Wavering, my thoughts clouded out the other. Even if the California sun put a shame to the gleam off of the Mercedes that just passed, everything my vision cast on was dull. It was Monday, maybe that’s why. Mondays were always monotonous. Over the past two and a half months, however, everyday was freedom. Now that was all to change. School practically meant no freedom. Endless nights with no curfew suddenly reverts to endless nights at a desk with limited lighting figuring out the latest math problem. No amount of pleasure could cast out the dreary days that would live on in infamy for the next nine months.

Fallbrooke High was the exact opposite of a vindictive school. Most high schools in the Huntington area weren’t as slick. Most of those schools were considerably twenty years older than Fallbrooke High, in most aspects. Though Fallbrooke was a fairly new school, the media still cursed the school. Over reasons that were, of course, overlooked by the school faculty. Just because five members of an overnight sensation band decided to teach, didn’t mean the school they taught at, was anything less than acceptable for a teaching curriculum.

 

And now that I was a senior, along with most of the peers I grew with, we’d finally know what it would be like to underestimate those teachers. If, that is, we were sorted into one of their classes. It’s a blessing just to obtain one of the Power Five teachers. Anything more than two is a gift. All the hype they’ve received in the past three years since they entered Fallbrooke High only made me intimidate them even more. Besides the fact that I was already intimidated of just about anything.

Of course with Avenged Sevenfold actually teaching at Fallbrooke, everyone knew them and their music. It wasn’t exactly clear why they went on hiatus, and it was even more muddled on why they suddenly became teachers. No one bothered to exert the force to hunt down the answers. The media just cast it away, and decided that Fallbrooke High was a pampered premises. The three years it first opened before Avenged Sevenfold entered its doors, that’s all the media could do? After Fallbrooke high skyrocketed in sports and academics, that just because a heavy metal rock band decided to teach at said school, we turned into spoiled students who didn’t know the difference between left and right without said members of the band pointing out which direction was which?

 

No. The media never cares. As, why should we? After all the flack the school’s received, there’s nothing more we could do to prove ourselves. We were number one in state for those who graduated, let alone, those who were accepted into colleges.

Fallbrooke High wasn’t any different than any other school who had students learning different methods of the basic materials. Maybe the only thing that differed, was that most of the students were raised in a fairly well off family. Money wasn’t technically a problem with the Fallbrooke kids. I, was one of them. If anything, I considered myself in the poor quota of those richer than me. But no one saw that as anything. Maybe a few more hundred, or thousand, dollars in their parents paycheck than those who lived north or south of us. We didn’t see each other as the rich kid or the poor kid. We were all Fallbrooke Falcons; we fly together, flock together, and soar together above all else… as horribly cliché as our school motto is.

 

As the high school came into sight, I slipped my Blackberry Bold out to check the time. I had ten minutes to find my Alpha room before the bell rang. Just like every other year that started out. Our class schedules weren’t sent out through the mail. Nothing was sent through the mail. I chose to believe that our administration didn’t order the students through the teachers until the last two weeks of school instead at the end of July, as the weekly newspaper so claimed. Which, was the only thing that actually was mailed home, now that I think about it.

The west side of the school was packed with student drivers, some still driving in to find a good space before the first bell rang. Random commotion from passing cars on the main street, to buses dropping off at the back of the school, seemed to dawn on me.

This would be my last year at Fallbrooke. As a senior, the end of the year already began.

 

I checked the time again when I made it to the west side doors, 6:48 flashing at me in a white lull. I slipped it back into my pocket before checking the Alpha list, my eyes widening at the sight before me. Possibly every single freshmen horded around the listings.

Blowing my lips together, I continued down the mall area of the west side of school to find another listing. Before I could go far enough, a hand tugged on my backpack.

 

“You should really check the website for the listings.” Chance said, handing me a folded up lime green piece of paper.

 

Smiling up at my best friend, I unfolded it before looking under the senior class. “Deneuve, Deneuve…” I muttered to myself, scanning slowly over the initials.

When the bell rang, I flinched at the sound. Chance merely snickered before snatching the paper back. “Wait, I didn’t--”

“We always have the same Alpha room, Rora.” he playfully scolded, draping a loose arm over my shoulders. “Speaking of that, have you heard from Riza? She said she was moving over the summer.”

 

I shook my head. If I had to have another ‘best’ friend, she would be it. We went to the same private school in middle school, only she transferred in the eighth grade. The same year Chance transferred. Persistence earned Chance’s and my friendship. Riza just happened to share many classes with us and it was mutual to talk and hang out on some occasions. Come sophomore year, Chance decided to ask her out when we sported bikinis for him. On a mutual understanding, they broke up before Christmas so things wouldn’t escalate and ruin anything.

Maybe another reason why us three were friends, is that our surnames were close. Deneuve. Embley. And Dixon. It hadn’t occurred to me, after six and a half years, until now. When my name was called to accept my schedule and sign for it, that Riza probably did move. Three names after mine, Riza Dixon was called and no familiar face stood to match the name. Chance looked around the room with a frown before settling back into his seat, me doing the same.

Chance was all I had left now, even if he was all I ever had from the beginning.

 

“Chance Embley.” the nameless teacher called forth, Chance righting himself up before heading towards the front of the room.

