Chasing Astrid Malone

6. REBELION & RUMORS

"Astrid Malone, how could you" Brenda's voice was harsh and angry

"I told you, she's a liar B" Carly looked at me with disgust.

The whole senior class was behind them, shaking their heads, laughing and pointing at me, and yelling insults. I didn't care what anyone thought aside from Brenda and Carly.

"I told you this would happen, Astrid, but you obviously don't care what your friends think" Brenda turned and walked away with Carly, leaving me in the school parking lot.

I tried to run after them, but I lost them in the sea of students, all laughing at me. I couldn't lose my best friends. My world was suddenly falling apart because I was spineless.

I knew I shouldn't have gotten close to Cameron. Brenda did warn me. I ran behind the school and collapsed on the ground, bursting into tears.

"Astrid!" The voice sounded far away but steadily got louder.
"Astrid!"
"ASTRID!"

I woke up to Josh shaking me awake. I had tears and snot on my face and reached for a tissue.

"You were having a nightmare, kid. I was getting ready to leave and could hear you crying."

I looked over to the clock, and it was still really early. I didn't need to be up for another hour.

"You want to talk about it?" I shook my head at Josh in response.

"I miss him a lot too." Josh thought I was crying about our dad. That made me feel even worse because I haven't thought of Dad once in the last couple of days.

"If you change your mind, I'll be home early. We can chat when you get home. Do you need a ride today?" I shook my head again and rubbed my eyes.

"Thanks, Josh" I was grateful he woke me from that dream.

"Anytime, kid. You may want to get up now and do something with that bed head before school." He flashed me a silly grin and left.

I didn't shower last night before bed, so I was a mess. I had lots of time to spare so I could do it now before school.

I hate leaving the house with wet hair. The heat makes it frizzy. I blow-dried it in the mirror and couldn't help noticing the dark circles under my eyes.

When my hair was dry, my usual curls were now more of a wave. I grabbed some of my mom's makeup out of the medicine cabinet and put the foundation under my eyes. When I felt like a person again, I went to my room to get dressed.

Maybe it was being called beautiful and pretty recently, or perhaps it was because I still had plenty of time, but I wanted to pick something I would look good wearing. After looking through my jeans and sweatpants, I remembered I had a box of clothes in the closet I deemed uncomfortable and stored away.

Pulling it out, I found a pair of light blue skinny jeans with the rips intentionally placed in them. My mom bought them for me, but they were tight-fitting, and I never wore them.

I fished around for shirts and found a white tank top with the tags still on. Looking myself over in the mirror, I looked like a different person. I could be mistaken for someone who cares about their appearance. Knowing there's a rumor going around at school that I'm sleeping with Cameron Beck, some extra confidence could come in handy today.