Because of Him

2

Chapter Two

The next day, I was woken up by the annoying beeping of my alarm clock.

Huffing in annoyance, I crawled out of bed and trudged over to the closet. I threw on a T-shirts and a pair of jeans and pulled my black worn-out converse onto my sock-clad feet.

I walked into my restroom to finish getting ready for the day. As soon as I finished brushing my teeth, I decided to leave my hair down in its natural waves and my face makeup-free.

I headed downstairs, frowning when I noticed how eerily quiet it was. Maybe Emmie left to work already. I thought to myself.

I entered the kitchen and looked around to find it empty. Shrugging, I walked over to the refrigerator to grab some eggs to cook and noticed a note taped to the door. Furrowing my eyebrows in confusion, I took the note in my hand.

Lauren,

I had to go on an unexpected business trip. I won't be home until next monday. Take care, I love you, and call me if you need anything.

Love, Emmie.

I sighed, leaving the note on the counter. Having lost my appetite, I grabbed my backpack and left to school.

❧

I was almost jumping for joy when my last morning class finally rolled by. The day felt as if it were going by excruciatingly slow, and I think it got everyone in a sour mood, even the teachers.

My teacher had just finished giving us a lecture on the importance of turning in our work on time, and she got so carried away, it ended up lasting the whole period. Being that she was stressed and class was almost over, she decided to postpone her lesson plan until the next day.

I let out a sigh of relief and slid down my seat. My brain felt like it was about to burst if anything else had to be wedged into it.

Without realizing it, my eyes unconsciously skidded over to where the guy from the day before was sitting. And to my surprise, he was already looking at me.

Oh my God, do I have something on my face? Is my hair messed up? Does he think I'm ugly?

While I was mentally freaking out, he did something completely uncalled for, something that made me feel like time stopped, something that, unfortunately, hadn't happened in four years.

He smiled at me.

I felt my heart come to a stop. Was I dreaming? Oh, my sweet baby Jesus, he was smiling at me!

All these different thoughts started to fill my head. I felt all sorts of emotions possible; excitement, confusion, disbelief--the list could just go on.

But it all stopped when I had a sudden flashback. I thought of how everything had all started and how the fire had been all my fault. The thought alone never stopped haunting me, and no matter how much I didn't want to believe it, that it was my fault, it was always lingering in my mind.

But I guess that was what happened when you hung out with the wrong crowd. I got into so many things I shouldn't of. I thought I could trust everyone, but I was very, truly wrong. Unfortunately, I had to find that out the hard way. I was left with trust issues; now, I preferred being alone. I was okay with being friendless. Having shut out the world for three years, I lost pretty much all my social skills. I was about as social as a potato.