Running with Scissors

Chapter 2

By the time Nicky was on her way to college with Claire she felt sure that her tongue must be bleeding due to the number of times she had been forced to bite it, preventing herself from saying something she would live to regret. 

As the two girls walked Nicky told Claire about the argument.  Claire listened but said nothing.  She had learnt through the course of their friendship that this was the best way.  Nicky wasn’t really looking for any answers, she just needed to let off steam.  It didn’t take long before she began to calm down.

“So, where were you yesterday when I needed to get away from the bitch?” she asked at last.

“Dad decided we needed to do ‘a family thing’.”  The blonde girl rolled her eyes skyward.  “It was hell.  We had to go round and visit aunts who I don’t even know.  They’re all so old!  It’s like visiting The Waiting to Die Club!”

“Sounds exciting.”  They stood at the edge of the road waiting to cross to the college.  As the blue Subaru passed Paul raised his hand and waved.  He was gone before Nicky could react.

“Oh yeah?  Who was that?” Claire asked, elbowing Nicky playfully in the ribs.  Nicky shrugged her shoulders.

“Oh come on.  Spill it.  You can’t keep that sort of secret from your best mate.”

“Nothing to tell.  He just lives round the corner.”

“Yeah, right!”  The girls crossed the road and headed into the building.

As the weekend approached Nicky did her best to stay out of Jayne’s way.  She spent the majority of her time sitting in her bedroom catching up on course work that should already have been completed.

Now it was Friday and she stood at the bus stop, her bag at her feet.  She pulled the zip of her jacket up to her chin as a gust of wind made her shiver.  Whenever Robert couldn’t pick her up she was so concerned about missing her bus that she ended up standing waiting for what seemed an eternity.  If only she could work at the stables full time and move over there.  How much easier would that make her life?

 But she knew that at the moment there was no hope of it happening.  Her Dad was always banging on about how important education is.  He wanted her to pass exams and go to Uni.  He couldn’t understand that she didn’t want to work in some office job and insisted that if he let her have her way she would end up regretting it.  It made these weekends even more important to her.  And being away from Jayne for two days was just the icing on the cake.

The sound of the bus approaching interrupted Nicky’s thoughts.  She had picked up her bag and stepped onto the vehicle before the doors were even fully open.  As always she felt relief to finally be leaving her family behind.  It was as though thoughts of Jayne, college and all the other stresses of her mundane life were left on the pavement behind her.

Further down the road Paul watched from his car.  With the headlights switched off the vehicle was unnoticeable in the darkness.  He had been waiting patiently for the past 10 minutes and now he started his engine and prepared to pull out behind the bus.