Small Town Dreams Ch. 01

Author's Note: All characters are over the age of 18.

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Mary Beth slaps the off button on her alarm clock and lies back on her bed. She thinks about what all she has to do today.

She thinks "Yea...First football game of the season...so excited...not..."

Mary Beth gets out of bed and goes through her morning ritual of getting ready for school. Since it is game day, she dresses her 5' 10" 135 lb frame in jeans and a school t-shirt with her boyfriend's number on the back. Mary Beth has been dating Mason for over a year now. She pulls her shiny shoulder length hair back into a ponytail. She studies her face and once again thanks the powers that be that she has clear, tanned skin, a product of eating healthy, exercising, and being the school's starting pitcher of the softball team. Her rosy cheeks never needed blush so all the makeup she ever bothered with was eye shadow, mascara, and lip gloss.

Putting the finishing touches of her makeup, she hears the familiar sound of Mason's truck pulling in the drive. As she rushes out of her bedroom, she grabs Mason's letter jacket and her binder from the end of the bed. She makes it downstairs to witness her mother adding a splash of whiskey to her morning coffee.

"A little early for that, don't ya think?" Mary Beth inquired.

"Just a little boost to get me through the day, sweetie. Nothing to concern yourself about," was her mom, Jill's, response.

Mary Beth just rolled her eyes, grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl and a granola bar for her breakfast, and ran out the door.

She jumps into Mason's truck, gives him a quick peck on the lips, and sits back to listen to Mason talk football as they head to school.

When they arrived at Chester High, Mason parked in his usual spot near the front entrance. Mason got out first and walked around to help Mary Beth out of his truck. He grabbed both of their binders and together they walked across the lawn to where their group of friends stood. Their group mainly consisted of people who had known each other for most of their lives.

The leader of their group was the quarterback of the football team, Chris. He is a natural born leader seeing how his dad is mayor of Chester. His presence overtakes whatever room he enters. Everything comes easy to him. He makes straight A's without ever cracking a book and he is an amazing football player. College scouts started sniffing around him as early as his freshman year. That in itself was an amazing gift seeing how the only way to get out Chester was to go away to college, but to Mary Beth's confusion, many people returned after college to settle down either in Chester or some other small town nearby. Mary Beth plans to escape Chester via college, and once Chester is in her rearview mirror, she'll never return. Leaving this one-horse town is her light at the end of the tunnel.

Chris's longtime girlfriend was the head cheerleader, Kelly. She is your stereotypical bubbly cheerleader. While she is slightly self-centered and well-known for her back-handed compliments, she is actually well liked and easy to get along with. They are the school's 'IT' couple. With Chris being 6' 1", Kelly being 5' 10" and both being blonde and blue eyes, they draw everyone's eye when they enter a room.

Mixon, one of the football team's running backs, is the class clown. Everybody loves him. Mixon is a social butterfly and the nicest kid in school. There is not a single person in the school that he cannot make smile. He cannot stand for anybody to be upset. If the mood of the group gets too heavy, Mixon can be counted on to lighten everything up.

His girlfriend happened to be Molly, the girls' basketball team's point guard. She is Jason's partner in crime. If a practical joke happens on the school's campus, Molly is the first one the principal calls to his office. Unfortunately for Principal Booth, Molly hides her tracks well. One time, she 'borrowed' 2 of Mr. Jenson's (a local farmer) pigs, painted 1 and 3 on their sides, and let them loose in the halls before homeroom. It took the janitor and the principal half a day to figure out who the pigs belonged to and that there was only 2 pigs missing from Mr. Jenson's farm. Both topping out at 5' 8" with Molly having brown hair and big chocolate eyes and Mixon having unruly, curly, bright red hair and bright green eyes, they are the school's cutest couple and the shortest of the group. Molly also happens to be Mary Beth's best friend and next door neighbor since diapers.

Brandon is also on the football team. His position is on the offensive line as the center. He is easily the biggest guy in the school. He is actually the newest member of the group. His mother was raised in the Chester but when she went college she fell in love with a fellow student. They got married after college and moved to Georgia, but when Brandon was 14, his dad died of cancer. His mom decided they needed a fresh start and moved them back to her hometown to be closer to her parents. At 6' 5" 320 lbs of pure muscle with a buzz cut and grey eyes, he tends to initially make people nervous with his quiet, serious demeanor. When he actually does talk, people listen. What most people don't know is he is actually a big teddy bear and extremely loyal to those he calls friends. He was quickly accepted into their group.

Chris's fraternal twin brother, Cody, is also in the group. Cody is also 6' 1" with dirty blond hair that is always perfectly styled and brown eyes. He has a lean frame courtesy of being on the track team. He also happens to be Mary Beth's other best friend and Brandon's boyfriend. (Yes, boyfriend.) When Brandon asked Cody out at the beginning of junior year, even the close group of friends was shocked. While Cody has been 'out' since freshman year, Brandon never let on that he was gay. While he never dated anybody at the school, nobody thought he was gay. Because there was no one willing to take on Brandon, they were able to walk hand in hand through the school without anyone bothering them.

Mason is on the offensive line as well as one of the offensive tackles. Mary Beth knows he does something with Chris's blind side but not sure exactly what that means. She knows enough about football not to be lost when watching the games but not enough to write a book about it. He is 6' 2" with broad shoulders a 6-pack that make Mary Beth's mouth water just thinking about. He has black hair and hazel eyes. Mason is also one of Chris's best friends and son of the town's sheriff. Mason plans to go police academy out of high school and follow in his father's footsteps.

Rounding out the group is Preston. Preston is a cornerback for the football team and Mason and Chris's best friend. He also happens to be a manwhore. He screws practically anything that moves. It's been rumored that he is bisexual but it has never been confirmed. The only ones that would know would be Chris, Mason, and whatever guy(s) he supposedly fooled around with but all remain tight lipped. He is 6' 1", ripped, and hot. He is hated by many guys in the school for many reasons. Some of those reasons include him either snaking one their girlfriends, previously sleeping with one of their girlfriends, or because they know their girlfriend will drop them in a New York minute if Preston winked her way. He is spoiled and privileged being the only child of the wealthiest people in town. Preston's dad owns or has his fingers in practically every business in town. Despite all that, he loves his friends and is extremely loyal. They trust him with their girlfriends because, while he is a manwhore, he has a code: Never snake a friend's current squeeze, a personal rule that he has always followed religiously.

Various other athletes and cheerleaders hover around the edges of the group, but they are not included in the inner circle. They all stand around talking about the upcoming game until the 5 minute warning bell for homeroom rings. They then head inside to start the day.