Revealing The Truth

Chapter Two

My hand dragged over my face, and I sighed. Two hours of sleep does not look good on you honey! We were short staffed last night, and I ended up being there until midnight. I was going to leave at eleven but Jennifer, the worst manager we have, was working and she made us all stay to close. Then once I was home, I had to finish my AP Psychology paper. It was close to four when I crawled into bed and had to be back up by six. I splashed ice cold water on my face, left the bathroom and went to the vending machine for a Mountain Dew. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Soleil heading for our English 4 Honors class. As soon as the machine spit out my caffeine, I chased after her.

“Soleil, wait up!” I yelled.

Soleil stopped in her tracks, saw me and smiled. I caught up with her and we continued walking. Soleil and I originally met in eighth grade but didn’t claim the best friend title until the end of sophomore year.

“Are you ready for English 4 Honors?” She teased.

“Hell no. What I need is a nap.”

“You know, if you’re that exhausted, when you get to my house I can take over and drive us here.”

“By the time I get to you, I already have my first Five Hour Energy in my system. At least my AP Psychology paper is done so I can start this one. Do you know when it’s due?”

“No. I finished mine over the weekend when I was grounded. I still say you’re crazy for staying in four AP classes with your work schedule.”

“My education comes before employment. I’m not letting these big brains go to waste and be at Red Lobster forever because when I was seventeen my dad couldn’t get a job besides Wal-Mart.”

“Maybe he shouldn’t have committed insurance fraud.”

“I agree, but he could have gone to prison, so it’s whatever.”

“My mom was in shock when she found out your dad was involved in that.”

I nodded. I hate talking about the events that led to the job loss, led to us losing our three-bedroom house and into the apartment we’re in. They were concerned about income, but since he had a couple grand to pay in advance they approved us. Mrs. McGinn, Soleil’s mom, worked at the same agency as my dad so it’s harder to pretend my problems don’t exist. She’s my best friend, so it’s okay.

We reached our English 4 Honors class and went inside. We got lucky in this class, when Mr. Anderson did the assigned seats he sat me, Soleil, Dean, and Dean’s friends Marcus and Kyle in the back corner together. He tells us he regrets it because we do more talking than paying attention and the only reason he hasn’t moved us is because the five of us have the highest marks in his class.
Dean strutted into class and plopped in his desk next to me. Dean and I dated for six months sophomore year and we lost our virginity to each other. After we split, we didn’t talk for another five months until like I mentioned, we got placed in the same lab group in AP Chemistry. Lucky for him, we broke up before my father’s financials went to shit. I always drove, so as far as my friends know, my dad and I still live in that house. Unlike Casey and I, the only class Dean takes in AP is Science. He leaned over and poked me in the side, causing me to jump. I glared at him, and he started laughing.

“I hate you.” I muttered.

“No you don’t.”

“You’re right.”

Dean smiled. “Kyle is absent today.”

“Why?”

“He woke up with a migraine. You know he has a crush on you, why don’t you give him a chance?”