Secrets and Lies

Chapter 5

The phone rang once, twice, and on the third ring a voice called out enthusiastically, "Oh my gosh, Mina! It's about time you called."

"Hi, Lex," I replied, feeling my throat tighten at the sound of her voice. I hadn't realized how much I had missed her until I had heard her beautiful voice.

I had decided a call to Lexi was well overdue, so I called and updated her on everything that was going on. I haven't had a chance to call her since arriving here and I knew that if I didn't do it soon, I would get an angry call from her demanding I tell her everything about the move so far. I was partially surprised she had restrained herself this long.

"How are you? How's school?" She asked with anticipation.

"I'm good. School's good," I replied shortly. I wasn't sure how much I wanted to tell her. I didn't want to rub it in her face that I had already made friends. Would she think I was replacing her?

"Oh come on, Mina. You know you have to give me more than that," she insisted, not accepting my answer.

I decided to start on a safer topic than new friendships. "I met a really cute guy," I blurted.

"Oh, tell me everything," she squealed, and I knew she was listening intently.

"His name is Josh," I said, as I moved over to sit on my bed. I didn't give her his last name-afraid she might start stalking him Facebook and Instagram. "He's tall, dark hair, piercing hazel eyes," I rolled my eyes, knowing that was exactly how Lexi would describe a guy like that.

"I have one class and lunch with him. He seems like a really nice guy. I don't think I have anything bad to say about him," I told her truthfully.

I contemplated telling her about my instant attraction to Josh, but decided not to; afraid she'd either make a big deal about or find it kind of weird.

"You should definitely pursue that," Lexi encouraged with a slight giggle.

"Don't worry, I'm trying. You know me though Lex, I don't have much, or really any, experience with these kinds of things," I expressed my doubts on what to do. Lexi was the one that has had boyfriends, not me.

"Just be yourself, Mina," she said like it was that simple. "That's all you need to do."

"Yeah, thanks," I said, though still not fully convinced.

A loud muffled voice came from Lexi side of the phone. "I have to go Mina. I'll talk to you soon."

"Bye, Lexi."

"Keep me updated on that guy," she added before I could hang up.

"I will. Bye."

~*~

"You know it's the second day of school when you already have homework and it's only second period," Courtney complained as we walked to our lockers.

Mrs. Winston had loaded on the homework giving us a whole page of problems to solve. I shoved my Algebra II book, along with the loose leaf paper tucked inside to hold my page, into my locker. I removed my Physical Science book for next period and put it in my bag.

"I have a feeling this is going to be a daily thing with Mrs. Winston," I groaned, not liking her already. "She just seems like the type that enjoys making us miserable by giving out homework."

Courtney rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Great," she replied while shoving her book into her locker and retrieving some papers from inside. "Hey, what if we got together after school and work on it together? Between the two of us, we can probably get done a lot quicker."