the super awesome story i have yet to name!

It's a relatively typical day at the highschool in Bellingham, WA.
Second semester started a week ago, and everybody's going about with their lives.
But for a group of slightly atypical teenagers, a lot's gonna change.

Alright everybody, open your textbooks to page 267 and get out your packets.
And make sure you have a pencil! I don't have any more to give out.

Hey Lucia, do you have a spare pencil?

Um, let me check.

Lucia rummages through her bag in search of a pencil for a good minute.

Yeah, here you go.

Thanks.
So, how was that band festival?

It was... something!
The trumpets sounded absolutely horrible.
Like, we've been practicing for a good three months and you still sound like crap?

I never hear anything good about the trumpet players.
Are they like the violins of band?

Yeah, pretty much.
Always out of tune, and never know what's going on.

Lucia and Alexandra, stop talking!

The two of them snicker a little bit, and proceed on with class.
After what feels like an eternity, class is over.

So, wanna come with me to the party at Jakob's house tonight?

Hell yeah!

Sweet.
You wanna hang out at my place until the party?

Yeah, sure.
Anyways, I gotta go to science.
We've got some fuck-ass lab or something.

The lab's really easy, you just overprepare to mix a bunch of water for forty minutes.

God, that's so stupid.
Pray for me!

The two part ways, and go to their respective classes.

Alright class, it's time for the lab.
Now, I need all of you to put your goggles on.
This is no joke! Lab safety is very important!

It's really not that serious, but whatever.

What was that, Alexandra?

Nothing, nothing!

You really need to learn to just do the work.

Shut. Up.

The class goes by pretty fast, and the lab was really underwhelming.
Alexandra rushes to meet Lucia out by the track.

Alex!
How was the lab?

Fucking terrible.
I would die happy if I never had to see Mrs. Malevuk ever again.

Right, she's so weird.
I don't think anyone likes her.

Anyways, let's walk to your place.
I'm so excited for tonight. Great start to the weekend.

The two boisterously walk to Lucia's house, loudly yapping the whole way there.

Okay, brace for impact!

Lucia's dog, Whisper, pounces on Alexandra and slobbers all over her.

Eugh,
Sick, dude!

They pass through the house and into Alexandra's room.
Alexandra's house is a small, single-story house with a faded yellow exterior and gravelly shingles.
A thin grated metal fence surrounds her house, and her lawn is fairly dead-looking.
You can tell it's a very lived-in home.

Alright, so what do ya wanna do to pregame for tonight?

We should do eachothers make-up!
Can I do yours first?

Sure, just don't make me look rank or anything.

Can you put on a CD or something?
You've got Celebrity Skin, right?

Oh my god, yes!
Love that album so much.

Lucia puts on Celebrity Skin, and grabs her make-up kit.

Aw yeah!
We're like the same shade, right?

Yeah, I think so.

Okay, just making sure.

They sit on Lucia's bed, and Alexandra does Lucia's make-up.
She chose to use a bit of purple in the eyeshadow, and tried to keep it pretty simple, but chic.

Okay, look in the mirror! Whaddya think?

Oh my god, I love it!
The sparkly lid is so cute!
You should like pursue doing make-up professionally or something, because you're GOOD.

Oh shut up, I'm not that good.

Uhm, yes you are!
Like, damn.

Anyways, time for you to do minee!

Just a heads-up, I'm absolute garbage when it comes to make-up.

Girl, your make-up looks great every day. You're not bad at all.

I warned ya!

Lucia does Alexandra's make-up. She chose to use a cyan-blue-green color scheme. It really complements Alexandra's chocolate-brown eyes.
It's hard for something to not look good on her (when it comes to make-up, at least).

Well, uh, what do you think?

Oh my days, it looks so good!
It's perfect!

Oh, really?
I didn't expect that.

You really tend to underestimate yourself.
You're way better than you act like you are.

I- I don't know how to respond to that.

Haha, real.
I wouldn't know either.
So, what do you say we do now?

Well, the party's in forty-five minutes. Maybe we could grab a snack from the gas station; it's on the way to Jakob's house!

Ooh, yeah!
I've got like seven dollars, that's enough, right?

Yeah, I'd say so.
C'mon, let's get movin'.

