Stay With Me

First day of school. 

Some hated it, other's loved it. I never thought I would be one of the one's loving it. But when it was the first day of senior year, feelings changed. 

"I don't want to go to fucking school." 

Or maybe not. 

I watched as my twin brother, Hunter grumbled to himself, pacing the kitchen while he munched on an apple. I chuckled, grabbing my own fruit before hopping onto the kitchen counter, my feet swinging above the ground. 

"Who peed in your Cheerios?" I questioned, raising an amused eyebrow. 

He stopped to glare at me. "I had Fruity Pebbles, thank you very much. And how are you in a good mood? It's the first day of school. School is where people go to die!" 

My brother. Always the drama queen. 

"It's our senior year, Hunt. It's supposed to be the best year of high school." 

"There's no such thing." 

Though I was excited for my final year of high school, I couldn't deny that I had always loved school, unlike others. And despite being twins, Hunter and I were completely different. He was more outgoing and social, while I liked to be cooped up in my room and read. I loved school, he hated it. 

If that wasn't obvious already. 

"And I have freakin' Steel for English." He continued, crossing his arms and pouting childishly. "That man is the devil! Not to mention he's monotone. I'm gonna die in that class, Kris!" He grabbed my shoulders, shaking them furiously. "Help me!" 

I pried his hands off me, flicking his nose. "Chill, will ya? He's not that bad." 

"Didn't Cheyenne have him last year? And didn't she fail?"

"Well, that's because she had him first period and liked to fall asleep."

He threw his hands up in the air. "That doesn't help me, Kris. I cannot fail this class. Mom and dad will kill me if I fail." 

I shrugged. "Then don't fail. Simple." 

I should've expected the orange that hit me. 

We heard the front door open, and neither of us moved an inch as they both walked into the kitchen. My brother and best friend, Connor, did their usual bro hug routine, while Kyle, Connor's younger brother did his usual routine. 

Sidle up next to me and flirt. 

"Hey, Kris." He slung an arm around my shoulder, sending me a wink. "You ready for school?"

I could see Connor and Hunter laughing to themselves, watching me hold in the grimace I wanted so badly to release. This had been going on for months, but because Kyle was such a nice kid, I never had the guts to tell him anything. 

"Kyle, leave Kris alone." Connor told his brother, smirking in my direction. I flipped him off. "She doesn't like you, kid. Move on."

"Of course she does." He waved Connor off. He looked at me, a sly smile on his face. "Right, Kris?"

Oh, boy. 

I ruffled his hair, slinging his arm off me and inching away. "Sorry, Kyle. Your brother's right. Besides, you're too young for me." 

"You're a year older than me!"

"Like I said; young." 

He groaned and marched on out, grumbling to himself. I smiled sympathetically at Connor. "You think he'll be okay?" Despite his constant flirting, Kyle was a good friend. I didn't want this changing anything between us. 

Connor rolled his eyes, grabbing an apple and sinking his teeth into it. "He'll be fine. You know Kyle; he's a drama queen."

"Don't you mean king?"

"Nope." 

Not wanting to be late on the first day of school, we made our way out of the house and into Connor's car. He always drove us, since Hunter and I didn't have a car. If we wanted to go anywhere, we either needed Connor to drive us, or we had to borrow our mom's car. I couldn't wait for the day I got my own car. 

I stared out the window, leaning my chin against the palm of my hand as we passed by house after house. The only sound in the car was the music blaring out of the speakers. And when we approached our school, I couldn't stop myself from getting giddy, practically fidgeting in my seat. 

Connor was laughing quietly beside me. 

Jerk. 

"Later," Kyle called as soon as Connor found a parking spot. Either he was excited for school as well, or he was still upset about before. 

I was going with the latter. 

I shouldered my bag and got out of the car, waiting for Connor and Hunter before heading inside. Chatter immediately ensued among students, some hugging and claiming how much they missed each other over the summer. I pushed past the clutter of students that seemed to be growing, only to stop in my place when I heard my name being called. 

I was attacked in a bone crushing hug the second I turned around. "Ah! I missed you so much!" Cheyenne's squeal echoed in my ear. Her smile was so wide, her eyes lighting up. Her long brown hair framed her face perfectly, bringing out her features. 

"How was your trip?" I asked, linking my arm through hers as we walked down the hall. 

While I spent my summer home, she spent it in Europe, going from country to country. 

"It was freakin' amazing, Kris. I seriously didn't want to come home." She grinned. "Oh, and the boys were hot. Like, hot damn, they were so sexy. And don't even get me started on their accents." 

"You're so lucky." I sighed, approaching my locker. Sliding my bag inside, I grabbed a couple of notebooks before slamming it shut. "While you were touring around, I was stuck at home. The most exciting thing I did was go camping with Hunter, Connor, and Kyle. I got a bug bite on my ass, Chey. My freakin' ass." She held in the laughter that wanted to escape, her teeth biting her lower lip. "Not funny. Have no clue how that even happened." 

