Falling from the Top

Chapter 16

Literally this is my favorite song right now. I love it!

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I walked down the corridors, glaring at anyone who dared look at me. The school was abuzz on this Monday morning. I rolled my eyes at younger girl who was talking with her friends, clearly criticizing my new skirt, that barely hid my underwear. I continued my way through the halls when I came face to face with Ava and Jelena. They both smiled and accompanied me to my locker.

"Girls," I warned in a low voice, "not today."

They exchanged a look before Jelena brushed my shoulder, gently. "Is there anything we can do?"

I shook my head. No, they were useless in front of the dragon I had to face everyday at home. Since I came back from Paris, last weekend, my mother had been all over me, questioning me about my dad. Did you know? Who is she? Was I not enough?

I knew the answer to all of her questions but couldn't find the courage to tell her. She still was my mother and I didn't want to hurt her feelings. At night, we ate dinner together, thing we never did before, but the conversation was lacking and I hurried to find the comfort of my room as fast as possible.

However, when I left this morning, she was still sleeping and Lucinda had been coming more often. She heard what happened and insisted on helping my mother as much as she could, which consisted on preparing our meals and coming early everyday to prepare my mom's breakfast. I love Lucinda a little more everyday. To be honest, she had been the only ray of sunshine during this weekend. She entertained me with anecdotes about her sons and husband, even though at first, I was less than not interested. But I now learned to enjoy her presence.

My dad, on the other hand, had been a ghost. Even though, he wasn't home anymore, his presence remained. I hated having to look at his picture every time I walked up the stairs or his smiling face on my bedroom wall. I took the ones in my room down, but my mother insisted on leaving the ones in the staircase. I couldn't oppose her desires considering that she was the one suffering.

He hadn't even bothered calling nor text me. I understand that after the last time I saw, he might not feel like talking to me but I remained his daughter and he was the adult in this situation. I kept telling myself that if he wasn't half as bad as he made it seem, he would eventually call. But nothing came. Secretly, I cherished the hope of one day looking at my phone and seeing a missed call from him. But I wasn't even sure he remembered my number.

I took my books out of my locker and headed to my first lesson, which was biology. Ava and Jelena both waved at me but I only managed a nod. I walked fast and reached my class in time. For a change.

My teacher watched me come in with a frown. I sat next to Linda who looked jolly and didn't even notice my bad mood. She started to ask me about my trip to Paris but she answered her question herself and hadn't even noticed that I had opened my mouth once. At least that spared me the trouble of asking her to shut the hell up and leave me alone. Funny, because even when I was in a bad mood, people didn't seem to notice it, as if I was acting normally. Did I act like that everyday?

Thankfully, the lesson ended fast and I quickly headed out. Linda followed me, considering we had the same class next. Her incessant chatting suddenly oppressed me. I needed her to shut up. I wanted to scream at her but my voice died before even reaching my mouth. I looked around and the world slowed down. Linda passed by me, her mouth moving in slow-motion. A young guy winked at me, behind Linda's shoulder and I saw him move in a particularly slow manner. Everything seemed awfully slow. I shook my head and grabbed the brunette's arm, the world moving back into place.

"What?" She snapped at me.

I frowned and turned my back to her, walking in the opposite direction. "I need air. I'll talk to you later."