The Heartthrob Won't Leave

Chapter Eleven (New Chapters)

She pulled out the key for the front door, letting herself into the house and locking it behind her. She took off her shoes at the front door, walking the short hall to the kitchen. She placed her bag on a chair across from Karl, who was working at his computer with intense eyes. She got up onto the chair next to her bag, opened it up and pulled out her own laptop, and started it up to continue her classwork.

"The school called" his words had her eyes widening slightly with realization. She had completely forgotten about skipping last period. A sudden dread fell over her mind, forced to explain herself to Karl why she hadn't gone to the class. "Would you like to explain yourself?" he asked, clearly in the tone of a demand rather than a question, slamming shut his laptop and looking at her. She sighed, closing her laptop softly and meeting his eyes.

"Well, you see...I w-was-"

"What did I say about stuttering when you talk to me?" he interrupted her. Her hands fell to her lap, tightening together.

"You said to not do it" she responded quietly, keeping her head on her lap. She looked up, letting out a breathe "I was late for my class, a boy from the newspaper club wanted to talk to me"

"Then the teacher would have marked you late, not absent Blake. I want to know why you weren't there" she looked down in shame and pity for herself, which she knew Karl hated.

"I didn't want them to stare at me, so I went to the library instead" she admitted. Karl sighed heavily.

"Blake, I know you're disorder makes this anxiety difficult to handle, but you can't just drop your responsibilities because of it. If you just take your medication, you wouldn't feel like this anymore, I just don't understand why you won't do it. If not for yourself, then the rest of us"

"I understand, but this is who I am Karl-"

"No, it's not! This is General Anxiety disorder taking over and ruining your life, that's what this is" He responded with an edge. Karl rarely raised his voice, but when he did, she knew he was frustrated. She sighed, getting up from the kitchen table, taking her stuff with her, and heading up the stairs, towards her room so she could grieve the day.

-

Deep breathes Blake, take deep breaths. It was a ritual she always had to do before entering a new situation she had no way to predict the outcome of. She paced by the front door, tapping the edge of her phone on the opposite hand palm, waiting for Stella to text her with the news that she has arrived to pick her up. She was already regretting her decision to accept Stella's offer of going to this soccer game with her, but Blake was always a strong believer that sometimes, one must not do things for themselves to be happy, but instead do something to make someone else happy. And if going with her would make Stella happy, there was no true dispute in her mind as to what decision to make, no matter how much it caused wrecked her body with anxiety. 

The phone finally buzzed and the screen came alight between her shaking fingers. It was Stella, giving her the news she had been waiting for. She stopped pacing, glancing at the front door of her home from the foyer, shutting her eyes briefly. She had to be strong, after all, any weakness was an invitation to be destroyed. She walked out the door, coming to a stop suddenly at the sight of the black Jeep parked at the edge of the road in front of her house by the driveway. She recognized it, and knowing its owner only made it worse. In the driver's seat of the vehicle, she could see through the glass of the window, none other than Zachary Quintin.

"Come on Blake, or we'll be late" Stella called from the rolled down the window of the passenger side, giving her signature beautiful smile. Blake smiled just the way she had been training herself all those years to be genuine, taking the steps down the front porch and walking down the cement path next to the front lawn. She opened the back door of the vehicle, got in, and closed the door behind her, settling against the black leather seats. Her heart skipped a beat when Zac turned to look over his shoulder at her weak frame, giving her a soft reassuring smile before pulling the car from its parked position and heading down the road out of her cul de sac.