Alicia sighed, and turned over, and smacked her alarm. Why did she have to get up at 4:30 each morning? To prepare Calc lessons for her AP students. Did they care? No. All they cared about was stayed clear of their parents,and who their next hookup would be.
But Alicia remembered what it was like when she was in high school. That was where she had met Johnny.
"Oh, excuse me, do you have a pencil I could borrow? Just for the lecture?" Alicia smiled down at the boy with thick plastic glasses.
The boy looked up, and turned his head around,as if looking for another person. "Who, me?" His voice was soft, and Alicia barely heard him.
"Yes, you. Who else, you noodle?" Alicia giggled, and sat down on the boy's desk, her butt just barely touching the edge.
"Oh, o-of course." The boy fumbled around his braces, and leaned down into his orange Caltech backpack to grab a pencil.
"Oh, Caltech? That's where I want to go to college! What major are you interested in studying?" Alicia's voice was filled with glee as she looked down expectantly at the boy.
"Hopefully neuroscience or microbiology to become a lab tech."
"Ooh, a hands-on boy. That's wonderful! I'm hoping to major in mathematics, or pre-med. Maybe I'll become an Ob/Gyn."
"Forgive me for saying this, but... I don't recall your name."
Alicia smiled softly, and stuck her hand out to shake. "Alicia Ronaldo, and you?"
"Johnny. Johnny Harlan." He smiled back, and shook her hand, careful to not touch the ring on her pointer finger.
"Well, Mr. Harlan. I think we'll be great friends."
The sound of a squealing teakettle woke Alicia out of her reminiscing. A few drops of boiling water splashed on her hand, making her wince. She chuckled softly at her own silliness, and smiled when she remembered when Johnny had gotten his braces off. He had looked so happy. His happiness was infectious, and it had made her want to kiss him. And she had.
"Why did you do that? Kiss me, I mean."
Alicia looked at her cowboy boots, and blushed red. "Your happiness made me happy, and I wanted to make you smile."
Johnny smiled, and leaned in for another kiss. When they parted, he smiled, showing off his straightened teeth. "You make me smile every day, whether you try to or not. Alicia... I like you."
Alicia sighed, and smiled when she exhaled. "I like you too."
"Would you be my girlfriend?" Johnny had awkwardly laced his hands together, and was shifting his weight from foot to foot, in an attempt to control his jitters.
"Yes. I will." But as Alicia gave him a hug, she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. Because she didn't like him that much. But she could grow to love him. And look where it had gotten her now.
With the guy she truly loved, and had been through everything with. Track, orchestra, prom, college, pregnancies, first dates, first kisses, and first true best friends. He had held her while she cried, and while he cried. When Alicia had lost her virginity, she had gone to him. It wasn't an ideal first time. It wasn't ideal at all.
"What are you doing? Get off! I said GET OFF!" Alicia screamed, and screamed, as a big man held her against the grimy pavement in an alley, and forced his way into her. Over and over again, scraping and rasping at her tissues. Making her lick her own virginal blood off of him, and had forced her to take a Rohypnol. But she had still remembered.
As soon as she had woken up, she had walked back to Johnny's dorm room. Knocking on the door, she knelt down, and started to hysterically scream and cry. Feet pattered in the different rooms, and doors started to open up and down the hallway.
Muffled voices came from behind Johnny's door, and light streamed through the doorway as the door was flung open.
Alicia felt her body being lifted up, and carried in. Voices floated in and out of her consciousness, and as her vision slowly faded, and lights sparkled behind her eyelids, she heard Johnny roar, in utter outrage, "What happened to her?!" As she faded out of consciousness, a drop of water landed on her lips, and she tasted salt.
Johnny was crying for her.
Bacon sizzled, and Alicia rushed around the kitchen, and brushed her dark blonde hair out. Her iPhone rang, and she answered it. "Alicia Ronaldo."
"Hey, love. I have a surprise for you at your classroom. Come down to school!"
Alicia giggled through the phone, and said yes. "Oh, Johnny? Just want you to know that I'm wearing that black lace you love so much." A groan echoed through the speaker, and Alicia laughed with gusto as she hung up the phone.
Grabbing her coffee, keys, and purse, she ran out the door. Alicia started her Prius, and pulled out of the driveway.
"Hey! What the fu-!" A car slammed into Alicia's side of the car, and her vision went black.