January 12th.
First day of second semester.
Freshman year.
Shit, I'm going to be late! Sprinting my way back to the main building where I had just left. Confused in the large building, I mixed up my classes and ended up in the Science wing of Central High. The school has just finished being remodeled and expanded. As a freshman, I didn't get to experience the old Central but I've heard stories. The school was dulled by the fluorescent lights and the halls were chipping, not even the school mascot painting was untouched. But now, Central was new and bright. The halls were filled with motivational quotes and there were high windows everywhere, brightening the halls and attitudes the minute you entered them. I don't know if that was intended but the school made me feel very hopeful. Back in my first semester. But right now, I feel nothing but fear! Checking my phone for Dani's text that had the correct room number. Dani: 267 her name is Ms. Riley, it's on the right side of the hall. Hurry up! She seems like a bitch. "Great." Picking up the pace, focusing all my attention onto the room numbers 260, 263, 265... "Ow!" Stumbling backwards as I looked into the girl I'd ran into, we made eye contact, just as the bell rang. "'I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying..." stopping mid-sentence, once I saw her puffy face and red eyes. "..are you okay?" We were around the same height, both being on the shorter side. She had sandy brown hair that was hanging loosely and it stopped right beyond her shoulders. Skin was the color of honey, with a soft baby face. She had beautiful doe eyes, the kind that were big but not protruding and yet they were still sharp. I'd never seen eyes like that, I could see the exact shade of almond brown of her eyes even though her lashes tried to hide them. I could also see the redness. She was a really pretty girl but she had been crying for a while, her eyes were completely bloodshot. "Yeah." was all she said before opening the door to room 267, I started walking in behind her before stopping in my tracks, seeing she was being ushered back out. Ms. Riley followed her into the hall before closing the door behind her. "The first day back and you ladies are tardy. Explain." As I prepared to plead my case, that being lost as a freshman was expected and this was a valuable learning experience. She spoke up, "Ms. Riley, I was walking with my head down and ran into her. It made us both late" Confused because I definitely ran into her, I just looked at Ms. Riley, with the best blank face I could. She eyed us both before focusing back on her "Alana, why were you walking with your head down?" she asked in a much softer voice. Alana. I looked over at her and decided to let her handle this for us because I didn't know what to say. Not that I was being asked. Ms. Riley seemed to be familiar with her. "Because.... He dumped me." She said in the softest voice, if I wasn't beside her, I wouldn't have heard it. I turned to look at her, feeling bad. "Go inside, Ms...." Ms. Riley was looking at me again.
"Kaia"
"Okay, go ahead inside. No more passes." she said with a stern nod as she moved aside to let me enter. I looked around the large classroom, with bright paintings covering most of the walls. The high windows were open, allowing the natural light to really make the art shine. The room was large but there were only six tables throughout, all able to sit up to five. Spotting Danielle sitting towards the back with our other friends, the twins, Summer and Stormi. Taking the seat across from Danielle who started in as soon as I took my seat, "I told you to hurry! Did you have to sign the log?" referring to the trudence log, after your third offense, you were given detention. "No, there was this girl who ended up crying so she..." Gia cut in excitedly "Why and who was it?". The twins were always ready for some drama. I guess we all were, but I like to think me and Danielle had morals. Yes, we told each other everything and we gossiped with G&G but there were certain things that were personal and the look on Alana's face made it clear this was one. "I don't know her name but Ms. Riley rushed me in before she could say why!" Dani shook her head "This is an emotional day for the female student body because there was a senior in my last class who looked depressed too. Something about her boyfriend, I think." Danielle, has been my best friend since 5th grade, we bonded over solving the disappearance of Mr. Buns. Our class's pet bunny. We were unsuccessful but ever since then we've been honing our craft of investigation. This was what made us super close. Since getting to Central, we were the underdogs or more exact underclassmen. Upperclassmen were about to enter the real world and be given a chance that feels like a lifetime away for us. The freedom that they had, we simply didn't. No car, no boyfriends but we were getting close! We knew there were so many new things to come so in the meantime, we needed to study the seniors now so that when we were the ones doing it we would know what to do. The things to do and how to do them. In a way, we live vicariously through them. "I wonder if it's the same girl?" I asked. Dani and I were always in sync "Did she have a bob?" "Nope, hair was a little past her shoulders." she shook her head, I was unable to read her expression "No, different girl." The door closed, grabbing our attention, as Ms. Riley stood in front of the class. "Good Morning class! All sidebar conversations should stop, now."
