Grim Truths

My phone alarm has been going off for 20 minutes. I can hear my mom downstairs in the kitchen making breakfast while shouting at my little brother to get his shoes off the counter. I hear his snarky remark in return. I stare at the ceiling and debate to myself if today is really worth rolling out of bed for. I snooze my phone alarm, sit myself up in bed and yawn. Right on cue, my dad knocks on my door. “I’m almost ready,” I lie. “Okay, baby girl, just checking on you. I’m off to work now. I love you,” he says through my door. “I love you, too, Dad. Have a good day.” I hear his feet retreat. I stand out of bed and walk into my closet. It’s November in Wisconsin but it’s not as cold as it usually is this time of the year. I choose a white cable knit sweater and a green and brown wool skirt that rests just above my thighs. Not feeling warm enough, I put on black stockings under my skirt. I look at myself in my mirror and sigh. I’m not ugly, at least, not in my opinion. I have a diamond shaped face with high cheekbones and a defined jawline. My lips are full and often painted red which compliment my rounded nose. My eyes are green and are spaced just right. My toffee colored hair falls perfectly on my shoulders. Mom swears I could be a model when I graduate from college. I’m still trying to survive high school. My phone alarm goes off, breaking me from my thoughts. I turn off the alarm but set a 30 minute timer so I can put on a little bit of makeup and style my hair. As I’m finishing up my hair, my phone dings. I pick it up and giggle to myself. My best friend, Myah, sent me a picture of what I assume is her breakfast. Myah loves to cook but isn’t very good at it. She claims she made an omelette but it looks like a murder scene. Absolutely not. I text her back. What’s that supposed to mean? Sure, it doesn’t look good but it sure tastes good. I’m sure Logan could say the same thing about you sometimes. ;) I reply. I can hear her laugh through the phone nah, we broke up like two hours ago. Through text. Who does that?! Details later. See you in home room. xxo I walk down the stairs to see my little brother, Cavin, finishing his pancakes. I say little but he’s taller than me and only 14. He has the same dirty blond hair that I do but his nose is bigger and he has hazel eyes. “Hey, Ava! You look pretty today,” Cavin says. “Thank you, Cav. I like your hair today. How are the pancakes?” I smile at him. Cavin may be my brother but he’s one of my best friends. I don’t think we’ve ever had that annoying sibling phase. Our favorite weekend activities are giving each other facials and watching 90s sitcoms together. Currently, we’re on our 4th rerun of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. I walk up behind mom, grab a plate and two pancakes. Moving to the island in the middle of the kitchen, I take a seat next to Cavin. I take a sideways glance at him silently asking if I should be cautious. My mom is many wonderful things but a chef is not one of them. We usually leave cooking to my dad or myself but I was up late and dad had a meeting to get to bright and early. “Chocolate chip pancakes? What’s the special occasion?” I joke. I already know. “I’m manifesting myself some good luck today. I’m being interviewed for a Registered Nurse position at Saint Helen’s hospital today,” Mom says in her best nonchalant tone. My mom is 39 years old and passed her clinical exams to become a registered nurse. It’s been her dream since she was my age but she and dad got pregnant with me when they were 21. My mom put her career aside so my dad could finish his degree to be a lawyer. Once he passed the Bar, my mom went back to school. I’m so proud of my parents. “I’m sure you’re going to do great, mom. They’d be stupid to let you slip through their fingers,” Cavin tells her. “I completely agree,” I nod in agreement. Cavin and I finish eating while mom cleans up the kitchen. We wash our plates and place them into the dishwasher before walking to my car but before exchanging ‘I love yous’ to our mom. I drive a blue SUV that my parents bought for my 17th birthday 5 months ago. Cavin named it Bethany and I have no idea why. I never bothered to ask. I treat Cavin as one of my girlfriends. He doesn’t mind as he loves knowing all the drama from the my friends. Cavin is a Sophomore so he probably tells his friends about everything. Everything