Of Pain | COMPLETED

Chapter 2

I rolled off the sofa and groaned as my ribs squeaked in pain. My alarm was blaring as it insisted that I wake up for school. I reached a blind hand towards the floor, grabbing it to silence it. I didn’t need the other two to wake up. When I came home with all of our bags, it was already four.

I stumbled in the house, exhaustion clear in my eyes and I fell asleep on the sofa at the next minute. I had only three hours of sleep and I sat upright with my eyes still closed. Rubbing my eyes with the heel of my palm, I waited until my nausea settled down before I stood up. Looking around at the new apartment, I finally located the bag filled with my clothes.

It was weird waking up in a different place but I prefer this place rather than the old one. In this, I had no fear. In this place, I was free. No one to beat me, no one to vent their anger on me. Mum and I are safe, finally.

I rummaged through the bag and pulled out pale blue jeans, a t-shirt, underwear before heading towards the bathroom. Yawning heavily, I cleaned myself and smelt oddly like Jase when I stepped out of the bathroom. I smelled of spice. Anyway, I padded over towards the sofa and laid the towel to dry.

I glanced at Mum who was still dead asleep, a small smile framing her face. A smile appeared on my face and I ran a hand through my hair as I made my way towards the kitchen to make myself some coffee. I was arguing over the phone with Liam to come get me to school by the time I made some toast. I had already called Mitch, my other bestfriend but it seemed that his phone was switched off. Liam was my second chance to get to school.

I whirled around and only relaxed when I saw Jase. He smiled at me and walked over towards the coffee machine, pouring a glass of coffee for himself before sitting on the stool, sipping slowly as he watched me above the rim of the cup. I turned my back to him as I concentrated on the conversation.

‘Liam come on, give me a ride please! I don’t even know how to get there from here,’ I pleaded at him over the phone for the umpteenth time. ‘I tried calling Mitch but he isn’t picking up his phone that damn bastard. I’m going to be late if you don’t come down here this instant.’

‘Now Ally, I’m not saying that I don’t want to fetch you. It’s that-‘

‘It’s Isabel right?’ I interrupted him with a flat tone. My heart sank as his silence gave me the damn answer. I sighed heavily. ‘It’s okay Liam; I’ll just get to school on my own. What best friend you are.’

‘Wait Ally-‘

I hung up before he could finish his sentence. I sighed heavily and ran both hands through my hair, making it messier than ever. I didn’t even bother to run a comb through it and thanks to my hands, I doubt I need any. Sometimes, I’m glad that my hair was short cut concave style. It’s easier to maintain and besides how the hell am I supposed to run with a ponytail?

Kneading my temple, I gulped the rest of the coffee and made my way towards my bag. Checking my books and stuffing my uniform in with my gloves, I grabbed my bag from the floor. I grabbed my boots and stuffed them into the shoe bag too. I was about to grab my wallet from the coffee table when Jase cleared his throat from the kitchen counter.

I paused. ‘I can give you a ride if you want,’ he suggested with a shrug. I frowned and waited for the rest of his sentence. I didn’t know if I was about to like it or not. ‘But you need to help me with something for return.’

‘Help you with what?’

‘You do train right? Have conditioning every now and then?’ he asked me with a raised eyebrow as he watched me critically over the rim of his cup of coffee. This guy was really analysing me like some lab rat and I narrowed my eyes at his sentence. So this is where he was going.