THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER
Chapter 1
“Good morning Phil.” I mutter as I mount the steps onto the bus.
“Morning Alex.” He replies with a smile. There’s no empathy in his voice. Nothing different in his eyes, posture, or smile. Just the usual Phil.
He doesn’t know.
Good. I don’t want him to know. I don’t want anyone to know. Maybe no one watched the News last night. Maybe no one found out. It’s a long shot, but a girl’s got to have a little bit of hope.
That assumption was shot out of the sky when I turned to find a seat. Everyone was staring at me, eyes screaming pity. Everyone, but one. Jennifer. She never pays attention to rumours, so people have stopped telling her. She never watches the News, claiming it’s too depressing. She couldn’t possibly know.
And she doesn’t. “Hey Ali.” She smiles. She knows I hate it when she calls me that. But right now I like it. It’s normal, and at the moment, normal is what I need most.
“Hi Jen.”
“Alex?” I spin around in my seat to find Violet staring at me with sad, wide eyes. “Alex?” She tries again, sympathy practically dripping from her tongue.
I fake a sigh. “Not now Violet. I’ll help you with your math later.”
“T-that’s not what I w-was going t-to say.” I can tell she’s confused, as she tries to spit her words out. “I was going to say–”
I tilt my head a little, and glare at her. A warning. “–I’m not finished science yet. So I can’t help you with that either.” She looks startled, but she gets the message.
“Alex!” Jen is clearly disappointed in my ‘bad behaviour’. “I’ll help you Vi. What are you guys doing in math and science?”
“N-n-never mind. I’ll ask C-Casey. Thanks, t-though.”
Jen smiles. “Of course Vi. Anytime.” She turns around and I instantly know I’m in for a pep talk. “What’s wrong with you today Alex? You’re acting all weird.” When I don’t answer she continues. “Alex common, you and I both know that something’s going on here. Alex please, I’m your best friend, you can trust me.”
She’s right, I can trust her, I just don’t want to see the sadness in my best friend’s eye’s telling me that she’s so sorry to hear that, asking me what she can do to help. I just can’t take that. Luckily Jen knows that I’ll tell her when I’m ready, and we sit silently the rest of the ride to school.
K, so this might change, as in Jen might not agree so well with Alex not telling her what's up, I'm just seeing who would like to read it if i continue. So if you want to find out what's up, press the <3