The American Dream

Chapter Two

As it turned out, the meeting was just a discussion about whether or not a trip to America would be ‘cool’. Of course, Rebecca had graced us with the sound of her wailing tantrum and Blake had tried to comfort her by whispering, what I imagined to be, very graphic bribes into her ear. When the meeting was over, I quickly grabbed my bag and attempted to leave without drawing too much attention to my humiliating appearance, although it proved to be an epic fail.

“Hey Avery, I just wanted to say I’m sorry about what I said in assembly” Blake came towards me, leaving the others to stare from behind his back. “What I said was really uncalled for and I just feel like I have to be honest with you” his eyes smouldered in the most unimaginably attractive way and his lips pursed in a way which would turn anyone’s legs into jelly!

“Err…it’s, um, okay. I mean…” I trailed off knowing that I had sounded like a complete idiot and immediately feeling my face heat up with the tell-tale blush everyone had grown accustomed to. My heart jolted with what was undeniably the most electrifying spark that shot right through my body as Blake took my hands in his and stepped closer towards me, with his beautiful eyes staring intensely into mine.

“No Avery, it’s not okay” he said this with such passion that I almost felt like crying. “What I said was wrong and mean, not to mention a total lie!” he gave me his famous smile; although really, it was a pout which best befitted a female super model.

“A lie? What do you mean?” I felt hesitant and utterly afraid of what he might say next although what I really feared was the murderous glare Rebecca was directing at me.

“Avery I lied, you look absolutely beautifu-” he cut himself off with unstoppable laughter, echoed by his friends, all of which were staring at my gullible face with undoubtedly the most amused expressions I had ever seen. Tears betrayed my attempt at holding my ‘strong’ façade and I mentally slapped myself for falling for such a blatant trick. I turned around to walk away when one of Rebecca’s followers called to me “smile for the camera gorgeous, we want everyone to see how beautiful you look!”

At this point I gave up on caring and let the tears fall at shocking speed, whilst I sobbed uncontrollably and ran out of the hall. As I passed the grand oak doors, I smashed into someone’s shoulder and almost knocked them over.

“I’m so sorry...” I held my hand up in apology but trailed off when I realised who exactly I had bumped into. Callum Samuels. He didn’t really appear to fit in with the popular crowd although that assumption couldn’t be farther from the truth; he was Blake Jackson’s best friend and had been since they started at LCA at eleven years old. Now both aged sixteen, their friendship was still going strong, regardless of how different they both were.

“Its okay, it’s gonna take a lot more to harm these babies” he grinned, mimicking the way Blake liked to kiss his ‘muscles’ after a morning at the gym. Although his dark, jet-black hair covered most of his emerald eyes, I could see them shining and glistening as he smiled. I let out a laugh and wiped away the tears that were sliding down my still flushed cheeks.

“They just had a meeting; I guess Blake will fill you in on the details. Welcome back, by the way” I gave him a quick nod as a form of welcome. He had been gone for at least a month now visiting his sick dad in Cornwall. Normally the school doesn’t allow students to take extra leave but they made an exception, considering the circumstances...

“Yeah, it’s good to be back. Are you okay?” He gave me a concerned look which was something I hadn’t seen in a long time, simply because no one really cared anymore.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I guess its going to be a very long week…” I smiled weakly, trying to pretend that nothing had just happened, although I was sure that when he walked into the assembly hall, he would be filled in on all the excruciatingly embarrassing details.