Surviving Chris

Chapter 1

Chapter 1
(Music quote here)

Let's go back to the fall of 1978. I'm going to tell you every time I ran into this horrible man and never thought twice about him. I was young, 16-years-old to be exact. I was beginning my junior year of high school. I moved to this small town in Indiana in the middle of freshman year. I made one friend, Angela. We clicked right away, spending all of our time together at each other's houses. She became a constant in my life.

Back to junior year, I walked through the doors of the school and walked to my locker to put my belongings away. Angela came running up to me talking about a new crush she had on one of the jocks on the basketball team. She continued talking about him as we walked to our shared home room. Angela isn't like other girls. She's soft spoken and she reads. A lot. So boys are never on her radar. The jock she is rambling about his name is Tim. She tutors him in English and history.

After that first week of school, we had our same routine going to each other's houses to do homework and hang out. The same routine I had with Angela is the same one I used to have with Monica, my best friend back home. Monica

and Angela are complete opposites so, when Angela befriended me it took some getting used to.

You see, to say Monica was boy crazy would be an understatement to say the least. She had every right to be though. Monica was beautiful. She had dark melanin skin with a head full of Jheri curls. She has plump lips and is two or three inches taller than me. Monica is coffee, pale yellow and pink, and wildflowers.

As I set my notebook down on my desk I watched as our teacher Mrs. Hawthorne wrote on the black board. Mrs. Hawthorne is our math teacher. I hate math. Angela on the other hand,  is a wiz at it. As our teacher continues explaining the lesson I zone out, tapping my pencil while watching the clock. I start to think about what I'm going to wear to the roller rink tonight, what songs I'll listen to while getting ready. I'm thinking Another One Bites The Dust by Queen  and Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, mine and Monica's favorite songs. Angela will probably want to listen to You're the One That I Want by the Grease cast. Angela loves g-

"Charlotte?" I hear Mrs. Hawthorne question.
I snap out of my thoughts abruptly to look up at her and respond with, "huh, what?"
Aggravated, she says, "Can you answer this question?"

I cringe looking at the question. I know I can't answer that. I look at Angela and she shoots me a sly 24 with her fingers. Little did I know I read the number backwards.

"24" I say proudly. "The answer is 24."
Mrs. Hawthorne sighs and I look at Angela quizzically while the other kids snicker.  Was I wrong?
"Can anyone else tell me what the right answer is?" I huff and put my chin in my hand. I see Louanne put her hand up to answer and I roll my eyes.
"42" I hear her say, while I still look at Angela.

Before I can ask her why she told me the wrong answer the bell rings. I pick my notebook up and wait by Angela's desk as she puts her belongings in her bag. It's then that I notice what she's wearing. Mom jeans with a white sweater and bulky tennis shoes. Probably her FILAS, she loves those shoes.
Angela stands up and we walk out together. We have our first three classes and our seventh period class together.

Before I knew it, I was in seventh period waiting for the bell to ring. It's Friday. Angela and I always go to the roller rink on Fridays. Most of the kids from school do. There is usually a party afterwards. Angela doesn't usually want to go. I don't blame her. She's an introvert. She's not really into social outings. The roller rink is basically her type of party. It is just enough music and people for her.

I look around the room, Angela is looking at Tim, her crush. Tim is looking at Stacey, his next conquest. Stacey is pretty. Average, but pretty. Black hair with bangs framing her face and dark, brown eyes. There is nothing about her that just screams out to me. That does not stop Tim from looking though. "Pig," I say under my breath as I watch him. Everyone knows what the jocks do in their free time. It is no secret. I look back to the clock. 2:50. Good. The bell should be ringing any minute. I start packing my stuff and while I'm zipping my bag up the bell rings.