that isn’t sworn to secrecy anyway. “I guess Logan broke up with Myah over text,” I tell him as I pull out of the driveway. “I’m not surprised, honestly. I didn’t think he ever liked her like that to begin with,” I see his shoulder shrug from my peripheral. “What do you mean?” Cavin has a sixth sense about people. More times than not he knows of a person is no good before the rest of us. “I always got the vibe he was dating her to get to you. Pretty sure he’s liked you since you both were in middle school. He must have gotten desperate because you never noticed. Why he thought dating your best friend was a good way to make you see him is beyond my thought process but to each their own,” he laughs quietly. He has a point. I’ve only ever had one boyfriend but I broke up with him because I had a brief sexuality crisis. Myah had a cousin come over for a summer and I had the hots for her. Once I decided I was indeed straight, though, all the boys at Bluffview Prep didn’t appeal to me. “I hope that’s not the case. I don’t want to be the reason Myah and Logan broke up,” I sigh. “No, it’s not your fault at all. You may have been the reason but Logan shouldn’t be playing games like that. This is all on Logan and you two girls deserve people who won’t try to come between you,” Cavin’s voice is stern. He’s very protective and I appreciate him for that quality. “I love you, too, Cavin. Thank you,” I wish I could hug him. He cracks a smile and turns on the radio. I sing along the rest of the drive to school. As I pull into the school parking lot I find Myah standing in my spot. I give her a honk and she gives me the finger before moving out of the way. Cavin secretly has a crush on her and he thinks I don’t know. I look over to him and the tips of his ears are bright red. I also know he doesn’t want to make a move on her because of two main reasons. One being she’s older than him by a little over 3 years and second because she’s my best friend and doesn’t want to step on my toes. I wouldn’t object to it. I know Cavin would treat her well but since he’s never come out and told me he likes her, I respect his privacy and keep silent about it. Myah comes knocking on the passenger side window and I roll it down. Myah is gorgeous and the complete opposite of me. She’s taller than me by at least 4 inches. She has Latin roots and is 3rd generation Mexican immigrant. My favorite feature on her is her bridged nose. She hates it but I always tell her that she should be proud of where it came from. “Girl. What took you so long? Hey, Cavin. You look deviously handsome as always,” she winks at him. His ears darkens. “Thank you, Myah. You look good too,” he says and I think I hear his voice crack. “I need to go, please, my class starts in 10.” Myah moves and Cavin gets out of my car. I jump out as well and grab my book bag before locking up. Cavin waves me off before almost sprinting inside. “Sometimes, I think he only tolerates me because we’re friends,” Myah says looking hurt. I laugh a little harder than I should have. She gives me a puzzled look. “Aren’t you supposed to be telling me about Logan?” I ask as we begin walking to homeroom. “YES, sorry. Oh, my god. He and I only dated for like what, two months? He texts me and was like, ‘I don’t feel the sparks anymore. Maybe we should see other people.’ Like excuse me, sir, what the f**k? The dude wouldn’t even kiss me and was talking about no sparks,” she crosses her arms over her chest and exhales. “Honestly I would have dumped him soon, anyway, but over TEXT? I dodged a bullet, I say.” “You’re strong headed and independent. Maybe he couldn’t handle what you were offering. It’s not your fault,” I touch her arm. She nods once in return. As we turn into our classroom I greet our teacher, Miss Swunsie. My brain is on auto pilot as I’ve done this every day since freshman year. I put my books down on my desk while greeting other students and I turn to sit down. Only, I land on someone. I stand immediately and I feel my cheeks go red. Two honey brown almost golden eyes connect with mine and he examines me for a brief second and grins. “I don’t think sharing seats is allowed in homeroom,” he says coyly. “I’m so sorry. I usually sit here and I wasn’t paying attention. Are you new here? I’m Avori. Ava for short.,” I hold my hand out for him to shake. He takes it but just holds it. This whole encounter