It's Hard to be Lee

13. Ms. Pretty-N-Perfect

Lee stopped wearing her ponytail in an attempt to blend in. She no longer wanted to stand out. She wanted to be little old Lee. She started to wear her long hair straight, but then again, all girls were jealous of it. She then would wear it in a bun or under a hat. She tried to dress down to blend in with everybody, but she still stood out. Being a freshman and taller than most of the girls at the school was a problem. Her modeling of course did not help her cause.

Lee was so fed up with Shawni and her taunting. Shawni was only a sophomore, but all her friends were seniors. Lee did not understand that. She thought maybe her initiation into the upperclassmen crew was to bully a freshman all year and she picked Lee. She was not the type to just be ignored either. Lee tried everything.

"I hear she used to date Julius, that's why she's after blood lately," Yvette said while they were at lunch in the cafeteria one day.

That made no sense to Lee. "Before Julius even came up to me, she was on my case!"

"But you just threw dirt on the coffin," Yvette told her.

"Huh?" She looked at her friend confused as ever. So this was all over a boy?

"Shawni thinks she runs the school. She is only a sophomore, but last year eve, she had seniors eating out of her hand," FeeFee added. "She's pretty, but she thinks she's all that!"

"She's not," Yvette said as she stared into her phone fixing her lip gloss.

"Well, she thinks she is, but says I think I'm all that," Lee said. "Make it make sense!"

"She's not all that!" Yvette said. "I am." She smiled at her friends, but they ignored her. "Hey!"

"I hope she falls deadly ill," Lee said with a smirk.

"Hey, guess who I have a date with?" Yvette said to them.

It was nice of Yvette to change the subject. Yvette had not been excited about a guy since Joe. That was weeks ago since they broke up.

"Who?" FeeFee asked.

"Terrell Johnson, he's a junior."

She raised an eyebrow at her friend. "My cousin, Terrell!"

"Really?" FeeFee asked.          

"Yes. Remember Yvette, you met Relly, my cousin. That's her brother."

"Really?" Yvette said, glaring at Lee. "Oh yeah, you two do kind of look alike. Erie. It's the eyes."

"He is cute," FeeFee said.

"Yeah well, I'm going to have some fun." Yvette glanced over at the table with Joe and Mark. "I deserve it."

It was like Shawni had a sixth sense she talked about her earlier in the day because Lee was minding her business walking to class when Shawni walked up beside her. Lee said nothing and pretended the girl was not there.

"Well, if it isn't little Miss Pretty-n-Perfect," Shawni said with a snicker.

This girl needed something else to do. She went to her TikTok page once and it was mostly videos of herself staring into the camera wanting others to tell her how pretty she was. Shawni was drop-dead gorgeous, but her attitude made her ugly to Lee.

Lee rolled her eyes and kept walking but Shawni would not let it go.

"Just so you know, Julius really doesn't care about you. He and I go waaaa-aay back and once he comes to his senses..."

That made Lee stop and look at the short little girl. Her height did not intimidate the little petite girl. and Lee was not one for being a bully, but she wanted to shove the girl away from her.

She was not going to let her get to her today.

"If Julius wanted to date you, he would date you, and not me."

"Oh, you're just a fad. He will come back to me." So watch your back, or I'll take your man! Then she walked off.

What did that mean?

Lee was steamed. After school was play rehearsal then vocal lessons and Julius was picking her up. She knew Julius would never stoop so low as to be interested in Shawni. But still, she got sick thinking about it.

"Hey Lee, how was rehearsal and lessons?" Julis asked when he picked her up.

"Same old, same old."

"I missed you." He leaned over and tried to kiss her, but she moved away. "What?"

"I don't feel like it."

"What? A kiss?"

"Yes."

Julius did not say anything, just started the car and took off. They drove silently for a while before Julius spoke up.

"Do you mind telling me what's going on?" he asked.

"No."

"Okay, fine."

After a few more minutes, Julius couldn't take it.

"Lee!"

"What's going on with you and Shawni?"

"Huh?"

"You heard me. I saw you two together earlier, and then she comes up to me saying you two go waa-aay back and how you want her."

"No, I what? No, it's not like that Lee."

"Then what is it like?"

"Baby G and I go way back, but—"

"Baby G? Ugh!"

"It's just a nickname we call her, short for Baby Girl. We grew up together. That's it."

"Do you like her?"

"Not like that."

"Well, why didn't you tell me this before? You know she hates my guts. I hate her."

"You don't even know her."

"But you do. Very well I bet."

"No, I'm just saying..."

"You do like her!"

"No!"

Lee sat there thinking. She had to trust Julius and not believe a word Shawni said to her. That's all she was trying to do, get under her skin. But she also knew Julius deserved better. Maybe he needed to be with Shawni and not her.

She did not spend quality time with him. They hardly ever saw each other. Like now, she had to go straight home and do homework. She would not even have time to talk on the phone. Well, maybe with Yvette.

"Lee, I don't want you to think you're not enough for me," Julius said as if he read her mind. "I wouldn't mess around on you."

"I know Julius, I believe you, but...there's just so much going on in my life right now. I don't need the extra stress."

"What are you saying?"

"I think we should stop seeing each other." Lee looked at him. Man, he was so cute, even when he was looking sad. She could see all the hurt on his face and it hurt her.

"Lee, I am fine with us now. I thought you were happy too."

"Yeah, but it's simply better this way. I'm really, really sorry." Lee leaned over and kissed his cheek, and then got out of the car.

Yeah, Ms. Pretty-n-Perfect was not so perfect now. Dumping the best guy in the world because she could not stand not trusting him, or herself, over that silly little girl...Baby G.

Hey readers!

Lee gave up way too fast dumping a guy like Julius. So young and yet, too much going on in her life.

I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Thanks for reading!