Walking into the cafeteria Layla Thompson was shocked to see that it exactly the way people talked about it. She hadn’t believed it before, but seeing it now it was very obvious that everyone rotated around the Populars.
The Populars were sitting on the outer corner, while everyone crowded around them. Sitting close so that it would look like they were popular too.
Layla, being new, had no idea at all where she was supposed to sit. Secretly she wanted to be like those other people, crowding around the Populars trying to look cool. but that would look shallow, and she didn’t want to look shallow on her first day.
Someone bumped into her from behind, almost sending her tray flying. She caught herself fast enough though, so no embarrassing mess was involved. She was so relieved about that that she didn’t even notice the boy apologizing profusely.
“Oh, it’s alright,“ she said, she said when she finally noticed him. She tucked some of her crazy curly hair behind her ear. She had dyed it bright red for high school. The boy was only slightly taller than her, which was still tall since she was almost six feet. He had bright green eyes, slightly tan skin and light brown curls that were almost waves.
“Your hair,” the guy said pointing at it, “it’s gorgeous.”
“Thanks,” she beamed, the first compliment she had gotten for it.
“I’m Thomas,” the guy said.
“Layla,” she said. “are you new?”
“A freshman,” Thomas said.
“Same,” Layla said, happy to run into another freshman. Someone just as confused as she was.
“So, where are you sitting?” Thomas asked.
Layla frowned, back to the dilemma she was in. Where do freshman sit? People who haven’t been organized yet.
“Ah, I see,” Thomas said, “confused?”
“Yep,” Layla said, “I don’t know where I should sit.”
“Where do you want to sit?” Thomas asked.
Layla paused, not sure if she should answer honestly. What if Thomas hated Populars, and anyone who wanted to be one of them?
“Hmm?” Thomas asked.
Layla pointed to the corner where the Populars were and waited for his response.
“Ah, the Populars,” Thomas said, “I didn’t exactly peg you as a Popular girl. I was thinking something like a rebel, with your red hair and all.”
“Red hair doesn’t always equal rebel,” Layla said.
Thomas shrugged, “sit where you want, I’ll follow.”
Layla was surprised by this, why was this random guy she just met going to follow her to her lunch table? I guess freshman have to stick together. She led the way to a table with only a few other people at it that was pretty close to the Populars.
“Oh, you were serious,” Thomas said sliding in next to her.
“Uhm, yeah,” Layla said. She looked over at the Populars, at the legendary Harriette Brown who seemed to turn this school around after becoming popular and her lackies, the Indian and the Korean. Layla didn’t really know their names.
Next to their table were the cheerleaders, just another level of the Populars. They all wore their cheerleading uniforms all day, even on the first day when cheer hadn’t even started yet. They were talking loudly making up about half the noise in the cafeteria.
Layla looked down at her food, for a school lunch it was actually on the better side. She had a small salad, yogurt, a hamburger, and a brownie for dessert. And all of it looked like what it was supposed to be.
She looked over at Thomas who was listening to music on his iPod. Layla wondered what he was listening to, and if it was polite to ask.
She decided that her burger looked pretty good and took a bite proving that it was pretty good. She finished her burger and moved on to her yogurt. This is how she always ate, one food at a time.
Suddenly she noticed that that the other girls sitting at the table were staring at them.
“Hi?” She said.
“Hi,” one of the girls said, this girl had crazy blond curls. Not crazy like Layla’s, but crazy nonetheless. “What are you doing here?”
“Eating?” Layla said.
“Yeah,” the girl said.
Layla just smiled hesitantly.
“You’re a freshman?” Another girl asked, this one with dark brown curls. Layla noticed that lots of people had curls here, weird.
“Yeah,” Layla said.
“Cute,” the blond one said. “I was a freshman last year.”
“That’s nice,” Layla said.
“Yeah, she was a freshman and already on her way to popularity,” the brunette said.
“Yeah?” Layla said, wanting to know more.
“She was a cheerleader, but this year she wants to play a different sport,” she continued.
“Like soccer or track,” the blond said.
“I played soccer in elementary,” Layla said. And she was pretty bad at it.
“Oh,” the blond said, “it is a pretty old school sport? I’ll go with track.”
“I’m Layla,” Layla said.
“Layla,” the blond one said. “cute. Your hair is amazing.”
“Thanks,” Layla said. It was obviously a good idea to dye her hair.
“I’m Lexi,” the blond one said.
“And I’m Honey, “the brunette said.
“Honey? that’s cute,” Layla said
“Thanks,” Honey said, “my real name is Elizabeth but I hate it.”
“You know what?” Lexi said, grinning, “you should be our friend.”
“Really?” Layla said.
“Sure,” Honey said.
“Your super cute and you have curls like us,” Lexi said.
“Well a lot of people have curls,” Layla.
“But not naturally,” Lexi said, “ and I can tell that those are natural.”
Layla shrugged, “okay then.”
“What about your friend?” Lexi asked, gesturing towards Thomas who was not paying any attention at all.
“Oh, that’s Thomas,” Layla said, “I just met him.”
“Well he’s cute, he can be friends with us too,” Lexi said.
“If he wants,” Honey said.
Layla poked Thomas to get his attention. He jumped as if he was asleep and then looked around slightly confused.
“These are my new friends, Lexi and Honey,” Layla said.
“Honey? That can’t be her real name,” Thomas said.
“It’s not,” Layla said, “she doesn’t like her real name.”
“What is it?” Thomas asked
“Elizabeth,” Layla said.
“That’s like ten times better than Honey,” Thomas said. “Honey sounds like a stripper name.”
Honey looked hurt.
“Don’t be so rude,” Layla said.
“So these are your new friends?” Thomas asked.
Layla nodded.
“Well, then I guess you don’t need me anymore,” Thomas said. Before Layla could even reply to that he was up and walking across the cafeteria.
“Huh?” Lexi said.
“Wow, rude,” Honey said.
Layla shrugged, she had only just met him. It wasn’t that big of a deal. And now she already had two almost popular friends on her first day of high school.
