The weekend passed quickly after that, Monday morning arriving swiftly. I spend all of Sunday locked in my room finishing homework, not even leaving for food, instead depending on the small supply of snacks I had stashed away in my room. All day while I studied I heard footsteps pacing just outside my door, and occasionally a few hushed conversations that were just beyond my hearing.
I woke before my alarm on Monday morning, ever since Friday night I hadn’t been having any trouble getting to sleep. It came back to me naturally, like remembering how to rollerblade after years vacation from them. I felt refreshed and ready to take on the world, and that was a good thing considering I now had to face my parents.
I dressed slowly, picking my clothes precisely, not feeling any rush to get ready since my alarm had yet to go off. After dressing I moved to the mirror to brush my hair, gingerly running my fingers down strands of my hair. It felt soft and silky after my shower last night with only a slight curl in it at the ends. Pulling the brush through my hair incoherently I stared at the red ribbon draped on my desk. I took a sharp breath remembering how Gabe said he liked it in my hair….
I ran over to my desk and grabbed it, feeling the tough, smooth fabric of the ribbon before carefully winding it through my hair and tying it in a bow. My alarm then began beeping at me across the room and I skipped over to it and pressed the off button. I swung my backpack over my shoulder and took a deep breath, I couldn’t delay seeing my parents any longer, but as I touched my hair ribbon I felt strengthened, I could do anything. I smiled to myself and opened my door, and headed down the stairs to the kitchen.
I let my backpack slide off my shoulder in the doorway of the kitchen. I then proceeded calmly into the dining room, pushing open the heavy oak door and moving silently to my seat at the long table.
I saw my parents fluster at my sudden appearance, but I chose to ignore it. My mom busied herself in cutting her sausage while my dad’s eyes flashed above his newspaper at me. I sat down lightly in my chair, looking down at my empty white ceramic bowl. I’d have to do this without the distraction of food to give me time to think.”Might I ask why we have to go to Europe?” I asked politely, still staring into my bowl.
“Why not, we never went on any vacations with you when you were little and we want to make up for that now.” My mom answered laughing. For a moment I almost felt like that was a true answer and that I could forgive it all, but then I remembered the plane.
“But…how long are we going to be there?” I probed.
“I don’t know, however long we feel like staying I suppose,” she replied, her face furrowed with thought.
I looked up, “I’ll miss school though….”
She laughed, “Are you upset about that? We can hire someone to tutor you when we get back so you won’t fall behind.”
I bit my lip, missing school had been my backup plan… “I’d feel better about it if I didn’t have to miss more than a few days of school at the beginning of the year.”
She frowned a little, turning her full attention back to me, “Well, I suppose we could change the travel plans a little and make it so that you don’t have to stay as long, just until the Tuesday…and then you can fly back on your own. We have enough people working here while we’re away that you should be fine without us….”
I felt my face fall a little, the blood draining from my face. I had won on not staying so long, but now I had to fly back alone with only a large group of strangers to pacify my fear.
“Okay…th-that will work for me, th-thank you…” I said, my voice trembling.
She smiled warmly, “No problem honey, I’m glad you’re so concerned about your education.”
Yeah, that’s it, I’m worried about school, not about a flying plane with nothing but a motor keeping it in the air…I thought sulkily. I glanced down at the clock on my phone and saw to my dismay that it was still too early to leave. I still wasn’t used to having people bring me food so I stood up and moved to the kitchen to get the milk and cereal.
Bringing back my food I saw my mom’s face sour, she detested my taste in breakfast. I narrowed my eyes in warning, she might like the fancier foods, but I couldn’t stomach them very well. Besides, why would I want to give up my sugary breakfast?
I finally got out of the house after quickly consuming my cereal and running out of the house despite my parents’ protests. I had driven about halfway to school when I realized that I should’ve been riding with Gabe because he was supposed to have picked me up…. When I got to school I hit my head repeatedly against the steering wheel, my dad had followed me out of the house to hound me about my car again, and I had gotten so mad about it that I’d just gotten in my car and driven off without thinking. I hit my head again and hoped that Gabe had forgotten too, not that I was going to tell him that if he had, if he had forgotten I was still going to get him for it.
I chewed the inside of my cheek as I walked over to my locker and tried to think of ways that I could convince my dad that the car was my problem not his. I mumbled to myself aloud as I pulled out books from my locker, “If he keeps nagging me I just might have to get him in his sleep!” I mimed stabbing my jacket with something and then slammed the door shut. I then turned and began walking without looking where I was going and walked right into Gabe. “Oh!” I inhaled sharply, blood rushing to my face and my eyes widening.
He looked at me strangely with something between fear and amusement in his expression. “What?” I asked worried, regaining my composure.
