The Reckless and the Brave

CHAPTER 6

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Chapter 6

"Sometimes, the way you think about a person isn't the way they actually are." 

-Ben Starling [Paper Towns]

"Seriously, Dad I'm fine," I groaned in frustration. He was hovering over me like I was an injured puppy. Ever since I came home last night, it only took him one look at my bandaged hand and he instantly flipped. Knowing my father, I expected that much from him.

It all traced back to the time after my mother died four years ago. My memory about the incident was a bit hazy, but I knew it was the darkest days of our family. We were all deeply shaken at what happened and when she died, a part of us died along with her too.

Hence, my Dad's frantic reaction to everytime I got myself injured.

I could still remember how his face went from concerned to furious last night. He even went so far to say that he would hunt down the poor kid and sue him.  At that point, I just rolled my eyes at his exaggeration.

Lawyers can be so dramatic.

Seriously, the injury wasn't going to kill me. It was just my freaking hand for crying out loud.

Thank goodness Andrew wasn't here or I would have to deal with two melodramatic grown men.

That morning, I was about to step out the door when my dad examined my hand for the twentieth time.

"I'm just making sure that it's not bleeding again."

"It stopped a long time ago, Dad." I groaned. "Stop worrying so much."

He sighed and gently let go of my hand. "Please tell me you'll be more careful."

He looked me in the eye and seeing the concern etched on his face made my heart constrict. I know he was just looking out for me and didn't want me to experience the same thing that happened to my mom.

I stepped forward and gave him a hug. "I will, Dad." He hugged me tight and planted a kiss on my forehead.

Giving him a wave goodbye, I stepped out the door.

I was taking a ride with Ren today since I can't drive with my injured hand. Just as I was making my way to the driveway, a sleek white car parked itself in front of our house. I opened the door and got in to see her smiling at me.

"So, how's your hand?" She asks as she speeds down the road to our school.

I groaned in response. "Not you, too. Dad has been asking me that the whole morning. I swear I'm going to shoot myself if I hear that again."

Ren laughs as she makes a smooth turn to the right. "Fine. Just forget I ever asked then," she says with an amused look on her face.

The drive to school was short and Ren parks the car at her usual parking space. We walked inside together and chatted for a bit with Marie and Hazel near our lockers before we each parted ways to our classes. It's really sad that I didn't have any class with them, but I'll eventually handle it. Somehow.

I took my seat next to the windows just as Mr. Sparks, our English teacher, entered the room.

"Okay class, today we'll be discussing about the ways of Effective Writing," he said in a sleek voice. He droned on about the important factors to writing for half an hour while I kept jotting down notes. Then, he passed around sheets of paper and instructed us to pair up with the person sitting next to us.

I looked to my right just as a guy with dark hair and piercing grey eyes also turned to look at me. His eyes widened for a moment then he gave off a playful smirk. He dragged his chair closer to mine and waggled his eyebrows.