This looked good.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
“It’s okay, I don’t bite."
The school felt weird to AeGuk without Fedora, empty. It was also impossible not to think about her here, back in Korea he could just space out. But not here. Here she was everywhere. There wasn’t a single place in this whole school that Fedora and AeGuk had not hung out. And everytime he walked by one of those spots he thought of her.
Walking into homeroom alone was a challenge, made worse by Harriette and her crew staring at him like he was an alien. He braced himself when Harriette waved him over, what would the Populars want with him?
“Hi!” Harriette said, “Hows it going?”
“Uh-um,” AeGuk stuttered, nervous that she’d ask about Fedora.
“It’s okay, I don’t bite,” Harriette teased, “I just want to know what’s up?
“N-nothing,” AeGuk said.
“So your summer was good?” Harriette asked.
“Uhm, y-yeah,” he said.
Harriette smiled, “good, I just wanted to make sure you were fine.”
“Wh-why w-wouldn’t.... I b-b-be.” he said, he knew the next part of this conversation..
Harriette frowned, “because of, you know, the breakup?”
AeGuk bit his lip, he didn’t want to talk about this, “I’m f-f-fine.”
“Okay, see you later,” Harriette said, waving him away.
AeGuk walked away and sat at a table in the back. He should have known they just wanted to talk about Fedora. Now he felt even worse.
“Hey,” someone said, causing AeGuk to jump.
“Uhm?” AeGuk said, turning to see Collin. What was he doing here?
“Sorry for scaring you,” Collin said, sitting down next to him.
“It-it’s okay,” AeGuk stuttered.
“I just wanted to apologize about Harriette back there,” Collin said, gesturing towards the Populars, “she didn’t know she was being nosy. I’m sure you didn’t want to talk about Fedora.”
“Uh-uhm, yeah, I I g-guess.” AeGuk said, he wished he would just magically stop stuttering, “It it’s okay, th-though.”
Collin looked at him for a while, which made AeGuk sort of uncomfortable.
“I like your hair,” Collin finally said, “it’s nice longer.”
“Uhm, th-thanks,” AeGuk said.
“See you later,” Collin said, getting up and sitting back with the others. AeGuk just turned back to the front, and tried not to think about what Fedora would say about that weird conversation. But Fedora had opinions on everything and he could practically hear her say “he obviously likes you.” But hearing her voice in his head was really the last thing he wanted.
Fortunately homeroom started and he could be happily distracted again.
---
Even though cell phones were not technically allowed in school Harriette called Fedora at lunch.
“Your lucky I’m not in school right now,” Fedora answered on the third ring.
“It’s me, Harriette,” Harriette said.
“Shouldn’t you be in school?” Fedora asked.
”I am, it’s lunch time,” Harriette said, “and I wanted to talk to you about something I only just found out even though I should have found out back in July.”
“Oh?” Fedora said.
“You broke up with AeGuk and didn’t tell me?” Harriette asked, annoyed.
“I guess,” Fedora said, she could practically hear her shrug, “it wasn’t important. I mean I guess it was, but I didn’t want to talk about it.”
“What happened?” Harriette asked.
“Nothing,” Fedora said, “I didn’t want to date long distance.”
“So you don’t have a new boyfriend?” Harriette said.
“Uhm, no,” Fedora said, “I’m too busy to have a boyfriend.”
“Oh,” Harriette said, “DaeRi thought that’s why you broke up with him.”
“And you believed her?,” Fedora laughed, “she doesn’t even know me. Plus I wasn’t even hanging out with anyone back in july, it was just me and my dad.”
“Okay,” Harriette said, “I didn’t think so, DaeRi just thinks she knows everything.”
“She does,” Fedora said, “Well, I have to go.”
And then she hung up.
Harriette, feeling good about the previous conversation, went back to sit with her friends. She noticed that Collin was missing.
“Where’s Collin?” Harriette asked.
“Sitting with AeGuk,” DaeRi said.
“He thought he looked lonely,” Tamarai said.
“Oh,” Harriette said, thinking about earlier when he went to talk to him in homeroom. He was probably glad to get away from the Popular table, he had shown earlier just how much he had disliked being popular. Harriette hoped he wouldn’t ditch her. Last year he had been friends with Bentley, that was good because he was still popular so they still hung around in the same crowd. But AeGuk, he was a loser, a nerd, a dweeb. If he hung out with him then he would be dubbed one too. Harriette wouldn’t let that happen.
But lunch for one day wouldn’t hurt. He’ll look charitable.
Walking into homeroom alone was a challenge, made worse by Harriette and her crew staring at him like he was an alien. He braced himself when Harriette waved him over, what would the Populars want with him?
“Hi!” Harriette said, “Hows it going?”
“Uh-um,” AeGuk stuttered, nervous that she’d ask about Fedora.
“It’s okay, I don’t bite,” Harriette teased, “I just want to know what’s up?
“N-nothing,” AeGuk said.
“So your summer was good?” Harriette asked.
“Uhm, y-yeah,” he said.
Harriette smiled, “good, I just wanted to make sure you were fine.”
“Wh-why w-wouldn’t.... I b-b-be.” he said, he knew the next part of this conversation..
Harriette frowned, “because of, you know, the breakup?”
AeGuk bit his lip, he didn’t want to talk about this, “I’m f-f-fine.”
“Okay, see you later,” Harriette said, waving him away.
AeGuk walked away and sat at a table in the back. He should have known they just wanted to talk about Fedora. Now he felt even worse.
“Hey,” someone said, causing AeGuk to jump.
“Uhm?” AeGuk said, turning to see Collin. What was he doing here?
“Sorry for scaring you,” Collin said, sitting down next to him.
“It-it’s okay,” AeGuk stuttered.
“I just wanted to apologize about Harriette back there,” Collin said, gesturing towards the Populars, “she didn’t know she was being nosy. I’m sure you didn’t want to talk about Fedora.”
“Uh-uhm, yeah, I I g-guess.” AeGuk said, he wished he would just magically stop stuttering, “It it’s okay, th-though.”
