EMBRACE winrina

CHAPTER FOUR

I didn't go to school the next day. I couldn't. I could barely even move.

I couldn't have been more grateful that Leo was gone when I woke up that morning. I was still on the floor in the living room, but a blanket was draped over my legs and there was a pillow underneath my head. I could only guess it was Emma, and I suddenly felt bad for being the reason that she had to take him into the bedroom. I knew she had been putting it off, and if I wasn't there for Leo to beat up, she wouldn't have felt the need to come to my rescue.

That was why I hated letting people into my life. Even if it was Emma and she'd brought me into Leo's home in the first place, it was my fault that she tried to pull him off of me, and it was my fault that she had finally given him what he wanted. Of course they were married, and she'd brought it upon herself by attaching herself to the guy, but I heavily doubted that she knew he turned into a raging lunatic after a few drinks when she married him. With the events of last night still flooding my mind, I told myself that this was why I couldn't let Giselle in. I couldn't become friends with Giselle, or Ningning, Darren, or James, because I didn't want any harm to come to them. It would be my fault and I wouldn't be able to handle that.

Yet I knew that when I went into school the next day and Giselle offered me a seat at the lunch table, I would take it.

I called Aaron, and though it was a really bad impression to be calling in sick on my second day, I think he understood. He'd seen me doing my job to my utmost capability, and I think he knew that I'd be there if I could.

When I woke up on Thursday, I looked just as bad. My body ached and though the area around my left eye wasn't completely black, it was definitely bruised. I decided I couldn't skip another day of school, considering I was supposed to be there for in-school suspension and if I didn't go to detention today, I'd have to make it up some other time.

I tried to make myself look as best I could, putting on dark shades that hid my bruised eye. I knew I'd be questioned inside and I had to think of an excuse to make on the bus ride to school. But for some reason, I was having trouble, and I prayed that I came up with something before I arrived.

I couldn't think of anything through first and second period, but I did my best to keep my head down. I think Giselle just figured that I was tired because she didn't bother me, and soon I was making my way to third. I really was not looking forward to another class period with Ms. Yu, because I knew there was still a hell of a lot of tension between us, and I had no doubt I'd be questioned about my glasses. Maybe not in class, but definitely after school in detention.

The second I walked into the classroom, I felt her eyes on me but I pushed past the other students and sunk into my desk. If she thought it was stupid that I was wearing sunglasses inside, she didn't mention it. I tried to let the rest of the day pass without thinking about what my afternoon in detention would be like, but I failed. Would I be the only one?

The end of the day finally came and I headed to her classroom. I called Aaron yesterday and told him that I would have to be there an hour later on Thursdays, and he said as long as I worked an hour later than usual, he was fine with it.

I lingered outside Ms. Yu's classroom for a while, before it was just me in the hallway and I had to go inside. She lifted her eyes to meet mine and I realized that the classroom was empty, also taking it upon myself to decide that we would be alone.

Her lips formed into a thin line and it seemed as though she was just as bad at controlling her level of sarcasm as I was. "Is it sunny in here, Winter?"

I sank into a desk in the front row, resting my chin on my arms and flickering my eyes over to look at her, though she couldn't tell from behind my glasses. I needed to distract her, and though I highly doubted I would actually get her to the point where she forgot her question, it was worth a try. "Why do you refuse to call me by my name?"