11/29/2021 Pretty BoyA short story submitted by Anonymous It’s early November. The tips of my fingers are numb to the cold as I drum them against the grey steering wheel of my old green Honda CR-V.
School started in late August, but to me, the days and months would never truly count; not until Penny got back from her trip. We spent the summer together like we always have for the past nine years; giggling around a makeshift campfire in my backyard, whispering under the covers in the tent set up outside in Penny’s perfectly maintained grassy backyard. Most summers we would just drive up to Lake Erie; I would be the one behind the wheel of a car jammed full of food, blankets, clothes, chairs, and a giant inflatable swan. Penny would be all sprawled out beside me with pink painted toenails on the dashboard, singing her heart out to whatever One Republic song she was obsessing over that particular week. The summer was cut short, however, when Penny announced she was traveling to California to stay with her family for a couple of months. It was the longest we had been away from each other, constantly writing letters to each other (one of the promises I made to her before she left) and texting/ face-timing in between. I had originally begged her to take me with her. We have been close enough that I practically live at her house and have my own key. Her parents have adapted their fridge to contain more food to accommodate me raiding it every now and then. The car door opens, letting all the warm air from the car slip out as Penny takes its place. She yanks on the car mirror, monitoring herself as she adjusts her yellow beanie on her dark long curly hair, a grin plastered on her face. “You’re quite chipper this morning,” I grumble before putting the crusty thing in reverse, careful not to hit the minivan parked across the street. “I try my best to match the ray of sunshine in my ride to school,” she responds sarcastically. I roll my eyes as I continue out of Penny’s neighborhood and stop at the first stoplight of the ten-minute drive to school. This is routine, me driving us to school. Not me driving alone and continuing to stay alone all day until I came back home to an empty house, lucky enough to find a note from a ghost. She continues admiring herself in the mirror, pursing her lips as she applies a glossy shade of lipgloss to them. Getting ready in the car was also part of this routine, as Penny had three younger siblings who claimed the one bathroom on the second floor before Penny even got the chance to get out of bed. After a crappy parking job, we quickly head through the double doors and straight to our lockers. We stop at Penny’s first to grab her pre-calc books before heading to mine. Her hair sways under her beanie, making me regret ever cutting my own down to a short frazzled brown bob. Despite the clawing cold outside, my daring friend sports a dusty rose pink tennis skirt with black boots and a dark purple sweater with a plunging back. No doubt would soon be getting dress coded by a hall monitor. But sacrifices must be made. After closing her locker, I turn to head towards mine, stepping out of the way of some boy in a hurry. Penny was given no such chance as she turned face-first into his chest, pre-calc loose papers flying. “What the hell?!” she said, opening her locker again to check her mascara status in the tiny mirror she taped to the inside door. Precalc papers are not of importance. “Sorry!” he says as he hurries to help me collect them before they get stepped on by the passing crowds. She turns to him as he stands up from the floor, hand up and waiting for her to take the papers from him. Her furrowed brow softens, glossy lips forming an “oh”. I turn my attention, to assess the boy beside me who my friend deemed to be cute. His skin was a pale white, which took off points, but his height made up for it. His golden-brown hair was just long enough for him to tuck behind his ears. Green eyes. He wore dark jeans with a simple cream-colored hoodie; basic, but nothing Penny couldn’t fix. Ya, I could see why my friend was gawking. But now it was time for our first period, so I grabbed the papers still in his outstretched hand and then grabbed Penny’s arm, pulling her in the opposite direction. Before turning her and myself around in the now-empty hall, I couldn’t help but notice his equally entranced stare at her and the slow grin forming on his face. Couldn’t help but think about it all day. ---- It’s been a couple of days, but it feels longer. All we--or rather Penny--has ever been talking about since is that stupid boy with the green eyes. She found him on Instagram, and I think they may have started talking. But I don’t know for sure. Didn’t ask. I rather not talk about him anymore since the amount of talking Penny does is more than enough for me. I am putting my books back in my locker and exchanging them for the English ones in the back. “We started dating!” I slam the locker to find Penny’s beaming face from behind it. “What?!” I say harsher than intended. She didn’t seem to pick up on it as she continued hugging her books with a stupid smile from ear to ear. “Our second date is this Saturday!” “Second date?!” “He is gonna take me to a surprise restaurant!” I pause, wholly stop moving. Penny had never not told me any little thing happening in her life. And now she is on a second date with some rando?! Was I just not listening to her talk about the first one the past couple of days? Then my brain catches on to what she said. “But we’re supposed to go shopping on Saturday,” I point out to her. Surely she couldn’t forget, it was Penny’s favorite time spent together. She waved her hand dismissively. “We’ll just go next week, Ashley,” she said without another thought. I blink. Her expression changes from her happy girly smile to a full set of teeth smile, eyes focused on something behind me. I turn to see Pretty Boy striding toward us with a mirroring smile to Penny’s. I make sure to make my expression extra threatening if he even cared to notice my presence. He doesn’t. Before I can protest, he whips past me, his cologne smacking me in the face, and loops his arm through Penny’s. Her laugh deafens out all other sounds as he leans down to whisper something in her ear. They turn to head to our first-period class, and I make a move to grab at her arm, desperate to remind her that I am still here. I miss as a cloud of freshmen swarm around me, blocking off my access to her. Alone at my locker, and my English book still in hand, I knew it was time to make a plan before I lost my best friend. A plan to get rid of Pretty Boy. Comments are closed.
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AuthorAll works are submitted by CCHS students. |