This is my first, introductory prologue-type chapter of Chloe's story, Chasing Pavements.
I hope you like it.
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“Clo!” A voice calls.
“Tegan!” I call back. I run towards him. “Thank GOD I found you. Come on; we’re going to the mall.”
“Lemme guess...” Tegan starts up, “You have a huge trigonometry test tomorrow, and you want to stay as far away from trig as possible.” He shoots me a side smirk, already knowing the answer.
“Wow... you just know me so well.” I laugh.
It’s hard to believe that just over two years ago I never even knew this guy existed, and now he’s my best friend.
Hell, with all my friends it’s like that. I’ve only had all these people in my life here for a few years.
T and I have been best friends since the day we met two years ago.
I remember colliding against another person; I fell down and hit my leg up against the locker.
Flashback
“Ohmygosh... I’m so sorry...!” I said.
The boy stood up, wiping himself off. “No... It’s my fault.” He looks at me, and gives me a warm, friendly smile.
I picked myself up, grabbing one of the boy’s books.
I handed it to him and decide to give my name. I mean, it’s the least I could do for bumping into him. “I’m Chloe, by the way.”
“Tegan. It’s nice to meet you, Chloe.”
I looked at him more closely. “I’ve never seen you around before, are you new?”
“Yeah! I just moved here during the summer.”
“Chloeeeeee!!!!!!” Boxxy whined while staring Tegan down. “Introduce us to your new friend!”
“Oh!” I paused briefly. “Tegan, these are my friends; Boxxy and Charlotte.”
“Hey,” Tegan smiled.
“Come on Chloe! We got that assembly starting in a few minutes.” Charlotte exclaimed.
“Shit!” I replied. “I totally forgot!”
“It’s okay, really.” Tegan smiled yet again. “I’ll catch you later, okay Clo?”
That was the first time he ever called me “Clo,” and he’s been calling me that ever since.
He’s just one of my best friends. There’s three more after him.
First, we have Boxxy.
Boxxy and I met around three years ago when I first moved here upon my parent’s divorce. Boxxy was a little more... uh... eccentric, then the other girls in my class, she always knew exactly what to do, or say. The first time we ever actually talked though... was an interesting story.
Flashback
I was walking from the mall to my car, it was dark, and there was this young adult man standing outside the mall doors... he obviously had a lot to drink cause he smelled deeply of alcohol.
He walked up to me, “You need a ride...?”
“I... um...” I froze; I knew I should’ve run.
“You seem mighty... perky...” He whispered.
He moved his hand towards my neck, then lower towards my breast.
“Get your filthy hands off me!” I yelled.
“Come on, babe, you know what you wanna do!”
As a girl growing up in the country, I wasn’t quite sure what to do in the big city... especially not if some drunk creep wanted to sex me.
“HIIIIIIIIIIIYA!” A voice screamed.
The man standing in front of me, he fell to the ground. A heel was placed in his groin. As he fell down, Boxxy’s figure showed behind. “Hey, you okay? This creep didn’t hurt you at all, did he?”
I stared at her, baffled. She just kicked a guy in the nuts... and is completely casual about it...?
“You’re that girl in my class! Chloe, right?” Boxxy smiled at me.    
I looked at the man on the ground, then back up at Boxxy. “Yeah...”
“It’s nice to meet you Chloe! I’m Boxxy!” She flashed me a nice little smile, “I hope I see you at school again. Maybe we could be friends.”
Next up we have Charlotte, a girl I met because of Boxxy.
Flashback
“Chaaaarrrrlottteeee!” Boxxy called in the library. “Chaaarlotte!”
“Boxxy!” Someone’s voice shushed her.
“Char!” Boxxy followed the voice till we approached a girl sitting at a desk.
“Boxxy! I’m trying to study, what is it?” Charlotte sighed.
Boxxy took a step back, “No need to get so touchy!” She pushed me towards Charlotte. “This is Chloe, her and I are besties now.”
I smiled at Charlotte, “Hi!”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chloe.”
“You too!”
“Oh my! I’m so sorry, I haven’t introduced myself!” Charlotte said quickly. “I’m Charlotte Violetta Hart,”
“Chloe, Chloe Newton.”
“I really, really hope we can be friends,” Charlotte replied.
I chuckled, “We’re not going to be friends, we’re going to be best friends.”
Then there’s my newest bestie, Sophia. Sophia is a really sweet girl, nice, friendly, smart, and all around loving. I met her during my summer break.
