Excerpt from the Short Story - Fruitless
“I’m
completely serious about these chocolate farms,” Alicia ranted, leaning against
the locker next to Gina’s. “The poor kids are kidnapped, enslaved, and beaten
just so corporate CEOs can have a bigger salary.”
“That’s disgusting,” Gina reacted as she
arranged her books between her locker and book bag. She couldn’t imagine
enduring something so horrific. She made a mental note to put those poor kids
on her prayer list. “How is that even legal?”
“There have been a handful of court cases,
but none of the major candy companies plan to change their chocolate sources
any time soon.”
Gina loved how Alicia’s blue eyes became
fiery every time she tried to spread awareness on some injustice. Gina had
dreams that she and her bestie would grow up to be kick-butt humanitarian
activists and take on all these injustices, one by one.
“Anyway,” Alicia sighed and rested her
head against the lockers. “So like I was saying, Joe and Mark didn’t even care
when I brought it up. They’re so shallow. They started talking about some dumb
movie they saw – probably while they were gorging themselves on slave-chocolate
– but I had to pretend to be interested because Peter was watching.” She sighed,
her bottom lip pouted. “I bet he would’ve cared about the chocolate-slave
kids.”
Gina remembered the incident that morning.
She thought Peter might have heard when Hazel speculated that Alicia had a
secret crush on Jeremy.
Which
is ridiculous because – ew!
She wondered if she should tell Alicia
about the incident. It might explain why Peter still hadn’t asked her out, but
at the same time, it would pretty much condemn Hazel.
Alicia could be pretty quick to
excommunicate people from their group. Gina was just glad that she always made
the cut. What she and Alicia had was special. They were lifelong besties.
“I’m still sure he likes you,” Gina said
as she closed her locker and zipped up her bag. “Maybe he’s just worried you
like either Harrison or Mark and he’s being all respectful by backing off.”
“That’s not how it’s supposed to go,” she
pouted. “He’s supposed to get all jealous and desperate until he blurts out
that he cares about me. Preferably in the rain.” She sighed. “And maybe in
front of other people.”
“Life isn’t like the movies, Ali,” Gina said
with a laugh.
“A girl can dream, right? Don’t you want
that, too?” Alicia nudged her with a conspiratorial grin. “For that one particular
guy to take you in his arms in a moment of passion and declare his undying love
for you?”
Gina nearly blushed as she was catapulted
into a daydream.
Gina wanted that kind of intensity. She
was confident that her quiet, dorky crush was capable of it, too. She could
sense great wells of emotion and dedication, and a fire within his heart.
If
only he could direct that fire towards me.
She looked at Alicia and realized that her
bestie was also caught up in a fantasy. Gina nearly started giggling.
Alicia was so full of life and fervent emotion.
While so many people high schoolers only thought of their own little world,
Alicia’s heart was open to the plights of others. She was an inspiration.
“Ready?” Alicia asked when she woke up
from her daydream.
“I guess,” Gina shrugged. “I couldn’t find
my pen.”
“Oh my god, Gina,” Alicia started laughing.
“What?” Gina asked.
Alicia just had to point at the messy bun
on top of Gina’s head. She reached a hand up and felt a ballpoint pen caught in
her unruly curls.
She and Alicia burst into laughter. This
was not the first time Gina had lost something only to find that her hair had
claimed the item for its own.
As they continued to class that morning,
Gina knew that she and Alicia would be best friends forever. And someday, they
would rescue all the chocolate-slave kids, feed the hungry, and right the wrongs
all over the world.
Check out the other short stories from Book 1.5:
or buy the book here!
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