15 Chapter 14

Whitney

"Whit!" a feminine voice called. My head turned to see blonde locks put up in a messy bun, her thin but muscular physique accentuated by her outfit of the day.

"Lola, hey." my lips pulled in a tired smile. Lola was an energetic, lively girl, but had an awfully big mouth that spoke proudly of her opinions and beliefs. She was my best friend, practically my sister. I hadn't seen a lot of her lately with the past weeks of hell.

She ran towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck, catching me off and causing my books to fall on the floor. "What happened to you? It's like you've gone on and fallen off the face of the earth. Again."

I knew I looked like absolute shit that day. My hair was a jumbled mess, and I had not bothered to put even the slightest bit of makeup to cover up my exhaustion. By the look on her face, she detected her answer.

She only wrapped her arms around me once again, letting me fall and break down in front of her. She brought us to a more secluded corner to wall us away from the prying and judging eyes of the other students.

"I'm tired- so fucking tired!" I sobbed, a hiccup following right after. Lola hadn't asked the reason behind my sudden break down yet, and I was glad because I was in no mood to talk about it.

I was never one to cry from stress. Things had never really gotten that bad until as of late. I wanted nothing more than a break from reality, but that didn't seem to be possible. I was young and still had a lot coming for me.

"Shh, just let it out." circles were rubbed on my back, making me cry even harder. Lola was such a caring person who had baggage of her own, but never showed it to anyone and instead plastered on a joyful mask that convinced those around her that she was okay.

When I had asked her about it one time, she told me she just didn't favor people surrounding her and treating her as if she were made of glass. "I'm clearly silicone." she joked, pushing away the depressing energy that closed on us.

We stayed that way for a couple of minutes until it was time for the next period. I had splashed cold water on my face prior and Lola even handed me her makeup kit to borrow. Since I wasn't really in the mood to go all out, a thin layer of foundation and concealer did the trick.

The next class was Music. It was one of my favorite classes, but even with that fact, I was still in a pretty terrible mood. My face was void of emotion, completely staring into space the whole hour. I just wanted to survive through the last class and get on with my day.

What I truly wanted was to lie in my bed, probably crying my eyes out until they dried and drooped. Maybe then I'd get a bit of sleep. I even thought about skipping volleyball but I was the captain and I knew that my team needed me.

I was relieved when the bell had rung. Sluggishly, I picked up my stuff and hung my bag over my shoulder, thinking about the warmth of my bed and blanket but before I was about to leave, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"You okay?" it was Matthew, my ex-boyfriend. We dated for five months in our sophomore year. A couple dates here and there, and he was really sweet until his parents found out and forced him to break up with me. According to them, I would just be a distraction to him and his studies.

I was totally fine and understanding with it since I was never in love with him. Matthew, however, claimed that he was in love with me though I doubted what he felt could be called love.

"I'm fine, thank you." I told him, sending a little smile to reassure him. Knowing Matt, he could sense the ingenuity behind my words and he engulfed me in his arms to my surprise.

"You're a shit liar, you know that?" he teased, ruffling my hair and for the first time in a few days, I actually laughed. "If you want, we can go to that pizza place we went to on our first date and you can rant to me all night."

Home. That was my initial thought, but honestly a pizza didn't sound so bad. It was better than being alone with my thoughts.

"Alright," I nodded in agreement, not seeing anything wrong with the idea. "Pick me up after volleyball?"

His eyes twinkled with excitement. "Sure. I got band today anyway." he grinned, flashing his wondrously white teeth. Matthew had always been a charmer.

Later that night we ordered a large four-cheese pizza just for the both of us. After rambling to him about everything that had gone wrong, he cracked jokes every once in awhile to cheer me up.

The parlor had a vintage, sort of 50s style set-up. It caught my eye as Matt and I had been driving through the town one day like the carefree 16 year olds we were. "Hey, look there!" hearing the excitement in my tone, he stopped the car to see what I was beaming at.

It was halfway through dinner when I realized that I missed him. He was so refreshing to be around, so comfortable to be with. I didn't care if he saw me pig out, I knew he would've babied me to eat anyway.

When he dropped me off, I thanked him in the car and he caught me off guard when he pressed a kiss on my cheek. Not knowing what to feel, I only smiled and bid him goodnight before I got out of his car.