feels planned but not on my end. How could be know me? I’m hardly popular though the ‘it girls’ of Bluff View respected me. Up until last year I was on the cheer squad but I got a nasty concussion last year. Now the idea of being tossed 6 feet in the air terrified me. “Callum. My friends call me Cal,” he gives me another once over. “You can call me Cal.” I can feel this man is dissecting me with his eyes. He doesn’t look like he’s a senior. Maybe a senior in college. I also remember the entire classroom is watching us. Myah makes eye contact with me and raises her eyebrows at me twice before silently laughing at me. I look down and see Cal still has a hold on my hand. “Can I have my hand back?” I whisper. He lets me go and I grab my books off his desk. “Sorry, again.” He smiles and shrugs. I move front of class where there’s an open seat. I pull some class work from my bag and work on it but I’m having a hard time focusing. I swear I can still feel Callum’s eyes on the back of my skull. I feel my phone buzz on my desk, instinctively knowing it’s Myah. Ummmm. WTF was that???? I wish I knew. Wasnt it a rumor we were getting a new student like last month? I reply. Still, it’s weird and I feel singled out by him. Well, yeah but who takes over a month to switch schools? Anyway, I can tell he likes attention and clearly he was really enjoying yours. ;) I left her message on read and massaged my temples. Myah also thinks it’s weird that I’m 17 and still haven’t had a rea boyfriend. That’s the thing. I’m 17. I didn’t need a boyfriend. The rest of the morning passed in a blur. After homeroom, Myah and I shared second period English Lit together. We had a quiz on MacBeth and I knew I was going to ace it. Myah struggled with English and social studies where I flourished. Mathematics and sciences, however, she had me beat. The girl could remember every element on the periodic table, their atomic weight, and when they were discovered. I barely could remember the chemical formula for water. We used our weaknesses to our advantage though. Myah and I got extra credit in most of our classes for tutoring each other. I walk into the lunch room looking for Myah since we always sit at the same table. She waves me down with her clumsy grin. She had something interesting to tell me and she couldn’t wait to give me the scoop. I start towards her when the urge to turn around and look behind me strikes. I glance over my shoulder as a personal compromise. While my attention is distracted I bump into someone, almost spilling my cup of soup on them. “Oh, my god. I’m so sorry!” I gasp. My eyes land on a Ramones graphic t-shirt. My eyes trail up several inches, I’d estimate 5 or 6 of them, and see those golden eyes from homeroom. My face has the audacity to blush. Traitor. “No, I’m sorry. Nice to have you bump into me again, Avori,” he smiles mischievously, acting as if this morning were now an inside joke between the two of us. My face deepens a few shades of red. “I apologized for that, right? If not, I’m really sorry. I was running late so my brain wasn’t paying attention to its surroundings,” I lightly hit myself on the side of my head to accentuate my point. “I truly didn’t mind.” His eyes twinkle. Actually twinkle. His golden eyes lit up like there’s a dull lightbulb behind them. I’m completely insane. My breathing becomes like I was about to have a panic attack. I can feel myself losing balance and my eyes struggle to focus on anything. Except those eyes. “How do you do that?” I need to sit down. Cal seems to notice and shakes his head and blinks a couple times. The lights in his eyes are off again. My vision slowly returns like I’m waking up from a dream. “Do what? I’m not doing anything?” He almost sounds panicked. That would make two of us. Maybe I imagine it? I used to have fainting spells as a child due to lack of sleep or being too anxious. “Oh. Uh, nothing, I guess. I’m sorry. Did you need something?” I forgot why I was here. Where was I going? I look down to my tray of food. Right. Lunch. Myah. “Did you want to sit with us? Myah and myself, I mean?” He looks at me with concern and conflict dancing in his features. His gorgeous features. He’s tanned and well built like he spends all his free time lifting tracker tires in the sun. My eyes have a hard time moving away from his but the only time I do look away is to look at his full set of