All-American: A Novel

By Brigitte White

Sixteen-year-old idealist Indigo Washington, a student at Union High School in Philadelphia, dreams of becoming a filmmaker but also feels the pressure of her parents expectations to find a more practical career. In the meantime, Indigo looks to her older sister, Marisol, and her friends Penny, Derek, and Boris to help her navigate the windy path of life.

Heavy loads of schoolwork and extracurricular commitments keep Indigo away from her interest in filmmaking and from the schools Earth Day celebration. When she later learns that following the event, her nemesis, Emilia Valentina, has started going out with Derek Johnson, her tennis teammate and secret crush, Indigo is angry and upset. Pushed by her rebellious best friend, Penny Charleston, she decides to make a documentary about her classmates for the spring talent show. As the show approaches, however, drama among Indigos friends increases. Indigo is caught between her friendship with Derek and her deeper feelings for him, bearing witness to Dereks duty to overcome the social obstacles that arise from growing up in one of Philadelphias toughest neighborhoods.

Following the trials and tribulations of a small group of teens at a Philadelphia high school, this young adult novel offers an intriguing ride through adolescence and urban youth culture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Dec 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781480824843

Brigitte White

Brigitte White was born and raised in the city of Philadelphia. She attended Princeton University and received her degree in dental medicine from the University of Pennsylvania. Brigitte enjoys traveling with her family and organizing cross-cultural youth activities.

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Copyright © 2015 Brigitte White.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-2483-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-2484-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015919299

Archway Publishing rev. date: 12/10/2015

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

For Mary and Marvin, who have always loved, supported, and encouraged me. I love you.

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Chapter 1

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar—not to praise him," Emilia Valentina confirmed confidently. She began her recitation in a pristine pitch, with her left hand resting gently on her hip and the right stretched out to the class.

The self-proclaimed Most Likely to Succeed Union High sophomore was widely known for her scandals designed to achieve such ends—her latest being stealing Suzuko Watanabe’s paper reduction proposal so she could become Union High’s Green Zone liaison. Now she effortlessly delivered the Shakespearean discourse as if that, too, were her own. Literary tragedy was the focus of Ms. Gilliam’s spring syllabus and, as indicated by the saucy Latina’s vivid presentation, William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar was definitely in full bloom.

It was a bright and beautiful Thursday morning at Union High School, just a few minutes before eleven o’clock and approaching the end of Ms. Gilliam’s second-period English class. From the ground-level classroom, the tenth-grade students could hear birds chirping from their posts on the window ledges covering the school grounds. This pleasantry was usually drowned out by the overbearing sounds of city buses, police car sirens, and other noise from the Philadelphia metropolis. After a long week of renditions that had begun alphabetically with Quincy Albright rapping the verses of Mark Antony’s famous speech to the Romans, the class had finally reached the last group of readers.

In the far right corner of the room, Indigo Washington’s tan, brown knees were knocking with nervousness. As she sat anxiously waiting for her turn to recite, she toyed with the zipper on her pink-and-purple Puma warm-up jacket and rolled her eyes with growing annoyance at Emilia’s flaunted grandiosity. Indigo was still distressed by the text message she’d received last night from her best friend, Penny Charleston, who was always at hub of Union High gossip. The text practically confirmed that Emilia was the source behind the rumor that Indigo had hooked up with John Harper, a player from Martin Luther King High School, at last week’s tennis tournament.

Penny: omg! derek def thinks u’re hook’n up w/ john harper.

Indigo: wth! that’s a lie! y would somebody make that up?

Penny: idk, but suzuko said she hrd tarik tell his boys that ev said she saw you 2 kissing.

Indigo: ev is a lying witch. wtever. can’t worry bout this now, i gotta go practice my speech. ttyl

Penny: k, good luck 2mro.

