The Ride Home

Chapter 2

My plan was to quietly sneak through the front door and book it to my room. It seemed like a good idea in my head, considering I didn't have any other logical options. But when I was half way up the stairs, my bed just in view, I heard my parents' bedroom door open and my annoyed mom step out.

So now I was sitting across from both my parents at the kitchen table, nervously twirling my thumbs. The whole situation was a ticking time bomb. Soon one of them would begin to speak and it would erupt into an argument.

"I'm sorry," I muttered finally, glancing up from my hands periodically.

"Honey, we know you are a teenager now, and that may cause sparks of rebellion but we really didn't expect this from you," My mom said sternly.

"Mom, this wasn't an attempt to rebel," I said dryly, "I just missed the bus."

"Missed the bus? You came home almost two hours past your curfew!" My dad pointed out angrily.

Oops.

"Dad, I'm sorry okay?" I defended.

"We get that you are trying to figure things out, especially being eighteen, but you really don't want to screw up senior year. You need to finish strong and there can't be any distractions blocking that," My dad explained.

"Your dad is right. Is there anything you want to tell us?" My mom jumped in.

"What? No. I'm fine guys," I reassured, as this whole situation was in the process of being blown out of proportion.

"Is it drugs?" My mom started seriously, "Because you know our policy-"

"No!" I screeched.

"Were you with a boy? Is that why you missed the bus-" My dad began.

"No!" I protested, as I stood up from the chair. I was not going to continue this talk with them, "I missed the bus because I'm terrible at time management. I didn't miss it because of a boy or drugs. You can ground me for as long as you like, but I am going up to my room."

I turned my back on them and trudged up the stairs. My parents had a perfect vision on what I was; a morally correct girl that was purely focused on grades and school. But they also thought I was corrupting this perfect image. Any mistakes would grant me a lecture of how every action I made was vital for the future and that there was no room for poor decisions.

And although I was on the home stretch for college, they still believed every grade and assignment counted. But that mentality was extremely exhausting and time consuming.

I went to the bathroom counter and washed off my hands. Maybe if I scrub my knuckles hard enough, it will erase what happened today.

I wrapped a cloth around my hand and glanced up at the mirror. Bags were starting to form underneath my eyes and my cheeks were red and blotchy. I frowned slightly and looked away from my reflection.

The next day, I noticed Blake everywhere. He was always engulfed by a crowd of people. I also took more notice to the fact that he had 1st period English with me. In fact he sat in the back of the class with my seat positioned in front of his towards the door.

But it wasn't like I was looking or anything.

In fact, I was trying to avoid him, for unknown reasons. It may have been that I was unsure on how to act if we ever did come in contact again. Would I act as though yesterday never happened? Or would it be weird to not mention our encounter?

I wasn't only avoiding Blake; I was also avoiding Holly and her group of friends. Holly now had a swollen nose and rumors were spreading around why. I was at my locker when Holly brushed past me. Her eyes were glaring into mine angrily as though she was ready to pounce on top of me. Luckily, she didn't. She just slowly stalked away from me with her jaw clenched. I let out a small sigh of relief and turned back to my locker.

"Well look who we have here? Lil miss feisty."

I looked up to see Blake towering over me. I looked at him carefully before I realized he was, in fact, talking to me. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Not that feisty," I corrected.

"Seem pretty feisty to me," He stated.

"I would never hurt a fly," I muttered sarcastically.

"Oh really? Tell that to the fly with the swollen nose," he teased.

I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to speak when I saw a pretty figure approach us. The girl had long dyed black hair and her mouth was curved upwards in a permanent smile. She looped her arms around Blake and I shifted awkwardly.

"Hey baby," she murmured into Blake's ear. She glanced towards me and scanned my appearance. Once she concluded that I wasn't any competition, she smirked and held out her hand.

"I'm Quinn," she greeted sweetly. I glanced down at her hand and cautiously took it.

"I'm Sienna," I introduced. Quinn offered me a smile and went back to her previous position around Blake. We all stood there for a second, letting the awkward silence spill around us.

"I'm going to the library," I said finally, breaking the silence.

"May I join you?" Blake asked suddenly. Quinn's eyes darted from Blake's to mine. Her smile shifted into a frown and she looked at me defensively. I glanced from her to Blake and concluded that I didn't need any more enemies. I already had Holly to worry about, and I couldn't add a jealous girlfriend to the list.

"Don't think that's a good idea," I said softly. I gave Blake a defeated smile and turned my back to them.