January 9th. 11:17pm.
Dear Diary...
I sit by myself in my English classroom, pretending to listen to Mrs. Pierce talk about Shakespeare, or Charles Dickens, or... Somebody like that; I completely lost track of the whole lecture. My head rested on my hand, I thrum the fingers on my left hand against the wooden table, staring blankly at the front, my mind elsewhere. I can't stop thinking about Remiula and the beautiful pendent she presented me with. I feel so awful that I didn't think to buy her a lovely gift like she had so thoughtfully done for me. I must think of a way to repay her.
"Alexis," I hear a voice from far away call. "Hello? Anybody home?"
I shake my head, focus my eyes and see that Mrs. Pierce (and pretty much the whole class!) has her eyes trained onto me. I gulp and duck down in my seat. "Yes?" I croak.
"Did you hear what I asked?" She said, clearly annoyed. Mrs. Pierce wasn't the most friendly of teachers. But she certainly wasn't the strictest. She was normally nice to me, unless I wasn't paying attention in class, like today.
I gaze upon her slightly wrinkled eyes and blink rapidly, trying to recall whether or not I actually heard what her question was. Coming up empty, I decide to admit defeat and reply with. "No... Sorry, Ma'am." I sigh. Today was not going well. I hear a snicker from the table beside me and glance over. Katie Fletcher. Of course. Katie Fletcher is basically that "beautiful and thin" type that I mentioned previously. With her long, flowing blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes, she's the vision of beauty. Everybody loves her. All the boys want to date her, and all the girls want to be her. It's pretty pathetic really. And to top it off, she thinks she's so "good and pure" because she goes to church once a week; so she thinks she can get away with treating people like crap because she's God's angel or some shit. I shoot her a look and roll my eyes, focusing back on Mrs. Pierce who seemed to be growing more impatient by the second.
Mrs. Pierce sighs. "Fine, I will repeat the question, please pay attention this time, Alexis," She says, placing a hand on her hip. "What is one thing the author Charles Dickens famous for?" She asks, gnawing on her bottom lip slightly. I noticed she does this a lot when she's frustrated or impatient.
"Uh..." I put my hand on my head, concentrating. "He's a novelist." I reply, knowing that answer was stupid the second it passed my lips.
"Yes. Yes he was a novelist, one of the great novelists in the world. But what was one of his greatest accomplishments?"
"I'm sorry. I don't know."
She rolls her eyes. "Well if you were paying attention instead of day dreaming you'd know the answer, wouldn't you, Miss. Foster? Can anybody else answer the question?"
"He invented the paperback book." A girl named Maria answers, smiling triumphantly. Maria isn't a bitch like Katie is, so I don't mind her answering the question and showing me up. She's relatively nice; quiet, in fact. I've never really spoken to her. But she seems nice enough.
"Good," Mrs. Pierce replies, nodding. "Please stay awake during my classes in future, Alexis." She says before continuing with talking about things that I didn't really give a damn about.
The last half a hour of English class seems to fly by, honestly, because before I know it I'm gathering my things and heading out the door to meet Remiula for lunch. Which is a huge relief. I make my way to our regular meeting spot, the old pine tree at the back of the sports field. We've always loved that spot because it's quiet, hardly anybody ever goes there. There is a bench that we always sit on, even when it's raining, in which we carved our names into.
I sit down on the old wooden seat and place my bag next to me. Luckily it's a decent day, well, as decent as January can get. The sun is just peaking through the thinning clouds and shining down to Earth, causing the pine tree to cast a shadow below. The air is chilly, but only chilly enough to need a coat; not too chilly that it's impossible to sit outside for very long. I fold my arms behind my head and gaze up at the shy, breathing in the fresh winter air. I close my eyes.
"Alexis!" I hear a sweet voice call from not far away. My eyes spring open and fix onto Remiula, who is running toward me, smiling and waving. I smile widely at her and wave, moving my bag so she can sit down. "Hey, sorry I took so long. Have you been here a while?"
"Nah, I just got here, don't sweat it." I say. She wraps an arm around me, pulling me in to a one-armed hug. "How was class?" I ask, pulling out a cucumber sandwich from my bag.
"Excruciatingly boring," She laughs. "How about you?"
"The same, really. I got in trouble for day dreaming."
"Oh, really?" Remi says, taking a sip of apple juice. "What were you day dreaming about?"
I avert my gaze and focus on my sandwich. Which, admittedly, is pretty darn delicious. "Oh... I was thinking about the necklace," I say. Remiula stays quiet, waiting for me to continue. "And I was thinking about how bad I feel that I didn't buy you anything for Christmas and I was thinking of ways to make it up to you." I look at her and take a bite of sandwich.
"Don't be so ridiculous!" She laughs loudly. "You don't have to make it up to me, silly. You're my best friend. That's all I need,"
"Oh my god, Remi, you are so cheesy some times!" I tilt my head back, laughing. "But I will make it up to you because this -" I gesture to the pendant. "- is so gorgeous and I just have to get you something in return." I insist.
"Well, if you must... I saw a really adorable sports car that I am dying to get my hands on!"
"Hah, as if I can pay for that with my allowance!" I say.
"I know. I'm kidding. For reals though, don't get me anything. All I could possibly want is right here on this bench. You, and this sandwich that I'm going to steal," She smiles devilishly and swipes my other cucumber sandwich and takes a bite out of it, making "mmm" and slurping sounds.
"You're so lame," I say, punching her arm lightly. "But I love you."
"Love you too, Lex," She smiles, a hint of redness forming on her cheeks. "Come on and eat. Before class starts!"
"Aye, aye, cap'n!"
