Rising From the Ashes

2. Salt on the Wound

The next morning, I woke up with an acidic aftertaste in my mouth and a resolution to not break down in front of anyone, especially Jace. After flushing my mouth with a glass of water, I walked to my closet, scanning the items as I looked for something that would make me look attractive in Jace’s eyes but not gather too much unnecessary attention. I settled on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a white off-the-shoulder top, finishing the outfit off with a pair of heeled ankle boots. Heels gave me the confidence I otherwise lacked after the events of this weekend, so I wore them even on a rainy November day like this despite the obvious challenge of not slipping and falling into a puddle.

I walked downstairs to find my dad in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee as he watched the news. I gave him a small smile and reached for the low-sugar cereal that has been sitting untouched in our kitchen ever since my mother’s failed attempt at dieting. Pouring some of the contents into a small bowl, I noticed my dad giving me a bewildered look.

“Sweetie, if you don’t have time to cook I can fry you up an omelet, no need to eat that cardboard.” My dad said, getting up from the chair he was sitting on.

“It’s alright, I don’t have the time to wait anyway, I sort of overslept just a bit.” That was quite an understatement – my school was a ten minute ride away and started in twelve minutes. I hurriedly splashed some milk over my cereal and gulped it down in record time, standing up as I chewed the last spoonful.

“I’ll see you after school, daddy!” I called over my shoulder as I grabbed my backpack and ran, well, I guess hobbled on my four inch heels, into the garage. I opened the door to my mom’s car and slid in, buckling my seatbelt as I started the engine.

I turned the radio on, pulling into the driveway as the chords of “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction came on. I flinched at the upbeat voice, remembering that this was the song that played in the car on our first date. Back then, Jace sang along with the chorus and ruffled my hair before kissing me.

I guess now I didn’t light up his word like nobody else…Melissa did a better job.

I switched the station to a more mellow country song and slammed on the gas, making it into the school parking lot just as the bell rang. I pulled out my bag and walked as fast as the heels would allow me to my first period class. Thankfully, my first period was French, the class I liked the most: not only was I fluent in the language due spending summers with my Quebec relatives, but my two best friends were also in this class, and right now, I needed friendly faces.

I liked languages and social sciences. There was no right or wrong, but instead there was opinion, passion and creativity. I was even in grade twelve English and history classes because one of my teachers, the supervisor for the school newspaper which I was part of, talked to the principal about putting me a year ahead. That’s how I met Jace, sitting next to him in history class after another one of my late arrivals on the first day of school. It only took a week for him to charm me into agreeing to go out with him. He was so charming at first; I would never have imagined the demons lurking beneath the façade. I guess his eyes always held a depth to them that you wouldn’t see in a typical swoon-worthy jock – it was the depth that pulled me in…

“Miss Stephens, I didn’t realize our class involved watching you stand in the doorway for the better part of five minutes,” my French teacher snapped, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Take a seat.”

I scuttled next to my usual seat next to Mike, a small smile playing on my lips. I was lucky this was my best class: she really let me off easy, considering it was probably at least the tenth late of the month.

“Hey, you alright?” Mike whispered, leaning close to me as soon as the teacher turned away to write a verb conjugation on the board.

“Been better.” I said truthfully, pulling out my notebook and pencil case. “Sorry about Friday, Jace gets a little upset over things like that.”