I hadn’t torn the sides off of my schedule yet to see my classes. Usually, that was Riza’s and Chance’s job when we all received our schedules. Instead I chose to stare out at the window behind the teacher’s desk, portraying the lovely view of the gardens in the front of the school. Though it was the perfect display, I couldn’t help but feel empty. It felt different from before. The weariness Mondays bring could easily answer that - along with walking the tedious distance from my house to the school - but now, the feeling was undefined. To rid away the thought, I could blame it on Riza’s absence. Yet, it would only come back to haunt me later on in the day.

The door opened. My eyes shifted to the swift movement, only for a sudden smile to beam across my face. When Chance turned around from signing the sheets indicating that he did, in fact, receive his schedule and not some odd essence, a smile formed on his face as well.

 

“Riza.” he greeted the out of breath girl who nodded to him.

He stepped aside for her to reach the teacher’s desk, panting out her name to the teacher. When she received her schedule, they both walked back to where I sat, a few empty desks surrounding me.

“It is so good to see you Rora.” she breathed out before engulfing me in a hug, me chuckling before returning it.

 

She sat down, slumping in her seat before letting out a contented sigh. “So, why are you all disheveled?” Chance questioned, scooting his desk to mine.

Riza caught the gesture and scooted her desk right of mine, so I was stuck in the middle. “I got home last night from vacation and I thought school didn’t start until next Monday. When my dad checked the mail this morning, the Falcon Newspaper dated that today was the first day of school. And since he didn’t feel like driving me to school, or returning my car keys, I had to run to school.”

 

“You live hella far.” Chance noted, an awestruck look across his features.

Riza nodded, closing her agape jaw to catch her breath calmly. “I know, right? Since my mom was still sleeping and I couldn’t find her keys, I had no other alternative.”

Patting her back sympathetically, I smoothed out the wafts to her auburn hair. “At least you’re here, right?” I piped cheerfully, trying to lighten her mood.

 

She smiled and nodded, slowly sitting up in her seat to grab all of our schedules. “Let’s see if we got any classes together, shall we?”

Chance and I watched as she tore the pre-folds off the sides of each schedule before she turned towards us so the backs of the schedules faced us. Her eyes scanned across each piece of paper, a smile slowly forming when I thought any of us didn’t share at least one class.

 

“Please tell me I still got into Student Council. That bitch last year failed my final just because I told her she would look better if she dropped ten pounds.”

Riza and I both giggled before we traced our gaze to Chance. “Why’d you do that?” I asked, still chuckling.

He locked his sapphire eyes with my amber ones. “Did you see the dress she wanted to wear to Prom last year? She showed us, the junior class, and all I said was that if she lost about fifteen pounds, she’d look good in the dress. And what the fuck does she do? She marks my final with a black pen and didn’t even bother to file it into the scantron machine.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have implied that she was fat.” Riza advised with a giggle before clearing her throat from the sly glare Chance gave her. “Okay, it looks like we’ve got some good news.”

 

She laid out each of our schedules on my desk. Chance rested his chin on my right shoulder as Riza rested her chin on my left shoulder, us all slouching to read the fine print.

“We each got a Power Five teach!” Riza whispered to us, enthusiasm dripping. Before I could gawk at our schedules, she tilted her chin on my shoulder so our heads bumped. “Only thing is, I don’t share any classes with either of you.”

 

“That can’t be right.” Chance muttered, grasping our schedules before I could see which teacher I got. “You signed up for Student Council this year. There’s only one teacher for each class…”

He balanced two schedules in his hands whereas one was folded behind the two, guessing the latter was mine. As I tried to reach for it, he slammed them down on Riza’s desk so all three of us were smooshed together. “See, seventh period we have Senior Class.” Chance pointed out to something I couldn’t see. I was a little preoccupied with trying to adjust Chance’s elbow out of my breasts.

 

“Oh.” Riza ooh’d, placing all of the schedules down again. “So, it looks like-- whoa, holy shit.” she whispered, eyes widening at the papers.

“What?” we asked, looking at what she was gaping at.

 

I was trying to see if I got into the classes I signed up for in May before summer. Right now, I didn’t care if I got a fat janitor teaching, as long as he was teaching a class I signed up for.

 

“Chance got the entire Power Five.” Riza whispered, staring up at us from having her nose hover over the schedules. “And you got four, whereas me, I only got two.” she looked to me before pouting and lifting herself up from the desks. “This sucks.”

Chance couldn’t widen the grin on his face even if I told him Coca - his precious Chihuahua - got run over by a Harley. Though Riza pouted, there was still a small trace of a smile on her lips. Me, on the other hand, sat petrified beyond belief. I slid my schedule across the desk so I didn’t have to strain myself to read the tiny black bolded letters.

 

First Period : R De Luca -- Latin III
Second Period : M Sanders -- Calculus H
Third Period : J Seward -- AP Government
Fourth Period : A Warren -- AP Marine Biology
Fifth Period : B Haner -- Composition/Literature H
LUNCH
Sixth Period : K Swartz -- Theatre Production II
Seventh Period : Z Baker -- Physiology/Physics H

 

“What’s wrong?” Riza poked me when I let out a shattered breath, the bell dismissing us from our Alpha rooms.

I shook my head, feeling bile churn in my stomach. Anxiety was soon to take over as my physical movements deterred, my sweaty palms already trembling. This was the uncertainty I felt since I forced myself to leave the comfort of my own sheets.

It wasn’t just attending school after the last summer of my adolescence. It was attending class with Avenged Sevenfold as my final mentors.

Notes

So, I'm just posting everything of I have written so far with Silence that I've posted on Mibba. By the same name (of both the story and my username, if you're curious about reading it on Mibba as well). :)