The final bell rings for the day. I finally get to leave this place, thank god. I could not be more pleased. But before I could leave, I had to go to my locker to get some things and meet my friends. 

I walked up the stairs and turned right to go to my locker. I saw that my friends Sonya, Freya, and Charlie were already there. “Hey guys.”

They all looked at me and smiled. I put in my locker combination and opened it. I started to put all of my homework that I needed to do tonight, but then I felt someone wrap their arms around me. I smiled humongously because I knew exactly who it was.

“Hey Alec.”

“Hey Makenna,” he said as he spun me around.

After a few spins I exclaimed, “Okay, you can put me down now!”

He just laughed and put me back down. He always does this whenever he sneaks up on me, which is actually quite often. It use to scare me, but now that I’ve gotten so used to it, it just doesn’t anymore. 

“Hey, do you guys want to come over to my house? I already asked my parents and they’re cool with it.” I looked at all of them with a questioning look.

“I can’t at the moment, I have volleyball practice,” Sonya explained. “But I can come by afterwards.”

“I can’t, my parents want me home right after school,” Freya said.

  “Same, sorry,” Charlie quickly added.

I nodded and then looked at Alec, “How about you babe?”

“Yeah, I can hang out today.”

I smiled and closed my locker. At least I’m able to spend some quality time with Alec. It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been able to spend time together. Our schedule’s haven’t worked out the way we had hoped with after school things and work. 

I walk down the stairs and out the front doors with Alec. We go to his car and get in. We sit there for a few minutes and then get going. We pass by the River Valley High School sign on our way out. While we drive past it I stare at it. I started to think of a whole bunch of stuff and how I’m graduating this year. 

“Hey honey?”

I jolt back into reality and look at Alec, “Yeah?”

“Are you okay? You were spacing out again.”

I smile slightly, “Yeah I’m okay. I was just thinking about how we’re graduating this year. I still can’t seem to quite wrap my head around it.”

He nodded and then turned the music up a bit louder. It was one of my favorite songs so I started to jam along with it. Alec was quietly laughing and continued to focus on the road ahead. At first I was just dancing to the song, but then I started singing along with it as well. But it wasn’t my actual singing, it was more that yelling the lyrics but in tune kind of thing that people do. 

“So, before you go. Was there something I could have said to make your heart beat better? If only I’d have known you had a storm to weather!”

At this point Alec was laughing loudly. We were about a block away from my house when the song ended. “You’re going to kill your voice if you keep doing that Kenna.”

“No I won’t, I only do it about once a week. I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so honey.”

At this point we had pulled into my driveway. He parked and we got out. We walked up to my front door and I unlocked it. Immediately I heard yelling coming from the kitchen. ‘Just great, my parents are fighting again.’ I thought to myself while I walked through the door. 

“Hi Mom, hi Dad!”

They clearly didn’t hear me because they were still yelling at each other.

“Alec and I are going to watch some tv in my room! And Sonya is coming over once she’s done with volleyball practice!”

I waited a second before I decided to go to my room. I can’t continue listening to them fight right now. I walk upstairs to my room and then Alec closes the door behind him. I’m glad he closed the door, at least it provides some type of barrier from the yelling. 

I sit down on my bed and start crying silently. Alec notices and wraps his arms around me. I lean into his chest and full on cry. He rubs my back and says comforting things to me like, “It’s all going to be okay,” or “Just take some deep breaths.”

After a few more minutes, I finally stop crying. I look up at him and smile sadly, “Thanks Alec.”

“Anytime Makenna, you know I’m always going to be here for you. No matter what happens.”

I wrap my arms around him tightly. We lay down in my bed and watch one of my favorite movies, Zootopia. I cuddle up close to him and he wraps one of his arms around my shoulder. I felt at peace and safe.

Sonya showed up near the end of the movie. We finished the movie and then we all talked about random things. I hadn’t heard my parents yell since earlier so I think they stopped. The rest of the night from then on went on without a hitch.

The next day I wake up to hear the front door slam shut. I get up and go downstairs to the kitchen. I see my mom standing by the counter hunched over. “Are you okay Mom?”

She turned around and wiped her eyes quickly, “Of course sweetie. Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“Mom, you’re crying. What’s wrong?” I walked up to her and wrapped an arm around her.

“Your Dad and I are getting into fights over nothing. I don’t know what to do.”

“Everything’s going to be okay. It might not seem like it, but you guys will get through it. Just remember that it’s you two verse the problem, not you verse him.”