The two head out of Lucia's house, and walk down about three blocks to the local gas station.
Rumor has it, they sell alcohol and cigarettes to minors.
But that's not of interest to either of them. They just want some Skittles and Kit-Kats.

Okay, I've got what I want.
And thanks for paying. I'll repay you at some point.

No problemo, I don't mind.
Just this, thank you.

That'll be five dollars and seventy-nine cents.

Alexandra slides a five and a one dollar bill onto the worn-out counter.
The cashier digs around for change for a minute, and then passes her the twenty-one cents.

Thank you!
Alright, let's keep going.

The two snack on their food while they walk to Jakob's house, which is about a mile from the gas station.
After about twenty-five more minutes, they arrive! A little late, but that's alright.

You knock! You're the one who invited me!

But I'm scared!
What if this is like the wrong house, or something?

I'm pretty sure this is the right one.
You can hear the music from out here.
Just knock!

Okay, fine...

Lucia shakily knocks on the door, her body tense with fear.
It's quite a relief when Jakob opens the door.

Hey, come on in!
Everybody got here a fat minute ago, but that's alright.
Knock yourselves out.

Alexandra, can I tell you something?
I've never been to a party before.

I've been to parties just not, this kind.

The room stinks of alcohol, sweat, cheap perfume, and all sorts of other things.
There's really loud music playing on his dad's stereo, and there's a lot going on.

Heyyyy!!!!
Great to see you guys!! What's up??

Oh my god, hey Kim!

Isn't this AWESOME?!

Kim is stumbling around, her speech is slurred, and her cheeks are flushed.
She doesn't look so good.

Are you... drunk?

Uh... maybe?? I don't know!
Don't ask me!

She's drunk.

The two wander around Jakob's house for a minute. I guess his parents are out of town and he decided to open up the liquor cabinet for every kid in town.

Heyy! Want something to drink?

Um... uh...

No, she's good!

They're both so clearly out of place in an environment like this. They're not big on parties or drugs, and haven't really been exposed to this before.

Whatever suits you, I guess.

Actually, um, can I get something?
Nothing too heavy, but like, something?

Lucia looks terribly shocked, and quickly pulls Alexandra to the side.

What the fuck are you doing?
You don't drink!

Oh don't be ridiculous, it won't hurt!
Besides, I probably won't have anything more than this afterward.

You say that, but you're just lying!
It's never just one drink.
My mom told me that once.

Look, I just don't want to look like a total loser.
I wanna try to fit in for once.

I guess I get that.
It's just hard for me to believe that you'd do it.
I never took you as the kind to do that.

Me neither.
I didn't think I'd be doing this either.
But hell, maybe it'll be fun or something, I don't know!

Well if you're doing it, I am too.

So we're just going all in?

I guess so.

They turn around and face Tyler. He's the guy who offered them drinks.

So, what's it gonna be?

Can ya grab us both a beer?

Aight.

He pulls out two beers from a tuba case on the floor.

Here ya go.

Why was it in a tuba case?

Jeffery sneaks beer around in his instrument case or something like that,
or was it Tom?

Tom plays french horn.

The fuck's that?

A different brass instrument.

Whatever that is.
Fuckin' band kids.

Hey, band is awesome!

Lucia scoffs, and turns around to face Alexandra.
They're both nervously holding beers, and exchanging fearful looks.

Well, let's do it.

Okay.
Oh my god what am I doing...

They both pop open their cans, and take a drink. But not after clinking their cans together and annoyingly shouting "Cheers!".

Ew, this tastes terrible.

Literally.
Maybe it tastes better once you're drunk or something.

Probably, there's no other reason someone would drink like seven of these.

Haha, right.

So, how long until we're drunk?

Two more beers and an hour.

We'll see how we feel after one, alright?

Yeah.
See, this is why we're best friends.
You always make better decisions and uh... I don't know what I do.

You're like, super funny and real darn talented.
You're fun to be around.

Oh shut up, I'm nothing interesting.

Girl, what.

What?
I didn't say anything, did I?

No need to be so humble.
You're hot stuff, act like it!

Oh whatever!

How's it going??
I see you've both got sumn' to drink. Didn't know you were that type.

Yeah. But um, we've never drank before, or anything like that.

That makes sense.
No offense, but you guys are like, nerds.
Nerds aren't really that type.

