Wilted Roses - Ch.01

Chapter 1. Keith Benson, the Prom, a Punk Rocker, and a Death Circle of Barbie Girls


AUDI:

        Everyone knew about Keith Benson. I mean, he was only the hottest guy in our school. If someone asked one of the students here what ‘perfect’ meant, do you know what they’d say? That’s right—they’d say Keith Benson. He had the looks, the brain, the brawn, the personality, he had everything. Every single girl in our school swooned over him; I swear every one of them had his MySpace picture framed in their purse.
        Everyone except for me.
        Of course my friends call me crazy. ‘Crazy Audi,’ they call me. They frequently ask me why I don’t like Keith Benson. Actually, let me rephrase: they frequently ask me why I don’t obsess over Keith Benson. Do you want to know why? I’m not a person who obsesses over things.
        It all happened on the day where every single girl directed their hatred toward me. To be honest, I never even thought twice about going to the prom. First of all, it didn’t seem too exciting. Second of all, I had no one to go with.
        Unfortunately, on that fateful day, my second issue with the prom was resolved. And as in ‘fateful,’ I mean the day of my demise.
        Keith Benson had asked me to the prom.
        Seriously, what would a guy like him want with a girl like me? It didn’t make any sense, none at all. I knew that he recently broke up with Leah Truman—gorgeous leader of the cheer squad—but that doesn’t change anything.
        So, you’d think a girl would be ecstatic if the most popular guy in school asked her to the prom. Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. That does not mean happiness—that means death.
        Say no, and you are immediately thought of as the ‘b-word.’ No guy is good enough for her, not even Keith Benson, the school would say. Say yes, and you’re still thought of as the ‘b-word.’ Oh, and all of the girls in school want to kill you. Especially ex-girlfriend, Leah Truman—leader of the cheer squad, voted Homecoming Queen at least three years in a row, known as the school’s most popular girl, and daughter of the Apple Company’s CEO.
        I am so dead.

        “I heard Keith asked you to the prom, Audi,” Leah casually said to me one day in the cafeteria. “So, what’s the deal? Why’d he ask you, of all people?”
        I shrunk in my seat, poking at the pasta in front of me. Leah’s group of Barbie-girlfriends surrounded me, with their manicured hands on their curvaceous hips. “Um, I’m not sure,” I replied quietly.
        Leah rolled her eyes. “Anyway, so what’d you say?”
        “What do you mean?” I stalled.
        “The prom, idiot! What’d you say when he asked you out?” Leah said sharply, slamming her hand down on the table.
        “I didn’t say anything; I ran away from him,” I answered back in hurried words.
        Leah crossed her arms and shot me a glare. “That’s good,” she said. “Tell him you don’t want to go.”
        “But how?” I asked, feeling intimidated.
        “Tell him anything! You already have a boyfriend—although that’s hard to believe, your parents don’t let you date, you have AIDS, Jesus, say anything!” Leah ordered.
        “Um, okay,” I agreed, nodding so that she wouldn’t gouge my eyes out with those fake nails of hers. I didn’t want to go with him anyway. The only problem with not going with him is... I don’t want to be a b-word.
        “Good. If I hear any rumors that you’re going with Keith to the prom, I’ll make your life a living Hell, understood?” Leah barked.
        “Yes, ma’am.”
        “Then I’m out of here. You didn’t hear anything.” And just like that, Leah and her Barbie-girlfriends left the table, laughing and gossiping.
        A hundred pairs of eyes lingered on me before the students turned around in their seats and began talking in hushed whispers. I shrank further into my seat than ever before.
        At first, I didn’t even notice the boy who had spoken to me. I was too busy trying not to embarrass myself in front of hundreds of watchful eyes. It was when the boy rose from his seat and sat in the one next to me that I finally noticed he existed.
        “What was that all about?” the boy asked in a relaxing manner, while propping his feet up onto the table. With wide blue eyes, I stared at his sneakers. Skulls—not a good sign. I hesitantly snuck a peek at his face. His bright red hair was spiky, long in the front, and short in the back. His gray eyes looked bored behind a pair of yellow sunglasses. I tried not to stare at the spiked collar and cross around his neck.
        “Nothing,” I said vaguely. Then I thought up a simple lie that would save me from all of this attention: “Hey, I’ve got to go now.”
        My lie didn’t work.
        “Cool. I’ll come with you,” the boy volunteered, still looking bored.
        I was about to refuse, but I didn’t have the guts. “Okay.”
        He followed me out of the room, oblivious to the eyes that pursued us. I kept my head down, letting out a relieved sigh when we were in an empty hall.
        “You’re Audi, right? I’m Adrian,” the boy said. He took long strides down the hall, having to stop every now and then for me to catch up.
        “Yeah, I’m Audi. It’s nice to meet you, Adrian,” I answered quickly. Why wouldn’t he just go away? I hated attention.
        He sensed my discomfort, and stepped in front of me. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
        Was he serious? Only everything was going wrong.
        “Look, why do you care?” I said a little too harshly.
        Adrian grimaced. “Hey, I’m just asking. You seem uncomfortable, that’s all.”
        I sighed. “Well, I’m sure you’ve heard about it already. Keith Benson asked me to the prom, and now every girl is going to hate every fiber of my being.”
        “Keith Benson, Mr. ‘I’m-so-popular’? I get it, I get it,” Adrian grinned deviously. “So what’re you going to do—are you going to accept his invitation?”
        The fact that he seemed amused irritated me. “Of course not. The girls would murder me,” I replied. “Now could you move?” I stepped to the side and hoped to go home free.
        He moved to block my way. “Just a second,” Adrian said, lifting up a bandaged hand. “You said the girls would ‘murder you’?”
        “Yeah, that’s what I said.” I was beginning to get annoyed.
        The devious grin appeared on Adrian’s face again. “Then I’ve got an idea; why don’t you let me tag along with you? The girls won’t have the nerve to approach you if I’m by your side.”
        Great—just great. As if I didn’t need any more attention. But, although I didn’t like the thought of it, Adrian was right. Nobody would dare as to come close to me if he was around. I would be safe.
        “Fine,” I agreed, finally being allowed to continue down the hall.
        “Awesome,” Adrian grinned. He walked by my side while asking me what my plans were. How would I turn Keith down without being a b-word? I still didn’t know.
        However, one thing I did know was that I would stand out even more than before. With me in my plaid skirt, white dress-up shirt, knee-high socks, headband, and goody-two-shoes loafers—and him in his black band t-shirt, Converse skull sneakers, spiked collar, bandages, skinny gray jeans, and a punk wrist sweatband—we must have been the oddest looking set of people in the entire school. It didn’t help my reputation much, even though it wasn’t too great in the first place.
        As we both walked down the hall, I thought about what I would do. How would I turn Keith down? And would I be able to survive the gossip of girls around me afterward? I didn’t know what to do or how things would turn out, but I could only hope that this boy—Adrian—would be able to help.