American Sweethearts

Chapter 1

 Newark the 20th largest city in Ohio, with the population of 47,573. A place filled with good and bad and where people were born and died. One house on the outer part of the busy town was a large house surrounded by fields of golden hey and lush grass lived Justice George, where she would spend her days on the horse ranch or by the river playing on the rope swings. She lived with her father Ferrell George an ex-Marine and her older sister Bridget George who acted more like a mother after theirs had died giving birth to Justice.

Justice was a beautiful and smart girl who was different from the rest. She was sixteen and studied at Newark High School. Justice however didn’t have any friends and didn’t enjoy school as much as her father had liked. She usually flunked classes and would be seen running through the school field in class time to read or write poetry by the river.

It was 1994 and it was soon to be the summer that Justice had been waiting for. However her father had insisted her and her sister would still attend church every Sunday at St. John's United Church of Christ. Bridget her sister was the golden child who could do no wrong, even though she was 20 she still had no job and was in no further education and was technically more like a housewife for her father.

Their father Ferrell had resigned his position in the Marines after his wife died knowing he’d become a full time father. He sold everything he had and moved to Newark and brought a large farm house with the white fence and balcony surrounded by nature, which he had thought would be a perfect place to bring up children. He promised his wife on her death bed he would bring their children up with God and lead them into the right path.

Bridget accepted her father’s ways, however Justice didn’t. Justice wanted more in life, she didn’t want to get an education, become a wife and settle down. She wanted to live but the way things were going it just didn’t seem realistic. Justice’s nearest neighbours were the Hughes and the Pastels. Regina Pastel was Justice’s enemy, the girl who loved to be mean to Justice.

Regina was head cheerleader, the girl who had the nicest cars and who smoked ten cigarettes a day. Everyone wanted to be her and if she didn’t like Justice, no one did. Luckily their houses couldn’t see each other due to the amount of trees covering them. It was Justice’s last day of school and she couldn’t wait, she was so bored of staring at the broken clock, peering out the window and listening to Regina talk about her house parties.

The bell rang and suddenly the class was out the door. Justice slowly collected her things together and walked out of the classroom, flicking through the play of Romeo and Juliet. Regina secretly was jealous of Justice and was actually fond of her short brown bob and big blue eyes, but no one was ever to know that.

Justice climbed up onto the yellow bus and noticed Regina sat at the back, chewing bubble gum dramatically. Justice sat herself down and lost herself into the William Shakespeare book. She wondered what it would be like; if she found someone she loved at her age. She gently turned the page, excited to know what going to happen was next as Juliet insists Romeo returns to wherever he has come from.

Suddenly a loud crowd of people surround her, trying to grab the book out of her hands. She looks up at notices Regina jumping up and down laughing. Justice pulls and pulls, trying to get her book back before the group let go. Forcing the book to fly across the bus and onto the floor, Justice dived to the floor and tried to pick it up when Regina stepped her foot onto the book.

“Can you step off my book?” Justice insisted

Regina laughed and looked over at her group of friends before peering down at Justice.

“Who reads this crap anyway?” Regina laughed

Justice managed to pull the book from under her feet and luckily the bus stopped. Justice quickly grabbed her bag and jumped off the bus. Regina and her group of friends shouted out abuse at Justice before driving off. Justice glared at the bus and pulled her middle finger up at them before making her away across the field.