Destiny doses off into a dreamlike memory: She’s barely a teen with the figure of a woman. She sits in the hallway, afraid and unaware of the reason behind being called to the headmaster’s office. She sits and tugs on her school uniform; her mind is filled with anxiety and wonder, until she is interrupted by the headmaster’s deep voice, “Miss Hamilton, you may come in now.”
Destiny slowly walks into the office. Before she can even see the headmaster, her attention is brought to the large painting over his head. It’s a brightly hued painting of happy children, who appear to be in school, smiling and laughing. For a very brief moment, Destiny wants to smile with them, but that impulse quickly goes away when once again, her thoughts are interrupted by the headmaster. “Sit,” he demands.
Destiny sits in the nearest chair. Her eyes finally finds the headmaster’s stern face. He peers at her above his glasses, only his eyes are not on her face, but on her fully developed chest which is innocently visible in her white school blouse. His expression is of disapproval. Destiny shrinks in her chair.
Destiny immediately feels dirty. A feeling that has not been unfamiliar; sense she returned to school after a growth spurt over the summer. The other girls at school are still sporting training bras, but Destiny moved beyond any training months ago.
Her eyes once again dart to the painting. Suddenly the children’s smiles are no longer inviting. Now they mock her as she shifts in her chair, clearly uncomfortable under the headmasters displeased gaze . “Miss Hamilton, I’ve called you here because your teachers say that you are a big distraction in class lately.” Destiny swallows and avoids the headmaster’s eyes. Instead her focus is divided between his gray hair, the lines on his forehead and the children in the painting with the now hateful smiles.
“I have also been told that you are quite popular with the young men this year.” Destiny’s eyes are now on the carpet, filled with shame. Since she has returned to school, the boys have all focused on her. Her walks through the hallway have been filled with unwanted calls of “Hey hot mama, can I have a feel?” Some of the boys have even been bold enough to touch her. Destiny has come to dread walking through the hall. She feels violated and has grown to hate what puberty has done to her.
“Miss Hamilton, we cannot have you causing a ruckus in the classroom and the hallways. I will have to meet with your parents and…” The headmaster’s words fade away as her thoughts become less of a memory and more of a dream. Suddenly Drake is in front of her with longing in his eyes. He wants to kiss her and touch her, but all she can see is the headmaster’s frown and the boys grabbing her at school. She feels dirty all over again.
Again, her mind drifts back to the headmaster. Now her parents are there. Her mother looks to be close to tears as the headmaster describes untrue he said/she said accounts of Destiny being promiscuous with boys. No one ever once asked for her side of the story. No one ever inquired of the daily violations Destiny has had to endure.
One last time, Destiny eyes drift to the painting of the children only now the bright colors of their faces and clothing appear mutated behind Destiny’s tears. Blue streams into red and yellow into green as she hears the headmaster say, “Mrs. Hamilton, we are going to have to expel Destiny from this institution. We cannot condone such behavior…” The headmaster’s words trail off and Destiny finds that she hates the painting as much as she hates the headmaster at this moment. She hates it as much as she hates her overly developed body…
Destiny sleeps on while Drake wakes up to answer his cell phone.
Drake receives a call from a guy named Heimrich Shimmy telling him about a must read book called, “Memoirs of a Mixologist.” Drake remembers that he bought the book a while ago when he ran across it at the bookstore. It may be time to pull it out and actually read it.
Destiny wakes up with bits and pieces of her dreamy memories still clinging to her mind. Still feeling the emotions that she felt the day that she was wrongly expelled from school due to false accusations, she wipes a few tears from her eyes.
Destiny is zombie-like the rest of the morning; haunted by the memory that has shaped a lot of her current feelings and attitudes. Now she fully understands why she has grown to hate art and why she feels so violated by Drake’s advances.
This past experience has also driven her drive to become an actress. Once rejected from a school that she at one time loved, Destiny is determined to show them all that she is worthy. She will become a star; worthy of attention for more than just her curves, but for her talent.
Destiny’s agent wants to make sure that she is watching her figure, so he encourages her to go to the gym and workout as much as possible. Destiny leaves the apartment and jogs toward to the subway.
The gym is a short subway ride away. Destiny enters the nearly empty subway.
At home, Drake’s curiosity is stimulated by his earlier phone call. He pulls out the “Memoirs of a Mixologist” book and finds a comfortable spot to sit down and read.
Destiny arrives at the gym a short while later. The gym is on the top floor, so she enters the elevator.
Destiny walks into the full gym, but stops in her tracks when she spots her biggest challenge yet.
Working out on one of the weight machines is Tom Wordy, a 4-star celebrity of the music business and probably one of the biggest jerks to ever walk the streets of Bridgeport. He is known to send the occasional fan away in tears.
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