***Hey....This is my first time posting. I know the story isn't that good, but I'd appreciate feedback...Thanks!***
"What the hell?" I whispered.
Toren turned, glared, and then looked back at the teacher. Damn teacher's pet, I thought. On cue, he raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Monessen?" Mr. Thompson sighed.
"Ash is talking, and I can't concentrate."
Mr. Thompson looked at me, then said, "Miss Jenings..."
"Yes, sir, I know,"
Just goes to show there are tattle tales even in high school.
As you may have guessed, I'm Ashlyne Jenings, aka, Ash. I'm 18, and, like most in Filsmith, I, unfortunately, attend Filsmith High School. I'm sure everyone will go on saying how it's great to live in a small, close-knit town. Well they need to get their heads out of the clouds and get the hell into real life. In those wonderful, close-knit towns, there are also enemies you can't get away from 'til college, and absolutely no places to visit within a 5 mile radius.
Take Toren, for example. He's still mad about the time I pushed him into the pond during a field trip in fifth grade, got his khakis wet, messed up his perfectly parted blonde head, and - god forbid - got pond scum in his Sunday boots (I always wondered why he wore his Sunday best to the pond). So now he does whatever he can to sabotage my pathetic life. There's also Melenie, who I accidentally threw a hamburger at during the best food fight ever, Dem, who is Toren's best friend, and half of the teenage population in Filsmith. So there's no small-town-been-best-friends-for-years romance for me. Instead, there's the live-your-life-as-an-outcast-and-better-get-the-hell-used-to-it life.
"Miss Jenings,"
I sighed. Can't wait for the lecture. But I turned.
"I'm very disappointed in you this past term. You are frequently disrupting class, and you can't seem to keep your grades up. Is there anything going on that you need to talk about?"
"No, Mr. Thompson, I'm fine. I need to get to work, see you tomorrow,"
"Wait one moment!" I skidded to a halt. Mr. Thompson never yelled. I turned, and he was staring at me.
"I hadn't planned on saying anything, but now..." He ripped something out of a notebook. "Give this to your brother and tell him if he needs to speak to me he can come in tomorrow,"
"Yes, sir," I hesitantly reached for the note.
"You are dismissed," And I left.
Jake, my brother, was sitting at the counter when I walked in our store.
"What took you so long, sis?"
I handed him the note, shoved him off the seat, and started listening to some neighbor or another rattle off what they couldn't find. I slid off my stool and walked down the medicine aisle, crooking my finger in the universal gesture for 'Come here'. Mrs. Monessen, Toren's mother, followed. It was hard to believe that these people had lived here all their lives and still couldn't find stuff. It's not like we remodel.
"Now, honey, I'm sure it's nothing, but Toren came home today and said you were being distracting, and distracted. He said that it happens in every class you two have together, and his friends say the same. Is something wrong?"
"No, Mrs. Monessen, everything is fine,"
"Are you sure, dear? If there's any girl stuff you need to talk about, you know you can come to me, right?"
"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks Mrs. Monessen," Jesus, you'd think that I'd know all this stuff already: who to go to, what to do, etc. Just because I live with my older brother, doesn't mean that I think I'm all alone in the world of women.
