Fiction/Drama
Assumptions — Senior Year — Chapter Sixteen
Colton Grey
A dark cloud loomed over the campus as I parked the Mustang in the student lot. There wasn’t any overcast, in fact, it was another sunny day in Florida, but there was always an ever-ominous presence lurking around the school. You knew bad shit was going to happen, when, where, and what were the questions.
Several other students, the ones who thought they’d be cool showing up late, hovered around a car, a Camaro. Not as cool as mine, but I’d give it a score of seven out of ten.
“Grey? Colton Grey, no-fuckin-way, dude.” Some guy with long blond dreads, baggy jeans, and a skater shirt walked my way. He was clearly stoned, reminding me of the old movie character a young Sean Penn played, Jeff Spicoli, in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Yeah, I watched that a few times when I was younger, wanting to be so ‘totally cool’ like those dudes.
“What’s happening? You back?” The kid offered me a fist bump.
“Not much. Yeah, back for senior year.”
Who the fuck was this guy? I probably met him at a party sometime or another. My group was always invited to the happening shit going on around Bayshore back in the day.
“Man,” the guy said, taking out a joint from his pocket. “You’re gonna need one of these before you go in there.” He motioned with his chin in the direction of the courtyard, the place I dreaded going to the most. The courtyard was where everyone hung out before, during, and after classes—the place to be seen.
I waved off the joint offer. “Nah, thanks, man. I’ll pass this time.” There was no way in hell I could get caught up in that shit again. Not that I was a big pot smoker in the first place. I mean, who hadn’t taken a hit or two, but my chill group at the time was more into popping tabs of beer or chugging from bottles of whiskey.
The guy slapped me on the back like we were best buds. “Look me up later. Probably before lunchtime, you’re gonna need something to get through this hellhole.”
A pickup truck, one I knew all too well, pulled into an empty spot beside me. Ash stepped out and stood next to us. He nudged me on the shoulder. “Ready for this shitshow place?”
Fuck, even my best friend was subtly questioning my sanity about returning to school.
“Yep. Let’s get it over.”
“Yo, Ben, we’ll catch y’all later. Don’t get caught with that shit,” Ash motioned toward the joint Ben had stuck behind his ear. “You know they’re always on patrol out here.”
Ben slid the joint into his pocket as if no one would ever think to check there on a patdown. We did another round of bumps and went our separate ways.
After we were out of hearing distance from the other guys, Ash started talking. “You remember him, right?”
“Who?”
“Ben. The stoner guy.”
“Nope. Was I supposed to?” Shit, most of these kids weren’t even here during my freshman year, and we had a large class size, like five hundred plus or so.
“Freshman year running back. The dude used to be un-fucking-believable.”
“Holy, fuck, no way.” Now I remember. Ben had college scouts checking him out during our ninth-grade year. He blew up all kinds of school football running records when he was on the field. “What happened?”
“Life.” Ash’s answer was simple and true. We all had shit thrown at us. Some, like Ben, chose a different way of dealing with the hidden blows.
I pulled down the sunglasses sitting on top of my head, offering myself a little more escapism. As much as I thought I was ready for this, I felt like an outsider, or better yet, prey, walking into the lion’s den. If Reagan and her girls knew I was returning, then everyone knew. I loved Reg, but she loved gossip, especially if she was the one informing on something no one else knew about.
The silence between Ash and me was welcoming as we walked towards the growing roar of chatter, useless noise, and the courtyard’s conversation. That was until we entered the scene, then you could hear a fuckin pin drop.
I spotted our crew. Reagan, Josh, and the rest of the guys taking up residency at the usual spot, the fountain.
“Colton-fucking-Grey.” Josh’s voice boomed out over the muffled chatter. He made it twice as hard to stay unnoticed. “You made it.”
“Like I had a choice.” I slipped off my sunglasses and glanced around at my surroundings, looking for one in particular. I noticed other students trying to catch a glimpse of our group like we were celebrities or something. Yeah, we were the stars of the school. I guess at Bayshore, and all the drama created, our group played a major part most of the time.
“Beats prison.” Ash’s comment was a whisper, but I heard him. He brought my attention back to the group instead of scouting for that certain someone.
I punched him in the shoulder—not hard, but enough—and he got the point. “No, shit, dude.” I didn’t want this to be the topic of the morning conversation. Once someone uttered the word ‘prison,’ it would be only a matter of time before the questions and comments would start rolling out about the place.
My crowd, well, not mine anymore, welcomed me back with slaps on the back from the guys and hugs from the girls. Everyone had grown up since the last time I’d seen them. It felt like yesterday we were all together, like nothing had changed at all. But yet, I felt like I didn’t know them at all. They were complete strangers. Except for Ash and Reagan, all I knew about the others right now was their names.
“Welcome back. It’s great to see you again.” Reagan hugged me tightly. She understood. She knew how fucked up our lives were.
Ash pulled her back to his side. They were like the old married couple of the school, going on almost four years together. Yeah, they had their issues along the way, mainly with Ash drinking at parties and messing around with other girls, but they weathered all the storms and stuck together. In my opinion, not that I was an expert in love or anything, but those two were rare. Not many couples stayed together with so many problems, especially during high school.
I pulled my classroom schedule out of the back pocket of my jeans. I knew where most of the classes were located. I just didn’t know each one’s exact time.
“Let me see.” Ash ripped the paper out of my hand and compared it to his. “You got PE and weightlifting with guys and me in fourth class. And,” he glanced over to Josh and the other guys who were checking out a group of underclassmen girls. “You guys got Birch last class, right?"
Josh took out the schedule from his backpack and skimmed it down. “Yep.” He smacked Levi on the shoulder. “These two asses are in too.”
Ash handed me back my schedule. “Should be interesting.”
I could only imagine. The guys hadn’t changed since freshman year, looking for girls and trouble all at the same time.
A group of kids moved from the sidewalk, and I saw Brady and Connor. I didn’t know them very well—actually, not at all. We were in totally different cliques back in ninth grade, and we still were by the looks of it. But I knew of their group.
I slapped Ash on the back. “Catch y’all later.” I moved in the direction where Brady and Connor were standing, looking as dumbfounded as I remembered them being.
“Hey, where you goin'?”
I heard Ash but didn’t feel it required a response. Let him think that the noise drowned out what he said to me. I’d see them soon enough.
I saw, out of my peripheral view, Brady and Connor watching me walk past. They didn’t have anyone else with them, which ruined my purpose for coming this way. Oh well, I’m sure all of our paths will cross sooner or later.
