Chapter 1: School Isn't the Only Thing That's Over
“And that’s a wrap on Spanish 3,” Mr. Melendez said to his students at the end of class. The dismissal bell had just rung, and Zoe Olson couldn’t wait to start her summer vacation. “Have a great summer, and I’ll see you all again next year!”
As soon as she finished cleaning out her locker, Zoe was joined by Marcus Thorburn, her boyfriend since ninth grade.
“Hey, Zoe,” Marcus greeted Zoe. “Can we talk?”
“Talk about what?” Zoe asked, unaware that Marcus was about to break up with her.
Marcus sighed. “Stop smiling at me; you’re making this hard. It’s about us.”
Zoe’s smile turned into a frown. “You’re not breaking up with me, are you? We’ll have a mouth to feed soon!”
Just then, Cassie Craig, Zoe’s arch-nemesis, came strutting down the hall as she approached them.
“Actually, I believe he is,” Cassie said smugly, doing a hair flip. She then wrapped her arms around Marcus’s waist. “Right, babe?”
“Babe?!” Zoe repeated to Marcus. “You’re cheating?!”
Marcus sighed. “Yeah, I’ve been cheating since the day after we had sex. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, you deserved to get cheated on, slut!” Cassie taunted, making Zoe angrier than she already was.
“I only had sex ONCE!” Zoe argued. “That does NOT make me a slut… boyfriend stealer! And Marcus, this relationship is over! I can’t believe I got pregnant by a two-timer!”
“Fatso!” Cassie returned.
“Psychopath!” Zoe retaliated.
Before she could retort to Zoe, Cassie was cut off by a loud clearing of the throat. The culprit had been Mrs. Collins, Zoe’s chemistry teacher, and she had an angry look on her face with arms akimbo.
“Miss Craig, if this wasn’t the last day of school, I’d put you in detention immediately. Bullying is an intolerable offense, and you know it – yet you keep putting Miss Olson down!”
“Well, she deserved it!” Cassie defended.
“Nobody deserves to get bullied, bitch!” Zoe screamed.
Mrs. Collins put a firm hand on Zoe’s shoulder. “Just pack up and go. The more you interact with Miss Craig, the worse it’s going to get.”
Zoe took a deep breath and hugged her teacher. “Thank you… I needed that,” she said.
Zoe finished collecting her belongings and went outside just in time to see her brother Daniel’s car pulling up by the curb.
Daniel grew concerned when he saw her with her head down as she approached. Usually, Zoe would run straight into his arms, so this led him to assume something had happened.
“Hey, sis,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “You look blue. What’s wrong?”
“Marcus and I broke up,” Zoe answered quietly. She opened the shotgun door to see another girl sitting there. “Oh, sorry.”
“It’s okay,” the girl said. “Hey, I like your outfit! Purple is my favorite color. I’m Julia, by the way – Julia Dean; you’re Zoe, right?”
Zoe laughed nervously as she climbed into the back. “Thanks… yeah, I’m Zoe.”
“So, what’s this about you and Marcus breaking up?” Daniel asked when Zoe had gotten into the backseat.
“I’d rather not talk about it. All I can tell you is that he broke my heart.”
“Hey, cheer up! You’ve got that One Direction concert coming up!”
“She does?!” Julia chimed in. “I love One Direction! I’m super-jealous of you, Zoe. Who’s your favorite member?”
“Niall,” Zoe said. “I’m even more excited about the opening act, though. It’s supposed to be this band from Australia called 5 Seconds of Summer.”
“Where is it? Louisville?”
“Yeah, Louisville on the 16th.”
“Cool! I hope you have fun!”
“I’m sure I will.”
“What?!” Mr. Olson exclaimed when Daniel spilled the tea on Zoe’s breakup. “Honey, what happened? He was so good to you!”
Zoe snuggled into her father’s arms as they sat down on the living room couch.
“He cheated on me with my arch-nemesis!” Zoe sobbed. “He’s hidden it all this time, and I found out the hard way.”
“And what hard way was that?”
“She strutted right up to us, put her arms around Marcus, and fucking…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence, which would’ve been the words “called me names”, but Mr. Olson caught on.
“Called you a bad name,” he predicted.
Zoe nodded and took the tissue he offered her. After she blew her nose on it, she said, “She called me a slut, and then we got into a verbal fight. She also called me a fatso.”
“Zoe Bear, you’re not either of those things! You only had sex once, and just because you’re heavily pregnant, doesn’t make you fat.”
“Thanks, Daddy,” Zoe said as they engaged in a long hug.
“Anytime. And remember, you have that concert coming up. Cheer up!”
“That’s true.”
@Harmony_Starz
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