The next day Abby made a point to be on time to all her classes not wanting any of her teachers to be mad at her. She didn't want to ruin her perfect grades. She had to keep reminding herself the importance of a perfect GPA. Her parents could not afford to send her to college without a scholarship.
She walked hurriedly through the parking lot towards the school when she saw him. He was leaning against his red convertible starring right at her. He looked so handsome, the gentle wind ruffled his thick, raven hair, as he took a long puff from what was left of his cigarette, and then he tossed it to the ground. He looked sexy in his faded out blue jeans and white tee shirt with short sleeves that showed off his iron steel muscles with every move that he made.
"Hey you," he called out, "wait!"
He is no good she reminded herself, as she ignored him and quickened her steps to get out of his view. She knew boys like him only wanted one thing, and she couldn't even think of one reason why he would want to talk to her. Was he playing a joke on her, she wondered, he could have any girl he wanted why would he be interested in talking to her?
Pulling open the door, Abby stepped inside the school and walked over to her locker to place her school books inside and collect the ones she would need for the next two classes.
"There you are," a husky voice behind her said, "I looked for you after school yesterday and I called you five times why didn't you answer!"
Abby turned around and a smile formed on her lips, Jeff was a tall, muscular, blonde haired, green-eyed hunk, and she had the pleasure of being his best friend, "I'm sorry, my phone was turned off cause it was charging and I fell asleep with my head in my books," she explained, "I was up studying all night for the test today."
Jeff's green eyes bore into hers, as he silently studied her face before he spoke again, "I thought you had promised we would go to the cafe after school, I waited for you until the sun went down!"
Throwing herself on him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his chest. "I'm so sorry, I totally forgot!"
Jeff drew in a deep breath and pulled her away from him. "Come over tonight, we can watch a movie and I'll make you your favorite popcorn, my parents won't be home until very late."
"I can't, I promised Claire that I will go with her to the cafe and help her study for her biology test after school, can I get a rain check?" She asked, and she closed the locker door and turned to face him, "I'll talk to you later, I don't want to be late for my class again,"
Before Jeff could utter a response, she left him stranded by her locker starring after her. Something was off, he thought, something was heavy on her mind, he knew Abby since she was in grammar school and she was not herself today.
***************
Abby sat down at her desk and waited patiently for class to start, her mind drifted off to yesterday's events, she couldn't get Steven out of her mind. How was she to concentrate on the lessons in her classes today if she couldn't rid him from her thoughts?
The last half hour in her class was a haze to Abby who couldn't remember anything the teacher had said, because her mind was still heavily preoccupied with lover boy, and that made her mad. When the bell rang she grabbed her belongings and dashed out of class without even stopping at her locker, she hurried along to the library to report to duty.
By four o' clock Abby was exhausted and hungry, she finished helping the librarian and then exited the building. For a moment she thought someone had called out her name, but she didn't stop, she ran down the stone steps and all the way home without looking back.
She lived only a three blocks away, and Abby always enjoyed her walk home, but today was different, she didn't stroll down the neighborhood to enjoy the view, she ran straight home. When she reached the driveway, Abby noticed that her fathers car was parked outside. Her shoulders dropped and disappointment claimed her. Last time her father was home this early from work there was chaos in the house.
The kitchen door was left unlocked and Abby pushed it open cautiously and walked inside. Cucci, the family dog wagged its tail and barked happily when he saw her.
"Are you hungry?" Abby asked, throwing her back pack on the table, she immediately went to fill Gucci's bowls with food and water.
After making sure that her yiorkie had everything he needed, Abby grabbed her bag and headed to her room, but stopped short by the staircase. Her father was passed out on the floor near the stairs. He was snoring heavily and his clothes reeked of vodka. Abby sighed, he was drunk again, she thought bitterly,
Racing up the stairs, Abby locked her door, placed her back pack on the chair, took her shoes off and then t hrew herself on her bed. Within seconds she had fallen into deep sleep.
The ringing of the iPhone woke her up, slipping her hand in her pocket she pulled out her iPhone and answered, it was her friend Claire, "Hey Claire, what's up?"
"You sound like I just woke you up," Claire accused, "have you forgotten you were supposed to come to the cafe and help me study after school?"
"Oh shit!" Jumping out of bed, Abby hurriedly slipped her feet into her gym shoes, "I'm sorry Claire, I'll meet you in ten minutes!"
