The Air We Breathe

Chapter 1

"Cassie! You better get up and ready for school!"

"I am Mom!"

"Hurry up then!"

According to the alarm clock, I had 15 minutes to get ready.

"Shit! I'm late!"

     I jump out of bed and throw on whatever I can find in my closet. Which means sweatpants and a ratty sweatshirt. Oh well, I'll make up for it tomorrow with a pair of cute boots and a skirt. I run down the stairs and grab a banana on my way out the door.

"Bye Mom", I yell with a mouthful of banana. My friend's truck is in the driveway and thanks god he waited for me. I hop in and slam the door.

"Careful! This baby's only got three years at the most, I'm trying to lengthen it out as much as I can!"

"Sorry", I mumble with a mouthful of banana still.

"Ha! Dick got your tongue?", Mark asks, pointing to the banana.

"Grow up! At least my stomach won't be making 'whale noises' as Mr. Murray put it."

     Our physics teacher had pointed out so nicely that Mark's stomach was making hungry noises last class. Mark blushed with embarrassment and even in the truck still has a tinge of red on his cheeks.

"Shut up", he mumbles.

"What's wrong? Dick got your tongue?", I say snidely.

     He sticks his tongue out at me and I stick mine back out at him. I swear, sometimes my friendship with Mark is so childish.

•*•*•*•*•
     We arrive at the school with five minutes to spare. I dash to the English wing while Mark dashes towards the math wing. I sit down in my seat just as the bell rings.

"Cutting it short Ms. Mendelina?"

"No sir, just being punctual."

     My class laughs. I know I can say this to Mr. Lowell because he's completely chill and laid back for a teacher.
•*•*•*•*•
     The rest of my day goes smoothly, and I don't have any more problems. Today we had an A day. Our class schedules are organized around A and B days. On A days it's odd classes, and B days it's even classes. Except for the seventh- period. We have that every day. I have German 3 every day. My teacher is okay, but he's lazy. You don't know what your grade is until the end of the quarter. It sucks if you're obsessed with your grades.
     When I get to Mark's locker, he's flirting with his new crush.
"Get a room Mark!"
     Mark turns extremely red in the face as I laugh my ass off from his reaction at my comment.
"I'm kidding man, chill. How's it going, Emmy?"
     Emmy looks at me with a look of disgust on her face. Oh yeah, I forgot. Let me introduce you to Miss Prissy. She's a stuck up bitch who doesn't know where her nose doesn't belong, and also a stuck up rich kid like my friend Mark, except he's more down to Earth and not from Hollywood, California.
     I don't know what he sees in her, but as long as he is happy, I'll pretend to be happy.
"You ready to go yet lovebird", I direct at Mark.
"Yeah", he replies.
We walk outside together and hop into his truck.
"Which destination will it be today, my lady?"
"How about we just go to your house and do homework? I have a lot of tests to study for."
"You mean, you do homework, and I'll watch you sit pretty."
     Sometimes I can't tell if Mark's flirting with me, or just plain being honest. He's an extremely confusing person. The kind of person who'll pretend to be gay just to confuse the hell out of others.
     We arrive at his house while listening to AC/DC. My favorite rock band of all time. I hop out and get to the door just as Mrs. Z opens it.
"Oh my gosh! Cassie, I haven't seen you since forever! Mark, why don't you bring her here more often?"
"Hey Mrs. Z! Good to see you, even though I just saw you yesterday at this exact time. It hasn't been that long."
"What do you want her to do Mom? Live here?"
"For your benefit Mark, yes I would."
     I roll my eyes at their bickering and laugh as I walk inside their home.
"Mmmmm. It smells really good in here Mrs. Z."
     She laughs as she takes some chocolate mint cookies out of the oven. I walk over to the plate she sets down and digs in. After washing my hands of course.
"Cass, what are you doing? Leave some for me!"
"I'm stocking up on energy for my homework Mark, chill. It's not like you're going to need any energy."
     I then go upstairs and start on my never-ending homework pile. Mark comes up later and joins me on his bed.
"So Cass? What did you think of the  physics quiz?"
"It was ok, but I feel like I needed to study more."
"You'll be fine. Don't we have a class with each other tomorrow?"
"No Mark, tomorrow I plan on dying and I need your help to plan my funeral", I say with a whole bucket of sarcasm dripping down my head.
"What? No! Don't kill yourself, I need you in my life so much Cassie!"
"Dude! Did you not see the sarcasm dripping down my face? Yes, we have Science together tomorrow."
     I get off his bed, and next thing I know I'm back upon it. This time though, there's someone above me and holding me down. I look up into a pair of chocolate caramel eyes.
"Don't you dare even think about killing yourself, Cassie. I mean it. I need you so much and without you, I would probably kill myself. Promise me you won't."
"Mark-"
"I mean it, Cassandra! Promise me."
"I promise," I say while staring into his eyes.
"I have to go now though."
     I get up off of his bed and grab my things. Then walk out the door with Mark staring after me.
"Bye Mrs. Z," I shout as I close the door.
     Who knows? Maybe Mark does care about me.
•*•*•*•*•
Hey guys! That was my first chapter ever put out, and I hope you enjoy it! Please vote, and let me know what you think. Haters back off though! Don't read the book of you don't like it. Hope you enjoyed it!