Rising From the Ashes

4. Breaking the Pattern

Hey all you wonderful people :) I know this chapter's just a bit of a filler, but I promise I'll be on to longer and better things soon :P If you like, please vote and comment, it would make my week :D

***

I opened the door to my house and pulled off my shoes with a satisfied sigh. Walking straight to my room, I dropped my bag and turned on my laptop as I changed out of my still-damp attire into a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. After the towing service took my car, I didn’t have the energy to walk home, but thankfully I had enough spare cash in my wallet for a cab to avoid the pouring rain. I tied my hair into a ponytail and walked downstairs, hungry for something to eat.

The events of this morning spun around in my head, making me wonder how so much could happen in only one day. For some reason, Melissa hated me enough to slash my tires, despite the fact that Jace all but said out loud that he could care less about me. Something told me that my life in the classes I have with her would be difficult to impossible…I silently thanked God for being a junior and having my own friends around for the majority of my classes.

I made my way downstairs, pulling out the ingredients I would need for a sandwich. Upon a second look, I made a mental note to buy whole-wheat bread and low-fat mayonnaise, and set to work making my lunch. As I sat down, thoughts of Nicholas popped into my head: giving me his hoodie even though he was obviously cold in his thin t-shirt, asking me out even after I had repeatedly insulted him, his bright green eyes…

Classic Natalie, my inner subconscious quipped. Clearly getting dumped by one jerkass isn’t enough to not like his mirror image. The thought sobered me up as I took a bite out of my sandwich, replaying our meeting again in my head. This time, more unpleasant details popped out: how easy and confident he was with the flirtatious remarks, the identical car, Nick’s clear abundance of money…

I bet their daddies are business partners, I scoffed as I rinsed off my plate.

Whatever. He’ll be out of my life the second Melissa and her cronies lay their eyes on him. And what I need to do is stop thinking about him and start thinking about the ways I could salvage my recently ruined reputation.

I spent the rest of the day lounging lazily around my house and reading a book for school. I politely avoided my parents at dinner, blaming my absence on a weather-induced headache. Thankfully, they were happy enough to see me out of my room and going to school to not question my flimsy excuse.

I spent the rest of the night alone in my room, forcing myself to go through my backlog of algebra homework to avoid thinking about Jace. It worked right until the time I stepped into the shower, feeling warm water relax my muscles and allowing my thoughts to drift. Almost instantly, unwelcome thoughts sprung in my head – the fights we had that could only be curbed by sex, the way he flirted with some of my friends thinking I wouldn’t know but got jealous if a guy even asked me for directions…

Stop, I told myself. You’re stronger than this. Never again.

Despite the firm block in my mind, I couldn’t stop the tears from rolling softly at the very thought of Jace. As hard as I tried to see and accept all the negative things my friends have seen for so long, I also couldn’t ignore the fact that, despite all this, I was in love with him. And despite all that has happened in the last four days, I knew it was going to take me a long while to take control over the feelings raging in my heart.

And once I did gain control of my heart, I wasn’t going to let anyone else take it away.

***

I woke up the next morning feeling resoundingly better than the day before despite yesterday’s confrontation. Throwing off my covers, I shivered in the cold air: the heating was due to turn on this weekend, but winter was approaching much faster than expected. I made sure to dress for the weather in a black and white striped v-neck sweater dress and a pair of black wedges. Throwing a jacket over the top, I made a mental note to get my parents to bring up my heavy winter jacket up from the basement. I applied minimal makeup, and brushed my hair, straightening out the mess that had become of it due to me tossing and turning at night.