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Administrator
- Posts:
- 5
- Group:
- Admins
- Member
- #1
- Joined:
- Nov 5, 2012
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- dare to believe
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I could have sworn that if my heart was beating any harder than it was, then I’d have one heck of a bruise. This utterly terrifying feeling, what on earth was it? The fact that I was able to ignore the sirens radiating from my alarm clock only signified how powerful my fear was. Between consciousness and unconsciousness, was an extremely spine chilling image that remained in my mind so vividly from my nightmare. All around me was glass, floating in slow-motion as my car was being torn apart by an enormous truck. But the shards of glass cutting my face and the agony I suddenly felt in my abdomen was nowhere near as painful as the hurt that I felt deep within my heart. It was as if someone had poured a never-ending supply of acid onto it. I faced a slow and gut wrenching torture. Yet, what scared me the most was the anticipation running through my veins. It was as if I knew I had to be somewhere specific and needed to get there as soon as possible, but I had forgotten where and why. This urge had become intense and overwhelming. Worst of all, why did it feel I was racing against time? Reality slammed into me like a brick wall when my eyes landed on the digital alarm clock. In a dark shade of red, it showed me that it was 7:30 on the dot. The harsh glow seemed to be mocking me, as if it were saying you’ll never make it in time. I threw the covers off of me, and slammed my elbow into the wall. It took me a minute to get my shit together, while dancing ridiculously around the room to get the numbness out of my arm. I had a feeling today would be a challenging day. It was a relief my father never came to check up on me since I was hopping around the room in efforts to brush my teeth, put on perfume, and dress myself as stylish as I could, as fast as I could, all at the same time. Sometimes I wonder how hilarious it would have been if someone were to put a camera on my dresser and watch what went on in my bedroom. Classic. 7:32. I was more than determined, hurling my beige knapsack over my shoulders as I ran through the door. Gussying myself up and taking a shower was the least of my problems. Besides, I had all the time to get ready for school since my bus arrived much earlier than it needed to. Tying my caramel-blonde hair in a ponytail should never be done while holding half a dozen books in your hands; especially when you’re running down the staircase with a cat the size of a boulder that dozed off in the most inconvenient places. I noticed Toby at the last second. My knees buckled the second I saw the cat, skipping three steps when I had only anticipated two. My books went flying out of my hand, slamming into the floor along with my face. I could hear laughter coming all the way from the kitchen as I gathered all my loose-leaf. “Cute fall.” chuckled my father and sipping his dark coffee between laughs. “Why didn’t you wake me up?” I snapped at him angrily. “Because it’s Saturday.” For a moment I stood there dead silent. “My good, really?” “Nah. You told me you wanted more freedom, now you got it. You better get to school, it’d be a shame for you to be late.” My dad was obviously joking with me, but I didn’t find it funny at all. I picked all my loose-leaf papers and ran out the door. I heard my dad yelling something at me, but I didn’t bother listening to what he had to say. I loved my dad, even if he wasn’t biologically my parent. But in the end, if I had to choose, I’d choose my black adopted father any day. We were best friends, and although he was a cop he still was pretty laid back. But there were times where he liked to watch me suffer from own mistakes. In the end I found it pretty funny, but sadly I hadn’t realized the humor in it yet. My knapsack flipped and flopped behind me as I sprinted down the street. I must have looked like some hunchback waddling down the neighborhood with over twenty-papers in my hands, three binders and four textbooks. But there was one thing that I was certain that I thought I would never achieve I made it, with three minutes to spare. I was honestly impressed. I usually woke up at six thirty in the morning and I still ended up speed walking to my bus stop. Though I didn’t do half the things on my list which were the most time-consuming, and the things I had done were rushed. So I guess it wasn’t such an achievement, if you ignored the fact that I fell down the stairs flat on my face. God I hope that I didn’t bruised. Thank god I brought my thick school sweater, since these autumn winds were turning my skin to ice and my breath to frost. Summer had ended a while ago and ever since the beginning of fall we were ‘blessed’ by arctic temperatures that in winter we’d normally recognize as a pleasant hot day. The thing is, after a summer so warm we’d still be freezing even if it were twenty degrees, it was ten. Though I was wearing the warmest sweater I could find, my denim leggings were like a suction cup to the cold. But I soon forgot it the moment I was greeted by Jason at the bus stop. “Hey Kalen.” he smiled. My eyes trailed from his broad jaw-line to his thick, messy brown hair. “Nice to see you bed head.” Another smile. “Hey, I just woke up fifteen minutes ago.” “Oh?” I asked as if this were some sort of challenge. “You beat me five minutes.” “Yeah