The lovely mucin in my peritoneum is playing up again this morning so I don’t eat anything, meaning we leave for school earlier than usual. Alex doesn’t question my skipping breakfast but I know Olive wants to. She looks worried, with her face creasing in unhealthy ways.
“Frowning is bad for you,” I whisper as we trail behind Alex to the car.
“So is Joining The Congregation Of The Dead but you’re doing that anyway,” she mutters back, getting into the car. This was strange. Olive was usually so cool about all of this. I don’t think it’s easy on her but she never shows otherwise, so I’m concerned, but I know she will talk to me about it when and if she feels ready.
I slide into the passenger seat and Olive pulls out of the driveway. She hates the song that is filling the car but is too deep in thought to change it. I do it for her and Like Real People Do, comes on.
I hum along while Alex drums annoyingly on the backs of our chairs. “No one in the mood for talking this morning? Is it the snow that has you ladies down?” He asks, before I feel his eyes turn to me. “You know, Dakota. If you’re feeling down, I could feel you up.”
Ugh. I groan, sinking into my chair. “Remind me again why we have to take you to school?”
“Well my dear lady,” he says with an aura of pretense and sophistication, before he starts laughing, ruining the façade. “I sold my car to my older brother. He needed the car and I needed the money so it worked out pretty well.”
Eh. He could catch the bus. Or walk. Or get one of the guys to take him. Or simply not go to school.
“Why are you so bright in the morning?” I ask instead, another question that has been bugging me. Every morning I have seen him – which was every morning since Friday – he has been nothing but cheery, smiley and a downright pain in my ass.
“I don’t know.” I see him shrug out of the rearview mirror as Olive turns onto our school’s street. “I guess I am just a morning person. I go for a run every morning which wakes me up but even if I don’t, I’m not cranky or anything like you,” he pauses to wink at me. “I guess I’m just a morning person.”
“Wierdo,” I huff as Olive turns into school, parks the car and gets out. Olive says she has to find Joshua as soon as possible because he has one of her books so she rushes off, leaving me stuck with the player. Ugh.
As if right on cue, a girl - of whom I’d seen around the halls – approaches us with hooker heels and a skirt so short that if she bends over she could lose her virginity. Especially with a guy like Alex around. But of course, it is his attention she wants.
“Hi,” she says, attaching herself to Alex’s left side. I take a step away from the two of them, knowing I’d need to throw up in only seconds. This isn’t going to end well. “I’m Alise with an s.”
From the looks of it her parents’ have passed on their stupidity to her. Jeez. Usually I’m not one to judge but who names their kid Alise with an s. Do they want to make their daughter’s life difficult?
“Hey,” Alex greets her, nodding. He’s not affected by her in the slightest, as he keeps walking. “I’m-”
“Alex. You’re Alex, I know. I’ve heard about you.” Her voice sounds like that of a four year old, making me cringe away. I shove my hands into my pockets and enter the hallway. It’s less crowded than usual because of our early arrival.
“Really? All good things?” Alex asks, sounding disinterested. He continues to follow me so I can hear his conversation with the fake blonde. I have nothing against blondes, Hell, I’m blonde, but this girl was the stereotype that made all of us look bad.
YOU ARE READING
365 Days
Romance"I am going to die." Yes, you heard right. Dakota Everett is going to die. She is given a year and wants to do as much as she can. The trouble is, she's 17, so a lot of the things she wants to do, she can't yet. So she makes a list of all the thing...
