Chapter 1: The Double Fill Challenge

Fuck adults. They don’t understand the pressure we suffer.

After last night, Jen hated Cin, which meant I had repair work this morning, or the whole group would explode. And while Brad’s soft lips caused the fight, he refused to open those kissable lips to help. I also have a Math test in the first block. My little sister didn’t leave any breakfast, and I promised to do the double challenge today. Fuck teenagers, fuck school, fuck everything.

I stepped through the blue side door, propped open for the vapers, smokers, and influencers. With my hair wet from an unannounced rain, mascara on my cheeks, and twenty texts from Jen and Cin about the other, I hated the world. The stink that followed me almost made me turn and scream at the small crowd of kids. The pressure below made an awkward walk as the plastic bit rubbed the skin off my thigh.

“Hey!” a Beta said as I pushed past him into the school. Stupid kid, a cigarette doesn’t make a person cool.

The anti-establishment morons smoked to show how much they hated the government, the school administration, and all things capitalistic, yet bought cancer sticks from big tobacco companies to feed the sick care business. I did a video on it, and while not popular, my fans loved it and gave positive comments. Hypocrites annoy everyone. Be against the machine, but don’t feed it with what it wants most - money.

I slammed the door to cut off the toxic smoke and fruit vapors mixed with sweat and bleach. School election posters still covered the ugly green striped walls and worn synthetic blue-green speckled floor. My heels clicked past them and avoided the potential lawsuits. While understandable that they hadn’t removed the posters from the wall, they need to pick the fucking sheets off the floor, like the janitors have one fucking job, do it already.

I arrived at my film spot, a short hallway with the janitor’s door at the end. The pair must watch movies behind it because I have heard movement and screams every so often, but I have never seen it open or unlocked. The janitors only appear for food, cheerleader practice, or basketball games. The couple stand in their blue jumpsuits and partake or watch.

Posters of the school motto, ‘Success, Understanding, Confidence, Kindness’, hang on each wall, a motto only a committee would create. One poster shows a twenty-something female, dressed like a teenager from ten years ago, with her thumb up. The other has a kitten drinking water. I loved them and included them in most of my videos because the posters represent how fucked up adults think. You know that they must have discussed something like, “The teenagers are doing drugs, skipping school, bullying, failing classes, and committing suicide. What can we do?”

“Let’s make a poster to tell them to focus on Success because then they will stop doing drugs, stop skipping school, and start passing their classes.”

“And if we put Understanding and Kindness on it, they will stop bullying each other. But what about the suicides?”

“Confidence, they just need more confidence.”

I often wonder if those people were ever teenagers, or have they ever met a teenager? Even the good students laugh at the posters. Hel thinks they did the posters because they didn’t want to spend the money on doing something meaningful. I hoped they were clueless, otherwise, they didn’t care, and someone must care, right?

A quick fix of my face and I held my phone for the daily segment on my vlog.

“I’ve taken the double-fill challenge today, as promised,” I said with a smile.

I held my phone at arm’s length - no enhancements, no filters, only raw footage for my fans. I have pulled my long red hair into double French braids, with only a little makeup, lip gloss, mascara, and eyeliner - my fans like the natural look. I wear everything that my fans have purchased for me. Ruby red earrings, a white lace choker around my neck, a white t-shirt, with Darth Vader’s head on the front, and my red bra, visible under the sheer fabric. A black skirt that hangs to my knees, over red and white knee-high socks, with black, two-inch, high heels.