Collin looked at him for a while, which made AeGuk sort of uncomfortable.
“I like your hair,” Collin finally said, “it’s nice longer.”
“Uhm, th-thanks,” AeGuk said.
“See you later,” Collin said, getting up and sitting back with the others. AeGuk just turned back to the front, and tried not to think about what Fedora would say about that weird conversation. But Fedora had opinions on everything and he could practically hear her say “he obviously likes you.” But hearing her voice in his head was really the last thing he wanted.
Fortunately homeroom started and he could be happily distracted again.
---
Even though cell phones were not technically allowed in school Harriette called Fedora at lunch.
“Your lucky I’m not in school right now,” Fedora answered on the third ring.
“It’s me, Harriette,” Harriette said.
“Shouldn’t you be in school?” Fedora asked.
”I am, it’s lunch time,” Harriette said, “and I wanted to talk to you about something I only just found out even though I should have found out back in July.”
“Oh?” Fedora said.
“You broke up with AeGuk and didn’t tell me?” Harriette asked, annoyed.
“I guess,” Fedora said, she could practically hear her shrug, “it wasn’t important. I mean I guess it was, but I didn’t want to talk about it.”
“What happened?” Harriette asked.
“Nothing,” Fedora said, “I didn’t want to date long distance.”
“So you don’t have a new boyfriend?” Harriette said.
“Uhm, no,” Fedora said, “I’m too busy to have a boyfriend.”
“Oh,” Harriette said, “DaeRi thought that’s why you broke up with him.”
“And you believed her?,” Fedora laughed, “she doesn’t even know me. Plus I wasn’t even hanging out with anyone back in july, it was just me and my dad.”
“Okay,” Harriette said, “I didn’t think so, DaeRi just thinks she knows everything.”
“She does,” Fedora said, “Well, I have to go.”
And then she hung up.
Harriette, feeling good about the previous conversation, went back to sit with her friends. She noticed that Collin was missing.
“Where’s Collin?” Harriette asked.
“Sitting with AeGuk,” DaeRi said.
“He thought he looked lonely,” Tamarai said.
“Oh,” Harriette said, thinking about earlier when he went to talk to him in homeroom. He was probably glad to get away from the Popular table, he had shown earlier just how much he had disliked being popular. Harriette hoped he wouldn’t ditch her. Last year he had been friends with Bentley, that was good because he was still popular so they still hung around in the same crowd. But AeGuk, he was a loser, a nerd, a dweeb. If he hung out with him then he would be dubbed one too. Harriette wouldn’t let that happen.
But lunch for one day wouldn’t hurt. He’ll look charitable.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
“I had forgotten how hard it was to be popular.”
The first person Harriette saw was DaeRi, who was standing at the top of the steps looking around, probably looking for them. Tamarai grinned when she saw her , running up the steps to pull her into a hug.
“Tamarai!” DaeRi said.
“Cute hair,” Harriette said, catching up to them. Over the summer DaeRi had gotten her hair cut short and was wearing it curly. It looked great.
“Thanks,” DaeRi beamed, she was always happy to get a compliment from Harriette.
“Come on,” Harriette said, “we don’t want to be late on our first day.”
“Okay,” Tamarai said. They followed Harriette into the school. The halls were bustling with people greeting each other after a long summer. As they walked through the halls people stopped to say hi and ask them about their summer, Harriette was sure she had told at least 20 people about her summer traveling with her family, and each one of those people were more fascinated than the last. But Harriette didn’t mind, she loved the attention. Just another reminder of exactly how popular she was.
Finally she arrived at her locker, the only person left walking with her was Collin who had the locker next to hers.
“Somehow I had forgotten how hard it was to be popular,” Collin said opening his locker.
“Hard?” Harriette laughed, “no, it’s great! People love us.”
“Sure, but we couldn’t even get to our lockers without being stopped by, like, everyone in this school.” he said putting some of his stuff in his locker.
Harriette patted Collin’s shoulder, “it’s just been a while, you’ll get used to it again soon enough.”
They closed their lockers and started off to homeroom. Again people stopped them, this time Harriette noticed that Collin looked increasingly uncomfortable. She tried to speed up the conversation as much as she could but one conversation in particular took a little extra work.
“Hi!” Heather said running up to her. Her and Tracy were, what Harriette called them, Wannabes. They hung around Harriette and her crowd hoping that they look included. They didn’t. Today they had another girl with them, this girl had blunt cut bangs and long straight blond hair. She was also wearing a terribly tacky outfit consisting of a black turtleneck and a beret. A drama geek obviously.
“Hello,” Harriette said politely, “we were on our way to homeroom.”
“Oh, let us join you,” Heather said.
Harriette frowned, “who’s your friend?”
“My new exchange student,” Heather said. That was weird, no one in A.L. High ever had exchange students, this was first.
“Where is she from?” Harriette asked, momentarily forgetting that she was supposed to be hurrying this conversation up.
“Uhm, somewhere in Europe?” Heather said.
“England,” Tracy said, “that’s where she’s from.”
“Bonjour!” The girl said. “I’m Brittany.”
“You’re not french,” Heather said, rolling her eyes.
“Uhm, okay,” Harriette said, “We gotta go.”
“Let us walk with you,” Heather said.
“Uhm, no.” Harriette said, not really caring about being rude. She wanted these girls gone.
Heather sighed, “okay. See you later!”
“Sorry about that,” Harriette said to Collin.
Collin just shrugged, “that’s fine.”
“Gosh, those girls are so annoying,” Harriette said, “they just cannot get a hint.”
And still the group of girls were trailing behind them, Harriette was sure they could hear everything she said. Maybe now they’ll leave her alone.
Finally in homeroom Harriette spotted Tamarai and DaeRi sitting together in the back. They waved at her and she walked back to them.
“If I have to talk to another person about my summer I am going to die,” Harriette said.
“Oh,” DaeRi said, “ then I guess I don’t get to hear about your amazing vacation.”
“I guess you don’t,” Harriette teased. “All you need to know is that we traveled around europe and then spent a week at our vacation house in LA.”
