Introduction
Annalisa Paige Cleveland. That was my name. Anna. My nickname, made by my best friend and used by everyone who knew me. I always wore a ribbon around my neck protecting my cervical spine as my mum said,but I wasn't sure. Why did I faint when it was the tiniest bit loose? Why was I the only one in the family and even the whole country who wore it? Why?
Lucy Marks,my best friend and the only girl my age I trust. The only girl I talked shit to every hour of the day. The only girl I would protect with my whole life. She protected me from my bullies so I protect her from whatever else is bothering her.
My mum is the best woman on the planet:best mother,best doctor to my bruises with her magical 'let me kiss it better' and the best story teller. The only bad trait she has is her taste in men as she married my step-dad Chris. Eight years ago they had my half sister and called her Bella Cleveland.
Mr Armstrong,the best teacher known to man. He helped me and Lucy with our difficult home life and our poor mental state in year 7 and the start of year 8. Sometimes I'll think we're related but it's just a guess not proven and I don't think it would ever be proven,but who knows,maybe it will.
Lexi Willow,Summer Andrea Mitchell,Brooklyn Levi Luc and Elijah Guy all think they can bully me without consequence as they all have some sort of connection with Mrs Willow,our principal. They always make comments about my ribbon and always try to pull it open even if I tell them it might be deadly to me if it is taken off. Luckily the worst they've ever done was making me faint for a couple of minutes.
Spicy chapters
(A bit and a lot)
For those who want to avoid them or adore them.
Chapter 18
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 1
Annalisa
Seven and a half am, my loud ass alarm rings and sunshine creeps through the crack of my blackout curtain. It was blinding even through my closed eyes. I managed to open my eyelids. I reached over my bed to my phone,snoozed my alarm and accidentally fell into my slumber again.
Beep. Beep. Beep! The last one was louder than the rest. More annoying too. My five minute lay in felt like a few seconds. I opened my eyes again and turned the horrid sound off.
I rubbed my eyes ,roughly, desperately trying to get rid of the exhaustion behind them but no luck.
'I guess I'll have to cover them with foundation again.'I thought.
I tried to get out of my bed but it was so warm and cosy under my covers my body just couldn't move. It felt like I was paralysed from the heat.
Paw prints entered my room. Woof! Max was awake way before me,going on a jog with my mum and showing off his tricks for treats. I sat up on my pillows and Max was sitting on the wooden floor,on the other side of the room, barking for me to get up.
When I kept ignoring his barks he bit the blanket and ran out the open door with it. I cupped my face and screamed briefly into them.
"Max!"I yelled through the corner of my room. I looked at my phone for the time,'7:38',"Shit I'm going to be late," I tied my ribbon that was around my neck quickly and dashed to the bathroom with my hairbrush and uniform in hand.
I covered the dark bit of skin under my eyes with light makeup and buttoned the top three buttons at the same time I tied a knot to my tie. I checked my lockscreen on my phone. '7:45'. I had time for a quick conversation with my parents before I left. I ran down the steps,Max's trail of my blanket almost tripping me up.
"Morning,"my mum smiled as she ducked down to place something in the oven. It smelled like cupcakes. Or brownies. No definitely cookies. 'Irrelevant.' I thought. 'I'm going to be late if I overthink.'
My step-dad muttered a few words about me being lazy and always waking up late. Comparing me to him when he was my age,which feels like years ago.
I ignored him,"Morning,got the usual questions?"I asked my mum.
She always had questions about how much I've slept,if I've tightened my ribbon and asked why I always looked so pale. She always asked them every day,and everyday I would answer the same;I've slept enough,yes I have tightened my ribbon and I didn't know why I look pale.
I actually knew why I looked pale and that's because I didn't eat. I couldn't bear to eat. The thought of it made me vomit. Made me puke. I couldn't even eat three meals a day. The most I could eat in one day was a sandwich but even that made me barf. My thought was that I had an eating disorder like anorexia however my mum never took me to a doctor or therapist to get diagnosed.
Though I never went to a therapist,I had a therapist and guard dog in one. Max was a very trained dog and very smart,but usually cheeky. Max is so protective of me that once a couple of years ago he did something so unbelievably dangerous just to protect me.
