The Silhouette of a Girl

Chapter 23

     As I go to school, I get Cindy's papers for her and help her get through them, since none of her "friends" would even consider helping her. I would go to my other classes and sense that I felt... happy, in a way. I would get ready for my concerts in April and continue through drama competition like a breeze. I would struggle to understand a couple of topics in some of my classes, but I ended up figuring it out every time. Usually, helping Cindy figure out some things would help me. Everyday when I got home, I would tell my parents how Cindy is doing, how school is going along, and any new gossip that I would find. Tootsie would come around and we would relax before we had to start worrying about our yearly tests.

     "So, how is loverboy these days?" asked Tootsie. I start to blush but got a thoughtful look on my face, "He's pretty good. Worrying about tests and college applications, but good. Although he's been kind of distant since he's been working, we still enjoy each other's time." She understood, then I told her this, "He did say that I made him a better person, though. And that he felt I was his perfect match." Her eyes got wider and she responded, "so like the soulmate that you've always dreamt about?" I nodded towards her with a full smile. We then continued our casual chat about everything else and it eventually got to the time where we have to get ready for bed.

     The next day, I walk into the building on Liam's arm and as happy as can be. I then see a girl walking our way down from the hall, with her mid thigh length skin-tight dress and makeup looking fierce, I don't think she wants to say any pleasantries. She had a diamond shape face, honey brown colored eyes, dark brown hair to about her shoulders, and a "barbie-doll" type of makeup look. She was about 5'2 with and hourglass figure, and she obviously kept in shape. I grab Liam's hand and give it a squeeze. "Hey there baby," she purred in her slick, persuasive voice, "wanna come over to my place later tonight?" She ran a manicured finger down his chest in a seductive manner. He grabbed her hand and brought it away from his chest. As politely as he could, he said "Sorry, but I have a girlfriend, who is right here by the way, and you're being extremely rude trying to get with me while I have this amazing woman." She then looked shocked and glanced at me, supposedly, for the first time before composing herself. "Oh. This was actually a dare, you can ask my friends. I am so, so sorry." She started to blush a little and she seemed genuine. I watched her as she walked away, with a slight sway in her hips and flipping her hair, maybe she wasn't so genuine.

     "Angel, you with me?" Liam said, making me look away from the mysterious girl. I nodded and wrapped my arm around his, squeezing a little. We smiled at each other and waited for the first bell to ring, signaling that we should head to class.

     As the day went on, I found out who the seductress really was. Her name was Bekah, also called Bird by her close friends, and she was the replacement head cheerleader since Cindy's accident. I talked with Cindy about her at the hospital, Bekah was always trying to take her place on the squad. She was very competitive and wouldn't stop at almost anything. The girl was the definition of "wolf in sheep's clothing," she had a sweet front put up, but the most stone cold heart that a person can find, "She would be a great person, if she had her mind set in the right places." Cindy responded. I kind of shook my head, she was the determined type, I had to give her credit for that. I then told Cindy what happened in the hall this morning. "Oh hun, you're gonna want to keep your guard up around her then. If you thought I was bad, this chick has all the tricks up her sleeve. And somewhere else, but we won't mention that." We talked about everything else that's been happening and all of the work coming up.

     Then we mentioned the upcoming prom. The theme was "A romantic night in Venice," we had a cardboard cutout of a wooden boat with the oar, medium sized temples with vines wrapped around it, and dark backgrounds with a nice distribution of fairy lights to seem like stars in the night sky. The couples could take a picture inside the boat with a few strands of fairy lights, a couple of temples and the view of the Grand Canal in Italy. It was a romantic outline, but something always seemed to be missing. "What if we had music notes or instrument cutouts around the walls, to show that the music is in the air?" Cindy asked. "Actually, that's a great idea! When anyone pictures the boat ride in the canal, especially in Venice, there is always music playing." I told her. The juniors, like myself, were the ones that got to plan the prom, theme, look, and everything else. We had certain work days where we went to put it all together before the big day. I later sent a message to the junior student council president and they agreed that would be an excellent idea.

     I came home and immediately felt the tense atmosphere. "Hey, what's going on? What happened?" My mother came to me with tears in her eyes and gave me a tightly enclosed hug. "Honey, it's Liam. His close aunt got in a car accident today, the family just found out about it a couple of minutes ago. She was dead on site." I gasped and tried to keep myself from reaching for my phone immediately to call Liam, sensing there was more to the story. Apparently the whole family is going to have the funeral this weekend, and wanted to see if I would want to come for Liam's sake. I told her yes and asked if there was anything else, which there wasn't. I immediately called Liam's phone to ask how he was handling it, but it went straight to voicemail. I went outside telling my parents that I was going to the ranch that Liam worked at and would be back as soon as I could. I got into my mom's charcoal grey 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid and started off. It takes about 2 hours to drive to the ranch, so I got some gas and a couple of drinks for the long trip. I just hoped that he would be okay.