No Strings Attached

Chapter 6: The Past

***Eight Years Ago***

"Oh damn, I'm sorry!" Freen scrambled to apologise to the girl she had bumped into, sending both of their books and papers scattering everywhere. Freen had been removing her work from her locker and when she slammed it shut and turned to walk... Well it really was an accident and Freen had always been a bit clumsy.

"It's okay, don't sweat it." Becca muttered as she bent to help Freen in gathering their things. It has not been a good day for Becca. It was only the third day of freshman year and she had already gotten into a fight with a junior and nearly got suspended. She seemed to garner trouble everywhere she went. In fact, her parents had to beg the school board to accept her with the bad record she had. Becca had always had a short temper and refused to stand back for anyone, older or not. This girl was just lucky that she had caught Becca in an exhausted state and the fact that she already had Saturday detention hanging over her head.

As they both rose back to their feet, Freen gave Becca a shy smile as her cheeks turned a rosy colour, leaving Becca to simply smirk at her. "Are you a freshman too?" Becca asked as she studied the pretty girl, all olive skin and dark hair cascading down her shoulders, not to mention eyes that seemed like they could pierce your soul.

"Yeah, it's all a bit overwhelming. Hi, by the way, I'm Freen." She switched her books to her left arm and held out her right hand for Becca to shake. Becca took the proffered hand with a small smile and gripped it firmly. "Hey, I'm Becca. Are you clumsy by nature or was that just a fluke?" She grinned at Freen.

Freen turned a darker shade of red as she removed her hand from Becca's grasp and ran it back through her hair. "Yeah it tends to be a thing when I'm nervous."

Becca nodded and canted her head to the one side, blonde strands falling onto her shoulder. "Why so nervous Freen? We've already been here a few days."

Freen cleared her throat and nodded, looking around quickly. "It takes me a while to warm up to a new place and new people."

"Well, give me your roster and let's have a look." Becca smiled genuinely. Perhaps actually making a decent friend could help keep her out of trouble. "Hey look, we've got quite a few classes together. There's Maths, English, History and PE." Becca gave Freen a genuine smile then. "Maybe neither of us don't have to feel so alone."

Freen's big smile cast a light on Becca's dark world and the girl sighed. She felt relieved to have found someone whose gentle nature seemed like it could balance out her anger issues.
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***Seven years ago***

"Another school year, another disaster lying in wait." Becca sighed as she walked through the halls of the school towards her locker.

"Oh come on Becks, maybe this year will be filled with more fun than trouble. If you can manage to stay out of trouble long enough." Freen chuckled to her right, adjusting her bag in her shoulder. She was quite keen on sophomore year, but then again that was because she was, for the most part, a model student. No one could ever figure out how the friendship between Becca and Freen worked, but it worked very well. They did in fact balance each other out very well. Freen helped Becca with her schoolwork, while Becca showed Freen how to have some fun once in a while.

"Freenkie, you know that my middle name is 'trouble'." Becca grinned as she turned around to face her best friend shirking her shoulders as if she was already reserved to the fact that she'd be another screw up for the new year.

"As long as you don't get me drunk in the graveyard again, I think we'll be fine. I still feel bad for barfing all over John Peter Sunderland who died in 1874." Becca cackled as she recalled that night, while Freen simply shook her head. "Or get me into detention for vandalising Mr Sherman's car." Freen shook her head.