Heartbreak Weather, Eli Mosko...

I.                                       Heartbreak Weather

      It hardly ever rained in California. It was always hot. Sticky. Uncomfortable hot. Sometimes it got so hot that it was hard to sleep. Odessa never slept, so she always just stared out the window that was right beside her bed. It rained last night. She liked to listen to the rain hit her window. But it was all gone by morning. At the sound of her alarm, Odessa opened her eyes, the bright sun shining through her curtains. It was 7:30, less than hour before school started.

Thalia wasn't home. She always left the house early to go to work. Odessa quietly got ready. The Beaumont house was always quiet. She spent almost all of her mornings alone. By the time she finished brushing her teeth, Oliver texted her.

Big Red
Wake up, bitch
Time for another shitty day
I'm picking you up in an hour
Be ready or you're walking.
Love you!

Oliver Benson, her best friend since fourth grade. Tall, red headed, lots of freckles, and he spent all his free time at the gym so that he could improve his skinny arms and legs. He was a tough guy with a big heart, especially when it came to his friends. When they were kids, Odessa got apple juice thrown on her by a boy that was in a grade above her. He ruined her favorite pink blouse. That's when Oliver came in (he broke the kids nose, they'd been friends ever since)

Hearing the familiar horn honk from outside, Odesa a grabbed her backpack and house key and locked the door when she walked outside. Oliver's black Jeep parked in the driveway. Seeing her,  he unlocked the door.  "What's up,  bitch?"  He greeted obnoxiously loud, like always.

"Hey,  whore."  She said back,  grinning.

"Ready for Hell?"

"I've been living in it."

Oliver was around when Odessa's dad left. He was there to meet Christian and Thalia Beaumont and he was there when Thalia became Thalia Reid again. He heard their fights, seen Odessa cry, and he was there to watch Christian's life become a mess. Oliver was practically a part of the family but even he knew he couldn't understand how Odessa was feeling (His dad died when he was three. His mom remarried when he was fourteen. His step dad was an asshole)

(He hated Christian Beaumont for destroying their lives.)

Odessa had gotten used to all the eyes on her when she was at school. Their judgment stares and whispers. The laughs and gossiping. It's been a year since the rumor started and every day was the exact same: she went to school, she was bullied, she went home, and repeat. She watched all the girls who used to be her friends talk about her behind her back as if she didn't exist to them.

Odessa used to be popular. She was head cheerleader. She was apart of the popular crowd. Now, it was like she was invisible. A part of her didn't care because she had her own friends but she missed her old life, before the rumor started and before her family fell apart. She was only sixteen.

Yasmine's eyes cut into her skin from across the cafeteria. They were piercing blue, full of hate, and mean. She was a mean girl. Odessa hated that they used to be friends. She was a bully like all of her other friends. Moon was a follower and Sam didn't have to confidence to ever say anything. Odessa was too nice, she didn't fit in with them.

A pair of hands slammed on the cafeteria table and Hailey Cooper stood above her,  her dimples on display. "Girl, you look hot."  She spoke and sat in the chair across from Oliver. 

Grayson Hamilton was got on her trail,  him taking the seat across from Odessa.  "She always looks hot.  Don't you pay attention?"  He said with a scoff.

Grayson and Hailey completed the group of four. Hailey was a scary person but her heart was good as gold when you got to know her. She was confident, Odessa envied that about her, but above all,  she was loyal.  They'd been best friends since sixth grade. Grayson was the goofball.  He never took anything seriously unless it came to his friends. They'd also been best friends since sixth grade. They were Odessa's protectors pretty much. Other than her mother, they were all she had.

Odessa noticed the group of boys at the table next to theirs, their eyes attached to her exposed coverage from her sundress. The hairs on her arms stood up and she grabbed a sweater from her backpack (She always kept one in there in case situations like this.) and she slipped it over her head.

Oliver noticed as well and he threw the table of boys a nasty glare. "Look away or this fork's going in your eye and my foot up your ass!" He almost shouted.

They quickly looked away but Odessa still frowned.  Hailey opened her mouth to say something but Oliver shook his head, making her close it. The blonde tugged on the sleeves of the sweater.

From the corner of her eye, she saw someone walking towards them and she lifted her head. A boy stood in front of their table and grabbed the group's attention.  "Uhh,  hi, my name's Miguel. I'm new here and you guys look friendly so I figured i'd try to make some friends." He introduced himself like it was nothing. He had dark brown eyes and braces. His smile was sweet.

Odessa glanced at her friends, seeing all their observing looks, and she looked back at him, smiling. "I'm Odessa." She held out her hand.

His smile widened and he instantly shook it.

Oliver held up his hand, the fork he was holding still attached to it. "Sup, I'm Oliver." He introduced himself.

Hailey waved. "I'm Hailey."

"I'm Grayson,"  said Grayson, who's mouth was full of lunch burrito. He struggled to swallow the last bit of it before sending Miguel a smile. "You can call me Hammy."

"Hammy?"

"My lady name's Hamilton."

"Or as we like to call me, an idiot,"  said Hailey while patting his shoulder. She smiled sarcastically at him, receiving one from him.

"Do you want to sit with us?" Odessa asked Miguel, motioning to the table.

Miguel shook his head. "Oh, no, I have a table over there." He pointed behind him. "But it was really nice to meet you guys."

"You too, man." Oliver responded and they watched him go back to his table.

Odessa saw who he was sitting with. Demetri Alexopolous and Eli Moskowitz. They were equally as bullied as she was but she never actually talked to them. She just knew of them. She heard and watched Yasmine's table laughing at them and she watched as Eli covered his mouth with his hand, hiding the scar on his lip, the one he was born with.

Miguel saw her looking their way and he waved at her, his wide smile back. She blinked her eyes and waved back kindly, also smiling.

Eli followed his eyes, them landing on the blonde. Odessa Beaumont. His grade. Popular girl turned school slut (Allegedly! He didn't actually think that! Calm down!) He observed the change in her life over the last year. He never had the courage to talk to her.

Her eyes met his and they were brilliant blue. They made him speechless, honestly. She smiled at him, her cheeks naturally red, and his eyes widened. He looked away quickly, feeling embarrassed.

"What do you know about them?" Miguel asked, jerking his head at the group of four's table.

"Oh,  where do we start?" Demetri dramatically sighed. "It's kind of complicated."

Miguel raised his eyebrows.

"Okay,  Oliver is Odessa's best friend.  Well,  actually,  they're all best friends — he kind of scares me. Hailey also scares me. She broke my pencil one time. Grayson is the equivalency of a Greek God, as you can tell,"  he went on to explain. He leaned forward in his chair. "Odessa used to be one of the popular girls."

The new boy's eyes widened. "No way. Really?"

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about this," Eli chimed in, knowing where Demetri was headed, and it was an uncomfortable conversation.

Demetri only raised his hand, silencing him. "Yasmine spread a rumor that Odessa went down on one of her ex boyfriends."

Miguel looked disgusted. "Seriously? That's awful. Why would she do that?"

He threw up his hands. "Why do mean, rich girls do the things they do? Cause they're mean and rich." He stated the obvious.  He leaned forward again. "I'm just sayin, you can be friends with her but just be careful. You might fall into the rumors."

Eli wanted to tell him to be quiet and that he didn't know that, and that he was being like everybody else that talked about the girl. But he didn't. He never said anything and he felt bad. He looked at the table again and saw Odessa laughing with her friends, her teeth bright white and her smile took up her entire face. He looked away again.