I hugged her tightly and then felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I stepped back and took out my phone. I saw that it was a text from Alec.

Alec -

Hey, I’m outside in my car waiting for you. Just come out whenever you’re ready. I love you.

I checked the time right before I put it back in my pocket. It’s 7:15, I still need to get ready. I hugged my mom again and then went back to my room to get ready. I texted Alec that I would be outside in about ten minutes.

I went to my closet and grabbed my favorite purple off the shoulder top, a pair of light blue ripped jeans, and some other necessities. Then I went to my jewelry box and grabbed out my rose necklace. I walked to my bathroom and got ready.

After I was done, I grabbed my backpack from my room and headed back downstairs. I hugged my mom once more and then put my ankle boots on. “Bye Mom, I’ll see you after school. Remember what I said. I love you.”

“Bye Kenna, I love you too. And I’ll try my best.”

“Have a good day!”

“You too sweetie!”

And with that I opened the front door and walked out. I walked down the steps and to the passengers side door. I opened the door and got in. “Good morning Alec.”

“Good morning babe.”

“Guess what I woke up to this morning.”

“What honey?”

“My Dad slamming the front door on his way out.”

He looked sadly at me, “I’m sorry honey. If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”

“Thanks Alec.” 

And with that he backed out of my driveway and we headed to school. Since we don’t normally talk a lot during the drives to school, I turned the music up. We both ended up jamming out on the way to school. 

Once we got there, we parked and got out. We went inside the school and headed to my locker. ‘Today is going to be a good day,’ I thought to myself. I opened my locker and started to grab a few of my books. Apparently I spoke to soon, because someone came up to me and asked, “Are you Makenna Bolton?”

“Yes, I am. Why?”

“I’ve heard a few people spreading rumors about you around school.”

I looked at the person shocked, but I didn’t think much of it. “I’m sure that’s a likely story. Honestly, I’m not too worried about it at the moment.”

The kid looked at me and nodded. “Okay, I hope you have a good day.”

“You too.” And then the person left.

I looked at Alec, “Do you know who that was?”

“I have no clue Kenna.”

I nodded and then closed my locker. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket again. I grab my phone and look at it, it’s a text from Sonya.

Sonya -

Hey girl, where are you?

Me -

I’m at my locker. Alec and are about to head to the lunch room though. Meet us there?

She just sends a thumbs up as a response. I nod to Alec and we head to the lunch room. Once we get there we find our normal booth that we sit at in the mornings and during lunch. Sonya shows up right as I’m going to sit down.

“Hey girl!”

She smiles, “Hey guys!”

“My parents were fighting again this morning. Only this time my Dad slammed the front door on his way out.”

“I’m so sorry Makenna. That’s horrible.”

“It’s all good Sonya. I just hope it doesn’t get any worse.”

Both Alec and Sonya nod in agreement. Even they know that my parents fights have been getting worse by the day. They always seem to be fighting about something. I look at the time and see it’s 7:45. Normally all of us are here by now, me, Alec, Sonya, Freya, and Charlie. I haven’t seen Freya or Charlie or heard from them all morning.

“Do either of you know where Freya and Charlie are?”

Sonya shakes her head no. I look over at Alec and he just shrugs his shoulders. It’s strange that they aren’t here, I hope they’re okay. Maybe they’re just running late, or they had something to do before hand.

Sonya, Alec, and I just talk about what we’re looking forward to for the day until the first bell rings. I grab my bag and get up. I give Sonya a hug before she leaves for her first class. I then hug Alec when he stands up and kiss him on the cheek. He smiles and kisses me on my forehead. 

“See you during lunch honey.”

“See you during lunch Alec.” I then turned and began to walk to my next class.

The three classes I had before lunch were quite easy. There was a sub for my AP piano class, so we were just working on our semester project. It was to write a piece to showcase what we had learned that semester. I was having a lot of un with it, because I was able to play around with chords and rhythms for a song that I wrote earlier that year. 

Then in my English class, we were finishing reading the book we had been reading for the past month. The ending was interesting to say the very least. And my last class before lunch was choir. My choir class has always been pretty chill. Everyone in the class gets along, so it goes by pretty quickly.

Once the bell rings for lunch, I grab my bag and walk to the lunch room. When I get to the table, Alec and Sonya are already there. I smile and wave to them while I walk over. I set my things by Alec’s and then leave with the two of them to grab some food. 

While I’m waiting in the lunch line with them I hear laughs coming from behind me. I look behind me and see Freya’s and Charlie’s posse. I don’t know what they’re laughing at, so I just turn my head back.

