Paranoid Peak

2.0

Bree

The end of the school day couldn't have come soon enough, Bree thought. Her anxiety was getting the better of her and she just wanted to be able to go home and have all her worries fade away, even if it was just for the afternoon. She remembered all the activities Thomas Blue had to attend after school. She'd memorized them dozens of times, solely for the purpose of avoiding him. She had violin lessons every Friday that started at four and ended at five thirty. He had student council meetings the same day, only they were from five to six. Every move she made was calculated when she was around him, she made sure to smile even though that wasn't something she did often. She stood straight and tried to look occupied, feeling mortified every time he looked her way. But that wasn't enough, nothing she did, no pill she took couldn't keep her mind off him.
....

Abigail, one of Bree's other friends texted her as she waited outside for her mother's white Nissan Qashqia to turn the corner.

It surprised Bree considering they weren't that well acquainted, they only met a few weeks ago at her school's annual talent-show. Bree wasn't exactly one to socialize much with people she didn't know. Abigail approached her when her solo ended, asking quite eagerly for an opinion. Bree complimented her on her decent voice and the conversation went on from there. She even found out that Abigail liked reading historical fiction, which was one of Bree's favorite genres so far. Abigail seemed like a nice person and someone that she could relate to, after all Bree didn't have very many friends to begin with. It didn't matter much to her that she was in a higher grade than her, Abigail didn't treat her any differently then she did her friends.

Snapping back to reality, Bree replied to Abigail's text by saying that they'd talk later. She didn't have an interest in furthering the conversation at that exact moment, she had a lot going on in her head.

.....

After her mother picked her up, Bree didn't bother conversing much with her, knowing that she didn't have anything to say. Their relationship couldn't exactly be defined, it wasn't a regular mother - daughter one that's for sure. Nothing too intimate happened between the two, they never exchanged many secrets especially not after Bree's father died. But Bree did respect her and her mother did the same. Bree got her privacy and her mother got her independence whenever Bree was out of the house. It wasn't her mother's implicit attitudes that made their relationship fragile, as much as her incapability to connect; she just wasn't maternal.

If she wasn't ogling over Christian Bale in one of her favorite movies Little Women at Mary Anne's house, Bree would be writing and reading at the park near her house. Of course she took some of that time in between to do any homework that she hadn't finished at school. Assignments were a given for a junior so she didn't think much of them. Bree was a smart student and anyone that knew her knew that about her, most of her teachers had obtained that knowledge as well. Throughout the years the only C she'd gotten was for an assignment about Wildlife in North Carolina. It wasn't because she was unfocused or because she knew very little about that specific topic. It was because it was due right around the  around that time her father had passed away. During this period in her life Bree didn't care very much about her grades or her school work. Most of her teachers understood that and were very lenient, but not her Biology teacher, Mrs. Hastings. After failing to hand in the wildlife assignment on time, Mrs. Hastings gave Bree a low grade. Even though that was two years ago, Bree still held a grudge against her.

...

After coming home and settling down in her grandmother's old love seat, Bree felt bad for not texting Abigail back the reply she deserved and whisked her phone out of her pocket.
Unsure of what to write, Bree let the expert in her take over.