The Day before the First.

Words – they are a funny thing. They have the power to hurt people, but they heal others. Sometimes, when people talk, words spill from their mouths, one after another, cascading like a never-ending waterfall. Sometimes, people talk too much, and something slips out unintentionally. By then, it’s too late, and you wonder why didn’t you use your brain, but of course, you can’t take it back. Everything comes from words, and everything can end with just one word.

That smirk grew larger as he approached. Genesis wondered foolishly if it was permanently tattooed onto his face; there was never another expression on his face seen. His posse followed behind him, fully of giggling girls and roughhousing guys. The popular ones of Glenville High, you could say, but she didn’t care.

That damned smirk.

She loathed it, hated it. But allegedly, the other girls loved it. She had once heard a girl in the bathroom actually describe it in antagonizing detail; apparently, she was a whiz at English, winning several book awards and such. Genesis was disappointed that a girl like her (one with brains) had too, fallen for the charms of the great Joshua Dean Heights.

Somehow, she was immune to that delightful curve of the lips and that oh-so-angelic dimple which would appear on the left cheek, which was approximately five centimetres from his upper lip. Obviously, this wasn’t her words.

This infuriated her to no end, because once the owner directed towards her, the satirical comments would begin. Who knew when they would end, and all the while, that annoying smirk would be there. Hell, he seemed to enjoy it, his eyes always bright with amusement. Genesis refused to think that she amused him.

She stared at him openly, unafraid. Hard, hazel eyes met with taunting green. Their gazes locked, both in their own world, battling it out with their staring down as he drew closer.

“Genesis,” he greeted. His voice was charming; she’d give him that, friendly even. But she knew he had an agenda. He always did. It was to push her buttons (or off a cliff).

“What do you want, Heights?” she gritted through her teeth.

“Why the glare, Gen? I come here in peace.” He raised his hands in a defensive position, but she knew he was mocking her. She didn’t even know her features had morphed into a glare when she had been staring at him.

“I just wanted to say, I can’t wait to see you tonight at our house, Gen, when you come for dinner.”

“What dinner?” she asked suspiciously.

“Your parents didn’t tell you? My mom invited your family for dinner, a few days ago, in fact.” His smirk turned gleeful, knowing that that piece of information would piss her off even more than his presence at her lunch table.

“I’m not going, I’ve got something on,” she said shortly. His eyes glittered; they both knew it was a lie. A poorly made up one at that. Genesis balked at such a pathetic lie; it was definitely not up to her usual standard. She wasn’t a perpetual liar, but she could pull off a laudable lie when it was called for. Damn him for causing her lying skills to fail.

“Well, see you there, Gen,” He turned and walked away. His head was held high and the smirk still firmly in its place, excluding arrogance, and yet elegance in some way. He knew her parents would force her go for the dinner. She had fought, and lost a losing battle.

A scowl was still on her face, her brain racing to find ways to get out of tonight’s engagement. Beside her, May sighed dramatically.

“Why can’t I be his next-door neighbour?” She complained. Genesis snapped back to her lunch. She grinned at her best friend. “Because you wouldn’t know how to put him in his place. C’mon, let’s get to class before we’re late. Fulton will have our heads.”

“Some people just don’t appreciate how lucky they are,” May muttered. Genesis bumped her shoulder with her friend’s, turning her smile up a notch. May grinned back her mood taking a one-eighty degree turn. Together, the two best friends dumped their finished lunches into the trash bin and headed towards their lockers. The five minute warning bell rang just as they reached their lockers, which were coincidentally beside each other.

Actually, it had taken a lot of begging, pleading and flirting on their parts to get the guy who had been assigned to the locker next to Genesis to make the switch. But, it’d done the deed and got them adjacent lockers.

After grabbing her heavy Calculus book from her locker, she closed the locker door with a slam; it was the only way to get it to lock properly. She tugged at the door, and when it didn’t budge, she gave it a nod of approval. May didn’t even blink at her friend’s not-quite-normal antics.

“Let’s go and listen to Fulton discuss the finer points of integration then?”

Calculus was, to put it simply, a bore, as always. Genesis had already covered the topic he was currently going through, the perks of being a genius at math. It was in the genes. Her father had been especially gifted at the subject too, and everyone always commented how much Genesis took after him.

To some people, math was just a bunch of complicated numbers with some perplexing symbols thrown in, just for the sheer hell of it, but Genesis just ‘got it’. Mr Fulton was proud of his top student, and had trusted her to keep up with the class, so he allowed her to do other homework in his class.

While Mr Fulton talked on upon the applications of integrating sine x and tangent y, Genesis’ mind spun wheels, thinking about the possibilities of not going for the lovely dinner tonight. The prospects ranged from feigning a deathly illness to running away from home (just for the night, though). Thus, at the end of the period, she still had not come up with a viable excuse.

“Don’t forget to do your homework due tomorrow,” the teacher stressed the last word. Genesis sighed. That assignment had been done many nights ago, along with several others.

Genesis wasn’t a nerd by any means; she just had too much free time on her hands, and didn’t want to waste them idling away. Therefore, these hours were spent mainly either reading or reading up on lessons. May would occasionally tease her about her more than slightly studious ways, but there were no hard feelings.

”Did you come up with anything good?” May asked. They were so close that sometimes Genesis could swear that May knew exactly what she was going to do before she did it.

“Unless setting the Height’s house on fire is a feasible option, no,” came the crestfallen reply. May patted her lightly. “It’s alright,” she said soothingly. “You’ll come up with something.”

It was a weak attempt at comforting Genesis, because the last few ploys to get out of the previous Chase-Heights dinners had failed miserably. Frankly, she thought she should have been prepared; it had been a couple of months since there had been such an event, and she knew either family would suggest something soon. Yet still, she had been caught unawares.

Genesis sighed again.