Chapter 1
Julia Schafer's POV:
Its seventh period and the clock has struck 3:45, immediately the sound of anxious teenagers' feet pounding down the hall can be heard. I mean why wouldn't they be so quick to get out of here? It is Friday after all, but, as usual i stayed back in the classroom and waited for the stampede to pass.
As i stepped out of the classroom i waited for my best friend, Dean to come out of his class too. When i looked down the hall-two doors down...Mrs. Fisher-i saw the one and only Dean Hemings swagger out of his classroom clad in his football jersey, proudly reppin the title of team captain for the Kiowa High grizzlies.
"Hey, Jules!! wait up," Dean remarked as he lightly jogged down the hall when he caught a glance of me. I threw on my usual fake smile, "not like I had anywhere else to be," i replied as he halted to a stop next to me.
"Ha Ha, very funny, so how was my bestie's day?" He asked lightly nudging me in the shoulder while doing a fake valley girl accent at the end. I grimaced at the fail of an accent and glanced over at him.
"Great," i lied "how bout you?"
"Well...I got Sandy Gee's number!' I chuckled at the name but cringed at the same time.
"CMON bro, You can do much better than that," I thought aloud.
"Julia, are you kidding me? Have you seen her? I mean...that as-"
"OK, OK ill just take your word for it."
"Ha, alright well leggo! Wanna get some ice cream?"
I pondered the thought of actually eating something and figured it would be ok to just have a couple bites. "Yea, lets do that," I said with a semi-genuine smile.
As we pulled up to the ice cream parlor i kind of started to regret my decision. I stayed in the car and stared at the football team and half of the cheerleading squad, while he stepped out. "Hey, cmon..."
"Ill just stay here, can you get me a small chocolate cone?"
"Umm, ok..." he said with hesitance.
As i sit in the car, i look out the windshield. One of the football players notices me and goes up to Dean. I watch as he taps on Dean's shoulder and points at the very car I'm sitting in. I shrink back out of embarrassment because at this point almost half the team is looking over here.
Luckily, Dean seems to notice my awkwardness and speeds up the conversation with his football buddy. When he finally gets back to the car i reluctantly take my ice cream from him.
"Hey, what was that about?" I ask trying to play it off like i had NO idea they were talking about me. "Brayden and I were just chatting," not wanting to further this conversation i sit back in my seat and stare at the slowly melting ice cream cone. Poor little ice cream.
"Aren't you going to eat it?" I hear Dean softly ask, i look at him then the ice cream then once more back at him before settling my eyes on the road in front of us. I can feel his gaze on me as i bring the little treat to my lips. As soon as the frozen delicacy enters my mouth Dean looks back at the road, satisfied with my consumption of the ice cream.
"So, what ya doin tomorrow night?" Dean asks me hopefully.
"Nothing, like usual...but i don't feel like going anywhere so whatever you're going to ask me to do the answer is a solid 'no'," I reply in all truthfulness.
"Well then, it looks like i'll be coming over tomorrow then and we can hang out all day," he drags out the 'l' on all as if he's TRYING to annoy me.
"Ok, see you then, but unfortunately our time together is cut short because after all this is my house," I say taking a lick of my ice cream
"It looks as though that is true, until tomorrow JuJu," he says calling me the odd nickname he gave me when we were mere imbeciles and he couldn't pronounce Julia.
"Adios Deanie Weeny," i watch him grimaces at the hilarious nickname while i climb out of the car. When i get out fully and step onto my driveway he drives off and i watch as he pulls into the next house's drive way. I walk up to my front door and he walks up to his. With one last wave to each other we're both inside our houses doing whatever it is we do after school.
I know the first thing im gonna do is throw this retched cone away and wash my-now VERY sticky-hands. After i throw it away i go into my bathroom upstairs and begin scrubbing away at my hands. As i stare at my hands in focus i start to hear little squeaks almost like someone is trying to speak to me. I ignore it knowing what it is. After I'm done washing my hands i get a sickening feeling in my stomach. I run to the toilet and let up whatever contents I have out. Keep in mind that all I do (or did) have in my stomach was water and a couple licks of an ice cream cone.
Once thats over i lean on the wall and think about how my day went. 1st period- nothing bad but a couple snickers from some chicks sitting in the corner. 2nd period- a comment from the same guy as usual "looking uglier than usual today Julia," he spat my name like a disease. 3rd period- nothing...unusual. 4th period- Nothing only because i blocked out the world with my hidden headphone trick. Lunch- well, nothing because i sit next to Dean during lunch, but i didn't eat anything as usual. 5th period- Sarah slapped me at the end of class but thats not out of the ordinary. 6th period- there's nobody mean in that class so, nothing. 7th period- Sarah tripped me and her little airhead blondies laughed in the background.
Dean doesn't know about the things that happen...and I intend to keep it that way.
