Willa Rosenly is a senior at Virginia Beach Central Academy. She is seventeen years old with beautiful, blonde, silky hair resting just below her shoulder blades. Her eyes, the calming blue of the sea just after a terrible storm. A few freckles pin-pricked themselves around her eyes leaving the rest of her skin creamy and undisturbed.
"Don't you understand? Willa? We are about to graduate! OUT-OF-SCHOOL," came the familiar voice of Anna-Michelle, whose friends just called her Mickey. Mickey's hair is short, dark, and spikey. Her frame is tall and thin like a dancer.
"Are you going to get past that anytime soon?" replied Willa. As if responding to Willa's question, Mickey began to sing, "No more pencils, No more books, No more teacher's dirty looks," Willa just rolled her eyes. She was used to Mickey's crazy antics.
The day went by in a blur for Willa. She was so excited, for her date tonight, that she almost forgot to breathe. Julius, the mysterious boyfriend, was on his way back from his family vacation spot in the Canadian mountains. Quite often, Julius' family vacationed there to escape from the humidity in Virginia. Willa didn't think anyone like Julius belonged in a dark wooded cabin. Julius belonged in the super-model world. He was tall at 6'2, and a very muscular 215 lbs. His hair a golden brown and slightly curled. Julius had a style all his own. He sometimes seemed almost a beach bum, a gorgeous and pale, beach bum model.
Willa hurried to her car as soon as school let out. Her car was the best car in the lot. It was the newest and shiniest, showing obvious wealth. Though she didn't know the type of the car, her father had often boasted about his daughters 'red, Mercedes Convertable'. She scrambled for her keys while her cell phone began to ring a familiar pop song.
"Yea?" came her rather annoyed voice, surprising even her.
"Willa? Where are you? Our hair appointment is in ten minutes! Julian will not be happy with you, he told you the last time that you were late, he will not take you as a walk in!" Her mother was extremely spoiled. Willa's father had struck gold, in some lawyer business, back in the 80's.
"Yea mom, I had school. I told you that when you made the damned appointment." she replied angrily, finally finding her keys.
"Whatever, do your own goddamned hair and look like a street whore! Julius will just find a pretty girlfriend who cares how he feels when he takes her out and she looks like an unlucky alley find!"
Those were her mothers last words as she hung up the phone. Willa saw no more difference in her mother today, than she had in her whole life. Her mother was the kind of rich housewife who thought money was more important than people, sometimes even life itself.
Even so, Willa turned on her car and a beautiful heartbreak melody was playing. The drive home seemed much longer today than in had any other day of the year. Her nerves were much more edgy today. Julius had been gone for two weeks. "Two weeks of hiding in that dark and damp cabin, and he's finally coming home," Willa thought to herself.
Two minutes later, she was pulling into the driveway. She shut the engine off and leaned her head back on the head rest for just a moment. She needed to prepare herself for the fact that she had no idea what she would say to Julius. They weren't much for talking. She guessed they just looked pretty together, but, she still loved him. A moment later, she opened her eyes, realizing that she hadn't even planned what she would wear tonight. She didn't even know where he was taking her. With that thought, she grabbed her purse, and climbed out of the car. As she walked the cement path to her doorstep, she scanned the yard. Something was different. She stopped, gazing, trying to figure out what it was that was so different today. The gardener was gardening, as usual. His caramel brown curls sticking out from under his white cap. The five cars were all parked in the same place, the same way that they were everyday. Finally, deciding she couldn't spare another moment for the yard, she hurried into the house.
As she stepped inside the door, onto the beige marble tile, she slipped her shoes off and put her purse on the small table next to the doorway. She then slipped her shoes off and walked past the enormous staircase, and beautiful Greek paintings, straight towards the kitchen.
"Hi daddy," she said hugging him, from the side, around his neck, and kissing his cheek.
"Good afternoon, Princess. How was school?" he replied. Her father was a big man, dressed in a professional suit that made other lawyers cower. He had salt & pepper hair, he was fairly tan, and had so many wrinkles that his age, in a glance, was undeterminable.
"Good. Anna-Michelle was going almost postal over graduation again," she responded. "Daddy, I'm going to go up to my room and study for my physics exam, before my date tonight, okay?" She slipped in the bit about the date so that her father would be reminded that she was growing up, but not too fast to try to let him catch up with her. As she imagined it would, her plan worked,
"That's my girl, go get your education Princess," he replied.
Willa hurried from the room, picking up her shoes at the door. She made her way up the marble staircase, and onto the landing. Six doors down the west hallway lined, with statues of Greek gods and goddesses and old paintings, she opened the door to her room.
The room was the perfect ballerina room. There was a king sized canopy bed, on the wall immediately in front of the door. The frame of the bed and the dresser were both oak wood with a deep cherry finish. The canopy was a soft pink, mesh curtain, easily drawn in at all sides. On either side of the bed, there was a window, curtained by the same soft pink curtains. Her walls all painted a light pink; the perfect palace for daddy's little princess.
Willa rushed to her room sized closet, across from her bed. She tried on clothes for every occasion, for at least an hour before finally finding 'the perfect outfit'. She had decided on a pink, three quarter sleeve polo shirt from American Eagle Outfitters, a snug pair of jeans also from American Eagle, topped with a denim jacket, silver hoop earrings, and her pink Adidas tennis shoes. She was applying lip gloss in the mirror when her phone began to ring that familiar pop song again.
"Hello," her voice came all to hopeful.
"Oh Will, it's so good to hear your voice," it was Julius, he hadn't forgotten her, he still needed her like she needed him.
"Oh Juls, I miss you so much, I'm so happy you're home, I love you!" she sad in a string of fast spoken, and barely separated words.
"I love you too, are you about ready?" he asked, in a voice that was border lining between impatient and hopeful.
"I've been ready," she replied.
The phone was instantly dead. Only moments later she was bounding down the stairs to let him in. Her father met her at the door with a fierce look, like he was afraid she wasn't going to come home. He always had that look when she went out with Julius. She let him open the door, that's what he wanted.