Chapter Two

They say your high school experience will be the best four years of your life. Meeting new friends, getting high or drunk off your ass for the first time at the wildest parties, screaming your lungs out at football games, and marrying your high school sweetheart.

I wasn't screaming at football games with my classmates though. Instead, I was screaming and begging for my life to end the pain and suffering dealt on my mind, body, and soul.

I sit in my 1992 Mercury Tracer, laying my head back against the headrest, staring at the three-story brick building with a dome-like roof. A building full of memories that will haunt me until I leave this place for good.

Despasito blares out of Tia's speakers and instantly changes my sour mood I've been in since I woke up. Looking to the side, Tia pulls up beside me, lip syncing the lyrics while bouncing in her seat, bopping her head and putting on her lipstick. Shaking my head at her with a big smile on my face, I grab my backpack and step out of the car, swinging the bag over my shoulder.

"You ready for this?" She sends me a wink over the roof of her car, grabbing her bag from the back seat. After she shuts her door, she hooks her arm with mine and we walk side by side toward the double steel doors.

A few students linger outside the front doors, but once we walk through the metal detectors, the hallway begin to fill.

I take a deep breath. Christian isn't here. I can do this.

"What"s your first class?" Tia asks, popping a piece of gum in her mouth. This girl always carries a pack of gum.

"Advanced English-Lit with Ms. J. What about you?"

"Ugh. I have calculus with Mr. De León."

Ah, yes. Mr. De León. One of the hottest and youngest teachers in the school, which makes it impossible to focus on class.

"At least he"s hot as fuck to look at," Chantelle says as she walks up behind us. "Unlike Mr. Puentes in history." She shudders in disgust while smoothing down her long, wavy, dark cocoa hair.

"Oh, come on. He"s not that bad looking," I joke as we walk toward our lockers.

"Fuck, Sade. His lips are always chapped, and he always looks like he just came in from a snowstorm."

"What?" Tia and I ask in confusion at the same time.

"Dandruff," Chantelle says in a "duh," tone, rolling her eyes.

We laugh.

Tia does a double take, glancing up and down at Chantelle"s outfit. "Fucking Christ, girl. What the fuck are you wearing, Telle?" We started calling her Telle in elementary school since it was easier to pronounce.

Chantelle's wearing a short white halter bra-like top and dark high waist blue jeans that flare at the bottom, along with black heels.

"What?" She takes a glance at her outfit and looks back up to Tia like she grew two heads.

"What do you mean what?" Tia steps back, pointing out her outfit with a disapproving look.

Tia, our mother hen.

"Why are you surprised? This ain't anything new, Tia," Destiny chimes in from behind me Tia and I grew up with all of them. Destiny is even shorter than I am which is why we call her Tiny.

"Seriously?" Tia turns to face us, gesturing at Telle. "She"s got her damn tits hanging out. It"s not a fucking JLO concert." She gives Telle"s breast a little jiggle, making her point.

We laugh.

Telle smacks her hand away.

A few yeah baby and whoo-hoo"s are thrown in our direction from a group of guys.

"You should've seen her on Saturday night," Lupe says as we reach our lockers.

"What do you mean? What happened on Saturday?" I ask while unlocking my locker.

"We were at El Culebra," Lupe and Tiny say at the same time.

"You think this is bad?" Tiny gestures at Telle's outfit while Lupe pulls out her cellphone and opens to the pictures before she hands it to me.

I gawk down at the photo of Telle dressed in a noticeably short leather skirt; you can tell she isn't wearing any panties. A tight red tube top sits above her belly button and her long brown hair with red highlights is pulled into a high ponytail.

"Girl, please. Don't pretend like you're any different. Besides, it's a club. What the hell are you supposed to wear? Jeans and a sweater from the Gap?" Telle scoffs, looking amusingly offended.

"Yeah, but I'm not the one showing off my lady bits." Tia laughs.

"Yo, Chantelle? Why don't you bring your sweet little ass over here. It's my boy's birthday. Wanna be his cheap whore for the night?"

Luis, one of the guys on the football teams, hollers while resting his hand on Carlo's shoulder, his eyes roaming up and down her body.

The rest of the guys bust out in a fit of laughter.

"Oh, yeah?" Telle walks toward the guys with confidence. She rubs her manicured hands up and down Carlos's chest. The kid swallows as if in anticipation.

"You think you can handle me?"

He nods like an idiot.

