bad influence 》h.g.

Six || Rapunzel

Friday, May 6th, 2017

I went to school the next day, repeating my apology for Mr Whylde over and over in my head after mom made me recite it to her multiple times before I left the house. Do you know how embarrassing and degrading having to practice an apology for a teacher in front of your mother is? Just the thought of it is enough to make anyone cringe. I walked straight to English before morning registration to get it over and done with so my mind could finally rest.

Just as I reached the door, Alfie Rhodes stormed out of the classroom with a face like thunder- the usual. He was always in trouble. I knocked on the door. "Come in." Mr Whylde called. I swallowed my nerves and walked in. "Ava." He said calmly.

"Good morning, sir." I greeted him.

"Good morning." He replied.

"I just came to apologise for my behaviour yesterday. I don't know what came over me." Liar. "I have no excuse for acting the way I did." More lies. "But I promise it will not happen again. I'm really sorry, sir." I sighed, staring down at my feet.

"I accept your apology, Ava. I was disappointed in you more than anything, it was just a shame to see one of my best pupils so out of character and it's not something I'd like to happen again. But it was very mature of you to apologise and I'm sure you'll stick to your promise." He smiled. He was such a nice person.

"Thank you, sir." I grinned.

"It's Mr Whylde, sir makes me sound ancient." He smirked.

"Sorry, Mr Whylde." I giggled.

"Once again, apology accepted, now off you go." He said, shooing me out of the classroom. I chuckled and left. As I turned around, I walked straight into someone.

"Oh, sorry!" I apologised before realising it was Logan, Hayes' best friend.

"No worries." He smiled, looking me straight in the eyes. There was a strange silence.

"Well, uh, see you around." I chuckled awkwardly.

"I hope so." He smirked, before walking away. What was that supposed to mean? He'd better not be up to something with Hayes. He sounded almost flirty, but he knew I had a boyfriend and he was best friends with my enemy so I ruled that option out straight away. I just brushed it off and continued to walk down the corridor, to get to morning registration before the bell even went.

First period was math, which meant a whole lesson with Hayes. You'd think sharing art, math, history and science with him would help me like him a little bit but it really didn't. If anything, it made me dislike him even more, which was a lot. I sighed and trudged to class, slumping into my seat. I liked math but I really couldn't be bothered that day. Thank God it was Friday.

"You ready for objective number two?" Hayes whispered from his seat behind me.

"No, just shut up." I hissed. I heard him chuckle under his breath, making me grit my teeth and use every strength I had to stop myself punching him in the face. I hated Hayes Grier with a passion. The lesson dragged, especially since I was pissed off at Hayes for just existing. But finally, it ended and I was set free... Only to be trapped in another classroom for next period: drama. Drama is the type of subject where a. you have to be in the mood for it and b. you have to have the energy for it. Today I had neither of those which made my performance shockingly bad. So bad in fact, that I was kept behind.

"What happened today, Ava?" Miss Senior asked.

"I'm just really tired today, miss." I sighed, stretching.

"Maybe you should go to bed earlier tonight then, hmmm?" She suggested.

"Okay." I said, gritting my teeth. I really wasn't in a good mood at all today, yet I was fine this morning with Mr Whylde. Miss Senior let me go and I went to find Kyle and Heidi. After searching for around 5 minutes and not succeeding in my task of finding them, I sat at a table in the cafeteria by myself and pulled out my phone, opening up Instagram and scrolling through my feed. Just Tumblr quotes about self-harm and heartbreak and hating society- nothing new. I sighed and locked my phone before putting it back in my pocket and resting my chin in my hand, tapping my nails on the table.

Suddenly, Hayes appeared out of nowhere. "What do you want?" I asked him.

"To know if you were doing part two tonight, don't worry, I didn't come to be friends with you." He said, raising his eyebrow. I rolled my eyes. I still wondered how Nash and Hayes could be brothers. One of them was the sweetest person you'd ever meet and the other, the biggest asshole you'd ever meet (I'm sure you can figure out which one's which).

"You already asked me in math class." I frowned at him.

"Yeah, well I wanted to make sure since you can never make up your mind. One minute you'll do the list, the next, you won't. Seriously, it's annoying as fuck." He spat. His last sentence made me flinch. He said it so nastily and sourly.

"No, I'm not, okay? Now why don't you go ruin someone else's day?" I shot back, and for some reason I felt like crying. There were no tears, just that ache in my chest and throat when you just want to cry.

"Unlikely, you're the only person who doesn't like me." He smirked. Admittedly, I knew Hayes was popular for his notorious badass reputation and his looks. I mean, yeah he was a complete idiot, but he was pretty good looking, both he and his brother had been blessed with vanity. I think Hayes' tattoos and nose ring added a little edge to his appearance, too, which helped. I always wondered how he got away with those, being underage and coming from a religious family and all. But, not every single person in school liked him, including myself.

"Just leave me alone." I said quietly.

"See you around, Ava Rose." He sniggered and rode away on his skateboard. Why does he keep calling me that? No one calls me by my full name.

I spent the whole break alone, curious and slightly annoyed at the fact that neither of my best friends spoke to me or even kept me company. They were always sat at this table every single day without fail, and today they didn't turn up. They never mentioned anything to me, so I just had to sit alone all break, unless you counted Hayes as temporary company. I walked to third period, praying for the end of school to come soon. I think God either hates me and made the time go slower or he just ignored my prayers. Either way, school dragged. I found Jack at lunch and we hung out and made pointless conversation and kissed and hugged and I couldn't have been happier. Until he left me to play soccer. Then I was alone again and my best friends were still nowhere to be found. Eventually, after what seemed liked eternity, the final bell rang, signalling the weekend had almost officially begun. I breathed a sigh of relief and almost ran home, so glad to be free for the weekend. I arrived home to a motherless house. Mom had left a note on the fridge:

'Gone to visit your Aunt Freya, I'll be back no later than 8:00pm. Love, mom x.'

I walked upstairs and threw my bag onto the floor before leaping onto my bed and closing my eyes. I stayed that way for some time before I tied my hair up in a messy bun and went back downstairs to watch TV. The living room television was way bigger than mine. I flicked through the channels and stopped on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I loved Will Smith.

I watched a whole 2-hour marathon before I decided to go make myself some dinner. I couldn't be bothered making anything fancy or complicated so I just made scrambled eggs and toast- simple but tasty. I ate it all within 10 minutes before washing the dishes. Then I headed back upstairs. I looked through my school diary and realised I had some science homework to do, and so I got on with it since I had nothing better to do with my time. In the time it took me to complete it, mom got back from Aunt Freya's.

"Hi, mom!" I called from my bedroom as she walked through the front door.

"Hello, honey!" She answered. I was so tired and it was only 8:00p.m, so I decided to take a shower to wake myself up. Instead, it relaxed me even more, so I just got into bed and went straight to sleep when I'd done.

I awoke to a loud tapping against the window in an annoying, irregular beat. I wiped my eyes and looked at the time on my phone: 11:58p.m. I looked at the window and saw something small hitting the glass, like rocks or pebbles. Who the hell was throwing stones at my window?!

I shot up out of bed and crept towards the window to investigate. As I looked outside, I saw Hayes standing there, continuing to throw stones. I opened the window.

"What the hell are you doing, you idiot?!" I hissed.

"Thank God I got the right window." He muttered. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your short hair." He whispered loudly.

"Shut up! Do you mind telling me what you're doing throwing shit at my window at nearly midnight?" I asked him angrily.

"Part two." He smirked.