Story #297

Alex, a 15 year old girl, caught a ride to school in the morning, braving a ride with her half-asleep friend. She had taken the time to curl her long blond hair today because today was important…she had an apology to make. Once she got to school, she shoved everything in her locker and went to find him. The halls were becoming more crowded by the minute – she couldn’t move fast enough. As soon as she found him, she began to lose her nerve. Tall, thin and even more blond than her, she had forgotten how much she enjoyed looking into those blue-green eyes. Of course, she enjoyed those eyes more when they were happy to see her. Today was not one of those days. After trying to apologize (she was just playing when she hit him…she just got out of hand…ugh) and being denied, she was left to try to pull herself together enough to manage class. She frantically began texting her mom…she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t go to class – not today. Not after this morning. But her mom was already at work…stuck 45 minutes away. So she was relegated to writing a story for a guy to illustrate.

– Jennifer Hageman-Culp, Kansas City