Pretty Head

CHAPTER 1: My pretty head and its demons

Page's POV:

        I idly scribbled the notes that our flabby teacher in World History was jotting down on the white board, the squeaky sound of his marker made me feel nauseated. I cast a quick glance at Mason's corner, who seemed to be attentively listening to this boring subject. His brown copper hair was tousled unlike the spiky gelled hairdo that I'd gotten used to everytime we went on our date. To my delight, he slid a gaze at me; his sky-blue eyes flickered tenderly as he smiled crookedly at me. I suddenly fought the urge to c***k a smile. I squirmed at my seat as I looked away.

        "Hah, he still wants me," I said to myself, smirking.

        "Alright, get ready for a long quiz tomorrow." Mr. Barclay said casually.

        I heaved a sigh of relief, glad that this session was over. I grabbed my backpack and slung it onto my back and rose dutifully at my seat when abruptly, Mason blocked my way.

        "What are you up to tonight?" He heckled as he flashed a lopsided smirk

        "Hmm...What I'm up tonight? Oh! I'm going to a movie date with Rex, maybe you want to tag along so you could be my chaperone," I replied with my sarcastic sweetness.

             Actually that was a lie. I don't have any plans for tonight. Maybe I'll just stay home and have a Lying Game marathon.

         I just said that to piss him off or would be apt to say to make him jealous. I knew that he still had feelings for me; I could see it by the way he looked at me.

        "Rex huh," he drawled as he let out a low chuckle.

        "Yes, we started going out three days ago," I lied coolly.

        "But it doesn't seem like that. I saw him yesterday at Christa's party making out with this cute Asian girl in our Spanish class.” Mason countered.

        This burnt me, I was caught red handed. Crap. What would I retort now?

        I feigned a disgruntled expression. "Really? Or maybe you're just making things up," I countered with a sour grin.

        Suddenly, Rex emerged from the door with this petite Asian girl with heavy- lidded eyes. The girl hooked her arms around his neck and wounded her thighs around his waist.

        "Well, that justified on what I was talking about earlier," Mason drawled.

        I composed myself and cleared my throat, intentionally catching their attention. They both stopped from what they were doing as they shot us a bewildered look.

        "Hey Rex," I greeted as I lingered around him.

        "What time will you pick me up tonight?" I asked feistily at him. I saw the Asian girl's nose turned ruddy as I tugged my arms to Rex's and drew tiny circles around his alabaster skin. I could see that Rex seemed to be unnerved by what I was doing.

        "Well are we..."  Rex was groping for words as he creased his forehead.

        "What the hell is this, Rex?" snapped the Asian girl.

        "Li Xin... I..." Rex stammered and I abruptly crushed my lips onto his while furtively looking at Mason's direction through the screen of my hair. He went stiff in his position as he threw dagger look at our direction. Rex gladly reciprocated my game notwithstanding the fact the presence of the Asian girl whom he just made out with. Such a monumental asshat he was.

        "Let's go outta here Li Xin," Mason goaded wryly to Li Xin as I disentangled myself from Rex. Li Xin threw Rex a contemptuous look and suddenly, she kicked him on his groin.

        "Ouchhh!" Rex winced. I stifled to laugh upon the balls-out attitude of this girl.

        "You don't mess with a Taekwando black belter," she said belligerently and shot him a triumphant smile. Rex was left there clutching his groin, wincing in pain. In no time, Li Xin and Mason sauntered off the room. I was left thankful for that girl didn't bother to lunge at me and I knew the reason why—my pretty head intimidated her.

        "Serves you right bastard," I told him flagrantly as I went into a laughing fit.

        "What...was that Page? What were you talking about lately?" Rex asked quizzically, still wincing.

        "I only said that to make Mason jealous." I told him with my lioness pride, back in its full swing and waved him goodbye.

         I drummed Rex's query to myself, why the hell I did that? 1. To make Mason jealous 2. To get even with that douchebag Rex who kept on telling his co-lacrosse players that we hooked up at his party which was a complete bullcrap. 3. Because I feel like doing it, Page Rickard's day wasn't complete without doing her snarky deeds.

        I smiled wistfully as I nailed down the reasons in my pretty head and my girl, Shanty hollered at me and so we did our fierce catwalks in the hallway. I don't know where the hell was Mara like there was something wrong with her because she had been blowing us off for these past two days. Well whatever, she was not that ish. Northville's rowdy hallways had become our runway. I imagined myself strutting my sweet ass at Victoria's Secret Fashion show, wearing this laced black lingerie, walking the talk, but oh I forgot that I am always the talk; be it positive or negative, I just loved it when people talked about me. I might give those supermodels a run for their money.

