Sink or Swim

September

Chapter Song:

It took me shampooing my hair seven times to get all the paint out. It was a nightmare. Thankfully none of the paint dyed my blonde hair. I was a little worried it would happen, but it didn't.

We all had to repaint our parking spots again. None of us were mad about it. In the end, we all had fun and it ended up being a great way to end summer and start off our senior year on a good note. Even if we stayed until midnight to get it done. We even ordered pizzas for the six of us.  I didn't see Natalie again, I just assumed she left since Cal got a ride home with Liam.

My parking spot turned out really good actually. Repainting the asphalt black really did make it stand out. It even made it look more clean, which I was happy about. Riley ended up painting hers white with pink ballet shoes hanging down. I tried to tell her the white would get dirty but she didn't care.

I pulled into my freshly painted spot and sat admiring it while I sipped my coffee. I kept telling myself that today would be a good day. It was the first day of my senior year. The first last day of high school.

The first day of school always made me excited. It was like New Years, a fresh start. I loved the idea of starting new and making plans. It was the best part of the new school year. Especially after the ending of last year. I was determined to make it end in a great fashion, and not heartbreak.

"Are you serious Parker?" I heard a familiar voice growl at me while I shut the door to my Jeep.

"What are you talking about McCormick," I looked at him warily while adjusting the strap to my backpack.

"You know what I'm talking about!" He yelled slamming the door to his truck which wasn't in his parking spot.

"Okay obviously you need this more than I do Mr. Grumpy," I gave my coffee a little wave to him. He rolled his eyes in response.

In fact, his truck was still running and in the middle of the lane in front of his spot. Why wasn't he parked there? Better question- why was he yelling at me angrily? It was too early to be yelling any way, and what was there to even yell about?

I looked back at his truck and saw a smirking Natalie sitting in the passenger seat. Of course, she was with him. He sure moved on fast this summer. That kind of sucked. Okay, it really sucked. But I wouldn't admit it out loud. At least not yet.

I looked back down at his parking spot to try to figure out why he wasn't parked yet and it hit me.

"Oh shit," I whispered.

Instead of his nicely painted spot, it was covered in what looked like black paint spilled all over his work. Instantly I felt so bad. He spent so much time on his spot. It was meant to look like the Parthenon in Athens, but now it just looked like a black blob.

"I didn't do it," I shook my head at him.

"Bullshit," he glared at me.

"I didn't," I said again this time a little bit lower. "Why would I do that?"

"You tell me Parker! You're the only one who had the black paint! Was this your way of getting back at me for painting your face?"

"I just don't get it. You came to me asking if we could be cool and forget about last year. I agreed with you because that's what you wanted," he pointed his finger at me. "Was this your way of getting back at me, or was this lets-be-cool thing of yours a whole new game?"

"Cal. I. Didn't. Do. It." I said slowly staring into his eyes. What was going on with him?

He didn't believe me. He muttered something under his breath before storming back to his truck. I just sat and watched as he pulled in and jumped out of his truck again. He slammed the door even louder this time and practically ran towards the school.