“Sounds amazing,” DaeRi said.
“How was Korea?” Harriette asked.
“The same, we spent the summer at my aunts,” DaeRi said, “she was the one who did my hair, she’s a hairdresser. She really wanted to cut AeGuk’s hair, but he refused. His hair is so long now, it needs a cut.”
“He must be so lonely,” Harriette said, “all his friends graduated.”
“Yeah, and Fedora broke up with him,” DaeRi said.
“Oh?” Harriette said, Fedora hadn’t told her about that.
“Yeah, back in July,” DaeRi said, “I think she found a new boyfriend.”
“Nah, she would tell me about it,” Harriette said, well she hoped she would.
DaeRi shrugged, “yeah. It was really sudden though, AeGuk was a mess.”
“Is he alright?” Collin asked.
DaeRi shrugged, “I’m pretty sure he is.”
“There he is right now,” Tamarai said.
To be continued.
“Tamarai!” DaeRi said.
“Cute hair,” Harriette said, catching up to them. Over the summer DaeRi had gotten her hair cut short and was wearing it curly. It looked great.
“Thanks,” DaeRi beamed, she was always happy to get a compliment from Harriette.
“Come on,” Harriette said, “we don’t want to be late on our first day.”
“Okay,” Tamarai said. They followed Harriette into the school. The halls were bustling with people greeting each other after a long summer. As they walked through the halls people stopped to say hi and ask them about their summer, Harriette was sure she had told at least 20 people about her summer traveling with her family, and each one of those people were more fascinated than the last. But Harriette didn’t mind, she loved the attention. Just another reminder of exactly how popular she was.
Finally she arrived at her locker, the only person left walking with her was Collin who had the locker next to hers.
“Somehow I had forgotten how hard it was to be popular,” Collin said opening his locker.
“Hard?” Harriette laughed, “no, it’s great! People love us.”
“Sure, but we couldn’t even get to our lockers without being stopped by, like, everyone in this school.” he said putting some of his stuff in his locker.
Harriette patted Collin’s shoulder, “it’s just been a while, you’ll get used to it again soon enough.”
They closed their lockers and started off to homeroom. Again people stopped them, this time Harriette noticed that Collin looked increasingly uncomfortable. She tried to speed up the conversation as much as she could but one conversation in particular took a little extra work.
“Hi!” Heather said running up to her. Her and Tracy were, what Harriette called them, Wannabes. They hung around Harriette and her crowd hoping that they look included. They didn’t. Today they had another girl with them, this girl had blunt cut bangs and long straight blond hair. She was also wearing a terribly tacky outfit consisting of a black turtleneck and a beret. A drama geek obviously.
“Hello,” Harriette said politely, “we were on our way to homeroom.”
“Oh, let us join you,” Heather said.
Harriette frowned, “who’s your friend?”
“My new exchange student,” Heather said. That was weird, no one in A.L. High ever had exchange students, this was first.
“Where is she from?” Harriette asked, momentarily forgetting that she was supposed to be hurrying this conversation up.
“Uhm, somewhere in Europe?” Heather said.
“England,” Tracy said, “that’s where she’s from.”
“Bonjour!” The girl said. “I’m Brittany.”
“You’re not french,” Heather said, rolling her eyes.
“Uhm, okay,” Harriette said, “We gotta go.”
“Let us walk with you,” Heather said.
“Uhm, no.” Harriette said, not really caring about being rude. She wanted these girls gone.
Heather sighed, “okay. See you later!”
“Sorry about that,” Harriette said to Collin.
Collin just shrugged, “that’s fine.”
“Gosh, those girls are so annoying,” Harriette said, “they just cannot get a hint.”
And still the group of girls were trailing behind them, Harriette was sure they could hear everything she said. Maybe now they’ll leave her alone.
Finally in homeroom Harriette spotted Tamarai and DaeRi sitting together in the back. They waved at her and she walked back to them.
“If I have to talk to another person about my summer I am going to die,” Harriette said.
“Oh,” DaeRi said, “ then I guess I don’t get to hear about your amazing vacation.”
“I guess you don’t,” Harriette teased. “All you need to know is that we traveled around europe and then spent a week at our vacation house in LA.”
“Sounds amazing,” DaeRi said.
“How was Korea?” Harriette asked.
“The same, we spent the summer at my aunts,” DaeRi said, “she was the one who did my hair, she’s a hairdresser. She really wanted to cut AeGuk’s hair, but he refused. His hair is so long now, it needs a cut.”
“He must be so lonely,” Harriette said, “all his friends graduated.”
“Yeah, and Fedora broke up with him,” DaeRi said.
“Oh?” Harriette said, Fedora hadn’t told her about that.
“Yeah, back in July,” DaeRi said, “I think she found a new boyfriend.”
“Nah, she would tell me about it,” Harriette said, well she hoped she would.
DaeRi shrugged, “yeah. It was really sudden though, AeGuk was a mess.”
“Is he alright?” Collin asked.
DaeRi shrugged, “I’m pretty sure he is.”
“There he is right now,” Tamarai said.
To be continued.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Summer came, Summer went.
Summer came, Summer went and now it was time to get back to school.
Harriette could feel it in the air, this year was going to be different. Even more different than just the fact that all the seniors are gone, though that will be very strange. But no, she sensed that something big was gonna happen this year, she just hoped it wasn’t gonna be bad.
This year she was a sophomore, she was not a little freshman anymore. Not that being a freshman was bad or anything, she was just older now. And everyone knows older means better.
She spent even longer getting ready for the first day, she made sure all her curls were perfectly curly in the right way. One thing that had changed over the summer was that her hair was straightening out, which she was not a big fan of. Last year she hardly needed to curl her hair, it was pretty curly. This year it was more wavy, still curly though. Just not the curls she wanted.
She picked out the perfect outfit, and changed it a couple of time until she was wearing the perfect outfit, again.
She spent some time on her makeup, highlighting in all the right places. Applying lip gloss, she didn’t want to look too fancy so she opted for lip gloss instead of lipstick. Plus this was lip gloss she had picked up on her vacation to Paris.
