Kiran
The school was cold and smelled of fresh rain, something I should have expected entering a school in the early morning of August in Oregon. The walls were gray-painted bricks and the floor was cold concrete, making my shoes tap with every step. It felt like I was walking into a prison, not a high school.Through the doors and to the right side, there were a few people gathered in a circle on the cold ground and against the wall. One of the students had a guitar with him but wasn’t playing. My first class is off to the left of the school’s entrance, so I wasn’t able to do any more than glance at the group of people, even though my curiosity was piqued.I haven’t pulled out my guitar in forever. It was just a hobby of mine that I picked up years ago when my dad convinced me it was a sure way to win a girl's heart – to serenade her. My passion wasn’t in music, though, I chose to devote my time and energy to MMA- Kickboxing, more specifically.I was always short-tempered and getting into trouble, so my mom encouraged me to pick up sports as a way to take out my aggression in a healthier way.One night, while watching TV and scrolling through the channels, I came across a kickboxing match and my eyes lit up. I turned to my parents and told them, “I want to do that.” And I did. Two days later I began my training, and five years after that, I’m one of the top fighters in LA. At least, I was, until my parents split up and my mom and I moved up North.We got here a couple of months ago, and the first thing I wanted to do was look for a new gym. The guy's at Pete’s Gym were like brothers to me, they even had a going away party for me when I broke the news that I was moving. We agreed to stay in touch with each other, of course, but it sucks leaving them.You’re probably wondering why I moved up North with my mom when it seems like I have it pretty good in LA, right? Well, my mom has always been the one to understand and support my dreams in MMA, and dad, well, dad is a cheating narcissist who had that black eye coming to him a mile away.I had my own demons to leave behind as well, though, so I had my own selfish reasons for getting out of the city and starting fresh.I got expelled from my old school in LA after beating up a fellow student, and no one ever looked at me the same after that, including my dad. Mom sided with me on the matter, and that seemed to be the final straw in my parent's marriage.I could have beaten up every guy in the state of California and it still wouldn’t ease the anger, frustration, and pain that comes after finding your girlfriend in bed with someone else. I couldn’t stand being there after that, knowing she’s nearby; the one person to take down Kiran Black, even if it was only emotionally. Your emotional state is extremely important when fighting, and after everything with Nat, my head wasn’t in the game anymore, and my parent's divorce was a perfect excuse to get away from everything.So, here I am, a seventeen-year-old kickboxer with great potential and a broken heart, looking for a fresh start in a new state, with a new school and no friends.Fuck. What was I thinking?*AuroraI awoke this morning with a smile on my face, excited to start my junior year of high school at Glenrose High. I learned a few days ago that I share a homeroom with my two best friends Jen and Dani, and I was eager to see them and begin the new school year.The girls and I made a plan for after graduation: we’re going to explore the country as we drive our way to New York where we would all get an apartment together that is equal distance to each of our desired colleges; Jen wants to go to Columbia, Dani to the Fashion Institute of Technology, and I am striving for Juilliard.I’m not even sure if there is an apartment that is equal distance from those three schools, but no worries, we have time to figure out the details.My boyfriend, Gabe, is on the school’s football team, and he’s hoping to get a scholarship somewhere, even though his family is pretty much swimming in cash and could probably buy a college if they wanted to – but college is the one thing that Gabe wants to earn instead of buy, and I fully support him.We started dating towards the end of our sophomore year. I had been in one of the school's drama departments productions that he had attended, and he invited me and my friends to a party at his house that weekend. One thing led to another, and we are now going on 6 months of dating.My parents work as elementary school teachers, which means that they are rarely home, and when they are home, they're distracted getting tomorrow's lesson laid out or they're so frustrated about how mischievous their students are that I don't dare even step near them. They're like ticking time bombs on those days and I choose to be away from the blast.Dad teaches science, and mom is an art teacher. She was the one who named me Aurora because it means dawn, which is her favorite time of day, and her favorite thing to paint. People interpret my name differently; some say that my name means first light or new beginnings, and they think that I’m this big ray of sunshine or something. Others think of me as the Disney character. It doesn’t help that I’m also a singer and love sleep, so I like being compared to the Disney princess more and find it to be more appropriate.I’m not a gloomy person by any means, but when everyone thinks of you as this ray of sunshine, some high expectations come along with that, and I don’t like to disappoint people.Why do I have to be a ray of sunshine for everyone? When do I get to just be Aurora Williams: human being?_______________
Authors Note:
To anyone familiar with my previous work, I will go ahead and tell you that this is nothing like what I've done before. I've written this book to challenge myself as a writer.
Also, there are some rape scenes that may trigger some readers, so keep that in mind before you begin reading.
The book is yet to be edited so some slight adjustments will be made in the future for redundancies and things of the like. Please bear with me for the time being.
