Honesty
Authors: Angie Foster
Table of Contents
Honesty
Copyright: Angie Foster
Published:
The right of Angie Foster to be identified
as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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The buzz of the alarm clock was Alena's
least favorite sound. It meant another day of trudging through school, trying
to pretend that she did not notice him, fawning all over her. So much had changed
since the beginning of the year. Summer had been fantastic as the budding
romance she had with Justin looked to become a real life love story. They had
spent every minute of every day together; laughing at each other’s jokes,
talking for hours about the hypocrisy of politics. It had been simply, amazing.
Then summer had come to a crashing end. It was the last night of summer and the
neighborhood was having a party to celebrate all the students going back to
school. In the little subdivision she lived in all of the backyards were open
and connected. Everyone took to the backyard to grill.
It was a beautiful warm night with the
stars filling the sky. To Alena it was a magical night. It was the night she had
planned to share her first kiss with Justin. She had been waiting all summer
for it to happen, but something would always come up to interrupt the
opportunity. That night she hoped things would be different, she would make
things different. Music was playing, and everyone was having a great time.
Alena was patiently waiting for Justin to arrive. She glanced at her watch
again, to find that only a few minutes had passed since the last time she
checked.
“Where is he?” she muttered to her best
friend Sheila who was sitting on a picnic table beside her.
“Don't worry so much,” Sheila assured her.
“He is probably just running a little late late.”
Alena nodded, but she wasn't so sure. Alena
did worry. She worried all the time. She worried that her raven hair was not
straight enough, that her light blue eyes were too pale. She worried that she
was too tall as her willowy stature put her inches above other boys in her class.
No matter how much her mother, her father, and her friends, told her how
beautiful she was, Alena still worried.
But she was not just worried about her
looks. She worried about the fact that people were homeless. She worried about
whether her grades were good enough for her parents.
One thing she had not worried about all
summer was how Justin felt towards her. She was sure that he would not have
been around her so often if he did not feel something more for her, like she
did for him. Still the fact that they had not even kissed had left her a little
bit on edge. She had decided that night that it would be the night they shared
their first kiss. That was if he even showed up. After waiting for about an
hour, Alena decided she had waited long enough. If he doesn't want to be with
me, I don't need to be with him, she thought.
“Let's go find some food,” she announced to
Sheila.
“Sounds good,” Sheila agreed. Sheila had
been her friend since they were in grade school. She was the quiet type who
always had something kind to say. But Alena knew her better than anyone else.
Sheila had a great sense of humor, and she always had a smart remark to make.
She was pretty with thick blonde hair, and dark brown eyes, but she wasn't very
interested in boys.
“Why would I want all that drama?” she
would always remark with a shrug.
Alena however, did want all that drama.
Specifically she wanted Justin's drama. He was a year older than her, and hot
too. His short brown hair was long enough on the top to wear swept over, which
always allowed a few strands of it to fall into his baby blue eyes. Just the
thought of those eyes made Alena giddy with anticipation of seeing him again.
When she did see him again, however, she was not the least bit giddy. Right
there, in the middle of Crystal Myers' backyard, was Justin, with his arm
around Kristina. Kristine Lucas had been Alena's rival since they started high
school. Everything that Alena did Kristina did too, only she claimed to do it
better. As Alena watched in horror, Justin, her Justin, leaned over and kissed
Kristina. That's my kiss, she thought as she continued to stare.
From that last night of summer on Alena had
dreaded going to school. Now every day she was faced with their constant
displays of public affection. It was enough to make a sane person crazy. Still,
Alena, like every other high school girl, had no choice but to go to school. So
she did her best to ignore the couple, even though it seemed as if they went
out of the way to rub it in her face.
That morning when she arrived at school,
Justin and Kristina were cozy on one of the benches in front of the school,
with their arms wrapped around one another. Sheila caught Alena glaring
fiercely at the pair.
“Why don't you just tell him how you feel?”
Sheila suggested, as if it were that simple.
“Oh he knows how I feel,” Alena insisted
with a frown.
