Look Past the Surface

I flipped to the next page of my book. The Georgia sunshine fell favorably upon me that day, for as the dusk was approaching, the temperature was perfect. It was a dry day, for Georgia, and the sun warmed me but the air was cool enough. It was early September by then, and, despite the perfect weather, my life had been coming undone for two months. Two months of being a freshman at the biggest school in the county, and two months of knowing a certain kid.

(Speaking of the devil...)

I heard an engine noise, the sound that should be familiar to anyone who lives in a modern society, and when I turned, I saw a car pulling into the neighbor's driveway. Very messily. And who was at the wheel but Cole himself.

I rolled my eyes. Cole told me about how he occasionally "borrowed" his mom's extra car to drive around on Friday nights, and, since he was Cole, he always had something to do. What I told him at freshman orientation was slowly coming true, he was becoming quite popular. And I was a little afraid that he would soon stop talking to me or just forget about me completely.

But at that time, he was a good friend, as good of a friend as one can be when you've known them all but two months.

I was snapped back to reality when I saw the girl. It may just have been my hazy vision from my eyes being used to focusing on the tiny print in the book, but I thought I saw another person in the car with him. But it couldn't have been my hazy vision, for I recognized the girl. Gasping, I hid behind a post on my porch and watched the scene unfurl. Yes, I knew that I was being creepy.

It was Liah Wiles. She was pretty distinct. I suppose she wasn’t too ugly, but she had a face that stood out. She had full-ish lips, an almost grotesquely upturned nose, and slanted blue eyes. Her hair was the most distinct part of her, though. It was mostly a shiny blond except for three-inch-long frizzy roots and black streaks that cascaded down the length of her hair. According to my friends who knew her better than I did, every girl at her school was jealous of her body. She had D cups already, at the age of fourteen, and yet her stomach was flat and her butt mostly nonexistent. Everyone tried to pretend that they didn't know that her rack was daddy's going-into-high-school present.

The main reason I was so surprised to see her was because she went to Fehl, which was at least eight miles away. I had seen Liah at some of Jack's football games, being an obnoxious cheerleader and looking like a senior. Jack had told me himself that she was a total whore. I suppose now that I should have been more worried about how my boyfriend knew that.

So... Why the fuck was she at Cole's?

They were laughing. She was twirling a strand of artificial hair around a skinny finger and laughing in a disgusting, nasally way. Cole smirked at her, and it was a look that gave me chills. Not because it was sexy, but because it was scary. Cole was my friend, but I knew exactly what he wanted to do, and was going to do. I bit my hand to keep from screaming. Ew... That's just gross.

I ducked inside quickly, and out the window, I saw Cole look up at my house. A flash of emotion crossed his face... Guilt? Surprise? Shame? Or... Pity?

If it was indeed pity, than I didn't think I could handle it. Pity was the last thing I wanted. Pity is what I got every day from every person who had someone to walk with in the halls. Sometimes I had Cole, but not all the time. And when I was walking alone I became sensitive to the little looks that I got from the people I passed on my way to class.

I took a deep breath and looked back out the window. They weren't outside any longer- thank GOD- but I could see them in Cole's room. And, I was curious. So I watched, and I felt my jaw drop.

They were sloppily making out. He had her pressed up against the wall, his muscles rippling as he pressed against her. She seemed to like it...

I felt like gagging. It was about when they laid down on his bed that my phone began to ring.

I jumped a good three feet into the air, my heart pounding from the unexpected noise that ripped through my anxious thoughts. I went to my phone and picked it up off the counter. Huh, how odd. It was Jack. He almost never called, usually we stuck to texting.

(I know, weird, right?)

But I answered the phone.

And slowly what little I had left of my unraveling life crumbled.