Finally she modeled for Collin and asked how she looked.
“Cute,” Collin said.
Harriette smiled, “good. You do too.”
“Thanks,” Collin said looking into the mirror, his hair had gotten more curly over the summer, unlike Harriette’s, and he wasn’t a big fan of it. When they were younger Collin had straight hair and Harriette and curly hair. Collin straightened his hair everyday because he didn’t like his curls, and Harriette curled her hair everyday because she didn’t like her hair wavy. His more curly hair wasn’t straightening the way he wanted it.
“Collin, your hair looks gorgeous,” Harriette said, “come on we have to go”
Collin sighed, glancing in the mirror once more, “okay.”
Downstairs Tamarai was already finished with her breakfast and was helping Willow, their little sister, with her hair. Willow and Finn, the twins, both had dark brown curly hair. Harriette had always found that strange since her and Collin had blond hair, though it was getting darker and Harriette went to the salon to get hers lightened. Collin on the other hand was embracing his darker hair, he actually liked it.
“You look great,” Tamarai said when she finally noticed them.
“Thank you,” Harriette said, looking over Tamarai. Her hair had grown out a little, and even though Harriette told her she liked it shorter Tamarai kept it at her shoulders, but she still cut her bangs. She was wearing her usual colorful assortment of clothes, and her arms were full of bangles.
“You do too,” she said finally.
Tamarai, who had just look nervous, smiled, “thank you.”
“You guys are going to be late,” their mom said. She handed Harriette and Collin a breakfast bar and then shooed them outside to the car.
Suddenly Harriette was really excited, she was finally going back to school. Some kids didn’t care that much for school, but not Harriette, she lived to go to school. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to not go to school.
She was excited to meet the new freshman, she loved meeting new people. She was excited to see her locker again, A.L. High let you keep the same locker throughout high school. She was excited for a lot of things.
“I can’t wait to see DaeRi,” Tamarai said. DaeRi had only just got back from South Korea yesterday, so they hadn’t had time to see her yet.
“Yeah,” Harriette agreed.
“What are you most excited about?” Tamarai asked Collin.
Collin shrugged, “I don’t know.”
It wasn’t a long drive to school, in such a small town everything was centered around the school, the biggest building in town.
They pulled into the parking lot, already full of cars. Now Harriette was practically bouncing out of her chair.
“Have a good day, darlings,” their mom called out as they all got out of the car.
“You too,” Tamarai said.
A.L. High is back in session.
Harriette could feel it in the air, this year was going to be different. Even more different than just the fact that all the seniors are gone, though that will be very strange. But no, she sensed that something big was gonna happen this year, she just hoped it wasn’t gonna be bad.
This year she was a sophomore, she was not a little freshman anymore. Not that being a freshman was bad or anything, she was just older now. And everyone knows older means better.
She spent even longer getting ready for the first day, she made sure all her curls were perfectly curly in the right way. One thing that had changed over the summer was that her hair was straightening out, which she was not a big fan of. Last year she hardly needed to curl her hair, it was pretty curly. This year it was more wavy, still curly though. Just not the curls she wanted.
She picked out the perfect outfit, and changed it a couple of time until she was wearing the perfect outfit, again.
She spent some time on her makeup, highlighting in all the right places. Applying lip gloss, she didn’t want to look too fancy so she opted for lip gloss instead of lipstick. Plus this was lip gloss she had picked up on her vacation to Paris.
Finally she modeled for Collin and asked how she looked.
“Cute,” Collin said.
Harriette smiled, “good. You do too.”
“Thanks,” Collin said looking into the mirror, his hair had gotten more curly over the summer, unlike Harriette’s, and he wasn’t a big fan of it. When they were younger Collin had straight hair and Harriette and curly hair. Collin straightened his hair everyday because he didn’t like his curls, and Harriette curled her hair everyday because she didn’t like her hair wavy. His more curly hair wasn’t straightening the way he wanted it.
“Collin, your hair looks gorgeous,” Harriette said, “come on we have to go”
Collin sighed, glancing in the mirror once more, “okay.”
Downstairs Tamarai was already finished with her breakfast and was helping Willow, their little sister, with her hair. Willow and Finn, the twins, both had dark brown curly hair. Harriette had always found that strange since her and Collin had blond hair, though it was getting darker and Harriette went to the salon to get hers lightened. Collin on the other hand was embracing his darker hair, he actually liked it.
“You look great,” Tamarai said when she finally noticed them.
“Thank you,” Harriette said, looking over Tamarai. Her hair had grown out a little, and even though Harriette told her she liked it shorter Tamarai kept it at her shoulders, but she still cut her bangs. She was wearing her usual colorful assortment of clothes, and her arms were full of bangles.
“You do too,” she said finally.
Tamarai, who had just look nervous, smiled, “thank you.”
“You guys are going to be late,” their mom said. She handed Harriette and Collin a breakfast bar and then shooed them outside to the car.
Suddenly Harriette was really excited, she was finally going back to school. Some kids didn’t care that much for school, but not Harriette, she lived to go to school. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to not go to school.
She was excited to meet the new freshman, she loved meeting new people. She was excited to see her locker again, A.L. High let you keep the same locker throughout high school. She was excited for a lot of things.
“I can’t wait to see DaeRi,” Tamarai said. DaeRi had only just got back from South Korea yesterday, so they hadn’t had time to see her yet.
“Yeah,” Harriette agreed.
“What are you most excited about?” Tamarai asked Collin.
Collin shrugged, “I don’t know.”
It wasn’t a long drive to school, in such a small town everything was centered around the school, the biggest building in town.
They pulled into the parking lot, already full of cars. Now Harriette was practically bouncing out of her chair.
“Have a good day, darlings,” their mom called out as they all got out of the car.
“You too,” Tamarai said.
A.L. High is back in session.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Summer plans
Fedora loved New York City, so when her dad brought up the idea of staying with him for the summer Fedora jumped at the chance. A whole summer in New York City? It was going to be awesome.
