Star-Crazy
1311 Words
Astrid's POV
It couldn't be Trent. Having that thought in our heads was just plain crazy and / or stupid.
"Keri, I need your braincells to connect very quickly and for you to think about what you're saying. Why on earth would Trent Ambrose, they most popular boy at school, the boyfriend of our head cheerleader, a thorn in my ass and my senior year bully, why would he ever give me gifts. Are you crazy?" I expressed.
"You're right. That was crazy.. but your gifts are indeed a mystery, and it's one we're going to solve. We need to know who put those items into your locker, and I know exactly where we're going to start."
"Where, a school's questionnaire?"
"No. Of course not. The cameras in the hallways, duh."
"We don't have access to those recordings, Keri."
"My sweet and innocent bestie,"Keri said as she took me into a comforting hug, "There's always a way."
_________
I was now anticipating Monday, and as the dawning of the Monday sun entered through windows, I was up. I picked myself up out of bed and made an immediate beeline to my shower, where I selected warm water for my cleansing. Afterwards, I towel-off, applied lotion and sealed with a body oil then quickly stepped into a pair of skinny jeans and an oversized T-shirt. I positioned myself in front of the body length mirror and pulled my hair back into a ponytail.
"Ready," I said to myself. I looked like crap.. like back of the class crap but appearance wasn't something I was keen on. That was Keri's strong suit. The way she looked, dressed, color combinations, makeup coordination and her fragrances for the weather and time of day... I just couldn't. It was all too much. Just thinking about it gave me a headache.
I went downstairs to the kitchen where I met my smiling and exuberant mother.
"Good morning," I greeted her.
" Good morning, baby," she answered, "How's my favorite girl this morning?"
"I'm okay. Are you?"
"I'm great," she answered with a wide smile.
"Mom.. you're smiling wider than the Cheshire Cat in Alice In Wonderland. What could possibly have you in such a good mood?" I inquired.
"I cannot talk about it right now because I don't want to jinx it. Do have yourself a nice day at school today though," she answered without an answer.
She planted a quick kiss on my forehead and went out the door, leaving me to prepare my cereal and catching the bus to school.
~
I met Keri in the hallway.
"Great, you're early. We have exactly fifteen minutes to spare before the first bell. Let's head to the I.T department," she said without waiting for a response. She turned on her heel and I followed behind her.
We reached the I.T department and I hesitated at the door.
"Are you coming in?" Keri asked.
"Maybe we shouldn't be doing this. Just let it be a mystery, Keri," I responded but she only rolled her eyes at me.
"We're not breaking in, Astrid. I have a friend there. Come on," she said and took me by the hand. She pushed the door in and we walked into the room.
Fellow students glanced at us but were too busy clicking and browsing at their keyboards and screens to have even bother paying much attention to us.
Keri stalked over to the main office and I followed behind. She knocked on the small door and Mr. Nick Bolt poked his head out.
He was a young I.T teacher, fresh out of college. He wore a glasses that complimented his slender face and dazzling grey eyes.
"Hi Mr. Bolt, my friend and I need a huge favor," Keri said in a seductive tone of voice.
"Good morning, ladies. What can I do for you today, Miss. Lee?" he asked her.
"On Friday, my friend's locker was broken into. Nothing was stolen but someone played a Valentine's Day prank on her. We want to know who it was," Keri answered.
"Miss. Lee, I'm not in position to relinquish and or to show you any footages of the cctvs. And you know this. We've been over this," Mr. Bolt told her.
"And I don't think you're trying to understand our situation.My friend is being bullied and harassed everyday of her life," Keri expressed back.
"Then I'll advised you to take the matter to the principal's office. Have you already done so?"
"No. We came directly to you because I thought you'd understand. My mistake," Keri said as if there was a breaking pain in her voice.
We turned to leave. I heard Mr. Bolt's sigh before he opened the door completely and offered for us to come in.
"Not a word about this to anyone," he cautioned.
"We're sealed," Keri said. We took a seat and watched as Mr. Bolt pulled up the footages from last Friday.
"A time stamp would be helpful right now," he said.
"That we cannot provide exactly," I said. He gave a pitiful smile and fast forwarded the footage.
"There.There. There," Keri said, pointing at the monitor. Mr. Bolt selected the image to be played out. We watched as someone walked up to my locker right before the last period of the day. The hallway was cleared of students and teachers but the individual glanced around several times then opened my locker without any trouble.
He placed the items inside, closed my locker and then scurried away.
Keri laughed at the sight and Mr. Bolt shook his head at us.
"You told a fib, didn't you? Someone surprised your friend with gifts on Valentine's Day and you only wanted to know who it was," Mr. Bolt observed and realized.
"Guilty," Keri answered.
"Miss. Lee," he said in frustration and rubbed his fingers on the bridge of his nose.
"Thank you though. You're always sweet," Keri told him as a compliment. He smiled at her and she smiled back sweetly at him before we exited and headed out.
_______
I couldn't believe it was him.
Keri and I jogged through the hallways which was now buzzing with other students stocking and collecting their books out their lockers for first period.
"We have to find him before the bell rings," she said with annoyance from shoving our way through the crowd, "Hold on, this uniform has powers, right?" she questioned whilst pointing to the cheerleading uniform she was wearing.
"Umm.. what do you mean exactly?" I asked her, feeling lost.
"This," she answered, "EVERYONE, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!" she finished with a shout. I watched as everyone cornered to the sides and we walked through like the parted red sea.
"Where could he be?" Keri was restless storming the other hallways and I only followed behind her until finally, we found him heading towards the science lab.
"Stop right where you are!" Keri commanded. He halted at the school until we approached him.
"What's up?" he asked us.
"Is there something you want to confess to Astrid?"
"Uhhh..no."
"We know, Josh. So you may as well speak up and tell her to her face instead of her locker and then running away like a little girl," Keri said which was a bit too much.
Josh took aback.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he covered.
"Last Friday. Valentine's Day. Did you or did you not put items into Astrid's locker?"
"Hey, I was only doing him a favor."
"Him?"
"Who's "Him"?
"I cannot say," Josh answered.
"Oh yes you can. Who asked you to put it there?"
"He is too irascible to mention. Just let it be a mystery or wait until he tells you himself," Josh said.
"You wouldn't even give us a clue?" I asked him next.
"Hmm... let's just say he's star-crazy about you."
- Writer
