The Beautiful Lives

The First Time

I slammed the door on my locker, making no difference in the hall of Whitehurst High, since everybody was in the hall. It was the end of the day, and I was supposed to be getting a ride from Violet, so I needed to hurry, or she would leave me again. I picked up my backpack from the floor and pushed my way out into the cold of the early December afternoon. The rush of cool air always gave me a little start, and something more, maybe inspiration, something that disappeared as soon as I stepped into school, since it was always so stuffy in the place.

I scanned the student parking lot for Vi's red Jeep Cherokee Sport, secretly praying that I wouldn't find it, just so that I could walk around in the beautiful weather just a bit longer. I walked past the busy bus drop-off filled with freshman and middle-schoolers. I was so into looking for that damned car that I didn't see that I was about to run into somebody--and that that somebody would be Beck Williams and Kaitlynn Crawford, WH's "it couple". Their intertwined hands collided with my waist, doubling me over like a sharp crease in a piece of paper. 

"Um, excuse us," Kaitlynn said rudely. She never was great with manners around people other than those of authority or in her inner circle.  

I blushed. "Sorry," I mumbled. I felt stupid and small with my flushed cheeks and most-likely-red nose. I stared down at my shoes and felt Beck and Kaitlynn's eyes burning into my downturned face. I gained some courage and looked up. Beck was smirking slightly, but not in a nasty or mean way; sort of as if he were amused by something. I hoped it wasn't me. 

"Hey, Kate, calm down, okay? It wasn't really her fault, after all, we were the ones blocking her way." He turned to me. "Are you okay, Emmeline?" He grinned a big goofy grin that was impossible not to smile back at. I returned the gesture.

"Yeah, I'm okay, thanks." I glanced over at Kaitlynn, who was clearly flustered and totally jealous, judging from her flared nostrils and slitted eyes. I knew I would be getting it later, but it was worth it, I suppose, if it meant I could torment her using her boyfriend for a little while longer. I tucked a fallen strand of hair behind my heavily-pierced ear. 

"Nice 'rings," Beck pointed. He cleared his throat and whispered something to Kaitlynn which made her eyes widen and her blood pressure to spike tenfold, I guarantee you. She eyed me like a piece of meat and walked away, her hips sashaying and her pin-straight platinum hair swaying in the breeze. "Don't worry about her," he said, following me gaze. "Who were you looking for?"

I looked around, where I expected every eye to be on us, but when I saw that nobody was paying attention, I felt ten times better. "Violet," I responded, feeling confident. "Although," I said, "she's probably already left." I sighed slightly. I would walk home, I decided. It's good enough weather, but I looked down at my arms and remembered I left my sweater in my locker. Smart, Emma. I would have to walk back past Kaitlynn and her skinny little friends. Drat.

"Hey, don't look so worried, " Beck said with a twinge of something in his voice, in his eyes. Disappointment? Hurt? Couldn't be. Not Beck. Not ever. "I can give you a ride home. And plus," he said airily, "your house is just around the block from mine, remember?" He smiled. How could I forget?