Take Two

8║Reciprocal Function

E I G H T;

I had come to the bleak understanding that there was, in fact, a downside to having no friends.

This realization had dawned on me when I walked into math class on Monday morning- I was early, as always, so there was only my math teacher in the class room when I arrived- and saw Mrs. Abrams separating the desks; which was something we only did when we had tests. And as far as I knew, today was not a test day.

"Oh, hello Zoe!" Mrs. Abrams beamed through the curtain of her hair, as she bent over and picked up a desk. "Are you ready for the test?"

I frowned, feeling a heavy weight come over me as I tried to recall Mrs. Abrams ever saying anything about a test. When I came up blank I simply shook my head in response to her question, holding my books closer to my chest.

"Did you study?" She questioned, separating the desks further. It was a silly countermeasure that teachers put in place to ensure that we didn't cheat, when in reality you could still easily see the test papers of our peers.

"I-I guess I forgot about the test." I stuttered before I put my books on my desk, and scrambled to grab my day planner- flipping through the dates until I reached today's date- written underneath was Math Test! I frowned, not being able to recall writing that.

She pursed her lips and ran her hand across her forehead, part of me hoped that she would be kind enough as to let me write the test tomorrow- so that I would actually have time to do at least a couple of hours of studying- but Mrs. Abrams had a firm policy on writing the test on the day it took place, and she probably wouldn't relent from it even for her star pupil. "Well, your mark shouldn't suffer to much- just try your hardest, Zoe."

I sighed, letting the flicker of hope I had go and reluctantly pulled out my chair, falling onto it. I used the few minutes of time that I had before the bell rang to flick through my notes, briefly skimming over the highlighted words in hopes of retaining some knowledge.

Lately, my head had been filled with thoughts of my parents and, as a result, I had been paying less and less attention in class- meaning that I didn't remember any of the content that I was currently trying so hard to retain.

Last week, after Carter and I had finished removing the pictures from his grandfather's attic, Carter had driven me home and I was left with the starch reality that I was going to have to face my parents. I had been reluctant to walk up the driveway, dragging my feet to postpone my entrance into the house. Only, when I opened the door I was met with darkness.

"Mum? Dad?" I called out into the dark house, expecting an answer any second.

Except it never came.

I had searched the entire house for my parents before I had come to the conclusion that they weren't there. I didn't know whether that should be a comforting thought or unsettle me further, but I still found myself crawling into bed that night- not bothering to wait up for them.

When I woke up the following morning two messages blared at me on the home screen of my cell phone;

*1 Missed Call*

*1 Unread Messages*

I frowned, unlocking my phone and reading the text message first.

From: Mum

Hi darling! Just tried to call, why aren't you answering? Isn't it time for school? Anyways, your Dad and I have decided to go away for a little while- we'll be back on Monday.

I've left some money in the cookie jar on the kitchen counter; it's only for food so don't get any ideas about parties or anything like that.