Southern Belles

Chapter Two

Chapter 2 – Southern Belle Rule #14: Never Drink Alcohol

            Jazmyn Langston stood in front of her mirror feeling defeated. Her auburn hair was braided to the side, but there were still loose strands. She wore ripped, faded skinny jeans and a tight fitting Paramore t-shirt that barely fit over her belly button with black combat boots. Nothing in her closet made her look as if she belonged. The images of the beautiful girl across the street made her grit her teeth and change her outfit for the third time.

            The girl across the street wasn’t the only reason why she thought she didn’t belong in Brantley County. Everyone in the town dressed as if they were from a magazine. All the girls had perfect hair that wasn’t close to the frizzy disaster Jazmyn has to deal with every day. Their clothes were always neat and elegant. No one wore ragged skinny jeans and oversized graphic tees. When she walks down the street, she could feel scrutinizing eyes on her, judging her unkempt hair and sloppy outfits. It was awful being the odd ball from New York City.

            Throwing her hands up in defeat, she settled for shorts and a low cut camisole with a brown jacket that tickled to her knees when she walked. Her hair stayed in the braid because it would be too much work to redo it.

            From the kitchen, she could her sister, Macy, humming while making breakfast. She smelled her sister’s signature blueberry muffins from her room. Her stomach growled in impatience. Hurrying down the hallway, she saw her beautiful sister with the phone in between her shoulder and her ear while eating a muffin. Her reddish brown hair was pulled into a tight bun and she wore minimal amount of makeup. Jazmyn never bothered with makeup. It seemed like a hassle. She had chaotic mornings from simply brushing her hair. There was no reason to add more trouble to her mornings.

            “No, I thought the money from the house was going to us. You didn’t say anything about relatives, Martin.” Macy was livid at the person on the other side of the phone. “Well, I don’t care what Uncle Tony says. He was never there for mom. Yeah, whatever. Goodbye.” Macy slapped her phone down on the table.

            “Whoa, calm down before you break the screen,” said Jazmyn. She sat on the counter next to the fridge.

            Macy rolled her eyes. “As if I care,” she said. “Do you know what they want to do with mom and dad’s house? They want to give it to Uncle Tony. You know the guy from Missouri who we never met until mom and dad’s funeral.”

            Jazmyn nodded her head. “Mom did leave most of her money to our uncle. She cared about him so I guess it isn’t too much of a surprise that she wanted Uncle Tony to have the profit from the house.”

            It had been a couple of months since their parents died in a fire. Macy and Jazmyn were at a party and were spared from the flames. Their parents, however, were killed from the smoke in the air before the fire burnt their bodies to ash. They couldn’t tell if it was their parents. The firefighters found their parent’s gold wedding rings underneath all of their ash. Macy had cried for weeks while Jazmyn appeared unaffected. It disturbed Macy that her younger sister hadn’t shed a single tear when they heard the news. Jazmyn had wondered the same thing.

            “Whatever, that scumbag isn’t getting a dime if I have anything to do with it.” Macy began dialing on her phone fiercely. She exited the room leaving Jazmyn alone with a plate full of muffins.

Hunter Henderson stood inside the principal’s office. The bell for first period had run a couple of minutes before. He could see students scurrying to get to class before the final bell rung. He remembered why he hated high school. Everyone was so desperate to fit in and to get good grades. No one cared for real issues. The things a person in Brantley County care about most is what everyone thinks of them. People here care about their image more than anything else.