in a way. All in one day, even. Crazy, right? I mean, we found out that Mitchell was alive and a vampire, he's probably the murderer that was around back in June, and Darin's dead. I still couldn't believe that he was. I mean, yeah, I couldn't believe any of it, but this was insane. Darin was, really, the only male friend I had. Now, don't go judging me. I wasn't that social of a person, so, yea, my only friends were one family, and one little girl. Wait a minute. OH MY GOD, LUCY!!! I completely forgot about her!

I put on some jeans and a t-shirt on, and headed over to the other side of Onyx's apartment. I paused when I crossed her door. My heart stopped, it was impossible to breathe, and my legs were being reluctant tubes of jelly. What was wrong with me?!

I took a deep breath, and continued to walk. Something inside of me lurched as I took my few steps away, screaming at me to go back. Go back to her, it seemed to say. You need to be with her. We both very well knew that I couldn't. Not now, anyway. I was mentally weak. I knocked on the door. "Hi, Collin! Great timing! Could you watch Lucy for a couple of hours?" Her mother half-shouted.

"Uh, s-sure," I sputtered out.

"Thanks so much!" She ran out, leving me still standing outside of the door. Um, okay then.

"Collin?" A high voice asked, popping her head out.

"Hi, Lucy. How are you sweetie?"

"I'm good," she beamed. "I made a new friend today."

"Oh, really? Who?" "Miguel. He's really tall and really smart."

"Oh, yeah?" I stepped in and got her some juice. "Did you meet him at school?"

"No, at the park."

"Alright, then." I thought that her having more than two teenagers as friends was nice. Then, I got thinking. "Lucy? How old is MIguel?"

"Six." I mentally sighed with relief, even though it could've been Mitchell lying about his age.

"Oh, okay." Okay, so I'm a little protective. And? What was so wrong with that? Mitchell the Murdering Maniac was out there. I didn't need somebody else dying because of him. Onyx's little heart probably wouldn't be able to take it. Speaking of Onyx, I wondered how her first day of school went. More importantly, how her first day of senior year went.