I'm not a nerd! I'm more of like a geek.

Oh, same fucking thing!

They're a little different.

Not to me.

Whatever.
I see you're a little less... rambunctious now.

What's that mean?

Rambunctious?

Um, yeah. I don't know what that means...

You're joking.

I'm not.

Well, it means like, loud, disorderly, and stuff.

Oh, okay.
Why couldn't you have just said that?
No need for all these fancy words.

It's not really fancy...

Whatever, I gotta go find my boyfriend.
See ya!

Ugh, her boyfballsriend is such a bitch.

Oh my god, for real!
Hate him.

I heard he's been doing some real bad shit.
Apparently he's been cheating on her, and has been selling Xanax.

Oh damn. That's uh, something.
Has she not heard the rumors?

She has, but says it's all a bunch of crap and that it's not true.
Like, girl I love you, but he's definitely seeing another girl.

She's gonna find out at some point, I guarantee it.

I can't wait for it.
But I don't want her to be sad. I just want her to realize how much of an asshole he is.

I finished this whole beer and I still feel fine.
This is a bunch of crap.

Give it time!

I better not have done this for nothing.
If my mom finds out, she'll kill me.

My mom wouldn't find out, so I've got nothin' to worry about.

Your mom is weird.
She acts like she doesn't have three kids to deal with.

She's kind of like a dead-beat mom. She doesn't do shit.

I think my mom is pretty normal. Though, as a person, she is a bit odd.

Your mom is cool. I like her.
She's like my second mom, lowkey.

With how much time you spend at my house, pretty much, yeah.

I wish my mom was more like your mom, y'know?

I wouldn't say that, but like, I don't have a really shitty mom.

Once you have something, you don't want it anymore.

That didn't make a whole lot of sense in this context.

It sounded better in my head.

That's what I thought.

A loud crash echoes throughout the house, and everybody's gone silent. The stereo's still going, though.

Holy shit!

What the hell happened!?

What the fuck, Eric!?

Kim, I swear it's not what you think it is.

Okay, then what is it!? What the FUCK are you doing!?

Um, I- uh...

That's what I fucking thought you piece of shit!

Alexandra and Lucia try and peek over everybodies heads to see what's going on in the living room.
What they can see is that Eric's got a bloody face, Kim looks pissed, and some other chick is slowly backing away.
There's pieces of glass stuck in the wall, and something is clearly going on.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Are you thinking that Kim's finally caught her boyfriend in the act?

That is what I'm thinking.

I should've listened when all those people said you're a lying, no-good, fucking cheater!

Kim grabs Eric by the hair, and slams his face right into the wall.

OW, FUCK!

What the fuck is wrong with you, bitch!?

What's wrong is that you've been fucking cheating on me!

Kim takes the empty vodka bottle on the floor, picks it up, and smashes it over Eric's head.

Holy fuck!
She's lost it!

What the hell is going on!?
Kim, what the fuck!?

Kim has pinned Eric down to the floor, and is now senselessly bashing his face in with her fists.
It's kind of resemblent of that one scene in the first Home Alone movie.

You dirty, lying, bastard!

Kim, fucking stop it!

She isn't responding to anything, or anyone.
She really has lost it.

KIM!

Jakob has to practically rip her off of him, and it was incredibly difficult to do so.
Once he's got her, he turns her around, so she's facing him.

Kim, what the fuck are you doing?

Giving that piece of shit what he deserves.

All of a sudden, red and blue lights can be seen in the far off distance, and the wailing siren grows closer.

Aw fuck, someone called the cops!
I'm out!

I HOPE THEY ARREST YOU, YOU FUCKING BITCH!!

Lucia! What the fuck do we do!?

Get out of here as quickly as possible!
C'mon, let's go!

Lucia and Alexandra rush out of the back door, and book it.
They're running faster than ever. The last thing they want is an encounter with the cops.
They're good kids with clean records. They don't want that all going out the window.

Oh my fucking god, no!

All of a sudden, another girl from the party runs up to them.

Hey! Where are you guys going!?

Um.. out of here!

Come with me. Just trust me on this.

Lucia and Alexandra exchange confused and concerned looks.

Uh, okay, I guess.

She grabs Alexandra by the wrist and practically drags her into a car.
It reeks of smoke and regret.

Where are we going?

