I Learned To Trust | The Joanne McKinley Diaries 2

23. I Remember

"Who wants to play a game?" Jayleen asked all of a sudden.

It was a Saturday morning at seven am and we were all up, slaving over homework. I had an Art project on Quentin Blake due on the Friday, an English project on war poetry due Tuesday and research homeworks that needed to be printed. McKeyla and Leeoni were finishing up their war poetry projects as well along with their drama projects. As for the other strangers in my house, they decided that it would be nice to come over at six in the morning with their homework so we could 'work on it together'. I get the working together part. But six am! What time would they even wake up? The only good thing was that Mason had cute morning hair that I could ruffle.

"What do you mean?" I asked while writing the sentence of my war poetry anthology.

"Do not make any sort of reference to that blonde haired ferret," Mason growled, his voice husky from the morning. I ruffled my hand through his hair and he visibly relaxed while holding my hand in place.

"Sorry," he apologised and I ruffled his hair and gave his a kiss on the cheek.

"So what are you talking about?" Mai asked as I continued to write the last sentence of my poem.

"As in a game. Look at us right now! Tired and have been working our asses off non stop for an hour. We deserve a break," Jayleen explained.

I wasn't really listening. Like, I was hearing her but not listening. I was too occupied by this frickin' anthology that I had almost finished. My art project was done, my research homeworks were done. It was just this fucking anthology! As I put a full stop at the end of the sentence I rejoiced.

"THANK THE HEAVENS!" I shouted.

All four people in my room looked at me with confusion whilst my boyfriend looked at me with amusement plastered on his cute face.

"What?" I asked, annoyance in my voice.

"What just happened?" Mai asked.

"I was rejoicing over the fact that I had finished this bitch of an English project by thanking the heavens. Is that so wrong?" I defended.

"Yes," the three girls shouted.

I turned to Mason. "Mason, they're being mean."

"It was quite funny," he admitted. You've got to give him credit for his truthfulness.

"Is it so wrong?" I huffed.

"Not at all, princess, not at all," he said while pulling me into a warm embrace. Just what you needed in the early morning.

"Back to the game?" Alisha asked.

"Yeah! Who wants to play 'I Remember'?" Jayleen asked. We all nodded.

"Oh! Me first," Alisha said, getting up.

She started to act out someone on the floor with their head in their hands and rocking back and forth. I was confused at first but then I remembered.

She had gained (more like bought) back her popularity and her life was fine. Why did she have to go after the only good thing left in my life? The bus arrives and I hobble to the bus. I drop my bus pass and reach down to get it and I fall over. I turn to the exact shade of a beetroot. I hear the noise of cameras and turn around to see almost all of the 421 line taking pictures of my bum. I hear videos being replayed and laughs being shared. I hear one cackle in particular and I know who it belongs to at once. Before I know what's happening, the camera sounds, laughs, cackles and replalys echo in my head over and over again. They sound more vivid than last time. My breathing is shorter. I close my eyes and curl up into a ball. Whatever this was, it was controlling my entire body and I couldn't control it. So I let it control me. There is one thing I see before I black out. Alisha and Mai engaing in a full fist fight. Nice to know I have one friend. Then the world becomes black.