The Player Next Door ✓

25 | Pop

The photo above will make so much more sense during this chapter...  

Spiritstrong97, rees4jam, oreocamclub, omgthatisrandom, Undiscovered-Author, HopeGoodrich, SASAIKAMALCOLM and fandomlover71324, you the best!

Chapter 25: Pop

What are the signs of a bad day?

Is the wind particularly loud or do the birds chirp differently?

If I could tell the signs, I'd never get out of bed. Like today, for example. I should have stayed under the covers all day. Unfortunately, it was also the first day of school.

I slept through my alarm clock and woke up to the sound of Flora hijacking my car. Hers had broken down and she didn't bother waiting for me. She stole my car and went to school without me. I was stranded.

And late.

I texted Julia and she messaged back: I'm biking to school. If you want to join, I'll pick you up in 10.

10 minutes. I bounced out of bed faster than a rubber ball and picked up a pair of jeans and blue T-shirt that were lying on the floor. I tied my hair in a messy knot, brushed my teeth and splashed water on my face.

I turned the coffee machine on in the kitchen and ran to the garage, digging around for my bike. I found it behind a broken ice cream maker. Bike, I said? More like a tricycle, with pink ribbons flowing out of the sides of the bar handles.

I ran back to the kitchen to pour the coffee into a thermos, add caramel macchiato creamer and screw the lid on-

"MILLIE!" Julia's voice echoed through the garage.

"Coming!" I screamed, running back through the house with my coffee and backpack.

"AHHHH!" she screamed when she saw me in my no-make-up-just-woke-up-wild-hair look, "Frankenstein!"

"That's exactly what I was going for."

Julia rode ahead, shifting gears on her professional bike and calmly greeting our neighbors along the way. I was pedaling as fast as I could, huffing and puffing while the pink mini-bike was squeaking under me. The tires were deflating by the minute. I started to sweat. My face turned pink. School was still far away.

I'm coming in hot.

Literally.

**

Preston Oakes High School

There was an excited buzz in the air at school. The hallway was jam packed with students greeting each other after a long summer. People had new haircuts, new outfits, new personalities... the usual optimism. New year, new you.

I didn't bother locking my bike because, let's be real, who's going to steal it?

As we walked on campus, Julia updated me on her summer, "You'll never guess what happened to me. I spent most of summer hanging out with Cearra. She even said she'd introduce me to the crew," she boasted, excited to be getting close to one of the tightest girl group's in our year.

LUCKY they're called. Short for Lexi, Unity, Cearra, Khloe and Yoona.  And yes, Khloe is the same counselor from camp.

"There they are!" Julia pointed.

They were standing under the welcome back banner, swapping schedules with each other. Khloe (the K in LUCKY), was amongst them. I wondered if she would remember me now, after this summer.