"Knowing Connor, he probably shoved a mosquito down your pants." She finally let out a chuckle, trying and failing to muffle them behind her hand. "But speaking of Connor," she cleared her throat, allowing a smirk to appear on her face as she leaned back against the wall of lockers. "Did you guys share a tent? Cuddle up real close?" 

I pushed on her shoulder, rolling my eyes. "Would you quit it. Connor is like my brother. It would be weird if we ever dated."

"Whatever you say," she sang. The warning bell went off, signaling it was time to go to homeroom. We hugged goodbye before going our separate ways. 

~*~

I was lucky that all of us, excluding Kyle, had lunch together. All of our schedules were pretty inconsistent, so this was the only time of the day we all saw each other. Though I did have a few classes with Connor and Hunter, so it wasn't totally awful. I just wished they wouldn't talk the entire class and distract me. 

Didn't they know I was trying to learn? 

"Mr. Steel hates me." Hunter grumbled, stuffing his mouth with semi-edible fries. "He glared at me the entire period. And he assigned the entire class a three page paper on something we did over the summer that's considered educational. I did nothing educational!"

"Then bullshit it." Conner shrugged. "Or don't do it at all."

"Don't listen to this airhead." I told my brother, slapping Connor over the head. I ignored his glare. "Just try to think of something you did that was close to educational. What about that show about sharks you were watching? You could talk about that."

"You were watching it. I fell asleep." He deadpanned.

I flung a fry at his face. "Don't be a dick. I'm just trying to help like the amazing sister I am."

"I think you mean annoying."

My twin, everybody. 

The topic was quickly changed, thankfully, because I was this close to tackling Hunter to the ground. "Are you guys going to the bonfire tonight?" Cheyenne asked. 

Ah, the senior bonfire. Every year, a senior held a bonfire at the beach, meaning it was bound to be nuts. From what I've heard, there was usually a DJ and alcohol. 

"Oh, hell yeah. I've been waiting since freshman year to go." Connor replied before looking at me. "You better be going, Kris. I don't want to have to drag you there."

I rolled my eyes. "Chill, will ya? I'm going. There's no way I would miss it." 

"Hunt?"

"Not even a question, dude." They shared a smirk and a fist bump, chuckling. Why did guys have to laugh for no reason? 

As lunch went on, Cheyenne's eyes didn't waver from my brother. I inwardly smirked. She had been crushing on my brother for years, but never made a move. Yes, a part of me would feel weird about her dating my brother, but as long as they were happy then that was all that mattered. But since she was too scared to do anything, she threw herself at other guys.

"Ask him out." I muttered to her as we walked out of the cafeteria. I made sure Hunter and Connor were already walking away before saying anything. She would kill me if they overheard us. 

Her face instantly turned red. "What?" She asked innocently. 

"Don't play dumb, Chey. Just ask Hunter out. You were practically eye fucking him during lunch." 

Okay, I just grossed myself out. 

"He doesn't even like me." She muttered. "And he never will. End of story."

I sighed. "You're so stubborn."

"Maybe, but it's true." She smiled sadly. "I'm gonna stop by after school and we'll get ready together. Gotta make sure you're looking hot if you're gonna hook up with someone. Later." And before I could even open my mouth, she was gone. 

That's my best friend for ya. 

~*~

The aroma of fresh cookies hit us like a ton of bricks the second we walked through the door. Hunter practically bolted to the kitchen, tossing his bag onto the floor in the process. I kicked off my shoes, slowly following behind him. 

He was already munching on the delicious treats, hunched over the counter top while our mom laughed. "Honey, show some manners."

"He has none." I quipped, grabbing a cookie for myself. I kissed my mom's cheek in greeting. "Where's dad?"

"In his office grading papers."

Dad was a college professor at UCLA. Whenever he spoke about his students, no matter the year, the passion he held was evident. I had never met someone that loved teaching as much as my dad. If we let him, he could probably talk for hours. 

"How was your first official day as a senior?" She asked us. Hunter made a face, while I quickly dove into details. I loved all my classes, but my favorite was definitely Art. Our first project was creating a mosaic, and I couldn't wait to get started.

"So tonight's the senior bonfire," I began gently, knowing very well that my mom wouldn't like the idea. She immediately gave me a look. "It's right on the beach, which is walking distance."

"Will there be alcohol?" She questioned.

"Maybe."

She stared at me, so Hunter and I did the one thing that usually worked. Whipped out the puppy dog eyes. We batted our eyelashes, poking out our bottom lips. "Pwease, momma?"

A dish towel was slapped at our faces. 

"Fine." She eventually gave in, causing us to cheer. "But eleven o'clock curfew. You're lucky it's Friday."

"Thank you, mom." With another kiss on the cheek, I dashed upstairs, immediately going through my closet. I wanted to pick out something to wear before Cheyenne did, because she would pick out something so revealing I would feel naked.

I searched through every item of clothing I owned, pulling them out and tossing them on my bed if I didn't like them. But when I found the perfect outfit, I grinned.

Tonight was going to be great.