Chapter 23

-Bea-

IT WAS MONDAY. Exactly a week after Nick and I… “took a break”. I raided my closet for some good looking, eye-attracting, glitzy, clothes. I’m not letting the jealousy get to my head, but I guess I did envy Aika just a little bit. I mean, the cutest, and I will admit, the CUTEST boy in the 9^th grade was all hers! The fanclub girls are going to freak out when they find out! Anyway, why should the end of my blunt relationship mean the start of a new pure one?

            Sadly, my “friends” aren’t talking to me still. Only Daisy, my cousin. And I only see her for 2 periods and that’s P.E. and algebra, so I don’t really get to talk to her. But everyone used to talk to me! I don’t get it, just because Nick and I were through I became invisible? I ruled our, no, my group. I was the mother, and that’s not even figuratively speaking.

            So I found these really nice skinny jeans with a skull sequence on the booty pocket, black fur boots, an urban-designed tee with a cute matching half-top hoodie.

“No one can take their eyes off me!” I guess when you lose them, all you have to do is get them back, and I will get them back. No sweat.

            It was pretty easy getting friends anyway. I just found the easy-to-talk-to people in small groups were they seemed…out of place, then I’d take them away. For example: I found Aika in 6^th grade hanging around with a bunch of Mexicans. There’s nothing wrong with that, but she was always the smallest one, and when they all spoke Spanish she was really lost. I also heard that one of her friends, Winnie, was a major gossiper. So one day at lunch she was sitting by herself and I went to talk to her. I noticed she liked drawing, so I complimented her little doodles: That was the hook. Then after we got talking, she opened up to me and told me her crush (at the time) and I told her that Winnie would spread that around, and she’d tell all of her secrets! I made a some-what trust bond with her, and she abandoned her Spaniard buds and joined me! Worst mistake of my life.

            I got Nick’s attention by dancing. He wasn’t a dancer himself, but he liked watching dance shows like America’s Best Dance Crew and So You think You can Dance. Daisy was quiet and not really social so when I found out we were even related it was easy to get her, then there’s Mason. I always knew we were related but never really got to talk to him. He mostly hung out with the “popular” kids. But that all changed when I found out he was a fan of anime, so I hooked him and Aika up, and after they got to know each other, the 3 of us became more attached. Then Issac, Diane, Austin, and the list goes on.

            Soon I’ll have my own batch of friends, better than those rags I had before. These friends will be even more trusting and cooperative than my old ones. And also, I must find a new boyfriend. The crowd will lose my respect if they find out I’m single and not getting another man on my hands. Maybe Nick will take me back when he notices what he’s missing.

            I’ll admit I can be a bit of a show-off, but just a bit, Aika shows-off WAY too much. Always pushing her little drawings in front of people’s faces. And to think I even thought of trying to be her friend again. I decided that being mean to her would do me better than pretending to be nice and her friend. I definitely did not want her back in my chain of friendships.

            Anyways, I’m losing my path. New friends and new boyfriend are at the top of my list as I headed out the door on my way to school. I caught the #67 Bus by the local 7-11 Store and took it to school. Sitting there, surrounded by other students I didn’t know and old people, I thought of the different possibilities of boyfriends, when a brilliant idea hatched in my head.

            Okay, I thought. Aika used to flirt with my boyfriend, so it should only be fair that I flirt with her’s. She’s never had a boyfriend before, so she’s never experienced heart-break, unlike me. Things started falling into place! I was grinning with excitement. I’ll let her fall head over heels for that princely Justin Hue, then I’ll snatch him all from under her. I can make him mine, I am much prettier than she is, and with this outfit today, boys won’t be able to resist.

            I jittered in my seat, excited about this devious but absolutely beautiful masterpiece. I call it, “Operation Give Aika a Piece of My Mind!” Wonderful, right? And when the bus stopped at Roosevelt High School, I stepped out in style and strutted my “stuff” all the way to and through the front doors.

            That old batch of friends will soon regret ever shoving me out of the way! Look out! Bea Soles is going to take the high school world by storm!

 

 

-NICK-

HOW IS EVERYONE getting my phone number?! First this random little kid calls me, then next is Kaitlin? Anyways, she calls me at like 11:30 at night, I was just sound asleep, and she rings me up telling me all sorts of jabber I can barely understand her.

            She kept rambling on for about an hour, then after that I couldn’t fall asleep until 2:00am! So here I am at 7:45am, drousy and lazy, standing by my locker waiting for classes to start. Austin, Issac, Diane, and Macy were all standing with me. We waited for Aika to get here with her new “boyfee” that everyone was talking about.

“OMG I can’t wait to see them both together!” Macy said, all jittery, unlike her usual quiet self.

“Yeah, they do look pretty good together!” Diane added, as if she saw it for herself. But she only imagined it.