As Abby walked briskly down the street she focused on her surroundings to get her mind off her problems. The flowering trees that banked the street on both sides were so pretty, the bloomed pink and white flowers decorated the neighborhood. Colorful tulips sprung in front of many houses, spring was in the air. Tears welled up in Abby's eyes, when she was but a child this was her favorite season, everything came to life and the world looked magical, but as she grew older she realized it was nothing but a wishful dream.
When she reached the cafe, she pulled open the glass door and sighed, the place was jammed with school kids and Abby worried she would not be able to find a table, but to her luck, there was one small table at the end of the shop in the corner.
She walked over to the only available table and dropped her backpack on it, and then she had to squeeze her way around all the people to get in line to order her latte. The line moved fast and when it was her turn she decided to order Clary's latte also. With both coffees in her hands Abby turned around abruptly to return to the table and to her horror she bumped into someone and a little bit of coffee splashed.
"Hey what the fuck is your problem!" Someone barked, as she tried to wipe the coffee off her shirt.
Abby's eye's opened wide, it was the most popular girl in the school, and it was rumored that she was dating Steven, "I'm so sorry!" Abby said apologetically and braced herself for the girls outburst.
"Why don't you watch where you're going you imbecile," she hissed, "you spilled coffee on my two hundred dollar shirt!"
"I.....I'm....sorry."
"Sorry my ass!" Barbie doll sneered, as she walked away.
Mortified, Abby took a moment to gather her scattering thoughts. She had everyone's attention as she made her way to her table, and if that was not bad enough, Steven was sitting with that girl just five tables away.
"Relax it's just coffee." She heard him say.
"That ugly bitch ruined my beautiful shirt," Christina yelled.
Abby's cheeks turned red with embarrassment, and she pulled out her book and buried her head in it.
"What was that all about?" Clary asked, and sat herself down opposite Abby.
Placing her book down, Abby handed the latte to her friend, "I accidentally spilled some coffee on her shirt."
Clary's eye opened wide, "What?"
"I didn't mean to," Abby whispered , "it was an accident."
"Yeah, but do you know who that girl is?" Clary asked, "she is not only the the star of the cheerleaders squad, she is very popular with all the rich kids and I think she is chosen to be this year's valedictorian, not to mention the fact that she is dating Steven and ..."
"I don't care who she's dating," Abby blurted.
Clary studied her friend for a moment, and then raised an eye brow, "You don't?"
"Of course not, he's a pig and they deserve each other!" Abby snapped, "now forget about them and let's study!" It was hard for Abby to concentrate after that episode, but she pushed herself forward for Claire's sake.
After an hour of studying, Claire excused herself to go to the bathroom, it was at that moment when Abby heard Barbie doll throwing a hissy fit again. Abby watched with interest as she jumped off her seat and marched out of the cafe. Steven turned around and threw Abby a glance her way and she quickly grabbed her history book pretending to be reading.
Seconds later she heard his deep, husky voice, "You again!"
Butterflies danced in her stomach, and not trusting herself to speak, she buried her head deeper in her book.
"Are you ignoring me?" He laughed.
"Go away, can you not see that I am studying!" She lied, "I have a test tomorrow in my history class and don't want to be disturbed!"
Steven grabbed the book out of her hands and turned it right side up, "Then read it the proper way!"
Abby's cheeks flushed and she broke out in sweat, she felt humiliated once again.
"Come on man, let's get out of here!" One of Stevens friends called out from somewhere behind Abby's table.
Without another word, Steven left the cafe with his friends and never looked back. Claire walked over to the table and slipped back on her chair, "What was that all about?"
"What was what all about?" Abby asked, daring her friend to continue talking.
Taking the hint, Claire changed the subject, "Are you going to the spring dance?" Abby shook her head, "why not Abby?"
"I'm not in the mood." Images of Steven haunted her.
"You must come as a favor to me please," Claire begged, "I want a chance to dance with Jeff!"
"So ask him to the dance then."
"You know I can't do that!"
"Why not?"
"Cause I'm afraid that he will say no and I won't be able to deal with the rejection."
Abby saw the tears in her friends eyes, and sympathized, "Ok I'll go, but I'm not staying too long!"
Claire's eyes lit up with excitement, "Thank you so much!"
*************