Lost

The Past

My name is Alexa Hastings and I’m the queen of bad luck. My mother and father split when I was 5. Personally I think it was the best decision they could have made, seeing as they fought like cats and dogs every single day. My early memories are filled with them screaming and yelling at each other and since the split, my home life has been calm. That is, until I started high school. Being from a big city in the Midwest it was common to hear a bunch of rumors about a lot of people, and after a couple weeks it all blew over and everyone moved on to the next one. Until me, that is. My freshman year started out like any other. My mom took my friends Bridgit, Meghan, and I to the local donut shop before school and would then drive us to school and drop us off. We posed for pictures and laughed when my mom teared up about how we were growing up. She did this every year, of course.

We weren’t what you would consider “popular” but we were well known. We were always joking, laughing, and having a good time. I was the more introverted of our friend group, but still loved going out and having fun on the weekends. Bridgit and Meghan did most of the dating and I did most of the reading and binging Netflix while they were busy. That’s how the first semester of high school went, until Jay Scott approached me one day after 4th period as we were walking out of the History class we shared. “Hey Lex, have any plans this weekend?” “Uhh... no. Why, what’s up?” His question caught me off guard for many reasons. The first being that while I wasn’t necessarily ugly by any means, I wasn’t the prettiest girl in school either. With long wavy blonde hair, curves in all of the right places, and bright green eyes I felt confident enough in my own skin. On the other hand I also had stretch marks, pale skin, and I was slightly heavy for my height of 5’2. I only wore makeup occasionally and my hair was always either down and natural, or up in a bun. While I had a feminine body, I was usually in ripped jeans and a t-shirt with either a light sweater or hoodie, depending on the weather. My second cause of confusion was because I honestly couldn’t remember Jay ever talking to me outside of class, and when he talked to me during class it was always about the lesson.

“So... I was actually wondering if you’d like to go on a date with me.. Friday night?” I scrunched my brows together in thought, and it must have come off as me looking like I was going to say no, as he quickly started stuttering over his words telling me that we didn’t have to call it a date if I didn’t want to. This caused a small chuckle to escape past my lips, which made him relax a bit. “A date with you on Friday sounds nice, actually. You just caught me by surprise, that’s all.” I smile at his sigh of relief and the way his eyes light up at my response. “Great! Uh, would you put your number in my phone and I’ll text you tonight when I get home from baseball practice?” he says, handing me his phone with a new contact screen already pulled up with my name. Apparently he had been planning on me saying yes, or maybe it was just him being hopeful. Who would say no to Jay? While I didn’t know much about him personally, I had seen him around with his friends and we shared a couple of classes together. He always seemed to be pretty upbeat and kind. With dark brown hair, a smile that would make any girl feel special, and a perfectly toned body thanks to the many sports he played Jay had to be one of the most handsome guys I’ve ever seen. Why he was interested in me had me itching to run and tell my best friends what in the hell had just happened. Typing my number in quickly I gave him his phone back and smiled. “I’ve gotta get to lunch before the girls send a search party, I’ll talk to you later” I said with a chuckle, waving as I calmly walked away. About 15 seconds later I peeked over my shoulder to make sure his back was to me and I broke out into a quick jog, eager to share my Friday night plans with Meghan and Bridgit who would no doubt squeal the moment the words left my mouth.