There wasn’t any truth to the claim. The two athletes had barely engaged in what one would have to stretch to call mild flirtation. But Indigo feared that Derek Johnson, her tennis teammate and secret crush, had believed the lie about her and the MLK hottie because he’d been acting weird around her ever since the tournament. Indigo knew something was really wrong when yesterday, for the first time since freshman orientation, Derek hadn’t waited for her after school under the big evergreen tree before heading to tennis practice. Then, after practice was over, he had broken for the showers without even offering to help her clear the court. Thanks for leaving me with court cleanup, Derek! she had yelled into the boys’ locker room afterward but there had been no answer.

It bothered Indigo that Derek would be upset about a silly, unfounded rumor, but the lovesick teen couldn’t help being somewhat intrigued by his jealousy. However, she hadn’t yet figured out a way to express her true feelings to Derek, and it didn’t help matters that she was still angry at him for asking her to drive one of his hood friends from North Philly to buy weed just a few weeks prior to the tournament. Emilia’s lie was the last thing that Indigo needed in her way.

Childhood playmates who had once shared everything from their Barbie accessories to their sixth-grade roller skating party, Indigo and Emilia had become classic frenemies after a long trail of deceit and half-truths. The beauties were constantly pitted against each other in the classroom, on the debate stage, and even on the tennis court. Now Emilia was trying to make Derek her latest conquest, and Indigo was determined not to let her get away with it.

Psssst … Indi … psst, psst! Quincy Albright whispered urgently from across the aisle, trying to solicit Indigo’s attention as he used his thumb to wipe a barely visible smudge off of his brand-new, limited edition Michael Jordan sneakers. Yo … Indigo! I’m ready for my close-up in your next flick—check me out! the pale-skinned, urban-styled teen continued to plead. He pointed to his new sneakers as his face beamed with the enthusiasm of a kid opening gifts on Christmas morning. Acknowledging his sneaker purchase—which apparently had required him to cut yesterday’s sixth-period World Affairs class—Indigo gave an exaggerated thumbs-up and quickly reverted her attention back to the task at hand. She tried to ignore the fact that the potential love of her life was at stake and focus on her fast-approaching presentation of Mark Antony’s speech, which was worth a weighted portion of her English grade for the spring quarter.

"The evil that men do … Emilia paused with contrived disappointment and rolled her eyes dramatically before continuing Shakespeare’s exquisitely written verse, lives after them. The good is often interred in their bones." The curvy brunette darted an unequivocally self-assured glare at her former fling, Tarik Soulemann, who was stealthily sharing pictures from his cell phone with another girl in the class. Emilia raised her manicured eyebrows just after the delay, as if Tarik and the rest of Ms. Gilliam’s class were eagerly awaiting her reprise.

Considered one of the most attractive chicks at school by the Union High football team, Emilia was aware of her captivating good looks and, in this instance, used them to her full advantage. The sun piercing through the large latticed windows in Ms. Gilliam’s classroom illuminated Emilia’s honey-touched skin. Her long, dark hair, which was usually draped across her back, was pinned up for the occasion. Black leggings were paired perfectly with royal blue ballet flats and matching cardigan, making her look almost presidential.

Emilia Valentina was the captain of Union High’s debate team. Casually, she spoke like a CNN news anchor. As she recited the legendary speech, her verses were eloquent, calm, and exerted with ease. Even her hand gestures were engineered to match every pause, each of which she placed perfectly. Indigo was terrible at public speaking, which is why she was the designated debate team moderator. Whenever given the task to speak aloud, she choked up, like she was reading someone’s eulogy. And today, during second-period English, she felt like it was her own execution coming up next.

Facing the columned rows of wooden desks enlivened by the diversity of her classmates, Emilia continued, So let it be with Caesar …

Eager for the hour to pass, Indigo looked up at the large, black atomic clock mounted on the wall behind Ms. Gilliam’s desk. The red second hand seemed to be suspended in time. Dreading the act of reading aloud, the sixteen-year-old aspiring filmmaker would have preferred to be directing this reenactment of a nervous teen caught in a school daze. Standing five feet eight, with smooth, caramel-toned skin; thick, long brown hair; and striking blue-gray eyes—a trait she shared with her maternal grandmother, who had named her for them—Indigo was actually stunning enough to be cast as any female lead. However, her passions lay more in character direction and stimulating her audiences. She hoped to one day see her visions on