But first her mom had to agree.
Her mom was tough, she never let her do anything fun so she knew she would have to warm up to the idea first. Sadly her dad disagreed and told her mom the same day he told Fedora.
“And why would I let you spend your last summer here with your dad?” her mom said to her after the phone call with her dad.
“Because I want to,” Fedora said, “a whole summer in New York City, it would be the best graduation present.”
Her mom seemed to consider that then shook her head, “I’ll think about.”
Fedora grinned, that was better than she expected.
The next few days consisted of Fedora remind her mom over and over again, every time her mom would say “i’m thinking about it.”
Fedora thought that if she asked enough her mom might get annoyed and just say yes, which Fedora should’ve known doesn’t work all the time but she was desperate.
Finally a few weeks before graduation her mom let out a sigh and agreed to let her stay with her for, as long as she promised she would come back for a week to say goodbye before college. Fedora agreed quickly to that and ran up to her room to tell Sacia.
Of course Sacia was excited for her, though she did mention a few times that she was jealous that her summer was going to be fun and exciting while she had to spend it in Italy with her relatives, which Fedora didn’t really see why that wasn’t exciting but she shrugged it off. Sacia was just being Sacia.
Finally it was after graduation her dad was there and it was time to head out for NYC. This time instead of taking a plane like she usually did her dad thought it would be fun to do a road trip, which Fedora sort disagreed since it would take away from her time in New York, but she knew her dad was trying so she didn’t say any of that and just played along.
The drive was going to take about four days, if they were fast which Fedora doubted since her dad wanted this to be a special father daughter bonding trip.
Now with all her stuff in her dad rental car she gave a hug to her mom, sort of just looked at Bentley and said good bye and completely ignored her step dad and then jumped in the rental car and waved as they pulled out and started their adventure.
But first her mom had to agree.
Her mom was tough, she never let her do anything fun so she knew she would have to warm up to the idea first. Sadly her dad disagreed and told her mom the same day he told Fedora.
“And why would I let you spend your last summer here with your dad?” her mom said to her after the phone call with her dad.
“Because I want to,” Fedora said, “a whole summer in New York City, it would be the best graduation present.”
Her mom seemed to consider that then shook her head, “I’ll think about.”
Fedora grinned, that was better than she expected.
The next few days consisted of Fedora remind her mom over and over again, every time her mom would say “i’m thinking about it.”
Fedora thought that if she asked enough her mom might get annoyed and just say yes, which Fedora should’ve known doesn’t work all the time but she was desperate.
Finally a few weeks before graduation her mom let out a sigh and agreed to let her stay with her for, as long as she promised she would come back for a week to say goodbye before college. Fedora agreed quickly to that and ran up to her room to tell Sacia.
Of course Sacia was excited for her, though she did mention a few times that she was jealous that her summer was going to be fun and exciting while she had to spend it in Italy with her relatives, which Fedora didn’t really see why that wasn’t exciting but she shrugged it off. Sacia was just being Sacia.
Finally it was after graduation her dad was there and it was time to head out for NYC. This time instead of taking a plane like she usually did her dad thought it would be fun to do a road trip, which Fedora sort disagreed since it would take away from her time in New York, but she knew her dad was trying so she didn’t say any of that and just played along.
The drive was going to take about four days, if they were fast which Fedora doubted since her dad wanted this to be a special father daughter bonding trip.
Now with all her stuff in her dad rental car she gave a hug to her mom, sort of just looked at Bentley and said good bye and completely ignored her step dad and then jumped in the rental car and waved as they pulled out and started their adventure.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Graduation Day
Today was the day, finally it was graduation day. After today they were officially adults and well Fedora wasn’t entirely sure she was ready for that. Sure she had dreamed about this day since the first day of high school, but now that it was here she was freaking out.
After today she would no longer be a high school student, no longer be seen as a teenager, now she had to take care of herself. But she was only seventeen! So technically she was still a teenager, she wasn’t supposed to be responsible and take care of herself, but that was not what her mom thought. Her mom obviously forgot that she wasn’t eighteen just yet.
Luckily she had Sacia to get her mind off of all that important stuff, since all Sacia could talk about was her summer vacation plans, moving to New York next year, and what she was going to wear to graduation. Yeah, she was a good distraction.
She especially needed a distraction from the fact that in a few hours she would be saying a speech in front of the whole class and their families, that was nerve wracking. But Sacia wasn’t that good at distracting her from that, since she seemed to think it was the coolest thing and kept asking her if she was going mention her which fedora kept saying “you’ll see” all mysteriously though the answer was no, she wasn’t.
On the way to the ceremony with her parents, yes both of them since her dad came down to see her graduate, her mom wouldn’t shut up about how surprised she was to see her little girl get here and her dad just kept congratulating her on getting valedictorian.
People were bustling around the parking lot, hugging each other, taking pictures, talking loudly, and just having a good time.
Fedora saw Sacia and Bryan talking while their parents introduced themselves to each other. Fedora waved to them, and ran over, her parents following closely.
“Fedora!” Sacia exclaimed, as if she hadn’t seen Fedora in years.
“Hey,” Fedora said before getting crushed in a hug from Sacia.
“Today is the day!” Sacia said.
“Yep,” Fedora said.
“Sup,” Bryan said.
“Hey,” Fedora said, again. “Are you excited?”
Bryan shrugged, “sure.”
“Come on!” Sacia said, punching him lightly on the arm, “get excited, this is the last day of being a teenager.”
“Not if you’re still seventeen,” Fedora said, though she was one of the few seventeen year old in her graduating class.
“Oh, shut up,” Sacia said.
“Fedora!” Harriette hugged Fedora from behind, surprising her. Obviously today Harriette was putting away the facade of hating her.
“Hi,” Fedora said.
“I can not believe you are already graduating,” Harriette said.
“Yeah,” Fedora said.
“Let’s go inside,” Harriette’s mom, and Fedora aunt, said.
Harriette gave Fedora another hug and then followed her mom, and the rest of their families into the auditorium.
