Like Stars At Night

Twenty-Four

“If you like as you're going back, go and beat up the rest of your classmates, you hear?” My mother stated from the passenger seat.

My dad glanced at me through the rear-view mirror but he didn't say anything as he kept driving.

I was hanging on to my seat belt, nauseous about the fact that I was seating in the same spot I was when the first accident occurred.

Normally I wouldn't have entered the vehicle had I known that that was where I would be sitting but since I had started my therapy sessions with Gabrielle I had to admit my anxiety about this part of the car wasn't as high as it used to be.

I had come to accept the anxiety and the fact that I had posttraumatic stress disorder. For the first time I wasn't afraid of myself, I wasn't afraid of my own mind.

Though I was nowhere close to perfect I was ok with where I was.

I would never admit it out loud but two weeks away from the stress of secondary school was good for me.

But that didn't mean that I wasn't uneasy about going back.

Since I had been completely cut off from school it allowed Teni to spin as many tales about me as she could, and without me there to defend myself I was sure she would take delight in making it as exaggerated and ludicrous as possible.

Shockingly, that wasn't the part that had my insides coiling up in a knot.

It was the thought of seeing Daniel again.

The way I had treated him last time left a sour taste in my mouth. Sure, it would take a long time before I ever fully trusted him again, if I eventually did, but I had to admit he was just as much a victim of Teni as I was.

I made up my mind to apologize for going off the way I did but we were done. As much as it broke my heart to call the whole thing off, I couldn't be with someone who let a third party in on my secrets.

I fingered the birthday necklace around my neck.

At least I'll always have you.

My dad pulled into a parking space in front of the Administrative Building.

“Let's go and have a talk with the Principal before you go and unpack,” my dad turned to me.

We all got down from the car and my mother eyed me, no doubt looking for flaws in my get-up.

I was in my regular school wear: a white shirt with the school logo on the breast, a black skirt that was two whole inches shorter because Grandma insisted I not return the same, sheer black pantyhose and black flats.

I adjusted the Alice band in my hair and tucked a bright red strand behind my ear. The ends of my curls tickled my shoulders and it was a weird sensation since I wasn't used to it being that short.

Mum was attracted by the action and by the look of contempt in her eyes I knew she was about to rant about it.

Five-four-three-two-one, go.

“I don't know which devil entered you and made you dye your hair such a garish colour. I mean, come on, are you going to a nightclub? Even pure water sellers look better than you right now.”

I bit the inside of my tongue to stop from bursting into laughter while I silently thanked Jay for smearing paint in my hair and forcing me to dye the whole thing red.

“I like it,” Daddy stated and wrapped his arm around me. “Some artistic creativity never hurt. Didn't you know our daughter is an artist?”

I smiled at the encouragement.