Beauty in the Shadows

Chapter 1

February's POV
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"Good morning mom! Did you remember to buy me more notebook paper? I think the kids at school are starting to get annoyed by me asking for paper every second." I walked straight to the kitchen, which was across from my bedroom, and sat at the breakfast table. My mom would always wake up extra early to get ready for work and to see my sister and I leave safely for school.
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"No honey, sorry. You know my salary is not as high as your fathers plus we really needed some more toilet tissue." She replied.
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It's been five years since my father ran off. He said that marriage was too stressful and he needed a break. At the time I was 11 and my sister, Hope, was 9. Next thing you know he leaves a note on my mothers bed stating he found his other half and planned to move to Florida. My mom has not gotten over it yet, obviously. She also refuses to move on with her life and find someone better. She spends too much time fanticising his reappearance, which is never going to happen.
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"Mom stop! I can't take it anymore. Dad is not coming back and he never will. He left a very long time ago and you know that. So please stop bringing him up. Forget the ones who forgot you." I staggered back.
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Silence .....
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"Okay baby. I packed you and your sister's lunch bag, it's over on the counter. And please make sure you guys are home on time today. I'll be at a new job interview and you need to watch papa." She scurried off into her bedroom, slammed the door, and began to weep. A tear struggled to make its way down my cheek, but I had forbidden it to.
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"Hope! Let's go, Mark will be here any second and you know he doesn't like to wait!" Mark and I met in the eighth grade and we've been together ever since. He's always been there for me and my family and he even helps us with financial problems. I love Mark so much that I'm his lock and he's my key.
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I walked over to grandpa's room and peeked in. "Okay papa I'm headed off to school now and I'll be back soon."
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"It's not like he can hear you anyway Febs." Hope smirked as she walked out her bedroom.
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"Sometimes he understands, but he's not deaf."
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"He's invisible."
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I rolled my eyes and closed his door quietly. I turned around and walked into the living room where Hope was standing. "Where do you think your going dressed like that. That skirt is way to tight and that shirt shows a bit to much cleavage. Go change!" I raised my voice as if I were a soldier. Hope would always dress this way to impress the boys at school. All they'd do is lean on cars and play loud rap music. They would sag their pants so low and get a new tattoo every week. They even get into big fights which sends the to juvenile court.
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"Leave me alone Febs. You dress how you want and I dr-"
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BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
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"Oh look, Mark's here. Guess it's too late to change now or we'll be late. I'm sure you don't want me getting in the way of your success." Hope said innocently with a smile and skipped out the front door and into the backseat of Mark's truck. I bit my lip and clenched my fists following her out the door and into his car.
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"Hey bae, what's up?" He greeted me in his deep manly voice. He leaned over, placing his hand on my shoulder, and giving me a kiss on the cheek. I smiled back and began to blush.
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"Nothing much, but we really need to get to school before the bell rings."
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"That's my girl," he chuckled. "our love is forever..."
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"Always has been..."
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"Always will be..." he ended.
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It took him about 2 times to get Betsy started. I wasn't surprised. His truck, Betsy, was an old Dodge and had rust all over it. As soon as he tried again we were on our way. We headed down the streets out of our neighborhood to Standford High School. It was not a horrible neighborhood that we lived in. It was just not great. Many front yards were not cared for and fast food wrappers, grocery bags, and newspapers were everywhere. I despised that. Every other day my sister and I, and some of my friends, would take our time cleaning up the streets. It just felt like a battle we were never going to win.
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As we were getting closer to school, I began to think about my literature project Mrs. Green assigned to us. Mine was about wildlife. I hope to visit it one day and take pictures and enjoy the moment.
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"Here!" Hope yelled and rushed out the car into the school to meet her stuck up friends.
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"It's 8:33 and the bell's about to ring in any second." I grabbed my stuff and step out the truck into Stanford. Mark drove off into the parking lot to find a place to park so that he wouldn't be late too.
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Before you knew I was in class and the bell rang seconds after. "Whoo, made it." I cheered to myself.
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"I hope you all have completed your projects and it is ready to be truned in. Raise your hand if you have completed your project." Mrs. Green announced. I shot my hand in the air as fast as a bullet. I looked around the classroom to see no one but me and my bestfriend, Camilla, with our hands raised.
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"Well this is not shocking. Thank you February and Camilla, 10 plus extra points for being the only two." Mrs. Green joyfully said.
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Camilla and I were her favorite students. We would always do our work on time and get good grades. Sometimes we even stay back after school to help grade papers.
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"Okay class I'll now assign you into groups of two. This activity allows you to get to know your classmates better. You have 3 minutes until you switch partners." Mrs. Green then grabbed a sombrero off her desk, which contained our names.
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No,why is she doing this, I thought. Why can't we just pick our own partners. We're in the eleventh grade for crying out loud. I'm sure we can handle associating with our classmates. If I don't get paired with Camilla, who would I be paired with. I closed my eyes and crossed my fingers hoping to be paired with her.
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"Tyrone and Daisha," Mrs.Green began picking out names from the hat. "Hassan and Tyriek, Camilla and Tonisher...."
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"Shoot." I mumbled under my breath. Now I was just sitting there waiting like it was a game show and lost 1 million dollars.
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"Dave and John," she continued. "February and Conswayla." she then finished the rest of the names.
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No! Not Conswayla the girl that wears tight skirts and tight crop to expose her self. No, not Conswayla, the girl that is seen every week with a new boyfriend. Not Conswayla, the girl that wears cheap jewelry and cheap perfume.
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I turned my head to look over at her, who was staring at me smiling. Mrs. Green ordered everyone to make their way towards their partners. Conswayla then got up and walked to me. Ugh.
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"Hey girl. Well don't you look all upside down today. What's up?" she said as she smacked on her gum.
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It was uneasy for me to meet new people, especially a girl like Conswayla, someone my mom would call, low class. These were the type of people that drank, got into fights, get pregnant in high school, and messed up the neighborhood. Although Conswayla did not seem like a girl that did those thing, but she sure looked like it.
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"So where were you born?" I asked. She slapped her hand down the desk and her bracelets jingled like Santa's slay. "Well baby girl I'm from Queens, New Yo-"
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BANG! BANG! BANG!
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"Everybody duck, keep quiet and find a place to hide! Nobody move a muscle." Mrs. Green yelled in fright.
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Oh no!