“You’re not talking about getting me in my sleep are you?”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or hit myself for talking aloud. I settled for something like nervous laughter, with an edge like broken glass. “Um, no…I wasn’t talking about you, someone else.”
He stared at me, a smile playing across his lips, “Well just don’t do anything too extreme okay?”
I grinned, “I can’t promise that.”
“You should be able to.”
“But what if I have a really good reason?”
“Doesn’t matter, your parents are people too.” He smiled wryly.
“I don’t like to live by their rules and I can’t leave the house to live on my own, what options are left?”
“You always have other options,” he rolled his eyes, “but why are we talking so much about your parents?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know, it just happens.” We started walking towards the choir room. “I have to go to Europe for three days….”
“That short?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“I got out of going for a week or more,” knowing my parents they would probably be gone for several weeks.
“That’s good I guess…” he looked at me humorously. I glared playfully at him and socked him in the shoulder. “Hmmmm,” he answered, his face tightening in thought.
I wondered what he was thinking, but I guessed it would be better for him to bring it up before me. We had already arrived in the choir room before he spoke, “Hey, come sit with me today, you’ve never come sit with me before…” he made a mock tear-struck face.
I had known it was coming, but I still worried about the first meeting with the people from the gambling club after last Friday. Last time I’d seen them they’d been quite angry. I smiled at Gabe though and said, “Eww, sit with you? No way….”
As soon as I taken the seat next to him the bell rang, and all the people around me were forced to keep their comments to themselves, even though I’d heard a fair share of them when they’d seen me coming closer. Of course, their glares relayed enough of what they were thinking to me without words. I tried to distract myself by paying attention to the teacher, but it was hard. For the entire class I almost felt their eyes boring into my back.
***
Lunch came around pretty fast after that, and I was quite surprised to see Melanie standing in front of my locker messing around with my lock. I walked up to her and tapped her shoulder, “Melanie, what are you doing?”
She blinked and turned around, raising her perfectly shaped eyebrows, “I’m trying to get into your locker, I can’t get the combination right though….”
“Um, why?” I asked bewildered.
She shrugged, “I don’t know, just wanted to see what’s in it I guess.”
That confused me even more, “Why?”
She just rolled her eyes, “Never mind, that’s not important, what is important is that you’re going to be attacked.”
“What?” I blurted, my mouth dropping open.
“You’re going to be attacked,” she repeated calmly.
“By who, when?” I almost shouted.
“Um, I think you’re misunderstanding me…” she frowned.
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. I exhaled slowly opening my eyes haltingly, “Okay…then what are you talking about?”
She sighed, “You’re so dense,” I flinched at the insult I only used on my parents, “come on over here and open it,” she beckoned to my locker.
I couldn’t see anything wrong with listening to her, so I obliged. Spin, spin, spin, and click. I opened my locker and stood back; Melanie gently pushed me aside and reached into the opening. She pulled her hand back, and it was grasped around a piece of paper. She smiled momentarily at me before pushing the note into her pocket. I was startled by the beauty her face had when she smiled, for a moment I was taken aback.
“Now then, that was fun. Let’s go eat!” She grabbed my arm and pulled me out towards the doors.
“Wait!” I yelled, panicking.
She stopped momentarily, “What?”
I glanced around for a quick excuse. I spotted my locker, “I have to close my locker first….”
She frowned, “Why? There’s nothing important in there, who wants to steal textbooks?”
I pulled free of her grip and rushed over to my locker. I swiftly debated the necessity of my backpack before carefully hanging it up on one of the hooks. I cautiously closed my locker, knowing that once it was closed I was out of excuses.
Hey, maybe I was wrong, people are scared of her because she jumps out at them and drags them places when they barely know her. I found myself thinking this as Melanie came back over to me and once again grabbed my arm.
“Come on already we won’t have time to eat if you keep stalling like this,” she said pushing open the door and leading me outside.
“Where are we going?” I asked, pulling my arm out of her grip once again and resigning myself to being stuck with her for the rest of lunch.
She shrugged, “I don’t know, what do you think we should have?”
“Um,” I blinked in the bright sunlight. “How about…pasta?”
She grinned, “Wow I don’t think I’ve had pasta for a long time…sounds great to me!”
“Where are we going to get it?” I asked slowly, looking around the parking lot for my car.
“I know just the place. I’ll drive.” She nodded and began walking towards the parking lot, presumably where her car was.
As we were walking towards her car I realized that I still didn’t know why Melanie was taking me out to eat. I didn’t even know why she was talking to me. A small memory of something Gabe as said about Melanie floated back to me:
’I’ll protect you from her, don’t worry,’
I don’t really want to be protected from things, I’d so much rather never be in danger at all, why can’t life work like that?
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A good standard chapter added to the story. Haven't seen a personality difference in Kari yet, but perhaps I will in the chapters to come xd