Then it was time for them to put their cap and gowns on. They all went into the cafeteria to do so, because it was sort of weird to do that in the parking lot.
Sacia helped Fedora pin her cap onto her unruly hair, it was a tough fight but it all worked in the end. Fedora couldn’t help but feel important in her cap and gown, like she was going to do something big soon. And she was, she still had to do her speech.
After waiting for what felt like hours, in which Sacia was talking excitedly the whole time, though Fedora doesn’t really remember what she was saying, it was finally time to enter the auditorium.
That song they play at all graduations was playing as they entered in a single file line, now the nerves were getting to Fedora, in just a moment she would be up there saying her speech, which sounded really stupid suddenly.
Fedora just wished she could sit next to her friends, but since she was an honor student she was up in the front with people she didn’t know or care about.
The first part of graduation was boring, Fedora would have probably fell asleep if she wasn’t counting down the seconds till it was her turn to get up there and say her speech.
After listening to a bunch of old people talking about the joys of high school and stuff like that it was finally time, Fedora almost jumped out of her chair when she heard her name called.
But no, she had to be confident, show the school that she was a put together person who does not run away from challenges. Even though she really felt like running.
But somehow she made it on the stage, laughed a little bit when she saw Sacia waved enthusiastically at her. Then took a deep breath and started;
“To be honest I’ve been writing valedictorian speeches my whole life,” she started, “ever since fourth grade when my math teacher called me the smartest person in the class. So when I was told that I was actually going to have to write this speech I expected to write it in the matter of a few second.”
She paused for dramatic effect, “I was wrong,
“I sat in my bedroom for hours asking myself what do I want to say to my class, that isn’t inappropriate, because trust me I want to say a lot of things that I shouldn’t.”
The audience laughed,
“Trying to keep it nice and clean is not something I usually do, as many of you know, but I’m trying. Trust me.
“I didn’t want to say a bunch of cliche stuff about how high school was great and now we’re moving on to great things and basically we’re all going to become presidents of some country. No, that’s not what I want to say, because that’s all lies.
“I’m not saying high school wasn’t great, but it did suck, at least for me, but I’m not supposed to be talking about me up here. I’m supposed to be talking about all of you. The Populars, the Jocks, the Nerds, and the Losers, like me. All of us.”
Another pause for dramatic effect, so far so good.
“Over these four years a lot has happened, for all of us, some good, some bad. We’ve made friends, lost friends. We’ve dealt with teasing, rumours, and all that stupid high school stuff. We’ve dealt with heartbreak, love, crushes, even if that does sound really cheesy and I sort of want to jump off a cliff just for writing that, but it’s true. We’ve felt jealousy, anger, sadness, but also, happiness, friendship, and bravery.
“So congratulations on getting through high school, you guys deserve it. I remember when I told my mom that I wasn’t going to college, sure I only said it to spite her, and it did, and now here I am graduating and moving on to the top college in the USA. My mom is probably really proud of me. And so are yours, even those who are just going to community college, at least you’re going to college.”
More laughs.
“Now I guess I should thank some people, because that’s what people do in these speeches. I thank our parents, even if mine didn’t really do much to help me, I thank our teachers, even if they gave me too much homework sometimes and actually expected me to finish it in a week, and I thank my classmates, yes even the Populars, because really without you guys what would my high school experience be? And I’m sure you guys are grateful for them too, even me, so thanks to me too. Because I’m sure I made your high school years a little bit more fun, I’m just saying.”
She shrugged and the audience laughed some more.
“So thank you for listening to me talk, I’m sure none of this made sense, but I hope it inspired you, or something like that. I hope it made you cry, because that’s what happened in all of the movies I watched to get inspiration for this. So goodbye and and have fun in the next stage of life.”
And applause, Fedora smiled, relieved to be done finally.
She didn’t hear the rest of the speeches, she just kept reliving her speech over and over. It worked out perfectly, people laughed when they were supposed to laugh and were quiet when they were supposed to be quiet and even better, nobody threw any tomatos at her!
She clapped when Bryan accepted his diploma, and waved to him when he passed her to get back to his seat. Then it her her turn, and it was just like in all those movies. She even tripped on her way up, which wasn’t really embarrassing it was actually perfect. She took her diploma and sent out kisses to her family, and then danced off the stage.
Karina Black, who Fedora remembered most as her competition for Homecoming queen, looked like she was about cry as she accepted her diploma.
Chris practically ran up when her name was called her bubbly side coming out as she made a heart with her hands before accepting her diploma.
Gregg went right after her and was a lot less bubbly, just casually accepting the diploma and walking down.
When Bentley went up he got the most cheers, he was probably the most popular guy in school.
Sacia looked like a model as she walked up there like a diva, accepted her diploma and then waved to everyone.
And when the ceremony was finally over they all threw up their hats and cheered. It was perfect and Fedora hoped her mom got a picture of it all because she wanted to remember this day forever.
After today she would no longer be a high school student, no longer be seen as a teenager, now she had to take care of herself. But she was only seventeen! So technically she was still a teenager, she wasn’t supposed to be responsible and take care of herself, but that was not what her mom thought. Her mom obviously forgot that she wasn’t eighteen just yet.
Luckily she had Sacia to get her mind off of all that important stuff, since all Sacia could talk about was her summer vacation plans, moving to New York next year, and what she was going to wear to graduation. Yeah, she was a good distraction.
She especially needed a distraction from the fact that in a few hours she would be saying a speech in front of the whole class and their families, that was nerve wracking. But Sacia wasn’t that good at distracting her from that, since she seemed to think it was the coolest thing and kept asking her if she was going mention her which fedora kept saying “you’ll see” all mysteriously though the answer was no, she wasn’t.
On the way to the ceremony with her parents, yes both of them since her dad came down to see her graduate, her mom wouldn’t shut up about how surprised she was to see her little girl get here and her dad just kept congratulating her on getting valedictorian.
People were bustling around the parking lot, hugging each other, taking pictures, talking loudly, and just having a good time.
