Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
｡･:*:･★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
THE NEXT MORNING I WOKE TO MY PHONE BLOWING UP, everyone talking about the Love Ball, although admittedly I didn't really see what the fuss was about. I guess it was to celebrate the end of the year? Not that it was a particularly great one. Even my mother was excited, waking me up and squealing in excitement when she saw my dress hanging up. "Is this it? It's beautiful Aurora, where'd you find this?" I shrugged, mumbling something about the little store we found, explaining that Pandora actually found the dress for me. "Well, for once, I don't think Pandora is crazy. She picked a lovely dress, now come on, get ready for school." I groaned as my mother stood at the door, clearly not leaving until I at least looked like I was getting up. "Fine, I'm up, see?" I said as I sat up, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to wake myself up, not ready to start my day at all. "Perfect, I'll make you some toast okay? And then I'm heading out." She said as she backed out of the room, a smile on her face as she closed my bedroom door behind her. I considered asking mum why she was being so nice and involved for once, but I figured if I did, maybe things would change, and she'd go back to being the absent mother she was before. If anything, it was probably out of pity, knowing that her favourite daughter bashed her own sister's head in not that I wanted to think about that at all today.
I slid on my slippers, fighting the feeling to stay in bed, and shuffled over to my wardrobe, not a clue what to wear. After rummaging through my clothes, including my messy piles on the floor that I needed to clean up, I finally settled on wearing a blue cropped cami top, paired with some white shorts and a cute fcuk cardigan. I pulled my hair up in a ponytail, not wanting to even attempt to straighten it, or try and fix the mess that I called my hair, who cared anyway? I didn't really think it mattered, and yet when I went downstairs my mum immediately looked at me disapprovingly, clearly not very happy with my appearance. "Aurora, darling, what's going on with your hair?" She asked, trying to be polite, yet it was clear she was annoyed. "It's fine, it's Friday mum, I'm sure no one really cares about my hair now. As long as I fix it later." As I spoke, the doorbell rang, and my mother's eyes widened. "Oh for goodness sake, now he's early too. Stupid, stupid man." She mumbled as she made her way to the door, leaving me confused as I settled at the table, enjoying my very buttery toast, just how I like it.
"Jim. Hello." Mum said in a blunt tone, and I shot up from my chair, not a clue as to why my dad was there. I hadn't seen him since that time he took me to therapy, and he'd only text me a get well soon message because mum called him complaining that he hadn't. How wonderful. "Alright, Anthea?" He asked, face like a bucket as he walked right past her, waving awkwardly as he saw me. "I'm lovely, Jim. Absolutely lovely." She rolled her eyes from behind him as she slammed the door shut, making my dad jump as he sat down across from me. "Hello sweetheart, how are you feeling?" I looked between him and mum; something seemed weird about him being here. "I'm fine. What are you doing here?" I asked, getting straight to the point, and he glanced at my mum, who nodded to him, further proving my point that he was only here because she must have said something. "Well, we thought- I mean, I thought, that maybe I could take you to school today. What do you think about that?" I shrugged, continuing to eat my toast, both of my parents watching me in silence. God, these two are so awkward.
After finishing my toast, I got my shoes on and went to grab my bag from upstairs, leaving mum and dad alone, hoping they'd stop being so weird. What I didn't expect to hear when I slowly made my way downstairs, was the pair of them talking about Effy. "Have you heard from Elizabeth yet? Did you call her? Anything?" I could hear my dad asking copious amounts of questions, my mum trying her best to get a word in. "Look. I called her. She told me that she's with Cook, that she's not coming back for now, and that she's fine. She's obviously sorry, but she shouldn't have run away from everything." My dad sighed loudly, his voice getting louder as he got more annoyed. "Well, she has to come back at some point. Have you maybe asked Aurora to speak to her? Tell her it's fine." At this point I couldn't take it anymore, knowing both of them saw Effy as the perfect child for ages, but it was never the case. "For fuck sake, you are both ridiculous. I won't call her and tell her it's fine because she didn't apologise. She didn't call and say sorry, she just ran away. And I don't see why you guys keep defending her? She hit me with a fucking rock because she was tripping and she wanted Freddie. How can you guys think that she's the perfect one? Even when Tony was here, you constantly complained he was useless, and when Effy was in the hospital, you blamed him, even though it was HER FAULT. I give up. Tony was right, we'll never compare to her, and you'll always think of her first." I stormed out of the house, hearing them call my name behind me, but I had no interest in turning back. Fuck them.
I could feel the tears building up in my eyes, but I wouldn't let them fall, instead of wiping my eyes with my sleeve as I scrolled through my phone contacts, calling the only person who would understand me. "Well well well, if it isn't my favourite little Stonem. I've heard things are a bit chaotic over there." I almost teared up again at the sound of Tony's voice; it had been a long time since we'd spoken and I didn't realise how much I missed him. "Hope you ain't about to get all soppy with me. How's your head?" He asked, and I scrunched my brows in confusion, how did he know? "Tony, it's been a while. I missed you. And how'd you know about my head?" I asked and I heard him putting. "Come on, like I wouldn't know. The house favourite actually called me herself, in a panic, telling me not to shout at her. Still did though, after what she did. Part of me wishes I was still at home so I could have smacked her head in for being such a dick." I laughed at his words, kind of surprised that Effy called him and told him what she did. "She just left me there Tony. Left me all alone in the fucking woods. I could have been dead, and she just left me. I keep trying to act like I'm fine or whatever, but how can I be? Even Dad seems to think everything should be okay, and Mum is saying how sorry Effy is, yet she hasn't said a word to me. No apology, no phone call, nothing." I sighed, finally letting everything out, all my anger and frustrations leaving my body. "Listen. She did you wrong. Mega fucking wrong. And yeah, she should have called, should have apologised, but it's Effy. Mum and Dad will always take her side, they always have, trust me. But I'm always here for you, and you know I'd come home in a heartbeat for you, but I think you've got this. You got some good mates, I'm sure, so try and enjoy yourself." I nodded along, continuing my walk as I listened to his voice, knowing he was right. "Yeah, I guess you're right," I said, and he went quiet for a moment, before speaking up once more. "Listen, about Effy, she seemed weird when I spoke to her. Different, I don't know. Maybe she's been taking too many drugs, drinking too much, I'm not sure. Just keep an eye out, I know she's with that Cook guy, and the pair of them together - I'm worried it won't end well." I nodded even though he couldn't see me, and I guess it made sense for him to be worried - he is the older brother. "Worried she'll lose her head like us, huh?" I joked, his laughter echoing through the speaker just as the bell rang from his side of the phone. "Listen, lil Stonem, I gotta go. Talk soon, okay?" "Love you, Tone," I said as he hung up, leaving me to think about his words as I walked the last five minutes of my journey to school.
As soon as I passed the school gate, I saw the whole gang hanging around the bench, smiling when they saw me, waving me over. I realised then that Tony was right. I shouldn't focus on Effy, she's gone, god knows where, and I don't need to think about all of that drama. Reaching the group, I'm pulled in for a group hug as the bell rings, and I realise that I have so much good to focus on, and that's what I'm going to do.
