~Wednesday~
She was in French class, and for one of the first times in her life, she was zoning out. Ands Nick was the reason for that. I sat in the row next to her two seats up so she could easily see him without making it obvious that she was staring at him. He was so gorgeous and he really did seem to be a nice guy. And talented too since he was in choir and theater. She wished he would give her a time of day. But he wouldn�t, she knew he wouldn�t. And even if he did, Sara would probably get on her. She looked like one of those types who would just jealous if her boyfriend even TALKED to another girl. And Alicia had had enough of popular girls. She didn�t want any more of those types taunting her.
�Come on Alicia� she scolded herself �You are not supposed to do this. You�re supposed to concentrating on school!� She snapped at her trance and resumed her studious ways till lunch.
�I�ve noticed a couple things about you Alicia even though I�ve only known you a week� Dani was telling her.
Alicia was confused �OK. So, what do you mean?�
�That�s you have a lot of potential for a lot of things but you haven�t gotten there yet� Dani said.
�Ok. Like on what?�
�Your looks for one thing. You are a very pretty girl. You just don�t give yourself a chance� at all. Why do you dress so plain all the time?�
She sighed. �I�m not out to impress anybody and it was kinda my parents unspoken dress code and I just haven�t bothered to change. Besides nobody pays attention to me anyway�
�Well, you aren�t under their rules anymore, so maybe you could� let loose a little bit. You did want some changes this year didn�t you?� Desiree asked.
She nodded, having an idea where her new friends were taking this. �Yeah��
�We were thinking to take you shopping for some new clothes on Saturday if you want to.� Les said. �Try to being out a side of Alicia Carter that has been hiding behind a wall for 16 years. To help you build some confidence in yourself and get noticed by people�
�Especially a certain Lachey� Dani teased.
Alicia turned two shades of red. She knew Dani was referring to Nick. �How did you figure it out?� She asked.
�I see the way you look at him in French class, it�s obvious that you like him� Dani said.
�Actually, I do have a crush on him. But you know, I�m sure everyone does� Alicia said, shrugging and then changed the subject to something else. She didn�t like to talk about herself that much.
In Theater, they didn�t work on all those monologue things. Ms. Collins instead gathered the class and said, �I�m really liking what I see in this group of actors. So I have decided to just go ahead and give you the script for our first play.�
The class was really happy to hear this. These monologues were getting a little boring.
�The play is called �Destiny�. It�s a play I have been working on and finished this past summer. So I decided I�d try it on you all. The main character is a girl named Kassandra, who lives in a rich community and goes to an upscale high school. Everything in her life seems to be perfect except one thing. She longs for the affections of her crush of several years, Jamie. She and Jamie are friends but she�s never said anything about having feelings for him. But she knows the romance is never to happen because her nemesis, Andrea, has him wrapped around her finger. But then a couple things happen and then the two may sprout romance. There are a couple to songs to sing in this play, including a big one by Kassandra.� She began handing out the script.
�Hmmm� I know how Kassandra feels. It would be fun to play her.� Alicia thought sadly. �And if Nick was picked to be Jamie�� Her heart stopped at the thought. How could she do that? She didn�t have the guts to even go up and talk to him, let alone get up on the stage and act with him. And to have Sara�s envying eyes on her� she couldn�t stand the thought of that.
�Auditions will be in a week after school. During this week we will work on monologues a bit but if you want can practice in groups and do this script in whichever role you would like to audition for. So, you may look over the script for the rest of the period.�
Alicia looked over the script, and the more she read it, the more she liked the role. But she knew she would probably just audition for Justine, one of Kassandra�s friends. But she knew it would be great to play Kassandra. And she knew how Kassandra felt about having a crush on someone and not being able to tell them.
Alicia looked over at Nick across the room. She hoped he was auditioning for the role of Jamie but then she never knew.
That evening, Alicia was reading that script again in the living room. Jeremy came in and sat down beside her. �What�s that you�re reading, Leesha?� He asked her.
�The script for our school play. Auditions are in a week,� She said.
�See any roles you like?�
She nodded �Yeah, but I don�t think I can play it�
�Which one is it?�
�The lead one� Alicia replied and told him a little bit about the role.
�I�m sure you could. Read a couple of her lines to me�
She did.
� I think you could. Alicia you have been living under Frank�s roof for too long and he�s, in a way limiting your creativity and making you think you can�t do things. But I believe you can. You have the potential to do anything if you set your mind to it. You just need to believe it yourself�
�My friends say that as well. They want to bring out the Alicia Carter that has been hiding for 16 years.� Alicia said, smiling vaguely.
�And she can, you just need to being her out. Keep reading�
She was talking to Chloe later.
�Mom and Dad really made me mad earlier� Chloe told her.
�Why?� Alicia asked.
�Well, we were sitting at the dinner table, and I bring up that you were having a good first week of art school. And Dad just makes a stuck up noise and says that you probably aren�t learning anything and putting a lot rubbish into your head�
This made her very angry. �Gosh!!! I am too learning things! Why are they so against creativity and how did they become our parents?�
�I wish I knew that answer. It made me so mad, because it was so insulting.�
�It is.� But Alicia knew that the only reason that she was even in Cincinnati right now was because Jeremy had told her dad that he was going to make sure that she got the education she deserved and Frank wasn�t going to stop her. Alicia�s greatest fear is that her parents would make her come home.
�I really wish I lived in Cincinnati with you as well. It�s so lonely in this house without you.� Chloe sounded really sad and wistful.
�I wouldn�t press your luck, I�m lucky to even be here right now� Alicia told her sister in a sad tone
Chloe sighed, �I know.�
They talked for a little while longer.
Alicia woke the next morning feeling very agitated. She was mad about what her parents said, she wasn�t feeling well and she just had a feeling that today just wasn�t going to be a good day. She hated everything and ignored her family and everyone else that she came in contact with that morning She even forgot to look at Nick in French class.
Finally it was lunchtime. Alicia had been really quiet through everything and finally Les asked her �What�s wrong Alicia? You�ve been quiet and avoiding us all day�
She sighed heavily. �I�m just having a bad day that�s all. I really don�t want to talk about it�
�Are you sure?� Dani asked.
She nodded, trying to keep her temper in check. This annoyed her when people asked her if she was sure she was ok after she had said she didn�t want to talk about it. She had no idea why, but it did.�
She sat and listened to Dani entertain them with stories about her and Jeff from when they had hung out at her house the night before, but then finally she decided she would go to her locker even though she didn�t have to just yet.
�I�ll see you all later, I�m going to my locker�
�Hope your day gets better Leesh� said Les, smiling.
�Yeah, I hope it does too� Desiree said, smiling. �Keep your chin up�
Alicia smiled slight y back at them. �Thanks. I hope it does too�
She left the lunchroom and then came to a staircase. She then started to walk down it and then without looking, tripping over something and taking a nasty spill down the rest of the steps. �Crap�� she thought. �I�m already in a bad mood, this is a bad day and now I take a fall down the stairs. �THIS IS JUST GREAT!!!!� she said under her breath.
Suddenly, a kind, young male voice above her asked, �Are you ok?