Crying on the Inside - Short Story version
Michelle hit her alarm clock and sat up. She looked
around her room once before getting up and going to
take a shower. After she finished she dried off and
put on her favorite body lotion Watermelon. She looked
in her closet at her array of clothes. She had so many
to choose from. She liked designer clothes such as
Calvin Kline, Guess, and Tommy Hilfiger. She chose a
sporty look today. After putting on a white Tommy Girl
capri shirt that had baby blue stripes and a long
tight fitting white skirt to match with the baby blue
stripes down the sides, she sat at her vanity mirror.
She applied her makeup ever so careful as to look her
best like she did day after day. When she had the
affect she wanted she did her hair. She let the back
of her jet black hair hang loose and tied the sides
back after teasing her bangs a little and finished
getting dressed. She put on her baby blue Tommy Girl
canvas sneakers and grabbed her baby blue mini pack
and left out the door. Her parents were already gone
so she grabbed a breakfast bar and a diet soda and
went out the door. She clicked the alarm on her candy
apple red drop top Mercedes Benz and got in and drove
to school. After parking in her reserved parking spot
she got out and made her entrance into the school
corridors. The halls were still pretty full. She felt
all eyes on her as she walked by to go to her locker.
She held her head high like the Queen walking to her
throne. When she reached her locker she looked around
for her friends. She stood there and waited. Then they
came walking down the hallway getting the same stares
as she did. They were the most popular girls in
school. First there was Heather whom everyone
nicknamed Princess because that's exactly what she
was. She was a knockout and she knew it. With her
blonde hair and icy blue eyes that gave you the
coldest, hardest stare, she was admired by many. Then
there was Brianna the beautiful brunette. She looked
like a Barbie doll and with her super rich parents she
lived like one complete with the dreamhouse, wardrobe,
Corvette and all. Most were jealous of the three, the
rest wanted to be them.
"About time," Michelle said to them as they went
to their lockers also.
"Well we had to make the entrance," Brianna said.
"To accommodate our adoring fans." they started to
laugh.
They knew the entrance wasn't complete yet.
Their boyfriends had not arrived yet. And at that
moment they did. The three guys practically ran the
school. They were star athletes and had girls
following them day in and day out. There was Josh "JC"
Chasez, Michelle's boyfriend. Captain of the football,
basketball, and swim teams. He had the best body of
any guy at the school and he had the softest brown
eyes that you could stare into for the rest of your
life. Then there was Lance Bass, Heather's boyfriend.
Since she was the princess then he was the prince. He
also had blond hair and blue eyes and they made the
perfect couple. And last but not least was Joey
Fatone, Brianna's boyfriend. Joey was the cute Italian
one and he was co-captain of the football team. He had
a reputation around school that he had sex with half
the girls of their rival high school Westmont. He
admits it and half the girls in their school wanted to
sleep with him because of it. He was just that cute!
They greeted their boyfriends just as the bell for
first period rang.
"Are we on for tonight?" JC asked Michelle. She
looked at him with uncertainty.
"Yeah," she said.
JC wanted to have sex with her
but she was still not sure about it. She kept putting
it off until now when she told him she would. When
they got to class they all sat in their seats. Ten
minutes into class she was tapped and given a note
from Brianna. It said:
Are you guys gonna do it finally?
Michelle stared at the words on the paper in silence.
This had been going on for months. She and JC had been
together a year and they were the most adored couple
in school and hadn't even done it yet. There was so
much pressure from her friends. They had already done
it with their boyfriends and was waiting for her so
they could share stories. But she didn't know if she
wanted to do it. Truth was she loved JC but not like
he loved her. She wasn't sure he was the one she
wanted to be her first. Sure he was perfect in every
way but she had her doubts. She wrote on the paper a
simple:
I don't know.
She handed it back to Brianna and a few minutes later
she got it back.
What do you mean? You have to do it with him.
Everyone is waiting.
Michele sighed. She crumbled it up instead of
replying. When the class was over and most of the day
went by Michelle started to feel bad. She didn't know
what to do. At lunch she sat at their table in
silence.
"What's the matter?" JC asked her. She faked a
smile for him.
"Nothing. Just nervous about that test in sixth
period," she lied.
"Aw man that's nothin right guys," he said to
Lance and Joey as they all gave each other palm.
"Yeah. We get good grades regardless," Lance said
in his deep voice.
"I know," Joey laughed. "Star athlete treatment."
They were right. The teachers gave them good grades
whether they passed or failed so that they would
remain on the athletic teams. It happened every
semester. Michelle excused herself to go to the
bathroom. She walked in the empty hallway slowly to
let time pass. She had so many thoughts in her head.
"Baby blue is my favorite color," she heard from
behind her. She turned around and saw the most
gorgeous guy she had ever seen. He had the curliest
dark blond hair and beautiful blue eyes. He had on
shirt that showed all his muscles.
"Hi," she said staring at him.
"Hi," he said. They stared at each other saying so
much without actually speaking.
"You're new here right?" she asked breaking the
silence.
"Actually I've been here about a month now," he
said. While he talked she eyed his body.
