Free Honesty by Angie Foster

Justin
     
     
    The buzz of the alarm clock was Alena's
least favorite sound. It meant another day of trudging through school, trying
to pretend that she did not notice him, fawning all over her. So much had changed
since the beginning of the year. Summer had been fantastic as the budding
romance she had with Justin looked to become a real life love story. They had
spent every minute of every day together; laughing at each other’s jokes,
talking for hours about the hypocrisy of politics. It had been simply, amazing.
Then summer had come to a crashing end. It was the last night of summer and the
neighborhood was having a party to celebrate all the students going back to
school. In the little subdivision she lived in all of the backyards were open
and connected. Everyone took to the backyard to grill.
     
    It was a beautiful warm night with the
stars filling the sky. To Alena it was a magical night. It was the night she had
planned to share her first kiss with Justin. She had been waiting all summer
for it to happen, but something would always come up to interrupt the
opportunity. That night she hoped things would be different, she would make
things different. Music was playing, and everyone was having a great time.
Alena was patiently waiting for Justin to arrive. She glanced at her watch
again, to find that only a few minutes had passed since the last time she
checked.
     
    “Where is he?” she muttered to her best
friend Sheila who was sitting on a picnic table beside her.
    “Don't worry so much,” Sheila assured her.
“He is probably just running a little late late.”
     
    Alena nodded, but she wasn't so sure. Alena
did worry. She worried all the time. She worried that her raven hair was not
straight enough, that her light blue eyes were too pale. She worried that she
was too tall as her willowy stature put her inches above other boys in her class.
No matter how much her mother, her father, and her friends, told her how
beautiful she was, Alena still worried.
     
    But she was not just worried about her
looks. She worried about the fact that people were homeless. She worried about
whether her grades were good enough for her parents.
     
    One thing she had not worried about all
summer was how Justin felt towards her. She was sure that he would not have
been around her so often if he did not feel something more for her, like she
did for him. Still the fact that they had not even kissed had left her a little
bit on edge. She had decided that night that it would be the night they shared
their first kiss. That was if he even showed up. After waiting for about an
hour, Alena decided she had waited long enough. If he doesn't want to be with
me, I don't need to be with him, she thought.
     
    “Let's go find some food,” she announced to
Sheila.
     
    “Sounds good,” Sheila agreed. Sheila had
been her friend since they were in grade school. She was the quiet type who
always had something kind to say. But Alena knew her better than anyone else.
Sheila had a great sense of humor, and she always had a smart remark to make.
She was pretty with thick blonde hair, and dark brown eyes, but she wasn't very
interested in boys.
     
    “Why would I want all that drama?” she
would always remark with a shrug.
     
    Alena however, did want all that drama.
Specifically she wanted Justin's drama. He was a year older than her, and hot
too. His short brown hair was long enough on the top to wear swept over, which
always allowed a few strands of it to fall into his baby blue eyes. Just the
thought of those eyes made Alena giddy with anticipation of seeing him again.
When she did see him again, however, she was not the least bit giddy. Right
there, in the middle of Crystal Myers' backyard, was Justin, with his arm
around Kristina. Kristine Lucas had been Alena's rival since they started high
school. Everything that Alena did Kristina did too, only she claimed to do it
better. As Alena watched in horror, Justin, her Justin, leaned over and