The Way We Were - A Chase Stein x Reader Fanfiction

1

I passed my parents as I entered the kitchen, grabbing breakfast. I was trying to compartmentalize; trying not to think about what today was. I grabbed a croissant from the fridge with some nutella and ate as my parents organized their briefcases. My dad being a lawyer and my mom being a surgeon, they worked a lot and I only really got to see them in the mornings. They didn't really talk to me and I was fine with that. Our limited interactions only were about grades. They didn't ask me how I felt about anything, they didn't ask about my plans, they didn't ask about who I was hanging out with. Simply because they didn't care. I knew they always wanted a boy. To them, I would always be the lifelong disappointment they were stuck with. 

After eating, I went back to my room to get ready for school. My parents would be gone before I left (thankfully), so I was okay to wear anything I wanted, really. As long as I didn't get dress coded at school. Then, I'd have to talk to them again and I would likely be grounded. 

I quickly made up my face and curled my hair into some loose waves as I put on a black crop top along with fishnet tights underneath my ripped jeans. I put a couple simple  gold chains around my neck and slid on my shoes. I checked my parents' calendar before I left to see what they had to do today and what time they'd be home. I was in the mood for a good old house party. Unfortunately, they were coming home at eleven and I wouldn't have enough time to host one. They had one of their Pride meetings with the other parents. Alex, Nico, Karolina, Gert, Molly, and Chase's would all be there. I sighed as I left their office, grabbed my backpack and headed out the door locking it behind me. I dropped my longboard on the ground, hopped onto it and skated to school, riding through the neighborhood, past the stucco houses, past people out walking their dogs, past children in strollers, past happy families walking with their children. I looked longingly as I passed them, wishing my family cold be like that. But it wasn't and it would never be. And I guess I'd have to be fine with that.

I took out my airpods once I arrived at Atlas Academy. The chatter was so loud I wouldn't be able to hear my music anyways. Everyone was outside in the mornings. The lacrosse team, the desperate girls pining over them, the drill team, the study-aholics. I caught a glimpse of Alex and Nico walking up two different flights of stairs from a distance; Karolina taking selfies on the sidewalk; Gert and Molly pulling up into the parking lot with their parents. I walked to my locker and hung up my jacket. I sighed. I wished I could've stayed in bed that day. I never wanted to leave, let alone to the torture chamber known commonly as high school. Today was the two year marker of Amy's death. And while I secretly wanted to spend it with the others who shared her memory, that wasn't going to happen either. 

Or so I thought.

I began to walk to class, but paused as I looked out the window overlooking the city. I could see everything from there. It was calm; beautiful. The skyscrapers, my house, the Hollywood sign... Chase looking up at me from the ground. Yeah. No longer calming. Still kind of beautiful though.  I locked eyes with him for a grand total of 2 seconds. He knew what he did and what the outcome of his actions was. And today was not the day to think about that. I knew there was no way I could handle it on top of Amy. So I pushed those thoughts to the back of my brain and kept walking to class, acting as if it was just another day. But the seven of us knew it wasn't.