By Alicia Horn
Out of the spotlight
Cristina
Gianna
G
ianna stared out the window of her eighth period class,trying to pay attention to what her math teacher was saying but with no luck. She, like most of her math class was thinking about the upcoming weekend, however unlike the rest she was dreading it. "Gianna!" Her math teacher, Ms. Clayton, yelled, interrupting her thoughts and jolting her back to the present. The whole class snickered, and Jason Krindle in the front led a chorus of "Ya, Gianna"s. "Enough!" Ms. Clayton snapped, annoyed by the lack of focus of her class towards the topic of 'linear graphs'. "Now, Jason how about you explain why this graph is linear." "But, Gianna was zoning out, not me!" Jason protested, walking up to the board and glaring at Gianna. "NOW!" "Ok fine. It's linear because..." Jason began.
Gianna glanced over at her friend Cristina, who tossed her a sympathetic glance and rolled her eyes at the stupidity of Jason's answer to the question. Gianna laughed and turned forward to act completely immersed in Ms. Clayton's rant about poor study habits and missing assignments. Her rant was cut short by the bell signifying the end of the past 45 grueling minutes. Gianna grabbed her stuff and waited for Cristina by the door. Cristina caught up to her and together they plunged into the depths of middle school craziness, the hallway. As they made their way to the stairs which seemed to be miles away but were in reality, ten feet away, two girls walked by laughing at the top of their lungs. One of the girls slammed into Cristina and muttered a sorry. As they finally made it to their lockers, Gianna remembered how ecstatic they were at the beginning of the year when they found out their lockers were right next door to each other. Gianna's mom was surprised by the lack of kids whose last name came between Starr and Twist. The only true time at school Gianna and Cristina could talk alone together was at their lockers. Oh yeah and math class, but who has really deep heart to hearts in math class?
It wasn't that they didn't have class together because they almost had the exact same schedule, the problem was that they were both really popular and were always surrounded by a group of people who claimed to be their "close friends". Gianna knew that they only liked the Gianna they thought they knew, not the real Gianna. Gianna and Cristina met in fourth grade after Cristina had just moved in. For two weeks they were rivals always trying to outdo each other but then one day, to everyone's surprise, they walked in hand in hand laughing and talking with each other. Cristina was the only person Gianna trusted with knowing her true backstory, her "life out of the spotlight" and Cristina only trusted Gianna with the truth of why she and her family moved. Both Cristina and Gianna had a powerful stage presence and were extremely talented with what they did, Cristina was the singer and Gianna the dancer. When the school talent show came around the judges had to announce a tie for the first time in thirty six years. Not that this bothered them, as Gianna and Cristina were more than happy to share the glory.
_____________________________________ "I mean he hasn't been apart of my life since I was, like, two. The only thing I know about him is his signature!" Gianna said angrily to Cristina referring to her dad, who literally walked out of her life when she was two years old. Her mother and father worked it out that he would pay for the extracurricular activities his son and daughter would do and her mother would take care of the children and provide the food, shelter and clothes. By doing so her father insured that his children would remember him and stay dependent on him without his need to be there in their life's. "Maybe he's realized that he's wasted to much time and he wants to make up for it?" Cristina replied, ever the optimist. "Ya, totally." Gianna replied, jamming her binder into her bag with a unparalleled force. "Think positive!" Cristina said referring to the latest musical they were in, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." "Don't" Gianna said joked, remembering the hours of preparation they spent for that show. They zipped up their bags and walked down the hall, swinging their bags as they walked. As they walked into the cafeteria together, a crowd of girls surrounded them, inquiring about their weekend plans.
They finally made their way outside of the school and began the short walk to the gated community where Cristina and Gianna's father lived. Clearwater Middle School was situated smack in the middle of their town. The irony in their towns name was hilarious, given the fact that town was situated in the middle of one of many southern Louisiana swamps, here the water was anything but clear. Many of the schools students came from the upper class neighborhoods and therefore did not have to deal with the swamp water and mud. A few though like Gianna came from the swampy bungalows and hated the towns name and the mud, remembering the amount of shoes that they've lost due to the swampy marshland called Clearwater. Gianna and Cristina walked through the gates towards the subdivision, the guard knew Gianna well from all of her visits to Cristina's house and just nodded at them. Gianna and Cristina walked up to Gianna's father's house in silence. Gianna's father, a perfectionist, made sure that the home was renovated to his taste, controlling everything from floor color to countertops to the type of flowers in the giant vase on the table in foyer. "Here goes nothing," Gianna muttered as she stepped up and rang the doorbell. "Think-" Cristina started but was cut off by the door opening with a dramatic, whoosh.
Stay Tuned For Part 2!
Out of the spotlight: Part 2 preview
"Gianna! I'm so happy you made it!" Gianna's father exclaimed. "And you are?" Her father asked pointing at Cristina. "Cristina Starr, Gianna's friend," Cristina replied politely. Which you would know if you hadn't walked out of my life, Gianna thought bitterly. "Jack! Sweetie, whose at the door?" A woman's voice called out, as the voices owner began to round the corner. "Gianna, this is Melissa my wife. Melissa this Gianna and her friend Cristina," Gianna's dad said. "Well, I gotta go, it was nice meeting all of you. Gianna I'll text you later. Ok?" Cristina said backing down the steps. "Sure. Bye!" Gianna replied. Once Cristina was out of sight, Gianna's father invited her inside. "Gianna, why don't I show you to your room," her father said motioning to the staircase. "Sure," Gianna replied taking in the huge ceiling and the lavish decorations. On the upstairs floor there were four bedrooms not including the master. Her father opened the door to the last bedroom on that floor. The decor was simple but the room was still a lot bigger then her room she shared with her brother at home.
"So, I guess, I'll let you settle in," her father said turning to walk out the door. "Oh and Gianna, please, call me dad," "Ok... Dad," Gianna replied awkwardly. The door closed and Gianna began to put away her stuff from the duffel bag her mother brought to the house while Gianna was at school. Poor Mom, having to come here and be faced with his new life and wife, Gianna thought as she set her homework on the desk. She put her clothes in the closet and flopped down on the bed, instead of landing softly on the pillow, her head hit something on the way down. "Ouch!" She exclaimed to no one in particular. She picked up the note, now crumbled from being smashed against and began to read it. GiannaWe hope you are settled in and we want to make use of your time here wisely. We have decided some activities for this weekend. We hope you enjoy them and we have provided some money for you to spend. We hope you enjoy your stay here and we are delighted to have you here! Saturday: Day at Clearwater Mall Sunday: Day at the lake -Melissa and Jack Hamilton.
You have to be kidding me, Gianna thought and she threw the letter down. As it fell a hundred dollar bill tumbled out. Wow, they weren't joking around about the money, Gianna thought. She texted a picture of the letter to Cristina with the caption; We Hope You Enjoy Your Stay At The Hamilton Inn! After she sent it she headed down the stairs. "MOMMY!" A scream came from one of the rooms upstairs. "M.O.M.M.Y!" "Coming, sweet heart!"
To be Continued...