Wax

A peaceful morning was interrupted by the sound of an alarm clock, waking Rebecca up at 7:00 to get ready for school. The early morning sun was beaming through the window, casting a shadow on her Michael Jackson and Prince posters as she got up. She left her room to go take a shower and get ready. After she got ready, Rebecca went downstairs hastily to find her mom and dad sitting at the dining table with breakfast made for her. The breakfast consisted of toast, bacon, and eggs, assorted on plates across the table. 

“This looks great mom, thank you!” Rebecca said with a smile on her face. 

“You’re welcome sweetheart. Are you ready to go?” her mom asked.

Rebecca nodded, grabbed some breakfast making it into a sandwich, and headed out the door to go to the car. Her mom, who was close behind her, said bye to her husband and closed the door behind her. She unlocked the car and they both hopped in and after a little bit of adjusting, drove away. 

They arrived in front of the school in the parking lot. 

“Love you, have a great day at school.”

“Love you too.” Rebecca said as she closed the car door. 

Rebecca started to head into the school when she saw her friend Amanda sitting down under the school sign, reading “Riverville High School”. 

“Amanda!” Rebecca called at the top of her voice.

Amanda looked up from the book she was reading and waved. She stood up and walked to Rebecca, starting a conversation as they walked into the school. They walked through the hallways till they reached Rebecca’s locker where she stopped to put up her books. She closed the locker door when she was done and as she was leaving, she ran into a man wearing a blue letterman jacket. All of her stuff came crashing to the ground, creating a sound that echoed through the hall. The man and Rebecca both bent down to pick up the fallen books and notes, both grabbing half the load. 

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you.” Rebecca said urgently. 

“You better be,” said a voice behind the man said. “You know who you are talking to, this is the Daniel Carter. Best quarterback in the county and head of the football team.” he proclaimed. 

Daniel was surrounded by 4 other people wearing letterman jackets, including the who braided Rebecca. 

“Daniel, what do you have to say about that?” the man said angrily with his arm on Daniel’s shoulder.

“Yeah!” Daniel said half heartedly. 

“Yeah, so be more careful next time. Come on, let's go boys.” he said while slapping Rebecca’s stuff out of Daniel’s hands and pulling him away. 

Rebecca picked her stuff up off the ground and stood in shock watching them walk down the hall. Amanda gently grabbed her and turned her the other way to walk to her class. Rebecca made it to her AP English class having a normal time until her name was called over the intercom to come to the office. Her heart sank. She got up, grabbed her stuff, and left to head for the office. 

When she got to the office, she was directed by the receptionist to head into the principal's office. In the principal’s office sat the principal, the football coach, and Daniel. She sat in the empty chair next to Daniel and listened to what the principal had to say. He said that Daniel was failing English which would stop him from playing football, and since Rebecca had some of the best grades in the English department, they were hoping that she could tutor him. At first she wasn’t on board but then thought "how hard could it be”, and accepted the offer. They decided that the first day of tutoring would be the next day. 

They next day rolled around and Rebecca met Daniel in the library to start his tutoring. At first, Daniel wasn’t listening and didn’t get any of it. 

“If you’re not going to try, there is no point in me wasting my time.” Rebecca said as she stood up and started packing her notes. 

A moment passed and Daniel spoke up.

“Wait,” 

Rebecca paused and looked at him. Daniel then pulled out his notebook and looked back at her.

“I need you to teach me.” he said sincerely. 

Rebecca sat back down, got out her notes, and started to go over everything again. 

Rebecca and Daniel would meet 3 times a week and found out they had a lot in common. They would hang out outside of school and go to the park to hang out. While they were inside school however, they wouldn’t talk outside of tutoring and Daniel would avoid Rebecca almost entirely.

Prom was coming up and Amanda said that her and Rebecca should go and Rebecca agreed. They went dress shopping together at the mall and Rebecca found a yellow dress. Now all they had to do was wait for prom to come.

It was prom night and Rebecca and Amanda were getting dropped off at the front parking lot by Rebecca’s mom. They walked into the school and headed to the gym where the gym was mainly being held. Some time passed and Rebecca and Amanda were having a good time. They were dancing to the music, songs like Take On Me and Wake Me Before You Go-Go. While she was dancing, out of the corner of her eye she saw Daniel and his football player friends walk into the gym. Rebecca went up to Daniel and tried to say hi, but before she could, the man from before pushed his way in front of her. 

“What do you want, are you trying to run into him again.” he said, broadening his shoulders. 

“No, I was just trying to say hi to my friend.”

“You’re friend,” he started to laugh, “you could never be friends with him, you’re too much of a loser.”

Daniel stood still for a second but then got in front of the man and stood by Rebecca. 

“Actually she is my friend. Just because we have different interests at school doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. All you are is a bully who feels good by belittling other people, so who’s the real loser.”

Daniel stood silently for a second until he and Rebecca looked around and saw that everyone was looking at them. In a burst of energy, the crowd started to clap and cheer. The man and his football friends left the gym looking at Daniel in disgust. 

“Thank you.” Rebecca said, smiling.

“Hey, that’s what friends are for.” Daniel said as he and Rebecca walked back to Amanda to start dancing to the music.