Windows of the Soul

And....there. Perfect. I stared down at the drawing of the tree I'd made in the margin of my Biology notebook. The leaves contrasted nicely with the texture of the bark. A couple of roots were out of place; I flipped my mechanical pencil around and erased the sprawled roots. My pencil touched the paper, and I heard my name called.

"Ali? Can you answer the question?" My Biology teacher, Mr. Thomas, asked.

"Can you, uh, repeat the question, please?" I asked, face reddening. Mr. Thomas repeated the question in a resigned voice.

"What happens during cytokinesis?"

"The actual cell divides, splitting it into two cells." I replied smoothly. I'm a sophomore at Shadow Hills High School, and a pretty good student at that. I'm in all honors classes, and get mostly A's on my report card. I haven't gotten an A in Biology yet; that's probably because I'm too preoccupied drawing my sketches. My best friend Penny tapped me on the shoulder from behind me once Mr. Thomas had moved on to another victim.

"Nice drawing," she whispered in my ear, nodding towards the tree. I smiled appreciatively at her. She was a couple of months younger then me but we were in the same grade and almost all the same classes; instead of Algebra 2 Penny was in Trig, a year ahead of me.

The bell suddenly rang, causing all the students to drop their binders in their bags and practically run out the door. "Don't forget the History of DNA assignment due on Wednesday!" Mr. Thomas shouted after them. Thank God Thanksgiving break was only a couple of weeks away; I don't know how much more homework I could stand.

"Hey Ali, wait up!" A familiar voice called to me from the back of the room, causing my heart to start wildly beating. My boyfriend, Drew Wayland, put his hand on my lower back and leaned me back, planting a sweet kiss on my lips. I could see out of the corner of my eye Mr. Thomas role his eyes.

"Need a ride?" Drew asked as we left the room. Kids were hurridly slamming their locker doors and leaving the building as soon as possible. We walked to my locker, a hallway down from the Biology room, and I opened it.

"I'm going with Penny today, sorry." I shrugged, dropping my books into the tiny locker and grabing the ones I'd need for homework. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Sweet dreams." Drew kissed me once more and left, smiling back at me as he met up with his other friends. I slammed the door and my enemy, Isobel DiLaurent, was leaning against the next locker.

"Why hello, my dearest friend," Bel purred, pushing herself from the locker. "Wasn't that mighty sweet, your little boyfriend kissing you goodbye?" I rolled my eyes, tired of Bel's cat-and-mouse game. She'd been pining after Drew ever since we'd started dating, so her newest target was me.

"Save it, Bel. I'm not in the mood." I turned on my heel and started walking away, hearing Bel's inaudible, "When you are in the mood, let me know."

Out in the fresh air, I searched for Penny's familar blue Punchbuggy, and finally saw it pull up to the curb. I jumped in and smiled as Penny pulled out of the parking lot. God, my life was perfect.

Little did I know that would change...tomorrow.