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        I have a Filipino root running in my blood. My mom was originally from Sta. Rosa, Laguna while my dad was an aboriginal from New York. My dad worked as a marketing assistant in one of the prominent company here in Ardsley, while my mom worked as a preschool teacher before when we were still in the Philippines . They met each other as far as my pretty head could remember according to my mom, in a bookstore, back when my dad was on vacation in the Philippines. Dad was smitten by mom's charm right when he saw her busily pawing the books stacked in the shelves. So his eyes lit up, as he approached her and said a simple hello at her. My mom just smiled tentatively to him as she continued to paw some books. So yeah, dad stalked her all the way until Mom made her way outside the bookstore.

        Back then, mom was so annoyed to him but in the long run, they became good friends and eventually lovers. We moved here in Ardsley, New York U. S. A when I was barely hitting the puberty stage, so would suffice to say that I spent my childhood days at the so called "Pearl of the Orient Sea", Mabuhay Philippines!

        The smell of sinigang na baboy wafted in the air, and this made my stomach churn. I headed to the kitchen and hovered at my mom.

        "What mess have you done today?"  Mom asked in preamble as she stirred, with her back turned against me. Although her voice didn't sound stern, I was agape by her casual query as I sank low in the wooden chair.

        "Oh well, oh well, see them in hell," I replied in a sing-sang voice.

        "Page Rickard," she whirled and faced me.

        "Mom, relax," I told her with a tinge of irritation.

        "Page, what if you got expelled? I suddenly remember when you changed the choices in your Algebra class.”

        Oh yeah that was one of the hilarious things that I'd done in our Algebra class way back then.

So here goes what mom was babbling about, there were a set of polynomial equations which I couldn't wrap my head about it that I just made fun out of the choices.

a. f**k polynomials

b. Like who cares

c. Go get a life

d. Whatever

        Okay, that was the first naughty deed that I did in the duration of my high school life in Northville High. I was a freshman then and I could still remember the look of Mr.Chrisson's face  when he read aloud to the class the choices that I wrote. The whole class was filled with jeers as he read it and from that day on, I earned this ...uhm supremacy among the highschoolers at my age. Although, I got a three-day suspension from what I did but only in that class. I smiled wickedly as those train of thoughts flashed back on my pretty head.

        My mom suddenly pinched me my arms that made me quickly pulled my thoughts away.

        "Be good Page," she chastised and went to set the table.

        "Uh that is so grade schooler Page mom," I shot back, grinning her a playful smirk as I started to wolf down my meal.

        "Page, you’re already in your senior year, time to jumpstart the maturity. High school is no joke Page, you're nearly in your college year, time to get things all mapped out.” She chastised once more.

        Time to get things all mapped out. This wrenched statement, though. I still couldn't figure out on which of these two that I’d pursue; Mass Communication or Fashion Design? My pretty head was torn with these two options which were cup of my tea.

        I twitched my lips in a bitter curve as I stared blankly at the sinigang soup.

        "But there is always this someone who always rub it on my face that I'm not good enough, even on the courses I’d like to pursue in college, neither of those two appealed to him. He always pushed me to pursue an engineering course, a real course according to him." I grunted.

        Flashing a warm smile, Mom squeezed my dainty hands.

        "Prove him wrong Page, all you have to do is to have that courage, you are feisty right? Well then, use that attitude Page, in reaching your dreams. Yes, dreams are hard to chase, but there's always the other way around. You don't have to chase it all the time, maybe you can walk with it, so you better get cracking now," she asserted and winked. That made sense though— there was a ring of truth in her word which made me think that maybe I should take it into account.

        This was what I love the most about my mom— she always had faith in me no matter how awful I was, unlike dad who was always this perfectionist prick  that always  showered me with insults and discouraging words, putting me into a grumpy mood. I admit that I deserved it but sometimes even in my small victories and achievements, he didn't even bother to praise me— he'd just shook it off and coaxed me to improve more, some dad he was huh. He always set the bar high when it came to me, their only child. I wasn’t that solo child who was spoiled by their parents. I was far from that. Well that was why I spoiled myself at school— my only escape from dad's domineering ways. Needless to say, dad and I weren't that close and I think we would never be.

        Suddenly, we heard dad's car honking from the outside. I rolled my eyes and shot mom a I'm- screwed look .

        "I'll just lurch upstairs mom. I suddenly remember that we have a quiz in World History,"

        "Well, it's that an excuse to avoid him?" she speculated, arching a brow.

        "No, we really do have a quiz. Besides, I don’t want another lecture." I said curtly.

        I quickly kissed her on her cheeks and mumbled Goodnight and went into my room. I heard dad looking for me so I grabbed my World History book and notebook and started to study for the quiz tomorrow. But I couldn’t seem to focus on what I was reading as I heard his voice raised up to my mom as if they were arguing about something.

        "Well, such a pain in the ass that she is! You can't imagine the look on my face when Mr. Gobler, their disciplinarian hollered at me lately as I went outside our office and I'm glad that I bumped into him. He told me these naughty things Page does at school!" Dad ranted with his sharp voice.

        My heart was racing in my throat as I heard the point of contention— it was all about me. I snapped my eye shut, letting my inner demons swim with my chaos of thoughts, and dreaded for dad's sermon. Heaving a deep sigh, I drifted off to sleep.