I can tell.” “Excuse me?” “Let’s just say I’m not the only one with a bed head.” “You’re bluffing, hand me a mirror.” And of course he was right. There were these ugly dark shades of grey forming under my piercing cyan eyes. I tilted the mirror upwards to get a better view of what was my worst hair-day ever. My hair was frizzy, and a tad oily. The worst part was that there was this huge clump of hair sticking out almost like a tree branch. Oh my god, I was a tree! “Damn it.” I said angrily, biting my bottom lip in embarrassment. “Look Kalen, it’s not that bad.” “Hardly,” I sighed. “I look like… I don’t even know what I look like. Do you by any chance have a water bottle?” His eyes fixed on mine curiously. “Yeah, but what are you getting at?” “Hand it over.” I insisted. And that’s what he did. I took off my sweater, and pulled the ruffles of my blouse back onto my shoulders. I bend over, tilting my head to the ground and let the water from the open bottle soak through my hair. It was overwhelmingly cold, but I knew it had to be done. “You know you’re going to frizz even more right? It’s freezing cold out here.” The bus roared through my ears, rolling into sight from the end of the road. I let out a small sigh, tying my hair back into a pony-tail. “But at least I won’t look like a tree. Besides, I’ll be able to get ready since the bus arrives to early.” The bus pulled right next to us, and the next thing we knew we were ascending the steep steps of the bus. We ascended the steep steps, entering an impenetrable force of awkward silence. Right, an explanation is in order. So there was only one rule when it came to the school bus. Funny thing is, that it wasn’t even a rule made up by the bus driver. It was actually made by the socially awkward seventh graders, which suddenly became a trend until everyone followed the rule. And what was that you ask? Silence is golden. And if you didn’t follow the rules, might as well say that Duck tape is silver. I didn’t give two flying fucks for the rule at first and continued talking. But you can’t always concentrate on talking when there were more than fifty pairs of eyes loathingly staring at you. That’s over one hundred hateful eyes! Even whispering, our first attempt to sneaking past the rule was denied. It was worse than being in a library, with fifty librarians with ears like hawks. So then, with the help of technology I came up with a new solution. Texting. Although it took a longer time, Jason and I, despite sitting right next each other would text until we got to school. We only texted when we arrived at the first stop. Jason and I, were the first ones and the last ones off since we lived the furthest away from out private school, Bullsworth Academy. My train of thought got cut off the moment I noticed a shadow crawl over me. An enormous turck zipped past my line of vision, and disappeared in the large neighborhood where I lived, a moving truck. A lot of houses were on the market and were being sold fast since we were the largest, richest neighborhood that sat halfway up on a famed ski slip. A small khaki Jeep sped behind the truck. Even though the windows were tinted, I had this strange feeling bubbling inside me as if someone on the other side of the mirror were staring at me. I felt a smile stir up on my timid lips, and my cheeks began burning against my face. “Kalen?” Jason asked. I shook my head. “Yeah?” “You alright?” he asked curiously. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” “I’ve been calling your name at least five times.” I rubbed my eyes. “Oh sorry, you were saying?” He gave me a look. “Sorry, just tired. Please continue.” We had a good ten minute chat of our plans for the upcoming thanksgiving weekend before the first stop. Thanksgiving was ages away, but it was Jason’s favorite holiday. About three months in advance, he’d gather the gang and discuss what to do the day before. We’d always arrange something but it always ended up with Jason and other friends of mine getting hammered leaving Howard (Quarterback of our football team) and myself literally carrying him home as he hollered Michael Jackson down the street. Howard, he was like a big brother to me. He was tall, extremely buff, a stubble, chubby, the typical football player. There was a point back in time where we tried dating but we realized that it was too disgusting since we were basically siblings and nothing beyond so. So what do we do? Jason texted me after picking up the first 10 kids. I don’t know, but since it’s our last thanksgiving together before we go to college/university, it should be something memorable. What do you think? Jason smiled and texted back. Maybe the gang could go to a club? Not interested in carrying you home again. Next idea? Maybe we could go to the thanksgiving fair? I think I’ve dealt enough with your puke for a lifetime. We should go somewhere! Head up to LA, rent a cottage, go camping, anything! I like the cottage idea, but how would we raise money? Well stop buying boo’s, and then we’ll talk about money. ‘Kay. And don’t steal any from your parent’s liquor cabinet either. We arrived at school around 8:05 AM. School started at 9:15, meaning I had over an hour to get ready. Good lord. Even if Jason and I were seated all the way in the back of the bus, we were still the first ones out. I don’t think the socially awkward seventh graders enjoyed my pushing, ‘Excuse me,’ and ‘Pardon me!’ Truth was, I was already feel my hair frizzing. I pulled my hood over my disgusting hair as I entered the school. It was a relief that there were no teachers in the hallway to tell me otherwise. Otherwise I would have died from facing the utter humiliation pulling down my hair in front of the whole student body, even though there were only six people in the school. Alright, maybe I was being a little overdramatic. I shoved my bag into my locker and rushed inside the girls change room with my gym bag. Alright, I had an hour to get ready. The door creaked open as I began removing my clothes. “Kalen is that you?” I threw my shirt on the stool beside me, peeking over my shoulder. “Oh hey Bells.” I said with a smile. “God what happened to your hair?” “Horrible Bed head, had to flatten it with some water at the bus stop.” I explained as I removed my pants. Her concentration fixed on my ruffled beige blouse. I immediately noticed her eyes lighting up light candles and shimmering like jewels. “What are you doing here so early?” She removed a small transparent bag that I could hardly see through and placed it beside her on the counter next to the sink. She began to undress as well. “Had to pick up something from the pharmacy, then I’d thought I’d get ready here since school was already on the way.” I nodded, then smiled. “Well I guess we can get ready together, on one condition!” “What?” she asked desperately but sarcastically “Share your hair straightener with me.” She turned the radio on and cranked the volume as high as it could go. “Definitely.” We hopped in separate showers, singing to ‘Pocketful of Sunshine.’ Bells and I were the life of Bullworth Academy. I was Social Chair, meaning that I was blessed by planning all the school’s events. I planned school bonfire, camping trips, carnivals, you name it. Though it was not my decision to make I still chose Bells as my assistant. She was there to keep my ideas along the lines of the school budget and make sure my ideas were actually possible and not just some crazy idea. Most people took us as sisters, since we were just so close. We were friends since grade one; ever since I caught her stealing one of my pink crayons. And from then we shared everything. There wasn’t a think that we didn’t know about each other. Bells and I were in unison, walking out of the shower with pink towels covering our warm, wet bodies. It was almost kind of scary. “Makeup!” said Bells five minutes later as we stood in front of the mirror. Makeup for the both of us was like an art form. We weren’t those kinds of people who put a hundred pounds worth of makeup on our faces. It had to be light, only there to enhance our natural beauty. “You’re going to have to be more specific than that.” I giggled. “Liquid liner.” She corrected. “Almost done!” I said eagerly. I handed her the bottle, taking the closest cherry lip balm and lathering it on my lips. Honestly, why did it taste so good? Both our hands touched the hair straightener. I gave her a fearsome glare and grabbed it long before she did. “Alright,” she said, admitting to defeat. “In your case, you obviously need it more than I do.” I bit my inner cheek and smiled. “Shut up.” My eyes caught the bag sitting on the counter. I snatched it teasingly. “Oh, what’s this?” I shook the bag, and the box fell right into the palm of my hand. I eyed it slowly, rotating it on it’s on it’s front and read the large pink letters. I blinked in shocked staring at the title in disbelief. “This is…” She grabbed the box out of my hand and stuffed it back into her pink bag. In embarrassment she lowered her head. “You think I’m a slut don’t you?” she whispered. “NO… no it’s just.” I reassured, staring down into my palm as if I was still holding the box. “A morning after pill?” Her eyes showed fear. She sighed. “The condom broke, and I didn’t take my birth control, what was I supposed to do.” “But Bells, there are other options.” She lowered her head again. “Alright.” “You already took the pills didn’t you?” She handed me a necklace and began putting on earrings. “Yep.” Silence. “Can I ask, who was it with?” She stared at me, biting her lips. “Jason>” I snapped my fingers, slowing on my ruffled blouse and sliding my black denim leggings on. I took a belt out of my bag and snapped it around my waste. I gave her an unimpressed look. “I know what you’re thinking…” she started. “Then why’d you do it? You know Jason; you know what he’s like. Although he’s one of our best friends, he’s still a player. I just don’t want to see you getting hurt.” She nodded, popping in a breath mint she found from my bag. “Thing is that we’ve been dating for a while, in secret. It’s been months since he… you know. I think he’s really changed.” She was right. The last time he cheated on someone was the end of grade eleven. The situation became to overwhelming intense that his parents had to get involved. I don’t think I saw him for three quarters of the summer, let alone receive a text from him because of his parents. They were very strict, and were better at depicting any trouble that went on inside or outside the house. I don’t think I would have tried anything either, like seeing him. His parents were intimidating and I think I would have been forced to do my grounding at his parents place. It was a harsh punishment, but I think that it did knock some sense into him. Though I did not trust him fully, I trusted Bells and her decision. “I hope so too.” But I was no pushover. I wasn’t going to let this slide, not even for a second. I’d have to talk to Jason later.
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