I grab a sandwich, milk, and some grapes for lunch. As I’m walking back to the table, another person comes up to me. “Hey, you’re Makenna, right?”

“Yeah. Cassidy, right?”

“Yep, that’s me! Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I’ve been hearing rumors being spread about you around school. I figured you might want to know.”

“Thanks for letting me know Cassidy. Let me know if you hear anything else.”

She nodded while walking away. ‘Okay, that’s two people now in the span of two days. Now I’m starting to get upset. Who would be spreading rumors about me? And what are these rumors even about?’

I sat down at the table and pushed my food to the other side of the table. Alec and Sonya came back to the table, but I didn’t notice because I was lost in my own thoughts. I barely even noticed when Alec wrapped his arm around me.

“Are you okay Kenna?”

I looked at him and shook my head. ‘No I’m not okay. Someone is spreading rumors about me around school. How could I possibly be okay?’ 

He wrapped his arm around me tighter and pulled me closer, “What’s wrong honey?”

“Two people have came up to me in the past two days to tell me that they’ve heard people spreading lies and rumors about me throughout the school.”

“No matter what those people say, the people who know you well will know it’s not true.”

“But what if the things that are being said about me is true? Then what do I do? Just sit and act like it doesn’t bother me? Like I can’t hear a word that’s being said about me?”

“I highly doubt that the rumors are true.”

Sonya chimed in, “Honestly Kenna, just don’t let other people’s words drag you down. They don’t deserve the satisfaction of seeing you upset.”

“You guys know I’m going through a lot right now. I’m also really emotional, of course it’s going to bother me. No matter what either of you guys say, I’m going to get upset.”

Alec and Sonya went quiet for a few minutes. I decided to take out my phone and play a puzzle game. They always seem to help me relieve some stress and calm me down. 

“Well no matter what happens babe, Sonya and I are always going to be by your side.”

I smile at them. “Thank you guys, you’re the best.”

“We know Kenna. Now eat your food bestie.” 

Sonya pushed my food back towards me and I took it. I unwrapped my sandwich and took a few bites of it. I then drank all of my milk and ate my grapes. I wasn’t really hungry after that, so I gave gave Alec the rest of my sandwich. 

Once the bell rang we got up and threw away our trash. I had my next class with both of them, so we walked to class together. It was nice being able to walk to class with two of my favorite people in the world. I knew for a fact that they would never betray me, or stab me in the back like others probably would. 

We walk into Pre-Calc together and hope for a pretty easy day. Unfortunately, that was not what our teacher had in mind. We were going to be learning a whole new topic at the beginning of class and then take a quiz on it at the end. Just what I want to do today.

We were about four minutes into the lesson when I raised my hand. “Yes Miss Bolton?”

“Um, can you say that again. I don’t quite understand what you’re saying.”

“Why yes I can. Now pay close attention.”

Once he was done explaining, I still didn’t fully understand what he was teaching. I did however understand it more than I previously did. Throughout the majority of the class, I kept raising my hand and asking him to explain what he had just explained again. 

Before I knew it, he was handing out the quiz that we had to take before we left. When he handed me the quiz, I realized that there were only two questions on it. For a moment I didn’t think I knew it, but then I remembered how to do the equation. 

I finished along with many others right as the bell rang. We handed him our tests as we walked out the door. I waited patiently for Alec and Sonya to come out. Once they did we started walking towards our lockers.

“I’m going to be completely honest, I think I failed that quiz.”

“Honestly Kenna, I think I did too.”

“I’m sure you did just fine Sonya. Alec, how do you think you did?”

“I feel like I might get half of the points. The first question I remembered how to answer, but the second one didn’t make any sense to me.”

“So it sounds like I’m the only one who failed. Nice, nice.”

We all started laughing as we turned down the hallway. In all honesty, I’m sure all three of us passed that quiz. As much as it didn’t make sense, we already learned a decent part of it in the unit before.

“Hey babe, I gotta go to my locker. I’ll meet you at yours in a few, okay?”

“Okay Alec, see you in a few.”

Alec turned while Sonya and I continued to go straight. “You guys are adorable you know.”

“Thanks Sonya. But out of the two of us, he’s the adorable one.”

“See, this is what I mean.” We both laugh at her comment. 

For whatever reason, we always get on the topic of how she thinks Alec and I are the most adorable couple in the entire high school. Sonya is always so sweet though. She also will comment on how Alec and I compliment each other quite well. 

“Hey Kenna, Imma go to my locker. I’ll text you later girl.”

