Skip The Memories

Chapter 2

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"Mom, I'm feeling really down right now."

She cast a look at me before smushing her phone back to her ear. "Garrett, darling, you know I'm in the middle of an important sale. We can talk later."

I frowned and it felt like someone forced a knife into my heart. I blinked hard to subside the tears that threatened to fall before trying again, practically pleading. "We never end up talking about it. Mom, please liste --"

"Garrett!" Her harsh tone and glare stopped me. She had put her hand on the bottom of the phone so the one on the other line couldn't hear her. "Why are you like this!? Boys don't want to talk about their feelings. Now go act like one and practice football or something."

My vision blurred and I stared in disbelief at her. She quickly removed her hand and started chatting animatedly again, completely ignoring me.

I turned quickly so she couldn't see the tears fall and practically ran out of her room. My chest ached and my body shook. I stared at my hands as they trembled, so focused on them that I ran right smack into my older sister.

"Ah!" She stumbled back and I automatically reached out to grasp her shoulders before she could fall. When my gaze straightened again her green eyes came into focus before she jerked out my hold, glaring at me almost repulsively. 

"Where the hell are you going to so fast?" 

When I didn't answer, a few seconds passed before she then seemed to notice the streams running from my eyes. Her look turned more perturbed and she glanced around as if she were looking for an escape route before meeting my gaze again, "why do you look like that?"

"Do you care?" I asked. My voice sounded nullified.

A pause. She then slowly shook her head side to side. "Sorry, but no."

My stomach suddenly felt empty, like I hadn't eaten all day. It cramped and I almost doubled over. My heart was beating erratically.

No one cares about you.

Suddenly wanting to be completely alone, I stepped around her fast and darted to the end of the hall to my room.

I don't remember if I slammed the door closed or shut it softly. I couldn't focus. My vision was blurry and I rubbed angrily at my eyes to clear the tears, but they overfilled again. My breathing was as if I ran a marathon. I clenched my fists to will my hands to stop shaking before crossing my room and pushing a button on my stereo.

No one cares about you.

I turned the volume knob up higher, trying to muffle the voices in my head, not caring the base trembled my floor. More relaxed, I made my way to my bed and grabbed my journal along the way, taking out the pencil I kept between its pages as I laid on my stomach.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the music. I tapped my pencil to the beat and slowly felt my stress melt away and felt a little less alone.

~~

"Dude, what is that?" 

I felt my head snap up at the voice, turning it to see her confused gaze toward my clay bowl. I blinked a few times before realizing I was pinching the clay too hard around the rim, making it seem like an attempt at a bowl. I forced my body to relax, slowly removing my fingers and quickly thinking of an excuse. "Hey, I'm good at sports, not this shit."

She giggled and poked the side that lost support and was now drooping outward, making it fall completely. "It looks depressed - like it's frowning."

I heard a soft snicker and looked ahead of me to where Derek was sitting. In front of him was a perfectly shaped bowl. His hands had clay all over them and one was in front of his face, covering his mouth. He was smiling.

I raised my brow and picked up my creation, placing it in front of him. His amused look vanished and he gave me a confused one instead. "Please help me?" I asked, even batting my eyelashes for good measure.

As I expected, his appearance became stiffer and his cheeks dusted a red color. Slowly, he nodded his head before taking it in his hands, bending the sides to make them thicker.

I crossed my arms and leaned back, watching him do his thing. I observed his weird silver eyes and his nice high cheekbones. His skin was flawless but I could see freckles dusting his nose and the tops of his cheeks.

I knew he liked me.

The thought had a billion questions flitter through my head. I noticed it yesterday in the library. He was staring at me like the girls in my school do. It weirded me out.

The more I stared at him, I ended up at his fingers. They were pretty small. They prodded the clay some more, pinching it together. My gaze mindlessly traveled up to his lips. They were pink and plush.

Maybe it's not so weird.

Something being held out to me broke my thoughts. The small hands were holding the now reasonably shaped bowl. I blinked and took it from him, nodding. I smiled, "thanks."

His eyes went wide before relaxing again. The corners of his mouth lifted into the smallest of smiles, but it stuck with me. In the lightest voice, he said "no problem."

I sighed as I felt a wave of calmness rush through me as he spoke. His voice relaxed me like music.

"Vvvvroooomm!"

Tranquility gone, my whole body jumped at Sarah's sudden loud attempts at an engine. Derek wasn't much better, I saw the guy almost fall from his seat when she flailed a small ceramic airplane in his face.

"Isn't it cute? I made it from my extra clay." She beamed, making it fly around the table some more.

She directed her gaze and question to Derek. He blinked before giving his signature small smile, nodding his answer. Her look went to me.

I just shrugged, "I mean it don't look like shit, I'll give you that."

Her happy look dropped, attitude along with it. She was practically pouting now, suddenly looking way younger than a 17 year old girl. "I guess I can take that as a compliment. I've been practicing for the clay competition."

Derek's confused gaze had me answering what I knew he wanted to ask, "in this class, there's this thing at the end of the week for our final grade." I crinkled up my nose, remembering what I didn't want to, "Mrs. Welsh wants us to get in groups of two and create a final project. 'It should help with teamwork and blah blah blah'."

He blinked and looked just as apprehensive about it as I felt. Sarah chimed in before I could focus on that though, "hey, it could be funnnnn! I'm already paired with Alyssa and we have this AWESOME haunted house idea!"

I crossed my arms and placed them on the table in front of me, resting my head on them. "Well, good luck with that."

I felt a kick on my shin from under the table, making me jump back up to a glaring Sarah and an amused looking Derek, "thanks. Who are you going to pair with?"

I balked, not even thinking of it. I've only been in this place a week, and it still felt like it wasn't real. That, and my participation doesn't exactly meet on the same wavelength.

I then shrugged, feeling the matter wasn't essential anyway. "I don't care. I'll probably do my own thing anyway."

"But you'll lose a pointt." She responded in a sing song tone.

That made me stop short and stare.

Of course. Nothing can be simple around here.

I sighed, closing my eyes slowly, already feeling my grades future demise, "shit. I don't know then."

I opened them to watch her lips purse as she thought, her eyes slowly raking through the other people around the room before eventually finding the person right next to her. She smiled with raised brows.

Derek blinked. So did I, and it felt like an imaginary light bulb lit up over my head.

"Why not you and Derek?"