Nametags

Chapter 17

          I was woken up by a gentle kiss on the cheek at the resturaunt. I was in the passenger seat of his truck, a blanket draped over my body. I smiled. He must have carried me all the way back to his truck. Aw! "Are you ok to drive? I could take you home." I stretched and slipped out of the car. "No, I'm ok..." We stared at eachother. "Thank you, Tony. Really." I hugged him tightly. He pushed my hair aside and whispered into my ear, "I love you, Cherry Lakes." I beamed and replied, "I love you, too, Tony Rodrigo." Then I drove home, blasting "All The Ways" the whole way.

          When I walked in, my parents where waiting by the door. My Dad looked mad. "I thought you said you'd be home by dark." Embarrassed, I looked at the time. It was almost midnight. "I'm sorry, Dad. I fell asleep!" They didn't look convinced. "It's ok, this time, but there will still be punishments." I started to panic. Not my phone, oh PLEASE not my phone! "You won't be permitted to study at the library after school this week. You will come straight home after school every day and do your homework here. No hanging out with Jadee after school." Mom looked serious. In all honesty, the punishment wasn't that bad. But I knew better than to say so. I muttered "Ok" And walked away with my head down. When I got to my room, The fake sadness dissapeared. Nothing could ruin my mood. I just had my first kiss, and with Tony Rodrigo, no less. I was the luckiest girl in my drab town. I was the luckiest Lakes!

          I tried and failed to describe the kiss to my diary. I felt as if it was a thought that only existed in my own mind, now. It was my own cherished feeling. I looked again at the picture of him and I on our first real date. We already looked so in love. Was he my boyfriend just because we had kissed? He had said "I love you" to me. I had read so many kissing scenes in the books I've read over the years, but now, none of them seemed realistic. I wondered what would happen at school on Monday. Would he meet my huge family? What would he think? So many thoughts where digging at my brain when I finally went to sleep.

                                                                                ***

          I was inside my school, and as I walked down the hall, People laughed at me and threw pieces of paper at me. I was walking, then running, then I finally hit a wall, hard. people where sticking name tags all over me. Over my face and eyes! They covered my mouth until I could not speak. Then, Tony came and fought off the crowd and then gently took all of the name tags off of me. But something was wrong- His name tags where gone.

I woke up in a cold sweat.