Heathens (being edited )

Chapter One

Oak

it was a thursday. the first thursday in my senior year and if i were to remember anything throughout my lifetime to talk about, then i'd always choose that day.

the day started as how most of my days started; then again, you've never heard of my legendarily infamous days. my phone went off with the dreaded alarm that would always wake me up at 8:30 am. i would open my eyes and stare at my white speckled ceiling for approximately five minutes (maybe just four minutes 43 seconds), just to get my bearings straight, then i would swing my undersized legs over the edge of the bed. and like every other day, for every other adolescent girl, i started with my usual routine.

brush my teeth, take a shower, brush through my tangled auburn hair, pick out my clothes (which was a light blue long sleeved, buttoned up shirt and grey shorts for today), tried to get my untamable hair in a ponytail, which most times didn't work, then i'd go downstairs to eat.

congrats! you've barely made it to the third paragraph of what i wished was my memoir and you're already familiar with one third of my life. i can already hear your groans and throat tingling cringes - just hold on a little longer. i promise 'm not entirely lame.

my mother didn't really have time to make breakfast for me in the mornings since she had to get ready for work. due to that, most times i'd find myself munching on a fruit or cereal in the mornings, but sometimes i didn't eat anything.

not because it wasn't there, but because most times i didn't have the appetite.

plus, i would enjoy losing some of my flab (especially in my cheeks or my bloated belly).

that morning i didn't eat anything for breakfast. i just sat there wondering how i would get through math class again since i had already felt like mrs. taylor was speaking incoherently.

"good morning oakley" my mother said in a tired breath but granted me a smile nonetheless. she was braiding her slightly golden hair down her back when she walked in.

"morning mom " i responded quietly, eyes raising from the croissant i had warmed up minutes before.

immediately as her light green eyes met with my off golden ones, a smile caressed my lips easing me from tiring thoughts. she was already dressed in her work attire. a dark slender high waisted skirt that hugged to her figure and a beautiful flowing red shirt that went well with her bold red lipstick and ruby earrings.

i would be lying if i said my mother didn't have a good taste in fashion. sadly, i also would be lying if i said i inherited it.

---/

the conversation in her car to school was light that morning. it simply comprised of me talking about a song that was playing a radio and her trying to figure out who was the artist. but soon, like all good things, that came to an end and somehow i had made it to walking through the crammed judgmental hallways of meadow brook high.

i held on to my bag straps with a firm grip, mostly just to prevent myself from knocking over anything, and measured my footsteps with my breathing pattern. one inhale, step, one exhale, step. i did stuff like that to protect the world from my clumsiness.

but then again, you could imagine a girl fisting her bag straps like a maniac as she sped through the hallways. i say sped because my breathing pattern was quite faster than the average pattern and you would also realize, as i said before, that my pace depended solely on my breathing pattern.

so there i was being a klutz as usual, minding my own klutzy business, when i heard someone call behind me "hey ugly!". of course, i winced at the tragedy of a nick name that's mediocrity could be traced back to a derivative some of the boys had sourced from my name then ignored them as fits of giggles and snickers erupted behind me.

of course i was embarrassed by the things they said to me, but i grew used to it by tenth grade. in a life when you are the literal representation of pennywise, it's hard to feign emotiveness when a meager clown call comes your way.

i kept my head low as i walked but then a chilling shudder ran down my spine as somehow i had forgotten to measure my foot falls and i stumbled into somebody. i knew when i got tripped so i did brace for impact when i fell forward and my arms reached out to grip who was in front of me.

as soon as i thought i had been saved by the person's back, in a second the supporter had shoved me off and i fell on my own back, face contorting as my body spasmed in pain. "shit" i cursed under my breath as i gripped the two, now aching, swollen areas between my shoulder blades as tears stung my eyes.

now this i think might perk up your interest - or at least i'd hope you would give a shit.

i had a back problem. ever since i was younger i always had two protruding bumps between my shoulder blades. but they weren't bumps. they were hard and felt like projecting bones. as i grew older i came to the conclusion that they were only tumors or that i may had cancer in my body but i didn't check it out. my mother didn't mind so why should i?

but during those weeks it became so painful that i had to try everything out of my way to avoid contact with anything on it. when i had fallen on it, i barely had enough bearings to get up on my own. so i didn't.

i looked up with narrowed eyes at the male standing above me with a glower but slowly my eyes widened as i took him in.

now i'm definitely sure i've tickled your interest.

the first thing that i had registered about him that day was his bright platinum hair. an odd color that i had never really seen in a male's hair. then i looked at his eyes, light grayish blue crystal that went well with his hair. his eyebrows were of a darker shade than his hair. it gave me the impression that either his hair was dyed or his eyebrows were just like that.

his lips were full, but thin and had a nude pink shade to them. and i didn't get to his prominent jaws that day. i stopped at his lips and exhaled shakily as i watched them move with words my ears had failed to relay. "what?" i asked in a higher octave looking at the tall male standing in front of me in a white t-shirt and dark blue denim jeans.

"i asked if you're finished being a klutz?"

and as soon as i registered the words from his lips that seemed like they were only made to say nice things, my ears heated up as the girl beside him chuckled.

'how had i not seen her beside him with all my ogling?' i had asked myself mentally as i looked away from his furious gaze and i scrambled to my feet whilst brushing off my knees.

"uhm...r-right. sorry" i muttered under my breath as i kept my head down and maneuvered away from him as i scrambled to the safety of my homeroom. i left the laughter in the hallway behind me but i still had to deal with the searing pain coming from my back and my ego.

that's how we met.