KIRAN I gripped onto the strap of my backpack that was swung over my shoulder and made my way to the first class of the day. English. You'd think having English be your first language would make it easy to pass. Not true. Walking in, I saw the typical sight for a high school class: by the windows were a group of girls who were sitting on top of their desks and gossiping, near the front of the class were the kids who would be labeled nerds, arranging their papers and books precisely to their needs, and in the back of the classroom was the one guy who always has his feet on his desk with his arms crossed and his hat over his face, taking a nap. I decided to take a seat at the desk next to the sleeping guy since there was less chance of him trying to talk to me and ask the inevitable question of, “Hey, you’re the new guy, right?” I still need to get my anger issues under control until I start mingling and trying to make friends here. I wish I had found a
KIRAN At my old school, we walked around like we owned the place. Girls drooled over me and my buddies – I guess you could say we were popular, but we were one of the many popular groups at that school – the “tough guy" group, I guess since we were all fighters. I did the classic new kid move and sat at the corner of the cafeteria closest to the exit with a small amount of food. I needed to have an easy escape should someone try to approach me and somehow trigger my anger and I can’t hold my tongue, causing me to need a quick getaway. I don’t want to make a bad first impression because I’m here to try to better myself, and I know my sarcastic personality can come across as rude sometimes. I definitely wouldn’t describe myself as shy or meek by any means, but I’m not the most sociable person when I’m out of my comfort zone, and I am entirely out of my zone right now. No one will ever
AURORA Gabe slung his arm over my shoulder and whispered into my ear, “Who were you talking to, babe?” “Just greeting the new kid.” I smiled at him and put a fry in my mouth. “He’s funny, I think we could be friends.” Gabe laughed, “You try to be friends with everyone, babe.” I tilted my head and said, “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” “You’re just too nice sometimes." He pinched my cheek with a pout. I rolled my eyes at him and continued eating, letting my ears tune into the other conversations so that I didn’t have to hear another lecture from Gabe about being too nice. My third class of the day was Mr. Hammond's chemistry class, one of my favorite teachers. He makes chemistry fun and he jokes around a lot, he kind of reminds me of Bill Nye – the way that you kind of think of him as a goofy uncle fig
KIRAN The first day of school was over and I headed home. Mom and I only have one car, and since her work is only a few blocks from our apartment and my school is both further and starts earlier, we agreed that I should use the car to get to and from the school, then all other times it can be for moms use. I didn't want to be the new kid who gets dropped off by his mommy every single day - I would die of humiliation, especially since I have my own license, there was just no point in making my mom get up at 6 AM every day. Why should we both have to suffer? "How was your first day?" She asked before I could even shut the door. I shrugged and frowned as I said to her, "Take a guess." She pursed her lips and narrowed her brown eyes at me as she thought about it, "A typical first day for a new kid where you ignored everyone?" "Bingo!" I pointed at her and reached into my pocket to get the car keys out. I
KIRAN Mom gave me the car tonight to get to-and-from this party that she insisted I go to. She said it was a great opportunity to make friends and that the new kid never gets invited to things on their first day. I wanted to find a gym to work out at and work on my technique, but I am still yet to find a decent gym that I can do any kickboxing in. No place I've seen so far has a boxing ring or decent equipment for practicing. Pulling up to the address that Aurora gave me, everyone was parked in the grass out front of the house, or rather, mansion would be more appropriate, all scattered around. I decided to reduce the risk of anything happening to the car by parking across the street and by the sidewalk instead. There were scarce any neighbors here and every house had numerous acres of space - I'm sure no one will mind my parking here. I questioned before getting out of the car if I should really be here. I gripped the stee
AURORA Gabe was being rude, and I couldn't help feeling a tad bit embarrassed. I was incredibly grateful that Kiran was being as kind as to stop drinking so that he could help me get these kids home. Some of them would pass out and have to crash here at Gabe’s house, but there was a good number of people who know their limit and will ask for a ride home before they pass out, throw up, or both. "I'm sorry about him," I felt the need to apologize for Gabe’s behavior, "He's really a good guy." "Yeah, so you've said," he mumbled while watching Gabe’s retreating figure with distaste. "I really appreciate you not drinking to help me out, but really, there won't be that many who need to be taken home, and I'm sure I can handle it myself. So drink, have fun, mingle, meet," I was making big hand motions to the room we were in and saw Kiran smirking at me. I have to admit that my heart leaped when he had called me cute and I had to hide my face
KIRAN I was simply minding my own business and enjoying watching Aurora and her friends dance when a drunk redhead named Rebecca came over and began talking before she threw herself on me. As much as I tried to pull away from her kisses, my restraint just made her go harder, I eventually gave up and decided to push through it until she needed some oxygen. It was the sound of a big thud on the ground that shocked her away from me. It sounded like someone had fallen over the railing on the second floor of the house and collided with the ground on the first floor. We both looked over, along with everyone else in the room, and saw Aurora and Gabe standing together, Aurora's friends were nearby with widened eyes and looks of fear as they stared at the couple. Gabe's body was blocking Aurora's face, but I could see her blonde hair and grey cardigan. What did I miss? Whose ass do I need to kick? The redhead's pale lips moved into a grin as she looked
AURORA Stacy is usually the first girl to get shit faced at these parties, and I was slightly surprised to hear that Kiran had already taken one girl home because she was too far gone, but I was thankful that he was helping me out and I wasn't on my own dealing with them anymore. I won't ask him to do this every time, but it's refreshing having someone even offer their help in the first place. As much as I adore and love Jen and Dani, they're more partners than me, so I usually end up driving them home as well. Most of the time, I don't mind it, but something Kiran had said was ringing in my ears. He had asked, "When do you get to have your own fun?" I think Kiran's idea of fun was something along the lines of this party - drinking and just hanging out, letting loose without a worry in the world. My answer to that question: Never. I have always been the one to look out for other people. The only person who ever really looke