lips that rest beneath a perfectly sculpted nose. His hair is cropped short but it’s messy. I guess he goes for that ‘I woke up like this’ look. Man, can he pull it off. “Hey, this might seem weird but I need you to do something for me,” he asks in my direction. He doesn’t look at me but I can tell he’s serious. “Sure, what?” “You need to leave school early today. I have a bad feeling about today.” He glances over to the clock then back to me. His eyes finally meet mine and my fingers tingle like they’re begging me to touch him. “What? Why? When? I can’t just leave I gave my brother a ride and he has a soccer game tonight.” I hear him release a sigh or maybe a growl. “Then take him too. I don’t want you here and I need you to be gone by 2:24 this afternoon. It’s only an hour before school lets out and I’ve heard your last ‘class’ is a study hour. Please, leave.” His voice is so sincere that I completely believe I would do anything for him. All I’m able to get my brain to do is nod. I watch him walk away. I turn and make my way towards Myah. “Giiirrrl. He likes you. I can feel it in my old bones,” she snorts a laugh. “I don’t know where 17 is considered ‘old’ but that place isn’t here,” I give my most convincing sarcastic tone. Myah clearly isn’t convinced. She raises her eyebrow at me. I sigh. “Callum Rhys gives me weird vibes. They’re not.. bad, I guess. They’re just weird. He told me that I should leave with my brother by 2:24 this afternoon. I’ve never skipped school. Come with me?” I hope I’m giving her the puppy eyes. I’m not going to ignore Cal’s request. He was so genuine and concerned. “Sure,” she says simply and shrugs her shoulders. “You just need to convince Cavin.” I groan. “Okay, don’t freak but I think I know how to get him out of school. Especially on a game day.” “Oh? How so, wise one?” She takes a sip of a coke that I didn’t notice. “Cavin likes you and I think, no, I know he’d leave school to take you on a date.” Myah spits her coke out and coughs several times. I lean back to avoid the crossfire of coke. “What?! How long have you known this?” She wipes her face as she catches her breath. “I know you like him too, don’t act all weird about it,” I look at her and she opens her mouth to say something but I cut her off. “I’m completely fine with it. I think you’d both be great.” She blushes and nods. Myah pulls out her phone and starts to text someone who I assume and hope is Cavin. Within minutes her phone dings again and a huge smile breaks across her face. She looks up me, her smile not faltering an inch. “And Myah. You’re sworn to secrecy,” I give her my best motherly look. She doesn’t break eye contact with me when she agrees. Mission complete. I look around the cafeteria and lock eyes with Cal, who was already looking at me. I nod once to him and a look of relief washes over his face. Now, I wait. My 6th period class is gym with Mr. Dohr. Luckily, he’s very easy going so when I told him I wasn’t feeling well enough to participate in class he let me use this time as an additional study hall. I bounce my leg while periodically looking at the clock. I must have lost track of time while engrossed in my trigonometry textbook because my phone is buzzing hard in my pocket. It’s finally 2 o’clock. Nothing distracts the mind like trying to force yourself to learn how to calculate the volume of a cone shaped object. I pack up my things while the other girls break through the door to change for their next class. I leave the locker room as the girls begin talking about the senior boys. Typical conversation. Instead of turning right towards my final hour which thankfully is a study period, I turn left towards the parking lot. I sprint to my car and grab my phone to send Myah and Cavin both quick texts. Once they sent, I look out my passenger window. Myah’s car is already gone and I let out a sign of relief. I turn my car on and reverse out of my spot. As I leave the school grounds, a man in a green rusty pick up makes eye contact with me. I smile at him and wave but he doesn’t respond. His eyes look blank like he wasn’t actually there. As if his body were on autopilot. It sent shivers up my spine. I turn my focus back on the road, make a right turn, and continue on my way. My mom isn’t going to be home for a few hours so I’d be okay to just go home. I should skip class more often. It’s nice to have a little me time.