Fedora saw Sacia and Bryan talking while their parents introduced themselves to each other. Fedora waved to them, and ran over, her parents following closely.
“Fedora!” Sacia exclaimed, as if she hadn’t seen Fedora in years.
“Hey,” Fedora said before getting crushed in a hug from Sacia.
“Today is the day!” Sacia said.
“Yep,” Fedora said.
“Sup,” Bryan said.
“Hey,” Fedora said, again. “Are you excited?”
Bryan shrugged, “sure.”
“Come on!” Sacia said, punching him lightly on the arm, “get excited, this is the last day of being a teenager.”
“Not if you’re still seventeen,” Fedora said, though she was one of the few seventeen year old in her graduating class.
“Oh, shut up,” Sacia said.
“Fedora!” Harriette hugged Fedora from behind, surprising her. Obviously today Harriette was putting away the facade of hating her.
“Hi,” Fedora said.
“I can not believe you are already graduating,” Harriette said.
“Yeah,” Fedora said.
“Let’s go inside,” Harriette’s mom, and Fedora aunt, said.
Harriette gave Fedora another hug and then followed her mom, and the rest of their families into the auditorium.
Then it was time for them to put their cap and gowns on. They all went into the cafeteria to do so, because it was sort of weird to do that in the parking lot.
Sacia helped Fedora pin her cap onto her unruly hair, it was a tough fight but it all worked in the end. Fedora couldn’t help but feel important in her cap and gown, like she was going to do something big soon. And she was, she still had to do her speech.
After waiting for what felt like hours, in which Sacia was talking excitedly the whole time, though Fedora doesn’t really remember what she was saying, it was finally time to enter the auditorium.
That song they play at all graduations was playing as they entered in a single file line, now the nerves were getting to Fedora, in just a moment she would be up there saying her speech, which sounded really stupid suddenly.
Fedora just wished she could sit next to her friends, but since she was an honor student she was up in the front with people she didn’t know or care about.
The first part of graduation was boring, Fedora would have probably fell asleep if she wasn’t counting down the seconds till it was her turn to get up there and say her speech.
After listening to a bunch of old people talking about the joys of high school and stuff like that it was finally time, Fedora almost jumped out of her chair when she heard her name called.
But no, she had to be confident, show the school that she was a put together person who does not run away from challenges. Even though she really felt like running.
But somehow she made it on the stage, laughed a little bit when she saw Sacia waved enthusiastically at her. Then took a deep breath and started;
“To be honest I’ve been writing valedictorian speeches my whole life,” she started, “ever since fourth grade when my math teacher called me the smartest person in the class. So when I was told that I was actually going to have to write this speech I expected to write it in the matter of a few second.”
She paused for dramatic effect, “I was wrong,
“I sat in my bedroom for hours asking myself what do I want to say to my class, that isn’t inappropriate, because trust me I want to say a lot of things that I shouldn’t.”
The audience laughed,
“Trying to keep it nice and clean is not something I usually do, as many of you know, but I’m trying. Trust me.
“I didn’t want to say a bunch of cliche stuff about how high school was great and now we’re moving on to great things and basically we’re all going to become presidents of some country. No, that’s not what I want to say, because that’s all lies.
“I’m not saying high school wasn’t great, but it did suck, at least for me, but I’m not supposed to be talking about me up here. I’m supposed to be talking about all of you. The Populars, the Jocks, the Nerds, and the Losers, like me. All of us.”
Another pause for dramatic effect, so far so good.
“Over these four years a lot has happened, for all of us, some good, some bad. We’ve made friends, lost friends. We’ve dealt with teasing, rumours, and all that stupid high school stuff. We’ve dealt with heartbreak, love, crushes, even if that does sound really cheesy and I sort of want to jump off a cliff just for writing that, but it’s true. We’ve felt jealousy, anger, sadness, but also, happiness, friendship, and bravery.
“So congratulations on getting through high school, you guys deserve it. I remember when I told my mom that I wasn’t going to college, sure I only said it to spite her, and it did, and now here I am graduating and moving on to the top college in the USA. My mom is probably really proud of me. And so are yours, even those who are just going to community college, at least you’re going to college.”
More laughs.
“Now I guess I should thank some people, because that’s what people do in these speeches. I thank our parents, even if mine didn’t really do much to help me, I thank our teachers, even if they gave me too much homework sometimes and actually expected me to finish it in a week, and I thank my classmates, yes even the Populars, because really without you guys what would my high school experience be? And I’m sure you guys are grateful for them too, even me, so thanks to me too. Because I’m sure I made your high school years a little bit more fun, I’m just saying.”
She shrugged and the audience laughed some more.
“So thank you for listening to me talk, I’m sure none of this made sense, but I hope it inspired you, or something like that. I hope it made you cry, because that’s what happened in all of the movies I watched to get inspiration for this. So goodbye and and have fun in the next stage of life.”
And applause, Fedora smiled, relieved to be done finally.
She didn’t hear the rest of the speeches, she just kept reliving her speech over and over. It worked out perfectly, people laughed when they were supposed to laugh and were quiet when they were supposed to be quiet and even better, nobody threw any tomatos at her!
She clapped when Bryan accepted his diploma, and waved to him when he passed her to get back to his seat. Then it her her turn, and it was just like in all those movies. She even tripped on her way up, which wasn’t really embarrassing it was actually perfect. She took her diploma and sent out kisses to her family, and then danced off the stage.
Karina Black, who Fedora remembered most as her competition for Homecoming queen, looked like she was about cry as she accepted her diploma.
Chris practically ran up when her name was called her bubbly side coming out as she made a heart with her hands before accepting her diploma.
Gregg went right after her and was a lot less bubbly, just casually accepting the diploma and walking down.
When Bentley went up he got the most cheers, he was probably the most popular guy in school.
Sacia looked like a model as she walked up there like a diva, accepted her diploma and then waved to everyone.
And when the ceremony was finally over they all threw up their hats and cheered. It was perfect and Fedora hoped her mom got a picture of it all because she wanted to remember this day forever.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
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