Alaska

Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Thirteen weeks...

Lexi spent the weekend mulling things over in her puzzled mind, not daring to leave the house in case of running into Ryan, again. She received a lot of discouragement, not only from Angel and Anthony, but also from Katya, Ariel and Violet, who insisted that Ryan was up to something.

She couldn't help but consider him though, especially after he showed up at the theatre in Ohio with her. Maybe he really did want a fresh start.

On Monday morning, Lexi bounded through the doors of Morgan Term College, a flask of hot chocolate grasped tightly in her right hand. She rose up to the correct floor and joined the other teenage girls in the lounge, signing in on the clipboard at the reception desk.

"I think I'm going to write it on my baby. He's the reason I'm here after all," Hannah Summers, a very pregnant girl was saying.

"That's what everyone's doing, though," Jenny Montgomery replied. "I want to be unique. I might write some science fiction short story."

Lexi turned to them, her eyebrows furrowed. "What are you guys talking about?" She asked, politely.

They turned to her.

"Haven't you heard about the course assignment?" Jenny questioned with a frown.

Lexi shook her head.

"Ms. Olsen assigned it to us last Tuesday," Hannah said. "I guess you were busy at the hospital with Violet."

Lexi scowled. "I guess so. So what is it?"

"You're required to write something for the end of the course. You need to hand it in by the end of June and the best piece gets read out at the closing ceremony and will be published online and could end up being in stores," Jenny explained.

"Oh," Lexi mumbled. "What kind of piece do we need to write?"

They both shrugged their shoulders. "It could be anything. A short novel, a poem, an article. Anything you want. Just make sure it's good if you want to win."

Lexi nodded understandingly and turned away, her stomach clenching. What was she going to write about? She couldn't possibly think of something that could drastically beat the other girls. She knew that some of them already had published poems in textbooks and one girl even had her own saga line of teenage books. She was nothing compared to them and she barely had a chance of winning. But the glory... She thought. The pride and glory she'd feel if she knew she had achieved something so great would be beyond amazing.

"Hey," Ariel shuffled into view, signing her name down on the clipboard. "Are you talking about that coursework?"

Lexi nodded, placidly.

"I don't even wanna think about that, right now," Ariel groaned, rubbing her belly bump. "Come on, let's get to class."

***

Sure enough, when Lexi was finished from three classes of English and was heading towards the elevators for lunch with Ariel, Ms. Olsen stopped by and handed her a pamphlet for the coursework assignment that could win her a great resume, published work and a speech at the ceremony in June.

Lexi nodded in thanks at Ms. Olsen who grinned in encouragement, and joined Ariel inside an elevator.

The two of them settled at a small cafe' beside Ohio Western Park, where they enjoyed a croissant and coffee, each. They exchanged conversation about small things, like Julie and the trees in Ohio and at a quarter to one, they headed back to school.