The Wrong Side Of The Tracks (Leighton) Read Free Page B

some sort of memorial for your Aunt Sandra, next month will be the twentieth anniversary of her passing.”
    Alessandra Raker was Davis ’s little sister by two years, and Alexandra’s name-sake.  Alex had never met her aunt; she passed away when she was sixteen years old after a tragic car accident.  Her death wasn’t a secret, just not something that wasn’t discussed very often.  From bits and pieces of dialogue she had picked up over the years via eavesdropping she learned that her Aunt was an epitome of a spoiled rich girl rebelling against her snobby parents, and according to her mother quite a “wild child.”  Her Grandma always made references to how close her father and Aunt were, and how hard he had taken her death, her mother had no comment on that though.
    Alex glared at him, “ Why is a memorial for Aunt Sandra going to hurt your campaign?”
    “ Politics are tricky sweetie.  Trust me, your Aunt Sandra was my best friend I would love nothing more than honoring her life.  But, that’s not a good idea to do so two weeks before Leighton goes to the polls.  You know your Grandma is going to pull out all the stops, it’s going to be extravagant, and I’ve been trying to make voters forget that I come from a family made of money.”
    “ A memorial could help you get more votes, it’ll show them how family oriented you are.”
    Davis laughed, “ Maybe politics aren’t so tricky for you.  But, what about all the votes I lose because the people think I’m a slime ball and using my sister’s death to my advantage, and trying to weasel up some sympathy votes?  The last thing I want is to drag what happened to Sandra into the polls, it would be disrespectful to her.”   
    Alex sighed, he was probably right.  But she really wanted this memorial, there were so many things she wanted to know about her Aunt Sandra.
    “ After the election we can have it though, right? You promise?”
    Davis ruffled her hair as he was passing her to leave, “ I promise.  You should go visit your Grandma and help her plan it.  She would love an excuse to spend some time with you.  I hear every day how sad she is because she never sees her grandkids anymore.”
    Alex smiled as she watched her father back out of the driveway, if only things were that simple with her mom.  Her parents were opposites of how they appeared.  If yo u met them on the street you would think her father was scary and her mom was the laid-back sweet one, but it was completely backwards.  Her mother was uptight and strict, and her father was the laid-back easy-to-talk-to one.             
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    LVL
    Alex could smell the smoke rising from her head as she pulled her ceramic straightener through the last chunk of her thick black hair.  She had so much hair she actually got cramps in her hands before she was done straightening it all. 
    “Alexandra Leigh Raker! We were supposed to leave five minutes ago, LET’S GO!”
    She slipped her riding boots on over destroyed denim skinny jeans.  As she ran out of her bedroom she grabbed her make-up bag and her navy hoodie with ‘Leighton Prep’ embroidered across the front. 
    Her Mom and Donovan were already in the SUV with the engine running when she ran out the front door.  She climbed in the front seat and pulled down the visor, then began smearing smoky gray eye shadow on her already lined lids. 
    She made eye cont act with Donovan in the mirror and in a moment of weakness sympathized for him, he looked pale and queasy, like he was about to lose his Wheaties.
    "Are you nervous?"
    Normally he rambled on and on about football, but he had nothing to say this morning; he just nodded his head and looked out the window at the passing houses.
    Last year he was on Junior Tackle so he didn't have to worry about LVL.  Leighton High and Leighton Prep both had their Homecoming weekends the same weekend, and the football teams