"Hmm. I don't think you can." She grabs Carlos's junk, giving it a squeeze. He jerks back and looks down to her hands and back to her face with wide eyes while the rest of the guys are hooting and hollering.

"Nope. You can't handle a girl like me." She pats his chest and then his cheek. Telle turns to face the leader Luis and grabs his junk making him groan in pain. "I'll rip your balls off and feed it to my dog if you ever call me a whore again."

The whole hall erupts in laughter as Telle looks over her shoulder, giving us a victorious smile and a wink.

"Run your mouth again, and your balls won't be the only thing." Gio's deep voice holds a warning when he walks up to us with Seb and Maximo following behind.

"It would be a shame if the motherfucker's good throwing arm accidently breaks in two places. That would be the end to your football dreams, right, Luis?" Seb pulls Lupe against his chest, glaring at Luis and his friends.

Luis looks like he's about to crap his pants. The rest of the guys laugh and pat him on the back as they walk down the opposite side of the hall, leaving him alone with two guys who could break every bone in his body.

"Sorry," Luis mumbles, keeping his head down as he walks away.

"You're such a fucking bully, Seb," Tiny says.

Seb rolls his eyes, wrapping his arms around Lupe's waist.

"What the fuck are you doing walking around like that?" Gio points to Telle's outfit.

"I'm out." Telle pulls her hair over her shoulder as she saunters down the hall with Gio hot on her heels.

Tia steps away from me and shakes her head. "God. She"s worse than Lupe." I nod, agreeing that our girl Lupe is not ashamed of her body either. If she had the choice, she would walk around butt naked.

"I'm right here, bitch." Lupe gently smacks Tia over the head, making her laugh.

"Oh, don't worry, Lupe. Tia's just jealous," Tiny chimes in.

"Jealous of what?" Tia scoffs.

"Aw. Does Tia feel left out because the pendejos weren't looking at your fat ass?" Tiny sarcastically asks, pouting her lips.

"Bitch, please. Ain't nobody looking at your ass either," Tia counters.

"I like your fat ass," Maximo responds, openly rolling a joint in his hands like he doesn't care if he gets caught.

He's like a fucking ninja always creeping up on us.

"Really, Max?' I raise my brows, gesturing to his joint with my eyes. He grins like a fool who's up to no good. He wraps his arms around my shoulders and plants a sloppy kiss on my cheek.

"Ugh." I push him away, wiping his slobber off my face.

He laughs, tucking the joint over his ear, and winks at me as he walks away.

"Let's get this day over with," Lupe says, wrapping her arms around Seb's waist with his arms around her shoulder and waves goodbye.

A voice from behind startles me as I grab my books.

"Girls. Don't you have somewhere to be?" Ms. Diaz, the vice principal, glares at us. With her arms crossed over her chest, she says, "Stop lingering in the halls and get to class."

"Yes, ma'am!" Tiny says in a sarcastic tone. Ms. Diaz rolls her eyes, turns around, and walks away.

Tiny salutes her by flipping her off.

"God, I fucking hate that bitch," Tia says in a clipped tone.

"Well, let's hate her while we walk to class because I ain't getting detention on my first day. Fuck that," Tiny says.

"See you later," I call out as she walks away.

"You got photography last period?" Tia asks out of nowhere, leaning against the locker.

"Yeah, you?" She nods as I slam my locker shut.

I love photography. It helps ease the pain and silences the noises in my head. When I was a little girl, I had a plastic toy camera and pretended to be a famous photographer. It drove Josiah nuts because I would carry the damn thing everywhere.

When I turned twelve, Josiah surprised me with a real Polaroid camera with the money he earned working at the club as a DJ. It wasn"t anything fancy, but it was perfect Not only did it make me happy on my darkest days, but I need to hold on to the good memories. Even though many of my childhood memories are dark, lonely, and painful, Josiah was my bright light, shielding me away from the darkness.

The bell goes off. Tia gives me a quick hug, before we go our separate ways to class.

Walking into AP-English, I make a bee line to one of the seats in the back. The class begins to fill with Ms. J following behind, closing the door.

Ms. J gives the class a welcoming smile. "Welcome to Advance English-Lit." She begins class with introductions and reviews the expectations to pass the course. Her warm, caring, and enthusiastic personality makes me want to pay attention. She speaks with passion and her lifelong love for teaching lights up her eyes like a shooting star.

Pulling out my notebook, I take notes, counting down the hours until 3:00 p.m.