            I guess everyone was just excited because they all knew that Aika had wanted this for so long: A boyfriend. And she got just the right one, in my opinion. Kevin Hue, I think. That’s what Kaitlin told me at least, though I was for sure that Aika would end up with Justin, oh whatever. Chicks… Sometimes I don’t know what’s going on in their heads!

            But even though all of us, and surprisingly me, were all waiting on our friend, guess who showed up instead?

“Hey hey!” My ex-girlfriend came striding up towards us in her [too-tight] girly, sparkling, skinny jeans and [obviously] inappropriate top. Let’s just say, she either needs a shorter neck-line shirt or she needs to button up her hoodie a little bit more.

“Oh, hey…” The group said in unison, looking strangely at her “blond”-like getup.

Diane gave a weird look. “Uh, you should�"”

“Should I what? Is this look missing something?” Bea interrupted.

“Oh, no, that’s not what I meant.” She looked at the rest of us; her face seemed like it was asking for our permission to tell Bea exactly what she thought about her outfit. So we all nodded.

“Well, actually,” Diane started again. “I think it needs to lose a few things, exchange some stuff. Because it looks pretty…. Trashy.”

            Bea gave this utterly dramatic gasp that just made me and everyone else roll their eyes. What the hell is she trying to do?!

“Well, excuse me for trying something new Ms. Sass-talker. You’re just jealous ‘cause you don’t have all, this.” She posed for a second; the rest of us just yawned.

“Ok, listen up chick, I aint jealous of whatever you got, but if you wanna walk around looking like some blond, white, trash, that just looked like she came out of a club, then go ahead. Seriously, I don’t know what you’re selling but you look like a wannabe hipster.”

            Bea kind of twitched but honestly I didn’t care. Usually you’d think that after a week of the breakup I’d still feel at least a little sorrow for her, but Diane was right. She was acting like a freaking snob. Ick.

“Ok, say whatever, but when all the guys come walking up to me,” Bea glanced at me for a brief moment, with a quick wink. “you’ll feel sorry you ever bad-mouthed me. I’ll take this school on with true friends, more popular and reliable than you guys!”

            If she’s trying to appeal to me, it’s 100% not working. She puckered her lips then did a hair flip. It was really disgusting, she thought she looked hot? Come on now, my mom can do that and look better than her. Then she galloped off.

“Ok, now just what the hell was that?!” Issac started bursting into laughter. “Did you see what she was wearing?! Oh my God, she looked like one of those cage dancers from Saturday Night Fever!”

            Soon the whole group was laughing.

“Her makeup was even clowny!” Macy stuttered, but managed to say it with enjoyment.

            Heh, even I cracked a few jokes. Then the final bell rang and we all headed to our classes. Aika and Kevin (or Justin, I don’t know) didn’t show up, Mason didn’t come to school either. Sad, they would have just loved seeing that little show by Bea. That was the highlight of the day, anyway. Everything else was pretty boring.

 

 

-Bea-

HMPH. I DON’T know what everyone’s problem was with me that morning. Sure it was a new look, but if I want to get the right people I need to give them some flare.

            And what can I say? Everyone had their eyes on me! Even some seniors! At lunch TONS of boys walked by and talked about me. I was getting throughout the whole school, by 5^th period I had more than plenty of guys walking past me winking and girls giggling and, I must say, admiring me.

            I even got in with some of the popular girls: Kimberly Samson, Lea Thom, Jorge Vergara, and the list goes on.

“Oh my gosh Bea, why didn’t you tell us you had these, uh, unique clothes? We totally would have let you hung out with us, but you always were with that nerdy group of average, poor-looking people.” Kim said through her teeth as she applied some cherry lip-gloss to her small lips.

“Oh yeah, I don’t chill with them anymore. And I just dug out these clothes, pretty sweet right?” I flashed the most brightest smile.

“Yeah, but those jeans are pretty tight, are you even comfortable in them?” Jorge added.

“What?” I said with mockery. “Are you doubting me? If they were uncomfortable, I wouldn’t be wearing them now, would I? Please, I’m not that stupid.” I smacked my lips and flipped my hair.

            Then Lea and Kim started laughing. “Ok ok, honey, please don’t do that hair-flip thing again. At least, until you get it right.” She winked.

Jorge grabbed my half-top hoodie by the zippers. “Hey, watch it!” I screamed like a whiny little girl.

“Hey, I just wanna zip it up. It just, uh, has to be.” Then he leaned in towards my ear and whispered, “You’re showing a little too much with it zipped down. Your chest, I mean.”

            I jumped back, startled. “H-hey! I can do whatever I want with myself okay!” I tried to walk away, but then he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

“H-huh?!” I found myself against his chest, and I looked into his eyes… Jorge Vergara, I thought, how come we’ve never even talked before? And from the spur of the moment, I closed my eyes and puckered my lips, which is when he pushed me away like a rag doll.

