The Left Behind

1. this is us

DAKOTA

April 23, 2018

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"ugh, damn," I groaned as I blindly tapped the STOP button on my phone. I placed my phone back onto the nightstand and stared up at the ceiling, still groggy from sleep. It was currently 6:30 AM on a Monday. Yesterday was the last day of Rohan High's blissful spring break. I have to get to school by 7:25 AM today for dance practice before first period and let me tell you, my body was not having it. Someone in our senior class had the 'brilliant' idea of throwing a party yesterday to commemorate the last day of our freedom. It was a huge party and there wasn't just seniors, but many juniors and sophomores attended as well. Of course there was a ton alcohol and a plethora of junk food to go with it. While I do blame whoever thought to have a party the night before school, I alone, was at fault for drinking more than my limit. I was certainly paying for it right now. I felt like crap.

PING! Without looking, I grabbed my phone and brought it near my face. It was Dalton, my brother. More specifically, my twin brother.

He messaged in the group chat:

~

Dalton: u guys up?

...

Dalton: ?? hello ?

Jade: No

Kingsley: can we just not

Kingsley: pls I don't think i can go outside

Kingsley: it's too damn bright out

Dakota: samee

Harper: was gonna stay in bed but too hungry

Dalton: no one forced you guys to drink last night

Dalton: c'mon

Dalton: meet at the usual spot by 7:05. I have to go in for student council by 7:25

Kingsley: Dal pls

Harper: Dal, Dak... you guys have any food

Jade: what part of 'no' did you not understand

Dakota: we have pop tarts

Dakota: i think

...

Dalton: first one ready at our spot gets $5

~

I lightly chuckled, slowly sitting up. I quickly made my bed, plugged my phone into the charger, and hopped in the shower. After the hot shower, I wore my silk bath robe and applied a natural make-up look. I wasn't one to use eyeshadows so I applied some BB cream, fixed my eyebrows, curled my thick, long lashes, and applied my tinted lip balm. I had pale skin and my eyes were dark brown with flecks of hazel. My hair was night black, naturally straight, stopping in the middle of my back. I blow dried my hair and I then went in my closet. I pulled on some black, skinny, frayed jeans with some rips here and there. I paired them with a black silk spaghetti strapped tank top that had some lace details. I pulled on a oversized, grey flannel but left it open to show my silk top. I was 5'5" so wearing oversized pieces didn't swallow me. I grabbed some white ankle socks from my closet, my school bag, my phone, my S'well water bottle, and ran down the stairs. I stopped by the pantry and was about to grab a few pop tarts before stopping myself. Harper was most likely starving, as per usual. I grabbed the whole box of 8 and slipped on my black high-top converse.

Our mother was most likely still sleeping while our father was still stationed overseas, in the military. I walked out the front door, locked it and looked up to see Dalton leaned against his car, handing Kingsley $5. When they heard my steps, they both looked at me. Dalton walked up to me and grabbed the box of pop tarts from my arms before I dropped them along with my other stuff. "I told you King. If not second after me, she would be third," Dalton said proudly, crossing his arms. Dalton and I were twins so he had the same night black hair as me, fair skin, and dark brown eyes with hints of hazel. He was somehow taller than me at 5'9". He was wearing a grey adidas hoodie, dark brown skinny jeans, and some black vans. I was about to say something when Kingsley interrupted me with his laugh. "Well, after seeing her drink that much last night, I assumed she would be last or even skip today," Kingsley explained with a smirk on his face. Kingsley Bates. He stood tall 5'11". He had warm beige complexion with green eyes and chestnut brown hair. He was sporting dark-wash ripped jeans, a black t-shirt, his varsity football letterman jacket, and classic white Adidas. He had a good face, athletic body, and was overall very friendly. With his looks, almost every girl at Rohan High had a crush on him. Almost. Jade and I knew him since we were all in preschool so we didn't see him like that but I wasn't exaggerating when I said most of Rohan High's female student body wanted to throw themselves at him. In fact, there was quite a number of males who wanted to as well.

"Can we not talk about anything related to alcohol for a while? I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it..." I say as I close my eyes and clutch my forehead with my right hand. I hear Dalton and Kingsley chuckle. A few seconds later, I hear a pitter patter of footsteps coming toward us fast. All three of us turn to see Harper running towards us with an urgent look in his eyes, Jade walking behind him. If Harper was running, we knew it had something to do with foo- My thoughts were cut short with his breathless words, "Guys *pant* I just *pant* found out that *pant* there's a bake sale starting zero period!" He kept panting while ushering us all into the car, but not before grabbing the box of pop tarts from Dalton's hands. Harper was 5'10" with a dark brown complexion, light brown hair, and grey eyes. He was wearing dark grey jeans, a military green Puma crewneck, and Timberland boots. "Okay, so what?" Kingsley and I said in unison while shutting the car doors. We looked at each other, grinning. Jade finally made it to the car and hopped in the back. She was 5'5" just like me, cobalt blue eyes, with burgundy hair. Jade was wearing a plaid pleated skirt that ended mid thigh, black tights, a black ribbed long sleeve turtle neck, and Doc Martens. Dalton was in the driver's seat with Harper in the passenger seat and the rest of us in the back. "Mrs. Jeffrey is in the front courtyard RIGHT NOW, selling her sugar cookies and a source of mine says she only has 20 left!" There was a quiet, 3 second pause before Dalton pulled out of the neighborhood like a mad man and headed towards school. Even though Harper was the biggest foodie out of us all and had a seemingly never-ending pit of a stomach, Mrs. Jeffrey's sugar cookies have been famous in our school for over a decade. They were so famous, we had all heard about them before even enrolling in Rohan High, during junior high school.

Dalton parked in the student parking lot quickly and we all made for the front courtyard of the school. On the way there, there were many eyes on us but that's not because we were running like maniacs, but because of our group. From the beginning of freshman year till now, the second half of senior year, we would regularly get looks from the whole student body. They were perplexed on our group. We were all so different. Our ragtag group was made of individuals with different hobbies and expectations. Kingsley Bates, star quarter back of our schools football team. Voted as 'most likely to win an olympic medal'. Most people expected him to get a prestigious football scholarship. Dalton Han. Rohan High's student council president and valedictorian. He was voted 'most likely to become a billionaire'. Jade Blue. She won countless awards at regional and national youth art competitions, voted 'most likely to become the next Picasso'. Harper Allen. He can play 8 instruments that I know of. He has photographic memory and was voted 'best musician'. Lastly me, Dakota Han. I've been dancing since I was 6 years old and I essentially taught alongside our dance instructor at school. I've been learning and growing in as many styles of dance as I can remember. I was voted 'most likely to reach broadway'. We were all so different but also so similar. Despite knowing each other since we can remember, we became close due to our internal struggles... And I guess the fact that all of our parents are old friends help. Slightly. We all have these incredibly high expectations placed on us due to our hobbies and it was suffocating. We understand each other, have similar sense of humor, all of us popular yet outcast by the rest of the school, so we decided to stick together. Pretty soon three and a half years passed and we are almost done with our senior year, closer than ever.