The More my Heart Flutters

Chapter 1

Waking up early in the morning and instantly, I'm blinded by the bright sun. it was morning and it was time for me to get ready for school at Strawberry Lake High School. 

My school is like any other high school. It has bullies, jocks, cheerleaders, geeks, outcasts, and the bystanders.  What I love most about my school is my boyfriend Tommy Howard. 

Tommy is the most beautiful boy at Strawberry and the most popular. When I went to sleep last night all I had dreamed about was him.

I sit up in my bed and slid my feet in my pink slippers. I look at the clock and I notice that I'm awake twenty minutes too early, but that just gives me more time to get ready.

I grab my rag and towel off a hanger on my closet and ran straight to the bathroom. 

I ran a nice bubble bath with a nice watermelon scent in the air. And I close my eyes and think about Tommy.

 My man always makes my heart flutter. Tommy is the captain of the football team and Strawberry High's most promising player. 

People always say Wanda Weber  and Tommy Howard are the "it" couple of  Strawberry High.   

 As head cheerleader, it's obvious we would be together. Not only am I head cheerleader, but I'm the first Half African - Half German 16 year old girl to become head cheerleader. And he is the only  Cuban- Trinidadian boy to become captain of the football team.

Even though Strawberry Lake is rich in Diversity. Me and Tommy are the two out of six kids in Strawberry who are mixed raced. Though I'm still different from girls at Strawberry High, from my skin tone, hair texture and slim figure, I'm one of the most attractive and hottest girls at the school. So, Tommy and I having a relationship is a given.

Because I'm head cheerleader and Tommy's girl, there are a lot of chicks in school who don't like me. Which I don't even understand myself because I'm always the first person who will show you kindness and I always stand up for kids who get bullied.

Yet I'm still the most popular and most hated .

My best friends and only real friends,Tiffany and Amanda, say its because other girls feel like I think too highly of myself . Which I kinda do sometimes but its not like I brag and go up to other girls and say it to their face. I simply keep such inner thoughts to myself. 

But, I personally believe the hate is just jealousy.

I stepped out of the shower and stood my naked body in front of the mirror, analyzing my face and blushing at how naturally pretty I am without  makeup on. I'm the type of girl with a cute baby face , but when I put makeup on this 16 year old girl becomes a women. 

I sat in my Betty Boo chair in front of the mirror with my makeup kits and hair essentials splattered all over my large dresser. I always wake up early in the morning to shower so that I will have extra time to sit in front of the mirror and do my makeup and hair. I have naturally puffy hair so it takes more than twenty minutes to do my hair and beat my face.

I was getting fully dressed, when I turn around to look at the clock on my dresser and see my mother standing in the doorway with a concerned look on her face.  Every morning she would come into my room and criticize my outfit and the makeup I had on.  

   In my life, my biggest critic and hater is my mother. She never can simply compliment me or even cheer me on  when I win awards at school or trophies from my dance competitions. 

She'll only tell me to do better if I want to be Perfect. It's as if it will kill her to say "Wanda, I'm proud of you".            

  I stared at her with a "bitch face" as she walked closer towards me , ready for her to say something negative about my choice of style and makeup today.  

   She stood in front of me without even uttering a single word with a focused face as she looked me up and down analyzing my outfit.    

  My mother looked me in the face and began stroking my curly brown hair that fell down to my waist. My mother looked me in the eyes and gave a fake smile and said

     " Oh, sweetie that dark eye shadow color just doesn't match your skin tone. Why don't you wear a lighter eye color. Also,  put more powder to make your dark complexion seem a little bit more lighter. You will look much prettier."                      

 My mom doesn't understand the meaning of the things she says sometimes. To tell a teen girl she  should try to make herself  more lighter just to seem pretty is a major blow to a girl's insecurities.                                                                                                                                                                      

 Sadly, my mom is  just like that.  When I was only nine years old, my mother told me 'I needed to straighten my hair all the time so I can participate in dance competitions in town, because I was gonna  be the only black girl there and I needed to fit in'.  Even then at a young age I knew her words were wrong. 

 Sometimes I think my mom doesn't realize how hurtful it is to tell a young black girl to make her skin lighter. 

She acts like she was never a young black girl once who had no choice but to love the skin she's in because no one else will. 

I just don't understand her, but I know I have to obey her.