"Got a 6-pack ready to go in the Twinkie, fancy a little joyride around Figure 8?" John B wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his friends, Kie and JJ, with a sort of devilish grin that meant that they'd be stirring up trouble— their favorite pastime. 
"Saw some developments on the way to The Wreck yesterday that had some nice plastic tarps for doors." Kiara "Kie" Carrera snorted back. Collins tried her best to not listen in on their conversation and just focus on her book, but the group was sitting right behind her, and it was hard not to when one was as quietly observant as she was. Or maybe nosy was a better word for it. 
"Better check out Papa's new digs, you know, make sure they're making good progress and all." JJ sighed, kicking back in his seat and resting his head on his hands. "Can't let the 3 mill I've got in investments go to waste."
Collins pressed her lips together and fought the small smile that almost made it to her face. From what she'd heard in the semester JJ Maybank had spent sitting behind her in Economics, he liked to pretend he went full Kook a lot. He definitely favored fantasizing it more than he did paying attention in class, that's for sure.
The ringing of the final bell made everyone jump out of their seats. Friends laughed to each other and jumped with excitement, all with plans to meet up later and begin their summer bucket lists. 
Collins was one of the last to leave, she stashed her book into her backpack and slung it over her shoulder before heading out the door. "See you in August, Mrs. Gardner." She waved politely to the woman before she left the room.
As she waltzed down the tunnel made in the middle of the hallway, which was packed with students clearing out the rest of their things from their lockers, Collins hugged her chest and proceeded to walk solo out of the building. So maybe there was a part of her that was envious that pretty much everyone but her had found their people in high school. She'd always thought that it would just take time and eventually, she'd join a bunch that she had lots in common with. And they'd make the kind of memories that a person should always make when they were experiencing those supposedly, glorious four years of secondary education.
But unlike the books made it out to be, it wasn't as simple as that. And why should it be easy for her? She'd had the same opportunity as many other people, nothing made her different, nothing made her stand out. She was just a girl from the cut and there was nothing special about that. 
So she spent a lot of her time studying and working hard to get good grades in order to get into a good college. It was the best use of her time if she didn't have anyone to make plans with, so homework was pretty much all she did. She'd been the silent leader of their school's pathetic excuse for a science club and won first prize for her project where she'd converted electricity from the human body into an energy source for a small battery. Not to mention that she spent the rest of her free time volunteering at the local soup kitchen, because it looked really good on a college application and Charlie didn't exactly ever let her work a paying job. 
They didn't have much, but Charlie was proud; he didn't want his little sister thinking that he couldn't support the two of them, so Collins getting a job was out of the question. He wanted her to focus on school instead. But when she started working at the soup kitchen behind his back, he'd been a little less than thrilled by the revelation. 
"People who live on the cut don't work at the soup kitchen, they eat there." He'd told her pointedly. "That's for the Kooks to take care of so they can sleep better at night knowing their conscience is clean for doing a 'good deed.'" 
Collins had just shaken her head and ignored him because she didn't really believe in all that Kooks vs. Pogues rivalry that her brother did. But that's only because she was luckier than he was in a way. She hadn't seen the gap in privilege that the Kooks had over them and how much of a toll it took on their community.