(𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙)

It was the first day of college. I put on my gray Coca Cola shirt, jeans, vans, and shades because it was sunny that day.

"Here's your coffee, Brie. Mr. Stonem's driving you and Effy to school," my mum said as she handed me a travel mug. I took a sip and wiped my mouth.

"I thought you were supposed to take me today, mum," I said.

"Yes, but I have to take an early shift today."

My mom's job was as a hotel desk clerk, and she was there all day, every day. Most nights, I'd end up having to make dinner too.

I rolled my eyes, "Fine."

I didn't want to drive with Effy's dad. Jim Stonem never liked my brother, Sid, and me for some reason. I mean, I had never been anything but nice to the asshole. He didn't deserve it either. I looked outside and saw his car.

"Ugh, gotta dash. See ya, mum," I said.

I walked outside and saw Effy in the passenger seat.

Back to my brother. Most of you have heard of him, Sid Jenkins. People can tell we're siblings because of our big brown eyes and identical smiles, but we're complete opposites personality-wise.

One thing I never understood about Sid was how he could just let people step on him, or what he saw in Cassie. Cassie was- something else. But he's grown a lot from that, and he's a lot more mentally stronger than he used to be. I also missed him heaps. Sid was in New York with Cassie at the moment, and I just wanted him to come home.

Our dad had passed away a year ago. Sid and I found him unconscious in the TV room. That was by far the most traumatic event I've experienced to this day.

I felt like I was going to have a nervous breakdown at that moment. Sid was silent and in shock, and I felt numb. I was too horrified to cry. But later that night, I cried myself to sleep. Our parents were separated at the time, and my mom had to come back after his unexpected death.

The only person who truly helped me through it was Effy. She didn't even say much to me, but she let me cry to her and listened to all my problems. Effy and I knew each other since we were three, and Tony and Sid met when they were five. We didn't have the same relationship as normal best friends had, but we still had a bond stronger than most thought.

BANG! I looked up to see what had happened, and Jim's car had just run into a pole.

"For fuck's sake, Jesus. Oh, look at it! Look at it!! Look at my fucking car!!" he yelled.

"Jesus, your dad's pissed," I laughed as Effy handed me a cigarette and lit it up for me. She didn't say anything, but I could see that she was looking at two boys that were sitting down at a table. The guy wearing the hat was pretty cute, and the other one with curly hair looked sweet, but also like a little kid.

All of the sudden, Effy started chuckling out of nowhere.

"What's up, Eff?"

I looked over and saw a guy in a red shirt walking up to Jim. It looked like there was blood on his face. But as I looked closer, I could tell that the blood on his face was just ketchup.

"I was signaling you. You just kept coming, man!" the guy said.

"No, that's bollocks," Jim said.

"You fucked my bike!"

So the guy was pretending that Jim ran him over. Respect.

As Jim frantically offered to pay for a new bike so they could forget the whole situation, Effy got out of the car. I got out as well and watched as she walked up to the guy. She ran her finger down his face and licked the ketchup off her finger.

"Sweet."

She walked in the other direction, and I followed her. No point in waiting around for Jim.

What a fucking wanker.