Painting The Bad Girl's Portrait

Chapter 6

Diana had her first shift at Tracey's cafe that same night, much to her dismay. She had set an alarm for 11pm while she took a quick nap after eating dinner. Now she made her way down her house stairs, hoping to be as quiet as possible.

Her parents and brother had already gone to bed, but Diana knew her mom sometimes stayed awake later than everybody else. Luckily, there was no sign of her when Diana arrived at the bottom of the staircase. Without a sound, she made her way out of her house, heading straight for the bus stop.

The buses in her part of town ran 24/7, much to Diana's advantage seeing as she didn't have a car or any alternative means of getting around. It was strange being outside so late at night; the quiet sounds and the shadows that seemed to appear in the corners crept Diana out. At the same time, she knew that the night shift was probably the best option for her, as she couldn't risk her parents finding out about her job.

"You're just in time," Grey said the moment Diana entered the cafe, "I was just preparing to head out. Come on, I'll quickly show you around."

The thought of working the night shift alone creeped Diana out, but as Grey informed her, not many people came by at night. There was also the emergency button right under the table that she could press in case of anything. Just to be extra safe, Diana brought her can of pepper spray along.

It didn't take long for Grey to show Diana everything she needed to do. It was relatively simple. She mostly knew where everything was already from years of visiting the cafe so frequently.

"Okay then, I'll be heading out," Grey announced. "You have my number so feel free to give me a call if you need help with anything."

Diana nodded her head and smiled, but had no intention of doing so. She knew the last thing that Grey would probably want was to be interrupted in the middle of his sleep because she didn't know where the red-velvet cupcakes were.

After Grey left, Diana passed the time by cleaning the counters, even though they were basically already spotless. She ended up going the entire night with no customers. At the end of her shift, Diana helped herself to a cupcake before locking up and heading back home.

By the time she woke up the following day, Diana's father had left again for a new business trip. This was a relief for her, as it meant she didn't have to deal with him after the events of the previous night. However, there was still her mother who gave her disapproving looks the entire morning and didn't say a single word to her.

The morning carried on as usual, Diana headed to the bus stop after her mom had driven off with Tyler. As she waited for the bus, she caught sight of her reflection in a notice board; she was dressed in her usual oversized shirt which hung off of her skinny frame with her hair kept in its usual afro puff at the top of her head. Yet, as she stared at herself, Diana felt like she was looking at someone else. She was looking at the reflection of someone she had grown so detached from over the years.

Diana was halfway through first-period maths when she began to feel the effects of getting barely three hours of sleep the previous night. That was the downside of working the night shift at Tracey's. She was probably going to lose out on a lot of sleep for the rest of the school year.

Mr Gary was droning on as usual at the front of the class. His voice seemed to sound like a lullaby, and it wasn't long before Diana felt her eyes grow heavy.

"Diana Williams!"

All of a sudden Diana was wide awake and about twenty pairs of eyes were fixated on her.

"This is a math class, not your bedroom," Mr Gary scolded, "my math class at that."

If Diana hadn't just woken up, she might have rolled her eyes at her teacher's statement. She didn't care whether it was his math class or not, she was exhausted. His droney voice and the lack of engagement in his teaching didn't help matters either.

However, Diana was much more concerned about all the attention she suddenly had on her. Other students were staring at her as if they had just noticed that she was in the class for the first time. Not surprisingly, Diana found herself thinking that she much rather preferred it when they completely ignored her presence.

"Hope you had sweet dreams, because if you fall asleep in my class again, it would be a detention."

Diana nodded her head quickly, sitting up straight. She did not like the idea of spending any time in detention this school year. As far as she was concerned, the time she spent in school on a weekly basis was enough hell for her.

By now, all the other students had turned back to Mr Gary. Well, almost...

"What do you think she was dreaming about during her little nap?"

Diana turned her head to stare at the blond-haired boy that had asked the absurd question. She had never bothered to learn his name, all she knew was that he was a jock.

"Probably dreaming about her little crush on Julia." It was Stefan that had responded, and from the look of pleasure on his face, it was clear to see that he thought his response to be the funniest thing ever.

Diana didn't. It had been months since anybody had made reference to that. She had kind of been hoping that everybody had completely forgotten about it. However, from the snickers and the sounds of giggles that erupted around the classroom, it was clear that was not the case.

Diana looked at Julia. The blonde girl had her head bent over, scribbling in her notes, pretending to be absorbed in the lesson and oblivious to the comments that had just been passed. But Diana knew that wasn't the case. It was obvious that Julia was aware of everything going on from how bright her face had turned. But of course she didn't say anything, she never did.

"Was that it, Diana?" It was Gia that had asked the question.

Gia was on the cheerleading team as well. Diana didn't think there had ever been a time she hadn't seen Gia dressed in her tight cheerleading uniform with her skirt pulled up a couple inches too high. Gia had turned around completely in her seat as she looked at Diana, mischief dancing in her features.

"Admit it, you were dreaming about snogging Julia, weren't you?" Gia's question drew more sniggers and laughter from the class.

Another thing about Gia: Diana could absolutely not stand her. Not just because she was Julia's new "bestie", but because of just how fucking annoying she was.

"Ladies please," Mr Gary said somewhere at the front of the class, "can we concentrate on the lesson. Could someone come up and solve the question on the board..."

Diana drowned the voice of the maths teacher out as she leaned forward in her seat, keeping her eyes level with Gia's. "How about you shut the fuck up?"

"How about you stop fantasizing about Julia? Beat it, she's not interested in you. There's no chance in hell she'd ever be with a loser like you." Gia's comeback was quick, not missing a beat.

For a few moments Diana's head went blank as she tried to search for something to say in reply. At this point, basically everyone in the classroom was tuned into their little argument, completely disregarding the lesson before them.

"I'll do it. I'll solve the problem."

Diana's train of thought was cut through by the familiar voice. It was Alex that had spoken. She had now risen from her position seated at the other side of the classroom and was walking towards the front of the class.

"Miss Perez, thank you," Mr Gary said as he handed her the marker, sounding extremely relieved. Just like that, the entire class had lost interest in the fight that had been brewing. Gia had turned back around in her seat and Diana watched, a little spaced-out, as Alex solved the problem on the board.

From the way Mr Gary nodded his head and the look of excitement that crossed over his face, it was clear that Alex had gotten the problem right. As she walked back to her seat, the dark-haired girl snuck a glance at Diana, who was seated against the window as she stared idly at the birds that flew by outside.

But Diana didn't notice. Her mind was elsewhere, as it often was.