October Academy

Chapter 28

Talking to Darcy has been comforting, in a way different to talking to Perry.

Oh my God, Perry! I left her at Ben's. She's probably been stuck there all night. Hopefully Callum dropped her home. Argh, she's going to be so mad. How could I be so careless?

I text her the minute I get back to my dorm. I have about a thousand missed calls and texts.

I call Perry but go straight to voice mail. A snapchat from Callum says that he dropped her home and came looking for me but couldn't find me. Guilt courses through me like adrenaline.

She must be asleep now, it's almost three AM. I must've been talking to Darcy for almost three hours. Oh fuck.

.

.

.

The first thing I do the next morning is look for Perry. Her dorm is empty but clean, so I imagine she ran off to get breakfast at the cafeteria without me. But I slept in, so I have to go straight to homegroup. She'll be there, and I'll have a chance to apologise.

I run to homegroup, almost barging into people, not caring about looking like a fool. When I make it to the door, Mr Wise is looking at me suspiciously. I assume my dishevelled appearance from running through campus has spooked him.

I find Perry at the back of the class room and sit beside her, carting my books onto the desk. "Hey, Perry, I'm so, so sorry about last night." I say, starring at her apologetically.

She's quiet for a few moments.

"Perry, I know you must be so mad at me, but I just... the Ouija board really freaked me out."

Perry just nods, she doesn't say anything.

"Because whatever was coming through from the other side it really... What if it was Tim? What was I supposed to say to him? I don't know, Perry. Either way, I shouldn't have abandoned you and I'm sorry."

"That was really shit of you," she says under her breath.

"I know."

"But I also understand and I know it wasn't your fault," she sighs.

The bell rings. "See you after school?"

"Maybe," she says and walks off to class, not waiting for me to catch up to her.

.

.

.

Finally the last bell of the day rings. I text Perry to meet up, but she says she has to practice her lines for her drama performance. Really though, I just think she's avoiding me. She doesn't want to be mad at me, but she can't help it. And I don't blame her. I just feel shit.

My phone starts ringing loudly in my pocket, but I'm so gloomy I barely react. I slowly grab it, bringing it up to my ear. "Hey," I say.

"Jade, I am so sorry about last night," I recognise Ben's clear voice.

"It's ok, it's not your fault."

"About that... Jade, Marina had no clue about Tim. She was just trying to be funny and play a joke on us... she was going to pretend it was Tyrone Tart, giving us one last comedy routine from the grave."

"Oh my God, I overreacted so badly," I groan. "I'm sure Marina thinks I'm a nut job now."

"No way, she's so mad at herself for not realising."

"Don't let her feel bad. She didn't know."

"I won't... no... stop!" Ben seems to be talking to someone on the other side of the phone. "She doesn't want to talk to you," he laughs.

"Who wants to talk to me?" I ask.

"Callum wants to check on you, but I said your fine."

I hear a commotion across the line, some definite wrestling. I imagine Callum snatching the phone from Ben whilst tackling him and pinning him down.

"Jade, you there?" Callum says and I recognise his voice straight away.

"I'm here."

"I'm really sorry about last night, can I take you out to make it up to you?"

My heart beat spikes up. "Take me out?"

"Yeah, tonight? I'll pick you up in an hour. Ok see you then, bye," he hangs up abruptly.

I look up at the grey sky looming over me, then back down at my phone. Well... looks like I'm going out with Callum tonight.

I go to my room and call Acacia. Why do I call Acacia? I don't know. Maybe because she seems confident? She seems to have better sense of fashion than I do? She seems to know the male species better?

She helps me pick an outfit, giving me a complete makeover.

"This would look hot on you," Acacia says, throwing a dress in my direction.

I try it on, scared I might break it. The fabric is slightly rouched, delicately covering the parts of me I'm insecure about, whilst at the same time accentuating the parts I love.

I look at myself in the mirror for a long moment. From my barefeet, up to the hem of the skirt, all the way up to my boobs which look way bigger than usual thanks to this dress, all the way up to my cheeks which would be red if Acacia hadn't skilfully camouflaged them with blush.

I turn to Acacia and hug her really hard. "Thankyou," I smile.

My phone buzzes with a notification.

"That must be him," Acacia says with a wink, "Go get him, tiger." 

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OMG guys thankyou so much for reading!  It's so crazy to think that real people out there are actually reading about all the shit that goes on in my head. 

thankyou so much for giving this book a chance. i hope you enjoy it.

please let me know if there's anything you want to read more of, if there's characters you desperately want me to kill off, or if there's a ship you definitely want to happen!

i love reading comments and please hit the star on the bottom if you're enjoying everything so far!!

thankyou so much, 

aurora