The Good Ones

Chapter One - Teenagers

° T E E N A G E R S °

"As much as Dorgak believed in Lady Linda?"

• • •

Lita rocked back and forth on her feet while gripping onto the straps of her backpack. Her frizzy dark brown hair whips left and right in search of the certain tan 1993 Cadillac DeVille. Instead, she locks eyes with unfamiliar faces that look back at her as if she was foreign.

Just when her hopes were falling, she screams as a car came flying towards her. The front tire hitting the curb two feet from her toes making her jump back. The busy students came to a stop at the chaos happening near them. Lita could only laugh as Simon slams the car door shut in the midst of his father's words.

"Yes! I got the lunch!" With that, the old man stomps on his gas all the way off school campus.

"Simon!" she rises on her tiptoes with arms wide open. He rolls his eyes knowing exactly what she was about to do. Without warning, she threw her body against his and he caught her. "I missed you for two weeks straight. Rodney and I got to play Mario Kart World without you!" She lightly pushes herself off him to see his priceless facial expression.

He goes from utter disbelief to a frown when he eyes down her outfit. "Wait a second. Plaid skirt and band tees?" Lita quickly covers herself. "You went shopping and not for what we all agreed on." Her eyes lock onto his large red striped sweater and ripped jeans. "I, and I quote, said anything with stripes. I'm looking and I don't see it."

"I thought you meant the band," she pouts and points to their logo on her shirt.

He slides his hands down his slick straight hair to prevent from messing it up. "Allow me to clarify next time." His eyes rolled in the direction Rodney was shouting their names from. "Look, stripes!" He points to the pudgy kid's socks that were exposed through his rolled jeans. "Everyone got the memo but you, Lita,"

She throws her hands up in surrender before bringing them down to punch him. "Are you going to hold it against me?" Simon nods through the slight pain. "Fine, but for now the shirt is a metaphor for the design, alright?"

"I'll take it."

"We're freshmen! We survived middle school!" The three scream while doing their signature three-person high five then flail their hands in the air to tie it off.

A small group of visibly older girls walk by and give them weird looks. "Freaks," one of them coughs into her fist causing the rest to laugh. Simon glares at them while Lita smothers a piece of dirt under her foot.

"Like we're ever going to see them again," Rodney laughs and nudges his two friends. He attempts to lighten up the moment but no one really was affected by it. "Let's look at our schedules?"

The three of them rip their bags off their backs and begin to browse for the papers. "I know I'm in literature. I heard we'd be reading Gerald's Game." Lita watches the excitement on the older boy's face as he rips the paper smooth out of his bag. "Yes!" he fist pumps.

Rodney looks at Lita's schedule and gags. "Geometry? Is that even a thing?"

"Obviously if I'm in the class."

The three align their schedules together whilst bumping heads to get a better view. Lita pulls Simon into a hug as he tries to see what she's jumping over. "We share English classes!" Rodney pulls his schedule back after realizing he was alone in all his classes. "What's wrong Rods? There is still lunch."

He shook his head and stuffed the paper away. "It's whatever. I mean where is the excitement if we spend every given second together. It would ruin the high school experience." Lita nods silently in agreement.

"Totally, whenever we meet up it'll be like fireworks," Lita drapes her arms over their shoulders and pulls her friends closer to the school entrance.

Their eyes burst when the smell of sharpened pencils and inked paper fill their nose. The blue and white lockers glisten in the dimly lit halls. Lita also took notice to the older cliques socializing in the hall.

"Look at us," she forces Rodney's head to look at the blonde haired and blue eyed twins standing next to a boy with curls falling to his shoulders. "Not that we look exactly like that, but his bag has the Goburt logo. He's a Gak in the world of Forlodian. He is Lawd Gak in all its glory."

Rodney hums in disagreement while tilting his head to the side. "That's quite an upgrade. He reminds me more of Libgak than anything else."

"We don't even know him," Simon interrupts. "And they don't even look like they know what science fiction is. He probably stole it from the kids like us. The ones who will never fit in."

Lita and Rodney look at each other in confusion. They then catch up with their friend who seems to maneuver through the halls as if it was his second home.

The rest of the walk was silent or requires unnecessary sounds of enthusiasm.

The first one to go was Rodney. His homeroom is one turn away from the entrance. Then it was Lita. Simon's class was right across the hall from Rodney, but he walks her the extra hall length out of politeness.

"We'll meet next to Rods' classroom after the bell, right?" Simon nods. He held both his hands up for the high five but she hugs his waist instead. "This is epic for all of us."

"Why?" he chuckles as his hands lazily hang on his sides. This didn't make Lita let go though. "It's just like when we had to part ways in middle school."

She pulls away standing arm's length in front of him. "No, Simon. It's worse. Middle schoolers are fresh out of elementary. Innocence fills the air. High school... drugs, Simon. Drugs."

They were staring into each other's eyes for what seems like decades before Simon understood what she was hinting at. His mouth formed into a circle as he took a step back to let a student pass into the class.

"Just, listen and stay focused. We got this, Lita. I believe in you."

"As much as Dorgak believed in Lady Linda?"

"Although she died at the end due to him believing she could fight off nine Baby Smopits in one night." Lita punches his arm softly making him laugh. "Yeah, like Dorgak believed in Lady Linda."

Then Lita hugs him one last time, he hugs her back.