After Ms. Riley class, me and Danielle have gym class together, separating from Summer and Stormi as they headed to their next class. Now that they're gone, I reveal the whole story, from running behind to running into the crying girl, she was fixated until the end when she finally burst into laughter. "Wow! Girl, he broke up with them both!" she seems excited but I am completely lost. "Tell me!" She rolls her eyes at me before starting "Remember Nick, the senior? He was the one from the step show? The one Summer was screaming like crazy for." Looking around the gym for the first time, it was big and spacious with the full-court basketball and high bleachers on both sides. There was a second half to the gym that had work-out machines and led to the field. However, this was not my last class of the day and I was not going to be sweating when I had another class after this. Dani felt the same way and so we went to the bleachers. "I didn't see him because I was recording Stormi thirsty ass". "Well, what about the guy who got to fighting at the Homecoming game, when the police had to break it up?"
"I didn't stay long enough to see anything cause folks act like they don't know how to use deodorant but I remember the name."
"Okay, good. So Nick is a senior.. He is fine! But he ain't NO good. Now, remember the girl that I told you about this morning? Jessica, she's been his girlfriend on and off since they've been attending the High. Maybe before... I'm not sure."
"Ok?"
"Jessica and this junior have been into it lately over him. Supposedly, she caught them together at the bowling alley but he left with Jessica. So that was supposed to be it!"
I must have had a confused look on my face still because Dani rolled her eyes, annoyed. "The girl you saw crying, that's Alana. She's the junior." It finally clicked "That's too bad, she seemed nice. I wonder why he didn't just be with her.." Dani leaned back against the bleachers, her dark skin was glowing as usual and the natural light Central gave off was her personal highlighter. Dani wasn't a skinny girl but she was a stunner regardless. Her lips were full and her weight gave her an innocence that would be misleading and with her height being around 5'7, she was bound to get attention everywhere we went. She had her hair relaxed so it was bouncy and full reaching the middle of her back, her almond shaped eyes looked like they were almost closed as she thought. "He probably will get back with both of them. He always does." She opened some candy before finishing her thought, "He likes to have them fight for him."
Next day...
Ms. Riley was discussing the different ways to perfect your stroke for painting portraits. The class was almost over, when the door opened. Alana, walked in and sat at a table in the front with some other upperclassmen. I hadn't thought about the fact she covered for me until now. Shouldn't I thank her? I think it would be rude if I didn't. She still looked sad but her face wasn't red anymore. After class, she wasn't packing up like the rest of us. Ms. Riley walked out to the hallway and the rest of the students followed, "Dani, I'll meet you in the gym." "Alright" she looked at Alana and back at me, intrigued but didn't push it. Instead walking ahead leaving me and Alana alone. "Alana, right?" she turned her head in my direction, "Hey?" she didn't seem to remember me or wasn't sure why I'd approached her. She seemed guarded and this all felt weird but I really wanted to know. "Yesterday, why did you pretend like you made me late?" She raised her eyebrow at me, as if she was trying to decide if that deserved a response "You were worried about being late. I don't really care at all. Plus Ms. Riley's my aunt." OH. "Okay, well thanks... Are you doing better?" Hoping to make this exchange less awkward. She gave a weak smile and said "No." There was a silence that followed, I didn't know what to say. Most people lie and say yes girl! You were supposed to say yes! I stumbled over my words until I managed to say "Want to talk about it?" Hoping she would refuse. Please say no. She let out a hard sigh. "I just don't understand why he wasted my time. He didn't have to bother me! And when I left him alone, he came back and promised he would do better but then the next week how come you don't love me no more." She tried to wipe away the tears before they fell. But some still slipped through, I felt heavy watching her so sad. "I've never been dumped so I don't know what to say.." this is why I wish she'd said no, I don't do well in these situations! She cocked her head back, "What?!" and I instantly regretted what I said. "That came out bad. What I mean is, I've never had a serious boyfriend either so I don't know what to say.. But he didn't deserve you or he wouldn't have hurt you. Because people don't hurt the ones they love." Confident in this as my mind went to thoughts of of Dani and Oreanna. She focused on me for a moment and I felt the awkwardness was only increasing, before she got up deciding she was ready to grab her stuff "Are you still worried about being late? Because I'm probably going to dip now."
"Nope, I just needed to feel out my teachers." I lied.
"Cool, let's go." Huh? I'd never skipped before and I always wondered how it was done without getting caught. Plus, she seemed so calm and sure of her leaving, as if we could just leave at any time. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be her breakup companion but this was another learning experience, it's not like I'm going to miss anything... it was gym class. "Yeah.."
We walked out the side door and made it to her car without even drawing suspicion. Was this all there was to it? I was almost disappointed until I looked back to Alana who was suddenly excited. The smile on her face was infectious and I thought maybe this was a rare occasion, getting out unbothered. Getting in the car, I was now curious about where we were headed, wondering about the possibilities to myself but stopped when I realized she didn't start the car. Instead, she was texting on her phone in a hurry, "Alana, is everything okay?". She looked at me, smiling wider than I knew possible, I saw all 32 of her teeth and the happiness behind them. "He said he wants to talk!" before turning back to her phone and at that moment, I knew I hated Nick.