"Break Her Trust" Part One

This is a story I wrote last year while we were in the middle of moving.

Justin laughed.The joke wasn’t that funny but if she didn’t laugh, Marty would get mad. And she didn’t want that. Marty was enormous. This was partly because he was supposed to be in the ninth grade, but was held back two years. He had messy brown hair and always wore a menacing look. Just your basic school yard bully. He could have (and would have) crushed Justin without another thought. That’s why she laughed.

Marty and his gang were the only people she could count on - her only friends. The group consisted of a short boy named Bobby, a lanky one named Chuck and an outspoken girl called Charlotte. As they walked toward class, each one in turn pushed a sixth grader out of the way.

A few moments after the tardy bell rang, Justin slid coolly into her seat in homeroom. The teacher sighed, but didn’t say anything. Justin was such a bright girl. If only she could see that, she might stop hanging out with such horrible influences and put her mind to her work. Justin was pretty, too. Her brown hair fell a bit below her shoulders and she was mid-height but thin.

As Mrs. Hampton began class, Justin sank hopelessly deeper into her chair. She would never understand all this junk. Why did she need to anyway? She glanced around the room at all the kids who did get it and wished horrible things on them. What was wrong with her? Mrs. Hampton made it all look so simple, and yet, Justin just didn’t get it. She settled in and half listened, waiting for class to be over.

When it finally was, she trudged to her locker, exchanged books and went to her next class: science with Mr. Brown. Science was just as dull and confusing as most of her classes and she again slouched and payed little attention. The rest of the morning went like this and she was grateful for the arrival of lunch. She met up with the gang outside and they did as much eating as teasing of any one they felt like teasing. Unfortunately, this part of her day lasted only an hour, then it was back to the drudgery of school.

The afternoon went much the same way as the morning until two o’clock. That was when she had art - the only subject she enjoyed. It was one thing that she knew she was good at. Today Ms. Mellony had them painting anything they wanted. It could be anything from unicorns to mountains. There were no requirements other than you must paint something and it must be an appropriate picture. Justin was painting a German shepherd. It was turning out beautifully - even Ms. Mellony thought so. The only thing wrong with art was that her friends scoffed at it. She tried to go along with them, but it was hard. If they ever found out she was good at art and liked it, they probably wouldn’t let her hang out with them any more. And she had nowhere else to go.

After school, Justin turned slowly to walk home. She hated going home to her seemingly perfect family, but since Marty was in detention for some prank or another and the rest of them were off creating another one, she had nothing else to do. So she grudgingly went home.

When she arrived home, she was greeted by her gorgeous and athletic sixteen year old sister, Megan. “Hey, how was school today Justin?” Not only did she make any sports team she wanted, she was a straight A+ student.

“Awful, same as usual,” Justin complained. Megan was the one person that Justin could talk to about almost anything. Megan was the one person that listened.

“I’m sorry. Anything go wrong in particular? Or just general stuff?”

“Just general stuff. I can not for the life of me understand anything but art.”

“Well do you want help with anything? I can help with just about everything but art. I’m a terrible artist!”

Justin laughed. “That would be great. Thanks.”

The two girls went into the kitchen to grab some milk and cookies (their favorite childhood snack) and then went to the room they shared to begin working through pre-algebra problems. The work was slow and steady, but Megan was a great tutor and they eventually got through. Her sister’s simple explanations were the only things that kept Justin’s grades from absolute disaster. That’s how pretty much everything worked. Megan kept the room clean, helped Justin remember her chores, and she helped Justin talk through any problems she had at school. The latter happened quite often. She was seldom home this early. She was usually with the gang, causing trouble or serving detention for trouble previously caused. Megan was always relieved when Justin did come home early. She knew Justin could act a lot better than this, but she didn’t know how to help her. She would just have to wait for the right time to say something.

-Kira