The afterparty, of course!

Okay...

They're both highly skeptical of this girl, but she's not a guy, so they're giving her a bit more trust.

Where were you guys even going anyway?

Back to my house, probably.

Well, we sure as hell weren't going to mine.

Haha, yeah.

You guys don't go to parties much, do you?

I've never really been to a real party before.

It shows, it shows.

Oh...

What's that supposed to mean?

No, no! It's not bad, just, I can tell who's a regular party-goer and who isn't.

Ah, I see.
So, you go to a lot of parties?

Aint it obvious?

It is, kinda.

I like to think it is.

You're proud of that?

It's not always a bad thing.
But for the junkies and addicts, it sure is a bad thing.

There's junkies at our school?

Of course there's junkies at our school. They're everywhere.
You just gotta know what to look for.

What exactly do you look for?

Well, a lot of the time you just have to know. I can't explain it much further than that.
If you know, you know.

That's just real helpful.

Hey, what's your name? I think I've seen you once or twice, but I don't have a name.

Ashley Storm.

I've heard that name before.

Yeah, I'm one of the cheerleaders. My name's on the announcements pretty frequently.

That's cool.

What do you two do? Anything cool?

Well, I'm in the orchestra and art club.

I'm in the honors band and orchestra. I'm also in the art club.

Oh, I know what type y'all are.

Is that a bad thing?

Oh no, no, no, it's not a bad thing at all!
I'm just not like that.

The car slows down, and pulls into the driveway of this nice-looking house. Two stories, picket fence, and a well-kept yard.

This is a surprisingly nice house.

This is where I live. Cool, right?

Y- Yeah.
Can we get out of this car now? I've got a bit of a headache.

Me too.

Yeah, yeah, just come on in!
A few other people have already pulled up, by the way.

They hop out of her car, and walk into her house. There's a few people on the couch, two of them passed out.
Everyone looks a little rough.

Dude, that party was fuckin' nuts.
Did 'ya see what went down with Kim and Eric? She beat the fucking life outta him, I'll tell ya that.

I mean, they'd been together two years. Of course she was pissed.
But smashing a vodka bottle over his head? Crazy shit.

She's batshit crazy anyways.
Oh, hey! What's good, Ash?

Ayy, what's up?
When did y'all get here?

Uh.. no fucking clue.

Real.
Anyways, whatcha talking about?

Oh ya know, just the batshit insane fight.

Oh my god that was literally crazy!!
I mean, good for her for getting revenge. That asshole lowkey deserved it.

He deserved getting a vodka bottle smashed over his head?

No! I mean like, he deserved something.

Ah, I get 'cha.
He is a prick.

Anyways, who are these two?

Oh, haha!
What're your names?

I'm Alexandra.

I'm Lucia.

I ain't never heard of you guys.

Makes sense. We're not really, uh, social like you guys seem to be.

Whatever. Anyways, what do you think happened to Kim after the cops pulled up?

Hm.. I think she either got the fuck out of there,
or is currently in the back of a cop car.

Or maybe Eric started beating the shit out of her!

Nah, he was way too drunk and injured to do that.
I mean, you saw him! He had his head bashed into a wall and a vodka bottle smashed over his head.
He looked like absolute shit.

Yeah, you're right.

Well, Alexandria and Lucy or whatever your guys' names were, you can go sit down somewhere.

Alexandra and Lucia look quite perturbed at the way she'd already forgotten their names. But they spoke not of it.
They just sat down in the corner part of the couch, away from the others.
Ashley sits close to everybody else, and they're all chatting away about all sorts of party drama, recent break-ups, and such.
It's incredibly obvious to them all that Lucia and Alexandra aren't really like them. Nothing in common.

God, I cannot believe they broke up!
I really thought they were endgame.

Oh my god literally! It came out of nowhere!

Um, who are you guys talking about?

Kaleb and Sophia, obviously!

I didn't even know they were dating...

Oh! Um... how?
Like, everybody knew.

I- I don't really talk to them or their friends much.

Makes sense.

How long were they even together?

Um, like three months.

And you thought they were endgame?

Well, they had a really good relationship!

Sure, sure.

Hey Jane, can you pass me my cart?

Yeah, here.

Jane tosses a weed pen over to Ashley.

Um, what's that?...

A cart.