"Um...I'm sorry. What's your name?" she asked.
"My name is Justin," he said extending his hand.
They shook hands and she felt chills run through her
when he touched her. He almost made her weak.
"My name is um..." for some reason she couldn't
remember.
"I know your name. Nice to meet you Michelle. I've
heard a lot about you," he said smiling at her. She
looked at him. It seemed brighter now that he smiled.
"What did you hear about me?" she asked.
"Let's just say a lot," he said. She laughed and
he laughed to. Just then the bell rang and lunch was
over. Neither one heard the bell as they stood there
staring at each other.
"Well I gotta get to my next class. You better
wait up for your crew," Justin said to her.
Michelle
looked down the hall and her friends were headed their
way. Justin had already left and she watched him walk
down the hall. She felt warm inside like an oven and
she felt butterflies in her stomach. She knew what
that
feeling was and she just couldn't feel that way. Not
now. Her friends had caught up and they all walked to
class together. When school was over Michelle walked
to her car trying to escape JC's question. But JC was
waiting at her car.
"Meet me tonight at my house okay," he said
taking
and kissing her hand. She faked her smile again.
"Yeah," she said. JC smiled at her and hugged
her.
"Don't worry. Everything will be just fine. Gotta
go," he said running toward the football field.
Michelle sat in her car about to cry. She should have
just told him how she felt but she couldn't. She
pulled out of the lot thinking of a way to get out of
this. But she knew she would end up at his house
tonight doing something she didn't want to do because
she didn't want to open her mouth. She saw Justin
walking ahead. She pulled up next to him.
"Where's your car?" she asked. He laughed.
"In the shop," he said.
"You want me to give you a lift?" she asked.
"Sure why not," he said. He got inside the car
and
he drove off.
"Where do you live?" she asked him. He gave her
specific directions and she realized she drove to an
unfamiliar neighborhood. It wasn't the fancy streets
and houses she was used to around her way. Justin
looked at her face.
"Do you know where you are?" he asked.
"Not really," she said. She parked in front of
his
house. It was a nice house but not like Michelle's
lavish mini mansion. Actually it was far from it. But
not to bad.
"Thanks," he said.
"No problem," she said smiling at him.
"Can I be honest with you?" he said. She nodded.
"I don't have a car. I lied so you wouldn't think
I was weird," he said.
"I wouldn't have thought you were weird because
you don't have a car," she said. Justin stared at her
in mild disbelief.
"Do you want to come in for a minute?" he asked
her.
"Sure," she said as she shut off her engine and
followed him inside. The inside looked better than the
outside. Justin searched in the downstairs rooms.
"No one home yet. My dad works two jobs and my
sisters are still at school," he said.
"What about your mom?" she asked him.
"My mom died. Right after my sister Jessica was
born," he said.
"I'm sorry," Michelle said feeling bad.
"It's okay. I'm sort of used to it now. It's been
six years so don't feel bad," he said. He started up
the stairs.
"Come on." She followed him upstairs to his
bedroom. His room looked very cozy. He had a lot of
basketball and Michael Jordon paraphanalia. There were
a lot of baby blue things such as some of his hats,
shirts and sneakers.
"You really do like baby blue," she said
laughing.
He nodded and closed the door and sat on his bed.
"Yeah I do," he said.
"So tell me about yourself. Where did you live
before here?" she asked sitting down in his director's
chair.
"Well I used to live in Memphis before here. Much
quieter there. I like basketball and I plan on trying
out for the school team soon," he said. "That's pretty
much it about me. What about you?" he asked.
"Well why don't you tell me what you heard," she
said and they both laughed.
"Okay. Well I know you're popular and you have a
boyfriend. JC," he said. Michelle nodded but stopped
smiling. "You know since I came to this school I've
checked you out. I always hear from guys that you're
hot and beautiful but you're taken. And I've noticed
something," he said. Michelle stared at him willing to
hear what he had to say. "You're not happy." They
stared at each other. "I can see there's so much
pressure on you to be who you are which is the object
of envy but you never say anything. You don't want to
hurt anyone's feelings so you keep quiet which is
killing you inside. No one understands do they?"
"You do," she said moving next to him on the bed.
"How do you know all this about me?"
"I don't know. I feel like a vibe coming from you
and it's very strong. Like right now. You want to do
something but you won't tell me," he said. She stared
at him in amazement on how well he knew her.
"And what's that?" she asked.
He said nothing but
leaned in to kiss her. She leaned in also and met his
lips which felt like heaven. They kissed while
caressing each other's tongues. They pulled away after
a while.
"You want to tell me about it?" he said to her.
"About what?" she asked. She was surprised that
she didn't even feel guilty.
"About your problems and your troubles," he said.
"Because if you didn't have those then it wouldn't
have been so easy for you to kiss me." She stared at
him. For some reason she felt close to him. She wanted
to trust him and she knew she could. She never told
anyone her problems not even her best friends. They
wouldn't understand. But Justin would.
"Okay I will," she said and poured out her heart
and soul.
[chapter 1] [Crying On the Inside]
send feedback to [email protected]