Touchdown Boy

Chapter One

     Beep! Beep! Beep! Addison groaned and slammed her hand down on her alarm clock, successfully stopping the irritating noise. She rolled over onto her back, not wanting to get up just yet. She knew she couldn't waste that much time in bed if she wanted to look presentable on her first day of senior year. Addison wasn't nearly as excited as her best friend was for the school year. To Noelle and their entire friend group for the most part, senior year meant prom, senior pranks, and most importantly, authority and power over all the underclassmen. To Addison this day marked the beginning of worrying about college applications which she was not looking forward to since she was clueless with where she wanted to go or what she wanted to do in the future.

     Addison sat up slowly, stretching her arms above her head as she did so. She threw the covers off of her and made her way to the bathroom she shared with her younger sister, Alice. It was Alice's fault that Addison had to wake up at six in the first place. The only options for Addison were to wake up extremely earlier in order to have any time in the bathroom or get ready in five minutes, the time period after Alice is done with the bathroom and before the two have to leave to get to school on time. To Addison's sister, appearance is everything.

     Addison started her morning routine, quickly brushing her teeth and washing her face. She ran a brush through her dyed black hair, not bothering to style it. She walked back to her room to scavenge for something to wear. She pulled on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a black V-neck T-shirt. She went over to her vanity and put on her usual makeup: tinted moisturizer, black eyeliner, and mascara.

     She grabbed her phone and headphones and lied down on her bed, figuring she had time to listen to music before school. She turned the volume up to block out the sounds of Alice getting ready in the room next door. After a few songs, her mom was calling the girls downstairs for breakfast. Addison pulled on a pair of socks and put on her black Converse high-tops, lacing them up. She grabbed her backpack that she packed last night and raced down the stairs and into the kitchen.

     "Morning, Mom. Morning, Dad," Addison greeted as she sat down at the kitchen table. The table was already set and the glasses were filled with orange juice. Her father sat at the head of the table, reading the daily newspaper and sipping from his mug of coffee. Her mom was dishing out scrambled eggs onto everyone's plates along with buttered toast.

     "Good morning, sweetheart," her mom replied. Her dad merely grunted in response, his eyes never leaving the paper. Usually everyone fended for themselves for breakfast but because it was the first day of school Mom cooked.

     Alice entered the kitchen and took a seat next to her sister. "You're not going to school like that are you?" Alice asked. Addison looked down at her clothes and frowned.

     "What's wrong with this?" she asked in response. Alice rolled her eyes.

     "You wear that same type of outfit practically every day. It's the first day of school! Can't you dress up for once in your life?" Alice herself was wearing a light blue tank top tucked into a pink skirt and brown ankle boots. She had curled her dirty blonde hair and had a full face of makeup on.

     "That's not true," Addison denied. "I'm wearing a V-neck." Alice scoffed. The two girls had very different opinions on clothes. Alice was more of a girly-girl and dressed up in skirts and dresses. Addison on the other hand preferred her T-shirts and jeans.

     "Girls, be nice to each other," their mom said, joining them at the table. "Alice, let your sister wear whatever clothes she wants." Addison smirked and stuck her tongue out at her sister.

     "Fine, but can you at least put on some lip gloss?" Alice requested, holding out a tube of clear lip gloss towards Addison. Addison groaned but grudgingly took the lip gloss, at least it was clear. Alice grinned in triumph.

     The family finished eating the meal in silence. As Addison was helping her mom clear the table, there was a loud honk of a car horn outside the house.

     "That's our ride. Gotta go, Mom. Bye, Dad. Love you," Addison said, kissing her mom on the cheek.

     "Bye, girls! Have a good day at school!" her mom called out. The sisters grabbed their bags and exited the house. Addison's friend Noelle was waiting in her car for the two sisters. The girls got in the car, Addison getting shotgun and Alice sitting in the back.

     "Thanks for the ride to school, Noelle. You're a lifesaver," Addison greeted her best friend. Alice nodded in agreement.

     "That's what friends are for, silly," Noelle responded. "There's no way I would subject you guys to take the bus to school. It's filled with pesky freshmen."

     "We were freshmen not too long ago. Alice was a freshman just last year," Addison reminded. Noelle turned to grin at her friend.

     "Yeah, but the important part is that we were freshmen. Meaning we no longer are freshmen. I'm so excited for this year!" Noelle gushed. "It's going to be so much fun."

     "It's just another year of school," Addison grumbled. Noelle glared at her.

     "I can't believe you're my sister," Alice sighed. "You're a senior for crying out loud!" Addison was fully aware of that fact, but she was also aware of all the pressure that being a senior brought and she was not prepared for that at all. Senior year wasn't just partying all year round. With it came advanced classes and lots of schoolwork. But it seemed that only Addison was paying attention to those aspects. She didn't bother informing her friend and sister of that however. She didn't want to rain on Noelle's parade.

     "Thank you!" Noelle exclaimed, agreeing with Alice's statement. "You know, Mark is throwing a welcome-to-senior-year party on Friday." Addison shrugged.

     "He throws a back to school party every year. Why should this be any different?" Addison asked, unimpressed.

     "Because," Noelle smirked, "this year we're seniors. It will be our first party as seniors." Addison rolled her eyes at her friend's logic.

     The rest of the ride to school was quiet. Noelle pulled into a parking spot close to the school building. Noelle raised an eyebrow as she turned to look at Addison. "Senior parking," she stated.

     "Okay, I get it," Addison laughed. The three girls got out of the car and walked towards the building. Alice waved goodbye to the other two as she joined her group of friends hanging around by the side of the building.

     "Shall we go to the senior lounge?" Noelle asked, linking her arm through Addison's. "I think that's where the guys said we would meet up." They walked through the school entrance and their ears were filled with the sounds of students talking with their friends and lockers opening and closing.

     Addison shook her head. "I need to go to my locker first and drop off all these textbooks. They're killing my back."

     "That's what you get for taking so many AP classes," Noelle smirked. "The textbooks are a lot bigger." Addison gave her a small shove with her shoulder.

     "Whatever. I'll meet up with you guys later." Addison waved goodbye to her friend as they went in different directions in the hallway. Addison headed towards her locker so that she could start the school day.