“Are you sure?” Sheila asked. “You were the
one that said you didn't even kiss. You're way prettier than Kristina could
ever hope to be. I bet if you just told him you were interested, he would dump
her in a second.”
Alena smiled at her friend for trying to
cheer her up, but Alena knew better. Kristina was one of the prettiest girls in
school and she had set her sights on Justin, probably just because Alena was
interested in him. Alena was determined to not let it get to her though. No
matter how hard she tried she always found herself staring at him. English
class was the hardest, because he sat only three desks away and one to the left
in front of her. It was the perfect view of his perfect jawline. She sighed as
she stared at him endlessly. She was so focused on Justin that she barely
noticed anyone else around her, including the boy who sat right behind her.
Shawn Travis was not someone that she easily overlooked. He dressed to blend
in, with no specific style, and his shoulder length blonde hair was always
pulled back in a short ponytail in a very dated hairstyle. The only thing
remotely attention grabbing about him was his striking green eyes. Those most
people did notice, because they were a bit large for his face, and deeper in
color than most of a similar shade. However, the color did nothing to ease the
annoyed expression he almost always wore. He was one of those teenagers that
saw the high school world around him intolerable. He had a few friends, but he
mostly kept to himself.
He leaned forward and whispered just beside
Alena's ear. “Stare any harder; you're going to leave a mark.”
Alena was surprised by how close he was,
and turned quickly in her desk to face him.
“Excuse me?” she said as she swept her
light blue eyes over him.
Shawn looked down shyly at the words he had
been scribbling across his paper. He was not so brave when she was looking
right at him. “Did you have something to say?” she asked in a more arrogant
tone than she had intended. His cheeks burned with heat as he stole a glance up
at her. He slid his notebook carefully off the desk so that she would not see
the words he was writing.
“It's a little pathetic,” he said
defensively. “To stare that hard.”
Alena gasped at his words as she was
offended by them. “How dare you?” she hissed and flipped her dark hair back
over her shoulder. “You have no idea what you're talking about.”
He leaned forward again, now that she was
facing the front of the class once more, and whispered beside her ear again.
“He doesn't deserve you,” he promised, his
voice full of honesty. Alena ignored him and pretended to be paying attention
to the teacher, but his words soothed the hurt his previous statement had
caused. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was pathetic the way she stared at Justin.
But he's so cute, she thought to herself. Her mind returned to that last night
of summer when Kristina had stolen the kiss that belonged to her. She sighed as
the jealousy and hurt surged up through her again. When class was over, she
turned around to see if Shawn was still there, but he was already gone. She
studied the desk where he had been sitting with some curiosity. She had never
really met Shawn, even though they had been in school together for some time.
Their friends ran in different circles, and to her he was nothing more than a
shadow in the hallway that she passed by. But the memory of his whispered words
meant more to her than she wanted them to.
After school there was a football practice.
Justin was the star player on the team. The year before Alena had attended
every practice, and every game just for the chance to see him play. It was such
a habit to head for the football field after school that she found herself
walking toward it without even realizing it. When she reached the bleachers she
smiled as she saw Justin out on the field. He looked so handsome in his uniform
that she had to clear her throat to cover the sigh that escaped her.
“Hey Alena,” Kristina said from where she
sat on the bleachers. She smirked smugly at Alena. Alena realized then what a
mistake she had made by coming out to the football field. Just then Justin ran
by, doing laps with the rest of the team. He slowed down in front of the two
girls.
“Hey Kristina,” he smiled at her, and then
glanced over at Alena. “Lena, where have you been?” he asked with a playful
pout. “Didn't you get my text?”
Alena's lips tightened into a stern line.
She had received a few texts from Justin but she ignored them. He was trying to
act like they were still friends.
“Must have missed them,” she said coldly,
making Justin's eyes narrow slightly.
“What's wrong?” he asked as he continued to
jog in place.
“Oh she's just busy,” Kristina gushed as
she stepped down from the bleachers and stood close to Justin. “You know, with
Shawn Travis.”