So like, a vape? That's what it looks like.

God, no!
It's like that, but like, weed.

You guys are smoking pot!?

Kinda, but not really?

The thought of someone smoking pot around her makes Lucia feel incredibly unwell. It's nauseating.
She knows her mom would kill her if she found out she was even near something like that.

Lucia? Are you uh, okay?

Um, y-yeah! I'm fine!

Lucia's face has gone pale, and she's clearly freaking out. (Internally, that is.)
She's never been particularly good at keeping a straight face during times of distress for her.
She's terrible at poker.

You're clearly not.
Is it about the uh, y'know, weed?

It is. If my mom finds out she's gonna freaking kill me and I- I don't know what to do!

Listen, it's just a stupid pen thingy. It's not gonna smell like actual pot.
Atleast I don't think it will.

What're you two yapping about over there?

Oh, nothing.

Weird..

Ashley takes a rip of her pen, and decides it's funny to blow the smoke straight at Lucia.
Lucia started profusely coughing, and she was quite pissed off at Ashleys decision.

What the hell was that for?

What do you mean?

Um, blowing smoke in my face!?

What? It's funny!

No it's not! I have asthma!

You have asthma?

You're my best friend. You should know this.

You've never talked about it!

Oh my god...

Of course you have asthma.
You look like you have it.

Ashley snickers mockingly, and some of the others do as well.
Lucia's face turns red and she looks horribly embarrassed.

What's that supposed to mean?

You just... look like someone with asthma.

I- I'm confused. What makes you say that?

Your whole look. Especially that cardigan.

It's giving like, homeschooled evangelical.

Oh god!
That's terrible!

It really is.

Guys, chill.

What do you mean?

Quit ripping on her so much.

Oh, shut up!
It's all for shits and giggles.

The night continues with shallow conversations and clouds of smoke.
Lucia and Alexandra look wildly out of place, and incredibly uncomfortable.
This really isn't their typical environment.

How will we get back to your place?

Oh crap, I didn't think about that...
Um... I have no idea.

You don't know!?
You're usually the more responsible one, how does this happen!?

What're you two talking about?

Um, we don't have a way to get back to her house.

You can just crash here!
No biggie.

My mom wouldn't like that at all!

Well, do we have a choice?

Goddamnit.
Um, yeah. Sure.

Sweet. Just don't go in my parents' room.
They'd kill me.

Okay...

Lucia is highly skeptical of this whole thing. Especially considering how Ashley was making fun of her earlier.
Why would she want her to stay at her house for the night?
She doesn't know. And maybe she doesn't want to.

What will we do when we eventually have to get back home?
I know my mom won't care. But I don't know about yours.

I- I don't even know.
Can I just say I had a sleepover at yours and forgot to tell her?
She'll still be mad, but not nearly as mad.

If your mom doesn't know anything about my home situation, yeah.
But if she does know, it's not gonna make much sense.

I don't think she knows.
Okay, so I'll just say that. Everythings fine.

Yeah, it's all fine. Nothing to worry about.

They stay the night at Ashley's house, and have one of the worst nights of sleep of their lives.
When they wake up, they've both got killer headaches, and a whole lot of regret.

Holy fuck- I feel like I got run over by a truck.

Same...

I need a glass of water...

Ashley is still passed out. It's gonna be a while before she wakes up.

Do I just... get water? I don't know.

Yeah? Duh.

Well, I don't know! This isn't my house, I don't know the rules around here.

Lucia goes and searches for cups for a fat minute. Upon finding them, she gets two glasses of water for her and Alexandra.

Thanks dude.

They both quickly drink their glasses of water.

I really needed that. I feel eight times better now.

Same.
How the hell are we gonna get home?

Crap, I didn't think about that too much...

Do you think we could walk?

I don't want anybody seeing us like this!
What if someone from school sees us? Oh god...

Okay, so walking is a no-go.
Any other ideas?

Well, maybe we can take the bus?

The bus?
I've never been on that thing before.
It looks fucking gross.

Well, let's give it a chance! It's like, what, a dollar?
We've got money, right?

Uh, yeah.
I've got five bucks on me.

Great! We can just walk to the nearest bus stop or something!

Whatever 'ya say.
When does the bus come, and where the hell is the bus stop?

