The last first day of high school

If Ashley was caught off-guard before, now she’s really perplexed. She finds herself caught between confusion and excitement. When it came down to it, Heather and Zack were her two closest friends. At this point she had become use to keeping the friendships separate with having the cheerleader group of friends and having the neighborhood friends. It did slightly alarm her that the introduction of the two could cause some rifts. If this introduction were to hurt either friendship, she’d be devastated. Ashley being optimistic more times than not, made her decision.

“Ok! I’ll agree, but you must be nice.” Ashley demanded. She looked up to study Heather’s reaction which often gave nothing to read. ‘If her family company ever folds, she could make a fortune playing poker’ the blonde joked internally. With a shake of her head, she tried to refocus on Heather herself. A personality that can flip on a switch when she decides to tease a guy. Ashley wonders if it’s voluntary or not.

“Okay… But why? Is he fragile?” Heather made a sour face while second guessing herself. Ashley turned wide-eyed and blurted back “No!. That comment is exactly why I mentioned it.” Ashley homed in her eyes on her best friend. It’s rare that a person talks back to Heather at all, probably why the friendship has grown as much as it has.

“Well, I’ll judge him myself.” Heather continued. “And anyways, I’m tired of sharing my best friend. If I can tolerate him then I just get to see you more. Don’t misinterpret this as compassion.” She says to the younger Woodsen sister with a lifted eyebrow. Ashley tries to stifle her smile. Heather can try her best to be a hardass, but she knows the real her. “When do you want to introduce us?” The brunette responded with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

“We always go out for milkshakes at Alfred’s after the first day.” The blonde said more excited than she meant to. It was intriguing to think that she could mesh her two separate social worlds and have all her friends get along together. This would also mean Victoria, Madison, and several other cheerleaders. Now that she thinks about it this could be more complicated than she can imagine.

“Cool, I’m in.” the gorgeous brunette cheerleader nonchalantly answers. “By the way, who’s the redhead that he’s dating?” Heather asks.

“Chloe?!” Catching Ashley off-guard for a moment before a giggle-fest occured. “They are definitely not dating.”

Heather takes in the information for a second before nodding. This seems to pique her interest a bit. She wasn’t always as distant as she was currently acting which caught Ashley’s attention. Knowing Heather as well as she did, she’ll come out it with it in her own time. It wouldn’t do any good to press the matter.

Zack walked into the school for his final first time. Clearly not excited by his first class, he still figured that his senior year could have something to offer. He continued down the hall catching a few dirty looks from the football players. He did his best to look forward and keep going. For a high school in a small town, it was a bit shocking that it had such a deep-rooted rivalry from the basketball & football teams. This small school at times resembled a turf war with the obvious divide that didn’t just affect the athletes but seemed to spread to all the different cliques. One football player that he used to be childhood friends with was the school quarterback, Brandon Cole himself. They didn’t really have a falling out of sorts, Brandon just kind of faded away a few years ago. The friendship certainly wasn’t helped by Brandon’s short lived relationship with Ashley. Zack tried to show her support but was probably more worried than even he knew of the girl getting hurt. A thought that he finds foolish because despite the girl’s stature she was much tougher than most would assume. On Brandon’s part, which he’d never admit, the major cause of their rifts was her close friendship with Zack and the jealousy that it caused the boy. He often held a silent grudge that he couldn’t connect with her in those same ways. Brandon still had feelings for the girl, but his ego made that more complicated as he tried to act tough in front of his football friends. Many of the players who followed Brandon’s every word, would often mock and judge the cheerleader, as long as they could avoid Heather’s wrath of course. With some of the crueler boys calling her “Smashley” under their breath or in passing to mock her most likely exaggerated sex life with the football player. Brandon himself would cringe at their actions but would never speak up against his teammates. This teasing certainly didn’t help the basketball – football rivalry that didn’t need any extra fuel to the fire.

Before Zack could get even deeper lost in thought he was abruptly brought out of his own head by a hip check in the hallway. Trying to clear his head to identify the culprit, Zack saw himself looking up to a smoldering smile from the other Cole sibling as she walked past. “Good morning Zackary.” She teased as she then turned and sauntered away down the hallway. Madison was the twin sister of Brandon Cole who Zack figured inherited the intelligence meant for the both of them. The tall and fit brown-haired lady had average sized but perky breasts and a tight ass from years of volleyball before switching to the cheerleading team. Add in her long and lean legs, Madison was quite the looker. If only she could keep her guard dog of a brother and overbearing father away long enough for any boy to gain the courage to approach her. The brunette girl was also close friends with Zack and the others before suddenly being kept away years ago. Madison was a fierce but moral girl who refrained from drinking and was a mighty protector of her peers. Let us just say that if another student is caught bullying in front of the girl, they’ll regret it with a quickness. While not unusual for her to tease Zack, he typically just wrote it off as an old friend and that it was most likely to spite her brother. ‘That has to be the reason, right?’ Zack pondered.

This time catching Zack from his own thoughts were two strong hands landing on his shoulders. Jumping slightly before knowing if this was friend or foe, Zack was relieved to hear the voice of Kevin Jackson. The dark-skinned young man was the star small forward for the Azure Rocks Knights. While some would be intimidated by their backup trying to steal their spot, Kevin was certainly the exception. Already having a small friendship with Zack before making the team, he has taken Zack under his wing. Daniel wasn’t the only one who played a part in Zack continuing his goal of making the team. Kevin often encouraged the young man and, in his case, actually could give good feedback for Zack to improve. Zack helped Kevin on the academic side. They both had a reason at first to aid the other but over time it has turned into a genuine friendship.

“Senior year man. This is the big times! Have you been practicing your autograph?” the athlete joked.

Zack laughed and turned to high five his friend. “I’m pretty sure I have some time to perfect my signature while sitting at the end of the bench.” He responded in kind. “Besides if I actually played, who would be your personal security keeping all of the jersey chasers off the court?”

The quick-witted response brought a surprised belly laugh from Kevin. “Those ‘Jersey chasers’ might not all be coming for me if you pay attention for once.”

Zack blushed momentarily before quickly disregarding the comment. Who wants to brag about dating a back-up player? Being brought back to the present, Zack and Kevin do their patent pending handshake before walking down separate hallways.

The hallway in Zack’s path nearly brought him to a stop. As he turned the corner, he saw the main star of his late evening dreams bent over retrieving something from her locker. Her long, slightly wavy blonde hair cascading around her face. Her perfect sized breasts and curvy ass that was all but calling him like a siren’s song. Completely lost in the moment, it took all of the young man’s focus to keep breathing. Before he could react. The object of his affection turned and saw her entranced admirer with slight shock that quickly turned into a slight upturn of her lips.

The blonde-haired beauty stood, if not exaggerating it slightly for her admirer. “You better close your mouth Bishop, before the janitor has to break out the mop.” Zack still struggling to come his senses as she walks past him. Before walking off, she leans in with a whisper, “On second thought, maybe I like the attention.” A smile **** it’s way on her face as she strutted away from the comatose young man.