Light

Chapter 9: Red light

I was late for school again. The initial plan was to get to school as early as possible and finish my IT coursework, but as usual, things didn't go according to plan. For starters, I was running on five hours of sleep, because I'd had to coax Mum off the sofa last night. It took me half an hour to persuade her to sit up.

I glanced at Joshua's door on my way downstairs. Even though he had assured me that he was of sound mind and health last night, I couldn't stop worrying about him. There wasn't enough time for me to check on him though, so I bounded down the stairs. I'd deal with Joshua when I got back from school.

As I made a beeline for the door, Mum waved a hand at me frantically. "Eat before you go Holly! Come on, take it with you and eat on the way."

Mum seemed to be back to her usual self, but I wondered if she was only pretending to be better so I wouldn't worry. I felt like staying at home with her. I took a deep breath, trying to lift the weight on my mind. The knowledge Joshua would be home with Mum today, comforted me and I pushed the worries away.

"Thanks."

I grabbed the toast from her and rushed out without another word.

As I ran to the bus stop, I wondered if I'd see Kai at the bus stand. I sighed in frustration. It didn't matter if Kai was waiting for the bus or not. Though he mentioned he had a motorbike, so why was he on the bus yesterday? Maybe his bike was getting repaired. God. I needed to stop thinking about Kai. He was taking over my life, and I wasn't as scared as I should be.

This guy went to prison for murder when he was a teenager. Murder. Prison. Stay. Away. Not to mention the fact that he was probably in his late twenties, old enough to know more about everything I had no clue about. He'd also injured dozens of people, I witnessed him stabbing someone with my own eyes for goodness sake! Just because his eyes reminded me of a starry night sky, that didn't excuse his actions. His eyes. I felt my cheeks grow warm and I kicked myself internally. I couldn't believe myself. Of all the people to find attractive, Kai was the worst choice.

My heart sank a little as I approached the empty bus stand. Most people would be glad not to see Kai, but here I was, wishing in a weird way, that he was around. I brushed it off with an air of calm resolve, it didn't matter. It was for the best. The quicker Kai got out of my life, the better it was for me. I made a conscious effort to remove all thoughts of him from my mind, though I couldn't push away the image of his suppressed smile. I couldnt help but feel there was more to him, something hidden, like a buried treasure. The bus halted to a stop in front of me and I snapped back to reality. Someone else could dig into Kai, I had more important things to do.

I got off the bus carefully this time and looked around for any rubbish bags left on the pavement. A phantom pain snaked through my ankle, as if warning me not to run, and so I walked into registration twenty minutes late.

Surprisingly, no one stared or made any remarks. Miss Haythorne raised her eyebrows and marked me in as late, but didn't question me. She was quite a laid-back tutor and I liked her for that reason. Clara and Larissa made a special effort to look away as I sat at one of the computers near the back. I focused on completing my coursework and ticked off all the criteria that I'd done. Nearly finished!

"Hey."

I looked up, confused to see Mark, probably the fifth most popular guy in Sixth Form. He met the criteria for being in Tom's clique, rich, arrogant, and handsome. He was the quiet one in the group though. Somehow that made him stand out more. I raised my eyebrows as I stared at his face. His skin looked flawless and smooth, like a polished china doll. There wasn't even a hint of dark circles under his eyes. I tried not to feel envy.