I think theres one down the block, and I believe it comes at noon.
Er, what time is it?

Uh... 10:04am.

Great! We've got time to clean up and make our way there.

How are we gonna get cleaned up?
This ain't our house, and we don't have anything of our own.

Um... I don't know.
I kind of forgot our circumstances.

Jesus Christ...

Hey, at least I'm trying to get us out of here!

Fair, fair.

The two are both a damned mess.
They're both doing their best to think straight, and devise a plan to get them back home.
And well, to no surprise, their best isn't great considering they're kind of hungover.
Time passes, and 11:15am rolls around.

Alex! C'mon, let's get outta here!

Gimme a second! I'm tying my shoes!

Well, hurry up!
We don't got all day!

Geez, calm down!
Alright, let's go.

They walk out of Ashley's house unannounced.
She'll have no idea they were even there when she wakes up.
Mostly because she was crazy drunk and a little high.

Okay, so, you know where this bus stop is, right?

Yeah, I think.

What do you mean you think?

Like, I know what the stop looks like.
I'd know if it was the right one if I saw it.
And I have like a general idea of how to get there. I think.

I'm just gonna you on this.

They walk down many roads, some without sidewalks, and they're slowly but surely making their way there.

I think- I think this is it.

Thank fucking God.

They sit down in the little cubicle-type structure, and wait.

We made it on time, right?

Yeah, I think so.

They wait for roughly five minutes, and then the bus pulls up.

Aw yeah! The bus!

They step on, and they hand over their money.

Where ya kids tryna go?

Um, can you just take us to the high school?

Sure can do. Just git in the back and buckle up, will ya?

The two walk to the back, and buckle up, per his advice.
The AC is blaring, and it's overall very strange and funky in this little bus.
There's some cheap pop music playing on the radio, and it's quite grating.

This is... not what I expected.

What did you expect?

Uh... not this?

That sure answers my question.

They sit in uncomfortable silence throughout the rest of the ride.
The bus is creaky and unstable, but they make it.
It stops at the high school, and they get off.
The bus speeds away, and now they're just awkwardly standing there.

Let's just.. go to your house.
I'm not ready to go home and face the consequences yet.

We can just go in. My mom doesn't give a shit.

They walk to Alexandra's house.
Her house is that of a low-class family just barely scraping by. The exterior paint is coming off, the plants on their lawn are withering, and the roof is in shambles.
It's a single-story house which is more horizontal-looking than Lucia's, with faded sable-brown paint and charcoal shingles.
It's a very lived-in looking house.

Arnold, is that you?

No, it's me mom.

Ah, alright.
Where ya been?

Lucia's house.

'Yins have fun?

Yeah.

Cool.
Now shoo, I'm watching TV.

The two girls skitter off to Alexandra's room.
Her room is that of any grunge-y teenager's room.
There's clothes all over the floor, band posters on the walls, and a Fender stratocaster guitar in the corner.
It's quite overwhelming to look at.
Alexandra practically dives into her bed, and Lucia just sits down on the edge.

So, how much trouble do ya think you're gonna be in when you get home?

God, I don't know.
It depends?...

On what?

How well I can lie to them about it.

I think you could pull it off pretty well.
I mean, you're smart, right?

Yeah, I just need to think of how to make it sound real convincing.

I mean, I'm no good at lying, I never have to.
Don't look to me for advice on this.

Damnit, um, could you at least try to tell me if my idea sounds do-able or not?

Yeah, I can do that.

So, uh, do I just like, say I was at your house and forgot to tell them?

Yeah, of course.
Maybe try to sound remorseful about it.

Yeah, yeah. That sounds good.
So do I just do that?

I mean, what else do ya do?

Good point.
I think I'll head back home in like an hour.

Good god, you are stalling.

Um, of course I am!
I don't wanna get yelled at any sooner than I have to!

Fair, fair.

Ugh, can you put some music on? I need a distraction.
Do you have the Foo Fighters self titled album?

Uh, yeah!
I fucking love the Foo Fighters!

Alexandra jumps off of her bed, and grabs the CD, puts it in the stereo, and presses 'play'.

Thanks. I've got one of the songs on this album stuck in my head right now.

Ooh, which one?

Good Grief.
It's really catchy, and the guitar is so good.

That's such a good song. It's definitely one of their best ones.