Converse ·· Luke Brooks

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

I couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Well, his name is Luke-“

“Is he cute?” My Auntie interrupted me. I chuckled at the enthusiasm she had. It was so unreal to see her like this.

“Very,” I nodded my head.

“Do you like him?” She quickly gasped. “Are you guys together?!”

I giggled to myself. “No, we aren’t together. But-But, I think I do like him,” I replied. It was true. Why else would I be acting like this around him?

“Oh! You remind me of myself when I was your age. You’re definitely nothing like your Mother.”

“What was my Mother like, when she was my age?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows together.

“Me and your Mother were complete opposites. She was always the one that did good in school, got good grades, teacher’s pet, blah, blah, blah. Then there was me. The girl who did ballet most of her life, just so she could do something better than her sister. I was always out and about. Ditching school, going out late with friends, not coming home on time. I guess you take after me in that department,” My Auntie laughed. I never would have thought I was like my Auntie. She’s definitely not the type of girl you would have picked to do those sorts of things. But for my Mother, she is still like that. The best at everything. Always doing the right thing.

I sat silent for a minute, taking everything in. It felt so strange to be talking about this with my Auntie. For years and years, I’ve been treated as one of her students, nothing more, nothing less. She wouldn’t even call me by my first name!

“Now!” I snapped out of my thoughts. “I think you need to have a shower. Get all the sick, blood and dirt off of you.” I shivered at my Auntie’s word. Blood. I haven’t seen what injuries I have, but I don’t think any of the blood was my own. Maybe some cuts on my legs.

“I’ll grab you some clean clothes from your room. Just help yourself to my stuff in here. I’ll be back,” My Auntie said. She walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She was right. I probably looked like a mess and smelt like one too.

I stood up from the bathroom floor and walked over to the little mirror that was placed on the wall above the sink. I looked horrendous. My hair had fallen out nearly completely. I had dry tear stains all down my cheeks. My eyes were slightly bloodshot. Dirt covered my face. I also had a cut on the corner of my forehead. I wonder how I got that? Maybe when I was running away from the guys in the alley. I wasn’t concentrating. Maybe I ran into a wall? I don’t know.

I looked down at my arms and legs. My arms were alright, just dirt patches covering some parts and only a small bruise that was starting to come up on my right arm near my elbow. My legs were covered in tiny little cuts from the knees down. My red converse no longer looked red. They were covered in dirt and grass and were soaked from stepping in several people. Maybe my Auntie can wash them for me.

I stripped off my pyjama top and pants. I took off my bra and underwear, and then taking out my hair from the bun that was falling out anyway. I quickly turned on the water to the shower, before jumping in. I rinsed myself down before washing and scrubbing all of the dirt, blood and sick off of me. Gross.

I jumped out of the shower, feeling scrubbed clean. I wrapped a towel around my body and left my wet hair out, letting it out to dry naturally. I opened the bathroom door, poking my head out to see if my Auntie was back with my clothes. I looked around the room, which was a small living room with a kitchen connected. It only had one other room and that was her bedroom.

My Auntie was in the kitchen, stirring a cup with a teaspoon. There was two cups on the table, steam coming from the top of it. “Ummm,” I mumbled.

My Auntie looked up. “Oh! There’s some clothes on the floor next to you,” My Auntie replied. I nodded and looked down at the floor, seeing a clean fresh pair of clothes. I quickly picked them up and closed the bathroom door again. I quickly slipped on my clothes, meaning my undergarments, a baggy top and blue pjyama shorts. I towel dried my hair and left it out.

I walked back out of the bathroom, seeing my Auntie was sitting on the two seater couch, drinking out of a mug. The other mug was on the coffee table. I walked over to her and sat down. “It’s hot chocolate,” My Auntie said. I nodded and picked it up, taking a sip out of it. She looked over at me and quietly gasped to herself. “That’s a pretty deep cut on your head. Stay here.”

She quickly got up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen. She rummaged through some cupboards before finally finding the first aid kit. She bought it over to me and opened it up, looking through it. She found some butterfly clips and stuck two over the cut on my forehead.

“Thank-you,” I said, my voice soft.

“It’s okay. How about you take the day off tomorrow as well? I’ll get Simon and Natalie to look after you,” My Auntie offered. I looked at her, astounded. My Auntie is offering me to take a day of school? What?

I took a couple of seconds to reply. “That would be…great. Catch up on some sleep I guess. Tell Simon and Natalie not to bother though. I’ll just stay in my room so there’s no need for them to worry about me,” I replied.

“It’s no problem for Natalie and Simon to come and check up on you. I don’t want you to be sulking all day.”

“No, no, no. It’s fine.”

“Well, if you say so.”

I smirked to myself lightly. The whole day by myself tomorrow. It would be good to have one of those days, knowing that my Auntie or anybody will be wondering where I am. No doubt the school will know what happened tonight and will be talking about it. So, at least I’ll get away from that. It’s also the last day I have without my parents here. Even though they might be staying for a couple of days and then going again.