The World You Never Expected

Alina: Part 3

"Thanks for the ride, Mom," Alina said as she sat in the back seat of the familiar van. Her mom smiled.

"Honey, of course! Are you stupid? I'm always here to give you a ride," her mom said. Alina knew she was lying, her mom never had time for her. "I'm just going to drop you off at home, I have a meeting to get back to and a flight to catch tomorrow morning. I'll be back at the house to visit tonight but I'll only be a second since I'm heading to L.A.," her mom said. Alina sighed quietly and smiled.

"Yeah, that's fine," Alina said.

In her dream world, her mom had been a lot more motherly. Her mom was the one that pushed Alina into going into acting, and her mom was totally supportive when Alina said she wanted to drop out of high school and move to L.A. And, as much as Alina loved La Costa, L.A. was the town for her. The night life, the acting opportunities. She's been starring in a big movie before she woke up and learned it was all a dream.

"Ok, honey! Your bags are in the back, I love you and I'll see you tonight," her mom said, blowing her a kiss. Alina rolled her eyes and got out of the shiny blue van, grabbing her backpack from the trunk. Her mom didn't hesitate to drive off.

"That's not how you treat your kid who just got out of a coma," Alina muttered under her breath. She familiarly reached her hand down the plant pot by the front door and grabbed the key from inside of it, twisting the knob to open the door. Inside, nothing had changed, as it never had. Alina's mom was too busy driving around from meeting to meeting to ever change the place, and her dad hadn't been home from war since Alina was twelve. Now she was nineteen... it was just crazy to think about, how two years of her life were just... gone.

Alina quickly bolted up the stairs to her room, which, of course, hadn't changed. Her biology homework from two years ago was still sprawled out on the desk! Alina plopped down on her bed and reached for her phone, which, of course, was left charging on her nightstand, coated in a thin layer of dust. She blew it off as she unlocked her phone.

Right when she opened her phone her e-mails popped up. She scrolled down the long list, briefly reading each one, until she felt her hand freeze over a specific one. The title read, "Graduation. I'm sorry. Sent: One year ago." She quickly clicked the e-mail open.

"Alina, this is Principal Daleson. I'm sorry to inform you, but as of this moment, you do not have the credits required to complete your Junior year. As there as been no verification from your parents about where you've been for the last four months, there is nothing I can do. You must repeat your Junior year." Alina felt her throat choke up.

My mother didn't even tell them where I'd been?!?! She felt her face heat up with anger as she slammed her finger on the home button to close the e-mail.

Message notifications filled her home screen, all from people inviting her to parties or to sleepovers. She noticed that all the messages stopped at about three months after she entered the coma. Except, there was a set of six messages from her closest friend, Hailey, from after she'd been in a coma for six months.

"Alina? where r u?"

"youd better get back to school theres a nasty rumor going around that you left because your pregnant 👶 its pretty bad 😬"

"Alina?"

"r u not texting back cause your pregnant?"

"🙊"

"i cant believe you didnt tell me"

Alina felt herself tear up. My closest friend didn't even know why I wasn't at school, and now, everyone thinks I have a baby. This is just great. You know, I think I'll just call Tom. If Shawn and Nate could wait for their perfect girls, there's no way Tom wouldn't wait for me. Alina smiled and dialed Tom's number.

"Hello! You've reached Tom? Who's calling?" the familiar deep voice said. Alina smiled.

"Tommy! Babe, it's me, Alina!" Alina shouted into the phone. Tom sputtered.

"A-Alina!" he shouted. Another voice called out from the background.

"Who's Alina, baby?" the sweet female voice cooed. Alina sputtered this time.

"Tom? Who's that?" Alina asked. Tom sputtered again.

"Leeny, baby, I can explain," Tom said. Alina started to cry. "Well, you left, right? Cause you were pregnant. So, I went to the hospital, but they said you were in a coma. So, I, uh, I meant to get back to you, but you were gone so long-" Alina cut Tom off.

"I was gone for two years! We'd been going out since sophomore year! Did that year mean nothing to you!" Alina screamed. Tom shushed her.

"Shh! Tiffany's gonna hear you and she'll flip!" Tom shouted. Alina scoffed.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to upset Tiffany, now would I?" Alina said sarcastically.

"Aw, your the sweetest, thanks Leeny," Tom said. Alina cried out.

"You idiot! That was sarcasm!" Alina shouted into the phone before hanging up. Her arm went limp over the side of her bed and her phone clattered on the floor. She shoved her face into her pillow and began to sob. And she just let herself cry for about ten minutes, just thinking.

My life fell apart, and I was too busy sleeping to save it... No! Alina, don't give up! Remember that movie you starred in, where the crime lord decided to turn his life around? You can do that! she thought. She wiped the heavy flow of tears from her eyes and leaped up from her bed. She grabbed a pair of scissors from her desk and stood herself in front of the mirror.

"My name is Kayla Evans, and I'm going to turn my life around!" Alina shouted into the mirror as she began to slice her hair off with the scissors, until the messy bushel of hair sat right above her shoulder. She ran into her mom's bathroom and grabbed the ruby red hair dye she saw sitting down there, right next to the bleach and the brown hair dye. She messily treated her hair with the bleach before turning her head ruby red. She grabbed a pair of non-prescription glasses and shoved them on her nose before running back into her room. She gave herself one good look in the mirror and smiled. My mother wouldn't even recognize me looking like this! she happily thought. Then she took in one deep breath.

"My name is Kayla Evans, and I'm turning my life around."