Love's Never Too Late

Chapter 1

School... Again.

It's starting to become too much to be completely honest with you; constantly being shouted at by teachers, everyone treating me like some freak, my only blood relative ignoring me... I don't know how much more I can take of it.

I look over at the clock and sigh, I have fifteen minutes until I need to leave. I guess I can forget about practising my guitar this morning, although I probably would've been yelled at for it anyways. I force myself to sit up despite the old heavy feeling in my chest, almost as if my own heart is weighing me down. I've grown used to that feeling and I often wonder why it happens but it gets heavier every day. I can smell the stale stench of alcohol in the carpets that was never washed out and the smell of cigarette smoke embedded in the walls, and I crinkle up my nose in disgust.

I remove the thin duvet from my legs and I'm immediately engulfed by the bite of cold air. I quickly stand up on the old floorboards and grab a grey t-shirt, black jeans and my same old converse as always. After throwing them on and running my fingers through my hair to try and calm the immense curls, I grab my tattered old bag. The left strap has almost come completely off and there are exactly eleven little holes all over it, I've counted, and I constantly lose things. A new bag would be nice, but I'd be considered greedy if I didn't wait until the next school year to ask. Even then, my mum probably wouldn't even buy one.

I walk through our ancient four room house towards the front door and glare at the couch in hatred. I know she's lying there in a completely different world, not caring about anyone other than herself. While she's unconscious though, I get to look at her however I want to without getting into trouble. I give her a standing ovation with my longest finger and leave our tiny flat, shutting the door with a bang. Just getting to make a rude gesture without getting into trouble feels like a win for me and little acts of defiance like them keep me going.

Outside it's a cold, dreary day. Frankly it's quite depressing to look at, but at least it suits how I feel. The air is very humid, but the cold kind of humid, not Hawaii humid, and it makes all my exposed skin sting a bit. I would wear a jacket but it was thrown out because the last man my mum brought home with her spilt red wine all over it. I particularly didn't like that boyfriend, he punched me in the face one time and I was bruised badly for over a week.

I watch the pavement a couple metres ahead of my feet and hardly move my head at all during the whole walk to school. I don't even look up on the road, which I know isn't smart but I just don't really care anymore.

Once at the Hellhole the government calls school, I hesitate outside my first classroom's door. I'm late, and I know the second I walk in everyone will look at me like I just killed someone and I'll probably get in trouble yet again. I inhale sharply and wrap my hand around the old, crusted door handle and pull it open. I step into the classroom and as expected, all head's turn to me.

The teacher turns round on his chair to look at me with his cold grey eyes narrowing at me and he adjusts his blur and yellow tie before clearing his throat.

" What's your excuse this time? " the teacher, Mr McInnish, says sternly, folding his arms.

" I-I uh... I was just, the car was broken, " I stutter quietly and curse myself in my head for sounding so weak and pathetic.

" Sure, the car broke. At least that excuse is more believable than the last, " Mr McInnish says sarcastically with a sneer.

" Go sit down, you'll stay for detention at break and we'll see if I can get some actual sense knocked into your brain, " he spits out at me. I glare at him and move stiffly over to my assigned chair as the class giggles quietly.

I don't pay attention the entire lesson, I'm completely lost in my thoughts. I dream about my future and getting as far away from here as I can and living happily in a secluded cottage on a hill. That would be so nice.

After an eternity, the bell finally rings. I'm vaguely aware that we did something about spacetime and relativity or something but it just gets harder and harder to concentrate every day so I gave up trying a while back. I stay in my seat and watch everyone else leave and a few snigger at me but I just ignore them, I've mastered that art, and stare down at my desk with a neutral expression.

A wrinkly, hairy hand reaches under my face to take my book and I sniff a hint of lavender perfume. I look up and it's Mr McInnish who took my book and is examining it through his spectacles, and I try as hard as I can not to laugh that he's wearing perfume. I guess he's just so insecure that bullying teenagers isn't enough for him, he has to wear perfume too.

" God, you're so bloody dull and insolent. No work? At all? You've had an hour and a half to do this and you've done nothing you little idiot, " he states harshly. I just sigh and look back at my desk because it's easier than looking at a grown man somehow having that amount of hatred for one human being. He places my book back on my desk, not lightly might I add, and puts a sheet of paper with questions on top of it.

" I want at least twenty of these questions answered by the time your detention is over or you're back here at lunch too. You have twenty minutes, " he turns away from me and sits with a slight smirk at his desk and starts tapping away at his computer.

I actually make an effort to do the work as I'd rather not be stuck with this grump when I could be doing much much better things. It turns out to be pretty difficult considering I've taken virtually nothing in during his lessons, but I still have answers down for all the questions so it should count.

I jump as I hear a ' bleep-bleep ' from across the room. Mr McInnish fiddles about with his shiny black watch and the sound stops, he must've set an alarm. He looks over at me and smiles that fake smile that everyone with common sense knows it means ' I hate you with a passion. '

" So it'll be a detention at lunch then? There's absolutely no way you did twenty questions, " he says with the fake smile still plastered on his face, it seems to emphasise his reducing hair line. I shake my head at him and quietly stutter out, " I-I did twenty. "

Why can't I just stop stuttering? It makes me seem so pathetic, and it makes his grin spread even further if that's even possible.

" Really now? Let me see, " he retorts haughtily, I'm not sure how he thinks he gets the right to be haughty but I go with it. I get up and bring my paper over to him with words I scribbled out as fast as I could muster. He peers at it for a few seconds then sighs deeply, as if he almost actually cares about me.

" Your answers are all wrong, but you can go, " he sighs at me, " you're a real idiot you know. "

He stands up and I see sweat marks under his arms as he walks out. I hurry back over to my old mahogany desk and shove my books into my bag before placing the broken mess onto my back and leaving.

(( Hey! So this is my first book and I'm not used to writing romance but I tried hard! This chapter is basically setting the scene, so don't leave quite yet. It gets a lot more interesting soon!

If I made any grammatical or spelling error please tell me so I can fix it! ))