BLEAK

Chapter Nine

9

I woke up with a start and hit the Off button on my alarm.

"LAUREN! SCHOOL!" Mum shouted up the stairs as I swung out of bed.

Regan had drove me back at around three that morning, forgetting completely that I, unlike him, actually had school. I managed to sneak in undetected but the bags under my eyes and the puffiness would surely be a give away, which is why I went straight into the shower across the hall.

I turned the shower on a quickly washed myself to rid of the smell of smoke from the Town and then Regan's aftershave which he had sprayed while me being there, not knowing about my asthma. I nearly had a bad attack but Finn appeared just in time with a spare inhaler from Rosie.

The shower was turned off within minutes as I made my way back to my room and slapped on the make-up to cover the prominent dark circles and tear streaks. It didn't take long and soon I made my way downstairs in a robe with everything done apart from hair, which would be thrown into a ponytail later.

I reached across the food on the table and grabbed a glass which I then filled with water. I haven't had breakfast for as long as I could remember.

"Lauren, you need to eat." Mum said, sipping her coffee, but not touching anything herself.

Elliot wasn't up yet, he could be up and dressed within minutes.

"I'm not hungry." I stated. Popping a Vitamin C tablet, I washed it down with the last of my water before heading back upstairs.

"LAUREN!" Mum shouted.

I stomped up the stairs in reply.

Reaching my room, I opened the door and headed straight for the chest of drawers for my hair brush. Tipping my head upside-down, I gathered the mass of hair into a clump and tied it with a band I found on the floor. I straightened up and pulled the shirt and pencil skirt off the chair in the corner and threw it on. Next, I grabbed a pair of black ankle socks and put them on quickly, then cliping the tie to my shirt and slipping the black blazer on.

I wandered over to where my phone was charging and unplugged it to find multiple messages from Ella and Cayden.

Ellaa: Kian said to give him your number to give to Regan, so if you have a message, it's him x
Ellaa: You two would actually be so cute!x

Ellaa: But no, you like Cayden.

Ellaa: You can be so stupid at times, Lozza.

Ellaa: God.

*

Caaaaaydeeen: Ella's been texting me about some dude?

Caaaaaydeeen: Who is he?

Caaaaaydeeen: Is she messing?

Caaaaaydeeen: Lauren?

*

UnKnownNumber: Hey Lauren, I forgot to give you my number but Eloise gave yours to Kian who gave it to me. Hope that's okay. -Regan

LaurenGreene: No worries, she told me earlier

UnKnownNumber has been changed: Regan

I sighed and stuffed the phone into the inside blazer pocket along with a five-pound note just in case of an emergency.

Slowly, I eased out of the room, careful to not wake Elliot who was likely to still be asleep, and wandered down the stairs towards where my bag was dumped from yesterday afternoon and slung it on my shoulder. The weight was ridiculous for the penultimate week of school, but teachers had no mercy with dishing out homework and last minute projects that they 'forgot' about.