“Okay Sonya, talk to you later.”

She turns left to go towards her locker while I turn right. While I’m walking to my locker, I see Freya and Charlie’s posse standing around it. I start to question things more when they start laughing. What could they possibly be laughing at this time.

As I near closer to my locker I hear two familiar voices. “Have you guys seen the way she dresses? She looks like a wannabe clown that can’t get into the circus!” 

“Freya come on, she looks like a gigantic pig! Calling her a wannabe clown is an understatement.”

“You’re right Charlie, she is a pig. A hideous pig. I don’t even know why she shows her face!” 

Their entire posse start laughing loudly and obnoxiously. I start to think maybe I should just push through them to my locker. ‘They aren’t talking about me. They couldn’t be, could they? No, they’re two of my closest friends, they wouldn’t do that. Right?’

I decided to just keep listening to the conversation. I hid behind the wall and tried my best to listen to what they were saying. “I almost feel bad for Makenna since her parents are always fighting, almost. Makenna deserves to be sad. Because the sadder she is, the more things she tells Charlie and I.”

‘Okay, so they are talking shit about me behind my back. Great… So much for being “best” friends. I can’t believe this is actually happening right now.’ 

After another minute of hearing them talk about me, I decided to come out from my hiding place and walk to my locker. As I did so, Freya exclaimed, “Look! It’s the wannabe pig clown!” 

Her posse all started laughing. I tried my best to ignore the nasty names they were calling me. I opened my locker and began putting my books away. I was about to close my locker when I heard Freya say, “Your parents are fighting because you are such a shitty daughter. You’re the reason why they’re going to get divorced.”

That was it, I had quite enough of her input. I whipped around and stroded up to her. “I’m sorry, come again? I couldn’t hear you over all the bullshit.” Freya backed up a few steps. It seemed like she was at a loss for words, but Charlie sure wasn’t.

“She said, you’re the reason why your parents are getting a divorce.”

“You really want to push my buttons don’t you Charlie? I’ve had quite enough of your guy’s shit.”

Charlie laughed quietly to himself as he tried throwing a punch at me. I blocked it and then laughed devilishly. “Oh darling, you just made a mistake.”

I faked throwing a punch at him and then swept him off his feet with swift move of my leg. Everyone around us gasped, clearly they weren’t expecting that. I was about to walk back to my locker when I heard from behind me, “Now you just messed up.”

I turned around quick enough to see the foot that was about to kick me in the nose. I tried my best to move out of the way or block it, but it was too late. It hit my nose and I heard a crack. Almost immediately I felt blood running down my face. ‘Great my nose is broken. How am I going to explain this one?’

I held my nose, trying my best to stop the bleeding. It hurt immensely seeing as my entire nose was broken, but I had to try my best to stop the bleeding. I laughed again and looked at Freya. “Really? Is that the best you can do girl?”

This little comment seemed to piss her off even more. She tried to throw a punch at me this tim, but I grabbed her fist. “Yeah, I don’t think so. You already broke my nose, you definitely aren’t going to hurt me anymore.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.” 

Right as she was about to throw another punch I heard, “You stop it right there Miss Gibson. Don’t you dare lay another hand on Miss Bolton. Unless you want to be in even more trouble than you already are.”

I looked up and saw Principal Jones. Thank god that she’s here. She got here before anything really bad could happen. You know, other than my nose already being broken.

Freya stepped back a few feet from me. “Miss Gibson and Mister Hill, you’re coming with me. Miss Bolton go to the nurses office to get checked out. I’ll let Mister Graves know you’re there.”

“Thank you Principal Jones.”

I walked down to the nurse’s office, hoping that I wouldn’t pass out from all the blood I’ve lost so far. I was starting to feel really light headed as I walked into the nurse’s office. I sat down in one of the chairs as quickly as I could.

The nurse came in and saw the condition I was in. She immediately grabbed some cotton to stop my nose from bleeding. While she was messing with my nose to see just how broken it was, Alec walked through the door.

“Principal Jones told me you were here,” he said somewhat out of breath. “What happened to you? Why does your nose look broken?”

I laughed quietly, “I’ll explain everything on the way home Alec. Right now I need to focus on not passing out from all the blood I lost. But long story short, Freya and Charlie are not my friends. And quite honestly, I don’t think they ever were.”

He starts to open his mouth to say something, but then he immediately closes it. “Hey Alec, can you text my parents and tell them that my nose got broken? This way they won’t be surprised when I come home with a bandage on my nose.”

“Yeah, of course babe.”

“Thank you.”