Flashback
I was walking my sweet little Shitzu; Daphne. She got away and started barking at a young girl around my age.
“Crap! Daphne!” I yelled.
The dog just grew louder. “Arf, arf!”
“Daph!” I echoed. The dog ran to me, happily barking.
“I’m sorry if Daphne bothered you at all,” I said to the girl. “She can be annoying at times.
Sophia chuckled, “No. I love dogs.”
“I’m Chloe,”
“Sophia. It’s great to meet you.”
I stared down at the book in her hand, “Ohmygod!” I exclaim when I see the front page. “You’re reading “The Help”? That is like, my favourite movie! I’ve been dying to read the book!”
Sophia laughed, “Well... I’m almost done with it, you can borrow it, if you’d like.”
“Really!?”
She nodded and gave me a polite smile.
“I’m just wondering... do you go to East Clover High?”
Sophia smiled slightly, “Actually, I’m starting to go as of this upcoming year.”
“That’s awesome!” I looked at her, “Promise me I’ll see you around the school?”
Sophia nodded, “Something tells me I’ll be seeing you a lot.”
After my friends, I have my family. My stepdad and my mom... and my stepsister.
Kelsey and my first meeting was a little interesting. I had just come from cheerleading practice to my stepdad, Clay, and my mom having coffee.
Flashback
I opened the door to my room; taking my hair out of my ponytail and tossing my pom-poms on my bed. “Ugh...” I moaned. I start to slip my arm out of my uniform.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
I turn towards the voice. “Who are you!?” I screamed.
A girl, with brown hair and a small body is sat on a chair in the middle of the room. Her eyes are glued to the television, which has Call Of Duty projected on the screen.
The girl paused her game, “Chillax. I’m Kelsey, Clay’s daughter.”
“Oh...” I relaxed. “And what are you doing in my room?”
“My dad is having coffee with your mom. He wanted me to meet her, and you. You weren’t home; your mom said I could hang out in your room. I noticed you had an Xbox,”
“Yeah... it was my brother’s. He moved out, didn’t take it.”
“So I started playing Black Ops. You wanna join?”
I’m not the type of person to just join into videogames... I wasn’t sure how to respond to the question...
“DIE ZOMBIE! DIE!” I cried.
“You’re pretty good! We should do this more often! What are you doing tomorrow?” Kelsey replies.
Finally, we have my boyfriend. Ryan...
Ryan and I first talked one day on the school field. I had just joined cheerleading and was getting ready to go out onto the field. Ryan was with a few other guys in our classes.
Flashback
“God... I hate these uniforms,” I whined to Boxxy. “They’re so tight, and they make me feel like a skank.”
Boxxy laughed, “A skank that’s getting checked out by the hottest boy in school.” She gestured over to Ryan and a group of boys, Ryan’s eyes were scanning me and he had a smile on his face.
I looked away, my face red. “Ohmygod... he’s looking at me!”
I had a MAJOR crush on Ryan, always have, always will. Even just a look from him was like a kiss in my book.
Ryan turned towards one of his friends, and then began walking towards me.
“Boxxy. He’s walking this way.” I said. “Boxxy. Ohmygod. What do I do?!”
Boxxy grabbed my arms, “Calm down, for one, just go talk to him!”
“Hey, I’m Ryan,” Ryan looked at me, with a smile on his face.
“Hi Ryan, I’m Boxxy!” Boxxy smiled. She turned to me, “I was just going to go warm up for practice... but this here’s Chloe, maybe you could chat with her?”
I gave Boxxy a pleading look before she fluttered away; I nervously turned to look at Ryan. “Um... hey,”
“Hey,”
“I’m sorry; Boxxy is just a little...”
Ryan chuckled, “Obsessive?”
I smile, “Her and her boyfriend, Billy, have been dating for over a year. She’s wanted me to find a boyfriend for ages,”
Ryan smiled, “Well... if you ever need someone to fill that slot, I’m single, and I think you’re really cute.”
I blushed and smiled slightly, “Thanks...”
“I hope I can see you again sometime,”
“Yeah... of course... sure... yeah...” I stammered.
I really am a lucky girl. Amazing friends, awesome family, SUPER hot and SUPER loving boyfriend, insane popularity, and to top it off, I’m captain of the cheerleading squad. Hell, my life is perfect. But if it’s so perfect... why do I find myself wanting even more?