Corray De Lor

Alex Youn

                                                 Alex

I opened the door to my school house and saw it was full of kids from ages fourteen to seventeen.

I saw my old housemother, Clare, directing freshman upstairs to their rooms instead of raiding her kitchen.

I didn’t see anyone I knew except for two kids I saw last year. I forget their names. They both looked older. The girl had straightened dark brown hair and the boy had freshly trimmed lighter brown hair.

“Alex!” I heard Clare call. I turned and smiled. “Hello, sweetheart!”

She gave me a hug.

“Hey, Clare. How’s it going?”

“Oh it’s going just fine. How’s the clothes business?”

“Eh hem, fashion business.” I corrected.

“Yes, of course.”

“It’s doing just fine. A lot of people have been buying my stuff online.”

“That’s wonderful. I’m glad to hear. And I’m glad you could make it this year.”

“Thank you. It’s good to see you again.”

Before heading up to find my room, I headed to the restroom.

First I checked my brown eyes to see if the contacts were still there. Of course they were. It’s just that I just got them and I’m a little worried. I took out my brush and stroked my black hair and was careful not to knock the feathers out. Suddenly, I heard a bunch of girls scream and in walked Cerise Van Sorret. She’s a famous singer. Personally, I don’t think she’s all that great. Her singing is equivalent to a cat dying. But I guess that’s not what half of America thinks. She looks at me like I’m some sort of stain on the counter. She brushes her blonde curls and reapplies her lip gloss, then a mob of girl fans rush in.

“Oh my gosh! I love you!” One girl giggles.

“Sign my elbow!” Another screams.

Cerise smiles and starts hugging them and signing whatever.

I roll my eyes and squeeze through the crowd. When I finally open the door a boy waits near the door and tries to see as much of Cerise as possible before the door closes.

“Hey is that really Cerise Van Sorret in there?” He asks me.

“Yeah.” I answer. “But she has herpes. So, beware.”

His eyes get wide and I turn and hold in my laugh. Then I hear a familiar shriek. I see my best friend, Jaye Standish running towards me with her arms open.

“Oh my gosh! Alex!” She cries. She gives me a big hug and starts to jump up and down.

“I’m so glad you could make it!”

“I’m glad you could make it.”

“Alex! Did you see Cerise Van Sorret? She just pulled up in a limo! That means she’s staying in our school house! Eeep!”

I love Jaye, but I’m not quite sure how we became friends in the first place. She loves the mainstream and I just, well, don’t.

“Come on, A, let’s go find our room! I hope we get to stay together.”

“I’m in room 4.”

“Aaah! So am I! Principal Gorfle must’ve remembered we’re best friends and so she matched us up in the same room! I just love her!”

We go up the stairs and I see the girl still there. She keep peeking over the corner.

“Uhm, Jaye, you go ahead.”

“Okay.” She says skipping off.

“Hi.” I say to the girl.

She turns to me and smiles.

“Hey, you’re Alex Chon, right?”

“Yeah. And you are-”

“Gwen. Gwen Calber.”

“Of course. Nice to see you again. Uhh, what are you doing?”

“Avoiding him.” She says looking over the corner.

And then I remember. I know who she’s talking about. I can’t believe I forgot about it. It was the only exciting thing that happened all year. The incident. That’s what everyone called it.

Darcy Bertram showed everyone a picture of Gwen and no one really knows if it was real or fake, except for Gwen and Darcy. Gwen never defended herself. She just left school. I wonder if she told her parents the truth or made up an excuse for her coming home early.

Darcy said it was real. I don’t really believe what he says. But how would I know if Gwen didn’t say anything?

I need to help her.

“I’ll go distract Darcy.”

She looks at me. She realized I knew who she was hiding from.

“Thanks.”

I go into his room and find him typing on his laptop. As soon as he sees me he slams his laptop shut.

“Who are you?”

“Alex. How’s it going, Bertram?”

“I don’t associate with freshmen.”

“I’m not a freshman. I’m a sophomore. Anyways, I see you go your hair cut. It looks good.”

“Okay, who do you want destroyed?”

“I’m not here for that.”

“Really? Cause I can find dirt on anyone. All for a reasonable price that is.”

“Please, I wouldn’t pay you even if you could heal my grandma.”

I see Gwen sneak past the doorway.

“Okay, so bye!”

I walk out and I’m sure he looks confused. I mean, hey, it’s not every day you have a meaningless conversation with a fashionable Asian girl.