Fiction/Drama/Family
Assumptions — Senior Year — Chapter Eleven
Colton Grey
High School (n) — where self-esteem, innocence, and dreams go to die (unknown)
Was I ready for this? Not sure. It had been two years since I’d seen most of these kids. But here I was, ready for my first day back at Bayshore High for my senior year.
It had already been two months since I was released from juvenile detention. It took me a little while to get back into the routine of things at home. But thankfully, my parents gave me time and space to reconnect with life on the outside. I've seen a few of my friends and past football teammates since I’ve been out, but Ash was the only one I kept in regular contact with.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to ride the bus to school anymore or have a parent drive me, which would be so not cool. My dad, a local mechanic, fixed up a Mustang, an older model but still a muscle car, and gave it to me for my senior year of driving. It’s black, sort of like my mood. I guess it fits me pretty well.
“You ready for this?” Mom gently rubbed my shoulder as she walked past me.
I stared back at myself in the hallway mirror. I brushed my fingers through my hair, which had been dolled up with gel this morning by my younger sister, Lilith. I guess stylin’ hair to make it look messy was a growing rage. Shit, I could’ve rolled outta bed and looked the same way.
Mom made me get a haircut, so now my light brown locks were cut close to my scalp—not a buzzcut, but short enough to create a spiky do. Lil picked out my outfit, not hard to do with a guy, jeans, and a t-shirt, which she made sure ‘accentuated the grayness of my eyes.’ Her words, not mine. My muscles were defined after two years of working off anger. One good thing about prison is that it gave me a rock-hard body.
“Yeah, I’m good.” I plastered on a fake half-smile. “It’s only high school, Mom, not a big deal.” I tried to lessen her uneasiness about my return.
The main culprit in this whole ordeal has been AWOL for two years since the day I got arrested. Well, except for the time she tried to visit me in jail, like a week after my sentencing, but I turned my back on seeing her as she’d done to me.
“Honey, if this becomes too much, you could always do online learning and still graduate.”
I shook my head. “Nah. I have Ash and the rest of the crew. I’ll be okay.” My eyes darted to the living room, where my younger sisters made their entrance. My look of shock and horror made Mom follow my gaze.
“Oh, no, no, no, no.” Mom pointed her finger down the hallway. “You two, young ladies, need to go change. You’re not wearing that attire to school.”
Lilith, a sophomore this year, was dressed in a tight, black mini dress with thick, high-heeled pumps. Her dark brown hair was flat-ironed, and she had more makeup than natural skin showing. I could only imagine what all the guys would be saying and doing once they saw her. She was a beauty, but also my younger sister, which meant I’d have to beat the shit out of a line of guys.
On the other hand, Ezra, my baby sister, who was new to high school as a freshman, was also dressed in all black. Except, her clothing made her look like she was going to shoot up the whole school, grunge-style. Black baggie cargo pants, a black t-shirt, a black trenchcoat, and top it all off, Ez had on army boots. Where the hell did she get this shit?
“Ah, c’mon, this ain’t so bad.” Ezra twirled around, showing us her outfit. “It’s kinda cool.”
Lilith curled a lip at Ezra. “You look like a fuckin wannabe goth chic.”
“And you look like a fuckin slut that nobody would screw. In fact, you’d have to pay them.” Ezzie always had a comeback.
“Girls.” Mom’s tone was a bit louder and harsher than before. “Go change now. And no more cussing, act like young ladies.” She softened her Wicked Witch of the West expression back to our lovable mom.
Both girls groaned. Lilith flipped her hair. “Whatever. I look good in anything I wear.” She spun on her heels and clicked away. Ezra followed her back down the hallway to their bedrooms.
Mom ran her hand through her hair. “Oh, Lord, help me. These two are going to be the death of me.”
This time it was me who comforted her with a pat on the back. “Oh, if you survived Kade and me, you’ll have no problem with Lil and Ez.” I kissed her on the cheek. “I better get going.” I opened up the front door. “Do you want me to drive them?” My gaze went back to the hallway where Lil and Ez had disappeared.
Mom waved me off. “I got this. It’ll be a while. Be careful.”
“Okay. Later.” And I was off to serve my second sentence—this time in the form of high school.
