Problems

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Hey dad," I say, walking down the stairs. It's early on a dark monday morning, and I'm surprised he's up. He's never up this early unless he has to deliver to a customer, which I wouldn't be shocked if he was going to do that today. He "works" about 3 or 4 days a week, and when he's home, he's hiding in his man cave, or asleep. "What do you want, kid?" He groans. My smile turns into a small frown, but he doesn't notice. "I was wondering if I could go to a dance next week," I mumble, staring at the floor. I bite my lip as he scoffs. "What dance would this be, exactly?" He asks, acting considered.

"A valentines dance. But I'm going with friends," I answer, looking up from the floor. He digs around in his pocket and pulls out a crumpled up twenty dollar bill. "Dad, this is-,"

"Do you want me take it back?" He asks, with a hint of anger in his voice. I shake my head no and put the money in my back pocket. He shoos me away and I run back upstairs. I go into my bathroom and straighten my hair, which usually doesn't take long because my hair is so thin. I always loved my hair, and I still do. It's always been one of my teenage girl obsessions.

I walk through the door of my terrible high school, filled with drug addicts like my father and pregnant sluts. Well, not filled, but most people here are either smoking, snorting, or having adventures under the covers. But not me, because I'm the GG of the school. GG stands for "Goody Goody", which I hate to admit, but I am. I don't care if I am one either. I do the right stuff, and I get the rewards. But my sister does the bad stuff, and still gets the rewards. Weird, I know.

I walk up to Ashley and Kevin and tap both their shoulders rapidly. They both nearly jump out their skins, and turn around. Kevin's goofy smile appears, which I just love. It reflects his pearly white teeth, which I'm jealous of. Ashley scolds me, and hits me playfully. "What the hell did you do that for?!?" She exclaims, just loud enough for a group of students a table away from us to look over. "Trying to be funny," I answer. Kevin begins to chuckle as I sit next to him and across from Ashley, who is still scolding me. "Well, it wasn't," she finally spits out. I roll my eyes and look over at Kevin, who starts chuckling again once I look at him. "So what did your dad say about the dance?" Kevin asks, leaning his arms on the table. Now we're talking about something Ashley is interested in, because she raised her eyebrow. "He gave me twenty bucks, and told me to leave him alone," I answer finally. Kevin's adorable smile appears, and Ashley nods. "I'm telling you, this Valentines dance is going to be the best chance for us to meet boys," She tells me. I would be nice to meet a guy would actually has some interest in me, and thinks I'm attractive. The plan at the teen hangout didn't go so well, because I was being too shy around the hot guys I've never seen before. But I know these guys at my school. They don't know me, but I hear about their gossip through the biggest gossip girl in my school, Ashley. "Yeah, it sounds like a good plan,' I say, over the loud ringing of the bell. The first sign to the first class of tortue today. My first period is biology with Kevin, so at least it's not that horrifying. Ashley waves us goodbye and catches up with some of the well-known boys at our school, probably flirting her way to their lunch table this afternoon. "That just sickens me," Kevin says behind me. I turn around and give him a look, a confused look. "How she just strolls off from us to a group of boys," he says, digging his hands into his jean pockets.

"Well, she's just trying to find a boyfriend," I say, knowing she would want me to take her side. He scoffs, which makes me mad when someone makes that annoying sound. It basically is a sound that says "I'm better than you, I'm right and you're wrong".

"But she doesn't have to leave her best friends while doing so," he says. I hate to admit it, but he's right. I hate when he says bad stuff behind Ashley's back, because this isn't the first time. But he has a point. "Let's just go to bio," I say.

"Welcome back class, you have a project due in two weeks, but I suggest you work on it sooner than later, since last minute would do you no good," my biology teacher spills out as she write the assignment in the chalkboard. I look at a guy across the room, who alright ahas his hand up. He is slouching in his chair, wearing his hat backwards, like a regular douche. "Yes, Kyle?" The teacher asks.

"Will we be able to work with partners?" He asked, with a stern voice so his voice didn't crack up.

"You can work in a pair. That means two," she tells us. I look beside me at Kevin and raise an eyebrow. He does the the same and I giggle softly. I write down the information in my notebook and suggest this weekend to Kevin on a separate piece of torn out paper. He nods and I smile. We'll have to do it at his house, because who knows what will be happening at mine. The teacher begins to ramble on about the project, and how it is a big part of our grade this grading period, and also what we need to do and all the little, tiny details. But all I can focus on is the guy who raised his hand, who is staring at me, as if he were staring through me. I try not to look, but that's all I can see in the corner of my eye.

I hear the bell ring, finally. I gather my books, and try to escape the classroom, but Kyle stops me. "Hey, so uh, do you wanna be partners for the project?" He asks smugly. I try to speak, but nothing comes out. Now I know why I can't get a boyfrien, I can never find my words around them. "Sorry pal, she's already got a partner," Kevin says behind me. Kyle frowns a little, but then wipes it off his face to go out into the hallway. "Thanks," I tell him. He smiles and we walk to our second period.