            I slammed into some lockers. “OW!” I screeched.

Jorge had this terrified look in his face. “I… I’m sorry. But I can’t�"” He took a step back. “Uh, don’t ever do that, to me, again… K?” And he made it absolutely clear, then he left and went home (either that or to his after school music club).

            I had an after school sewing club to attend, but that was too lame for the new me. So I went to the club director’s office and canceled it. Instead, I signed up for hip-hop classes. After that, I walked home. I must say this day went quite well. No Aika to ruin my day, I got myself some new friends, I got a new style and label, got into some dancing, and I even figured out something about Jorge up-close that I bet no one knew about him before.  Tomorrow, if Aika gets to school, “Operation Give Aika a Piece of My Mind” will officially begin!

 

 

-Aika-

I DIDN’T ATTEND school today. I told mom and dad I wasn’t feeling well, which I wasn’t. My head hurt so much and my throat was sore. My brother insisted that I was just pretending and if I stayed home he should stay home too. Oh Aaron, when will he grow up? And speaking of little siblings, I couldn’t even hold Annie because my mom was scared I might get dizzy and drop her. So my dad went to work late to watch Annie while mom took a nap. After he got Annie to sleep, my dad went to work and mom took over his shift of “the helping parent”.

            I constantly got texts from Kaitlin and Mason, who seemed to also take the day off today. I even got some texts from Kevin, but I didn’t want to talk to him. He’s the reason why my head hurt so much. I had been thinking of him all night, making decisions in my head, I couldn’t really go to sleep until like 1 in the morning.

            Mason had been telling me that he wasn’t feeling really good either and he just didn’t feel like going to school. So he just listened to music and read his fanfics all day. As for Kaitlin, she faked falling down the stairs just so she’d miss the guest speaker in her English class. She was on MySpace and ate snacks in her room all day. As for me, I slept kind of the whole day. Unless I got a text, I just rested myself with delight on my soft, star-shaped pillow.

            At 4:00 I decided to text Nick and ask if I missed any homework in my geometry and English class. He told me there was no homework, but then he also told me a really interesting story about Bea.

“Ew. What a show-off!” I shouted as a response to Nick’s text.

“Who’s a show-off?” My mom entered my room. Maybe I should talk more quietly next time if I want to talk to myself.

“Oh, hey mom.” I closed my cell phone and tucked it away under my pillow.

“So how are you feeling?” She sat next to me on my bed.

“A little better. I don’t know what caused all this though… I guess I can kiss that perfect attendance award goodbye.”

            Then my mom chuckled. How was that funny? “It’s ok, sweetie. There’s always other awards, my little over achiever.” She smiled warmly.

            She began to walk out of the room, and I thought, Hey, she’s my mom. Maybe she can help me. So I sat up in my bed and called for her.

“Uh, mom?” I stated.

“Yes?” She replied.

I took in a deep breath. “Can I talk to you about something?”

 

 

            So then I told her about my little problem. She was a little surprised, she thought maybe since I was usually the one giving advice to my friends I would be able to solve this problem on my own. That was wrong. But my mom did give me some great advice, probably better than anything Kaitlin would have given me, or dad. I don’t even want to have these conversations with dad! Thank God for creating moms!

“Mom! Mom!” Aaron came running up the stairs.

“SHHHHH!! Aaron, Annie is sleeping!” My mom loudly whispered to him.

Aaron backed down, then proceeded in a whisper, “Oh right, sorry!”

“So what do you want?” mom asked while getting up.

“There’s someone at the door. He looks familiar, but I don’t remember who he is.”

Mom sighed. “Alright, I’ll go get it.” Mom left and Aaron did to. I laid my head down on my pillow again, just hoping to go back to sleep. But then Aaron marched right back into my room again.

“Aika! Come down stairs!” He demanded.

I jolted up in my bed again. “Wh-why”

“Because the boy is Kevin Hue! Well, that’s what mom told me. And she also told me to tell you that you should come down stairs now!”

            K-Kevin?! Why is he here? What does he want? I jumped right out of bed and changed into something more casual. I slipped off my teddy bear PJ’s (yes, teddy bear PJ’s) and changed into some sport shorts and a Roosevelt High hoodie. I quickly brushed my hair until it looked more presentable to my boyfrie�" Uh, I mean.. Person I like. NO! I mean, person that… Important person! Oh man, what am I saying… I really do like him.

            I pranced downstairs and saw him sitting on my couch. My couch in my house! He was still looking as cute as ever, by the way.

“If you two want to go out onto the porch, that’s ok too.” My mom smiled at me. She totally understood me now!

