THE PAINFUL TRUTH

Chapter Twenty Five- Where is Stella?

It's already Friday, which means Stella, Noah and Liam are coming back to school after their suspension.

"Morning!" River chirps as I come downstairs after dressing up.

Someone has been really kind to me recently.

"Morning," I frown.

I enter the kitchen and open the cupboard to retrieve a jar of peanut butter and a packet of Oreos. Placing them on top of the table, I take a seat before twisting the lid of the peanut butter. I open the packet of Oreos and take one cookie out; I dip it into the peanut butter. On the other side of the table, River is sat eating her breakfast, all of her concentration devoted to the food on her plate.

No reaction! What's going on? Usually, she would be complaining about how my choice of breakfast would put her off eating hers but this morning, she's pretending that she hasn't seen what disgusts her most in the world. I know I should be at peace of mind that my sister for once, isn't nagging me but I can't help to be worried.

When I lick every crumb of peanut butter and Oreo off my fingers, I consider myself finished and enter the kitchen to restore the items I had used back to their original places.

"Do you want a lift to school?" River startles me with a question I wasn't expecting. There is definitely something going on! The only time she takes me to school is when Mum and Dad tell her to because they want my older sister to keep an eye on me as I had got myself into trouble. As far as I can remember, I haven't committed a wrong deed so why would my parents want River to take me to school?

"Has Mum and Dad put you up to this?" I ask.

"No, it's a favour."

"Since when do you do favours?"

"Sorry, that you wouldn't understand that when someone does a favour for you, you're supposed to be grateful not ungrateful !"

"How can I be grateful when this so-called favour is having to spend the whole car journey to school with someone who doesn't even play the radio?"

"I'm in a more understanding mood today. Now, do you want me to drive you to school or not?"

Do I? River has the weirdest mood swings so I don't want to risk it but at the same time I want to take advantage of the good spirit she's in.

"Alright," I answer.

Zipping up my coat and gathering my school bag, I follow my sister out the door and onto the driveway, where her car is parked. When both of us have sat down and buckled our seat belts, River starts the engine; she manoeuvres out of the driveway and onto the road. Unlike last time, she permits me to turn the radio on as long as I listen to it at a reasonable volume. I'm satisfied with that because if I had the music on any louder, I wouldn't have heard the notification that sounded from my phone, alerting me that Noah had texted me:

Noah: U at school yet?

Me: Almost

Noah: K. Will be at the school gates

Only after I read his last message, do I realise that River was peering at my phone to discover who had contacted me because as soon as I lift my eye line(so that it's not on my phone anymore), she turns, pretending that her attention was on the road the whole time. Nosy!

When she parks opposite the school, I open the door and say bye to her, which she repeats. I shut the door and turn to see that just like he told me, Noah is waiting by the school gates, his phone in the palm of his hand. After checking it's safe, I cross the road.