Bruises

5| Lucky Girl

Chapter 5: Lucky Girl

You think high school is hard, try college.

Who the heck has impromptu classes on a saturday?

Unfortunately, Ms Mathers must have had a stroke and decided to finish her lecture on electrical circuit and if I may remind you, it was a SATURDAY.

And attendance was crucial. Wow, how exciting.

Luckily, the class wasn't till 3:00pm so I had a little time to get my assignments done and begin cleaning up the apartment.

Once I was sure the place was sparkling– and by my definition, sparkling means 10% cleaner– I finally made my way to the bathroom.

It was a weekend which meant I didn't need to go all out, I put on my pyjamas and trudged to the kitchen to find Angie making pancakes.

"Good morning," I said as I poured out some already made coffee for myself.

"So when we're you going to tell me?" Angie asked.

"Tell you what?"

"Ashton f*cking Malik. He hurt himself at your gym and you never said a word," she said excitedly.

"He did?" I said, hiding my face behind my mug as I took a huge gulp of my coffee so I didn't have to explain myself right away.

"It wasn't a big deal, didn't think it was important," I said.

"Excuse me? It wasn't a big deal? He f*cking sprained an ankle in your f*cking gym, that's like the most undesirable place any student would want to be."

Well thanks for the boost of confidence.

"I guess it's too bad he didn't notice you and only tried saving Jessica." Angie sighed.

Oh! So she'd heard the fake version of the story, one which I'm almost sure Jessica started herself.

"Actually, he helped me keep my job," I said.

Angie froze, her eyes stuck on me. "B*tch you have a lot to explain."

•••

It had taken me a while to explain to Angie how I failed to check the equipments, sprained Ashton's leg and almost gotten fired, Angie kept interrupting all through.

"So, it wasn't Jessica he was trying to save... He was trying to save you, atleast your job," Angie mumbled, stuffing her face with some pancakes. "You're literally the luckiest girl alive."

"Do you call that good luck? I sprained his ankle, his dad was so mad," I emphasised.

"It's always the most painful loves that last," Angie said with a giggle. This girl had officially lost it.

Love, yeah right.

He'd probably forgotten about me by now just like he did with every other girl, maybe even faster. Ashton hadn't been to the gym ever since tuesday so there was no need to get my hopes up.

We finished breakfast, disposing our plates into the sink before I decided to get some laundry done.

I'd started my laundry when my phone began ringing, it was a Facetime from my mom.

I answered the call.

"Hey mom." I gave a forced smile.

"Hi darling, how've you been?" mom said, brushing a strand of her shoulder length hair.

She looked tired, eyebags and dark circles hung underneath her red, tear stained eyes, her face was filled with wrinkles although she was barely forty.

"Let me guess? Dad got drunk again?" I asked

"No... It's fine, everything is perfect," she lied, wiping back unshed tears.

Some people would love to have a father who cared for and adored them, mine was a raging alcoholic. He constantly got into trouble at bars and racked up huge sums of debts.

I didn't grow up in the best of circumstances but it didn't stop my mom from trying, she didn't want me living my dad's kin£ of life.

That's why I'd gone to a boarding school all through high school and now I was here.

Mom smiled and even just looking at her, I could tell it was forced, she was trying so hard to pretend she were okay, I could tell she'd been crying.

"So, how's school, honey?" She asked, trying to change the subject which I didn't push on.

I shrugged. "It's nice, I guess, I've got a ton of assignments and projects to finish up and I'll be having a class any moment now."

"Don't worry, darling, we know you can do it, you have my brain." Mom giggled.

"Is that why I'm terrible with guys?" I joked and she finally gave a genuine laugh.

"I miss you," she said.

"I miss you more..."

I smiled as she spoke to me about different topics, catching up on the months I'd been away.

Once she finally found the strength to end the call, knowing she was going back to a mess that was my dad, I got a text from Paul.

Paul- Hey, you ready for class? it's in fifteen minutes... I'm coming to your apartment now.

What followed was complete chaos, I scampered around, grabbing my sweater and combing my hair at the same time. I rushed into the bathroom, gurgling some mouthwash and finally putting on some jeans.

Knock knock

"I'll be there in a sec," I yelled as I finally styled my hair into a low ponytail and rushed to the door.

"Hi," I greeted him as I opened the door.

"Hey, you ready?"

I nodded, grabbing my keys as I followed him out. I found Angie throwing me a look as she saw Paul and I.

I ignored her.

•••

It was already a given that a class like Phy 102 would be excruciatingly boring and I was more than glad when the class ended by 5.

Paul claimed he was heading straight to the boxing match and I wished him well before making it to my car.

I'd stopped at the drive thru and ordered a big Mac, fries and chicken nuggets which were definitely not going to do any good for my waistline but whatever.

I was just about to eat my glorious big Mac when my phone pinged.

1 new message

Unknown- it's Ashton. meet me at the admin parking lot...

•••

If you're into more cute and equally interesting plotlines, don't forget to check out my debut novel on wattpad, Study Partners. Story is currently undergoing edits but some chapters are already back up.

Thanque
-Thea