The rest of the night was more of Claire talking about her issues, and eventually we fell asleep while she talked and I listened. I wish I fell asleep sooner, but she wouldn’t let me until she dozed off while blabbing about how her parents told her they were separating.

Getting ready in the morning with another person was unusual. Claire hogged the bathroom for most of the morning, so I was left to get ready in my bedroom. I had no time to brush my teeth or brush my hair properly. Today was going to be sloppy. Mom cooked breakfast, which never happens on weekdays. She claims she has no time to cook and get ready for work. It was good, simple pancakes and some orange juice to drink. Claire didn’t eat any, claimed carbs would make her too fat and sugars were bad. Mom wasn’t happy and told me that this was to never happen again, and then we were dropped off at school. 

Claire and I hung out in the cafeteria as we waited for school to start. The building opened an hour before school started for students, like me, who had to be dropped off in time for parents to get to work on time. Claire wasn’t happy, she was always last minute to school.

“God, what do you even do for an hour here? This is boring as fuck,” she groaned and pulled out her phone. I rolled my eyes and turned away. 

I sat and sketched out ideas for the portfolio in art class, still unsure of what I wanted to do. The semester was halfway done, so I was running out of time to plan this portfolio out. I debated doing the family tree despite already turning in two portraits already.

“Oh no,” Claire gasped and grabbed onto my wrist. I looked up from my sketch and saw Jake walking down the hallway. “Why is he here? Fuck!”

“Probably for some sports meeting,” I suggested as he walked in full sports attire. “You know they have their meetings in the morning some days.”

“Yeah but like, why me,” she whispered and made eye contact with Jake. He then looked at me and then was off towards the gym. 

“You’re fine, he doesn’t seem to care.”

“But that’s the issue! He doesn’t care about me!” Claire whined. “I want my Jake back…”

I want to be with Parker, I thought with pure annoyance. I regretted reaching out to Claire. I felt like my desperation to be with my friends like we were was now not worth it. My hopes turned around as I saw Justin walking into the cafeteria. “Justin!” I stood up and hollered.

“Hey!” Justin returned in a more calm manner.

“Look who returns,” Claire said sarcastically in attempt to be funny.

“You’re one to speak,” Justin snapped back. “Your makeup is shitty.”

“Well, I wasn’t home to do it.”

“You could have used my vanity,” I snapped back. And give me a turn in the bathroom…

“Your vanity is cheap and the lighting wasn’t better than your dingy bathroom,” Claire said and shrugged her shoulders. 

 “You guys had a sleepover?” Justin asked with an arched eyebrow. 

“Yeah,” I sighed.

Claire began catching Justin up on her issues, both being happy to talk about herself but also sad about what she was talking about. I was already sick of hearing it again. Justin wasn’t buying Claire’s bullshit either, I could see it in his eyes.

Five minutes before class started, Claire was off and left Justin and me to ourselves.

“What the fuck?” Justin asked with wide eyes.

“I don’t know, I’m tired of it,” I sighed and rubbed my temples.

“Girl, you fucked up reaching out to her. You know she doesn’t care about anyone but herself.”

“I know that now!” I exclaimed. I sighed and felt stupid. When I closed my eyes, I remembered all the fun times Claire and I had back in the days, but it dawned on me that we only had fun with her plans… Really, the only reason why we stayed friends was because my parents said she was good for me to be around. If I hung out with anyone besides her, Jake, and Justin, then I wasn’t in the right crowd. 

I remember back in middle school there was my friend named Kate. She was amazing and we had such great times together, but her family was trouble. They were constantly moving for eviction reasons and her parents were harsh. Kate was sympathetic, but also she asked for a lot from me. My parents noticed my things slowly going missing over time whenever she’d sleep over, which was almost every weekend, and my grades were depleting with her over at the house all the time. 

One day, my parents told me to cut her off, and I had to because they said so. Going against my parents back then was hell, and I learnt my lesson that one time... Kate and I grew apart and eventually she moved away because, again, her parents couldn’t hold down a home.

“Claire being mad at you was a blessing in disguise,” Justin said and shook me back into the present.

“Okay Mr. Religious.”

“Okay, ouch.” Justin put his hand on his chest and huffed.

“Sorry, I just -”

“It’s whatever,” he swatted at the air and rolled his eyes.  

Right when Justin was going to say something, our attention adverted to the front office doors opening with two of the ladies running outside. One of them had a cellphone in their hands and typing quickly. Justin and I exchange looks and we stand up and approach the front doors. 

Outside were the two ladies: one on the phone and the other shouting something. We both look past them and see two people brawling in the parking lot. 

“Oh shit, there’s a fight!” Justin giggled and leaned on the glass door. 

I take a closer look as the two guys were rolling around on the ground. One of them in a dark coat got the upper hand and straddled himself over the other guy’s chest. The one on top pressed his left hand down on the chest, and lifted his right hand up and began throwing strong and broad punches into the guy’s face. I winced as blood lightly splattered around. 

“Move!” A loud voice called from behind. 

Justin and I step back and watch two of our larger guy teachers run out the doors. They hurried over to the two guys fighting, pulling each of them apart. Justin sighs as his amusement is over, and I feel a sudden twist in my chest. 

The guy throwing punches got pulled off in a headlock, and is faced towards the doors. There, I lay my eyes on Parker, the bad boy in action…

“Is that your boy toy?” Justin asked as my mouth fell open. 

Cops come driving into the parking lot with their lights on, but no sirens. The two office ladies turn and enter the doors. 

“Guys, please go back inside. This is being handled, so there’s nothing to see here.”

“Fine, fine,” Justin growled and dragged me back to the cafeteria.

I was stunned the entire walk. What the heck was Parker doing?