“Uh, yeah.” Kevin agreed. “Can we speak on the porch, Aika?”

            I nodded and the two of us walked outside.

 

 

 

-Kevin-

IT FELT WEIRD being at her house. I don’t know why, but it felt awkward. She looked so cute, by the way. Her hair a little messy, but also adorable and straight. Her face showed a little drowsiness in it, which kind of matched her mood: Quiet.

            Anyways, I wanted to tell her about what happened to Justin… I just thought she had to know about it. I also wanted to clear things up a bit about the whole confession the other day. I could have done much better than that… And it wasn’t that fair of a game, since Justin (my competition) wasn’t even there to make it a more interesting win.

“So, why show up all of a sudden?” She asked, a hint of doubt in her voice.

“Well, I… I wanted to tell you something.”

“Oh good!” She got all cheery sounding, like her usual self. “Because I wanted to tell you something, too!”

            She seemed pretty excited, and so this had to be good news. I’d rather start with something good before getting to the bad things, so I let her go ahead.

“Uh, sure. What do you want?”

“Ok, well uh… On Friday, when you told me that you liked me,”

Oh boy… Why do I have a feeling I know where this is going?

“Well, I never gave you a straight answer. Or a response even… So I had the whole weekend to think about it, and…”

Wait, maybe I don’t know where this is going! She looked to the ground, then back at me, then the ground, then she kind of swayed to the side.

Then she let out a sigh and continued, “Well, I finally made a decision.”

            Those words… It made my heart beat faster and faster. Hear it comes I guess, the moment of truth. I clenched my fist and bit down hard on my teeth. I’m ready for your response.

“And the person I picked,” Aika looked at me and smiled. “was you.”

            My eyes grew big. Perfect response! I leaned in towards her and gave her a kiss.. On the cheek.

“H-HEY!!” She jumped back as if she just got attacked or something.

“Well what? We’re dating now right?” I responded with a chuckle.

“Well, kisses?? Already?! No way!”

            I leaned back and shoved my hands in my pocket. “Ah, fine. I guess we can establish some rules, for the sake of both of us.” I gave her one of my signature smirks.

            Her cheeks turned a dark shade of pink. Did I ever mention how cute she was when she blushed? Anyways, at least now I can just be myself with her. No more hiding things, or pretending to be someone I’m not.

“Oh by the way,” Aika started, “what did you want to tell me earlier?”

            Oh right… Justin. But things just got better! How could I spoil this moment? By telling her the reason why Justin didn’t show up on Friday was because he got kidnapped by the people who wanted our fortune and that I was all bruised up because I helped him fight back against them. No way can I tell her that, at least not now. So instead I told her that I would be going back to school tomorrow (since I already told mom and dad about the situation. They say since Justin is already gone, I can go back to school, until Justin comes back. And my dad made it clear that he would come back).

“No way! You can come back tomorrow?! That’s great!” She was so happy. “What about Justin?”

“Oh well uh, there can’t be two Justin Hues, right?”

“Oh yeah, right right.”

I had to think of a good cover-up though, in case she asks where Justin is. “But since Justin will still be at home, I’ll still be registered at the school as Justin Hue.”

“Ah, I see. So at school I just call you Justin?” She made this adorable thinking face and pose.

“Yeah, pretty much.” So much for the ‘I can be myself with her’ achievement. Oh well…

            So then before I went home, I gave her a hug, she seemed really happy to be with me, which is just what I wanted. Now, how do I break the news about Justin to her? And when?

 

-Jorge-

I’M NEW TO THIS whole story-telling thing, but I have to try it someday so might as well start now. I’m Jorge Vergara, 15 years old, high school freshman. I went to George Middle School and was known to be a “popular” guy. I didn’t ask for it to happen, but my step-sister Veronica was the real popular one. She was so social and got along with everyone, and (no incest here) she’s really pretty.

            I guess just because we’re the same age and we’re related, I got sucked up into her popularity bubble. I don’t consider myself cool or anything though, but people tell me I am. And apparently, I’m quite the looker. Hey, don’t start judging me or anything, I’m not being modest. I’m just stating the facts. 

            In the past year, just 1 year, I’ve gotten 35 confessions from girls in my class. That’s a lot of girls, if you didn’t know. At least, that’s a lot for me. And it’s not like I didn’t like any of them, but the thing is… I just don’t have a ‘thing’ for… girls. And I think you know where I’m going with this.

            Call me names, I don’t care, but yeah, I kinda prefer guys. That’s my inner-most darkest secret. No one, and I mean no one (except for you reading this) knows about it. The only person I actually like is this guy in my “group”. We’ve always hung out through our other friends, so really, if I never was in the in-crowd I probably would never get to meet him.

            A life without Mason Kwang… Almost tragic, to me.