Chasing Dreams

Chapter Nine - 'In Which Foolish Things Are Done'

Chapter Nine – ‘In Which Foolish Things Are Done’

Lacey sat alone in her bed, the curtain was drawn and protecting her from the outside world. She had drawn her knees up and placed her head on the top of them, and she was trying desperately hard to block out the shouting she could hear. It seemed that in just a few hours everything that had been built up was being taken down, she felt frustrated and angry, and wished that Monica had never returned.

It started of course when Monica had arrived the night before. She’d felt Ollie tense beside her and seen his face drain of colour. Then she’d seen Monica, seen the glare thrown her way and she knew the outcome wouldn’t look good.

That had been the last time they’d seen Ollie and Monica that evening and Lacey had had trouble sleeping, wondering what was happening between them. Then morning came, they returned and the shouting had begun. Monica had been furious, screaming at the top of her lungs and Ollie had been shouting.

When she heard the world ‘breakup’ her heart almost soared, for she could no longer deny that she felt something for Ollie. However, just because they broke up didn’t mean Ollie would run to her, arms open and declare his feelings. She wasn’t after all living in a fairy-tale.

She had thought the shouting would stop but it hadn’t and then her name had come up and if the ground could have swallowed her up right then, she would have let it. Lacey knew Monica had never liked her, part of that had been from the comments Ollie had made but Jenny had also said it was because Monica was jealous and saw Lacey as a threat. Personally Lacey thought Jenny was just being kind saying that, but it didn’t matter right now. Monica’s screaming was getting louder and louder to the point that Lacey thought glass would crack. The insults kept pouring from Monica’s mouth hitting everyone and anything. Not just insults about Lacey but Ollie and the other boys as well. She was even insulting Jenny and Steve.

Then after a rather loud shriek, there was a loud bang and then silence. Lacey wanted to go out and check what was going but she was afraid of what she’d find after all that shouting. Luckily Bradley stepped up bravely, hopping down from his bed and going to investigate. Lacey heard his movement around the bus, following the sound of his feet. Then when he stopped she heard the muffled sounds of talking. It was slightly agonising waiting for sounds of the all clear.

A short while later, she heard the returning footsteps of Bradley and heard him utter the words ‘it’s over’. She sighed in relief, it may have been overly dramatic but with her over imagination things had escalated in her mind beyond the point of two people and more to the point of horror house American thrillers. It was incredibly stupid but Lacey acted differently around shouting and arguing. She hadn’t suffered anything to make her behave that way. She was just panicked in those situations.

She slowly opened the curtain and dropped from her bed. Around her the others had emerged from where they’d been hiding. Bradley stood leaning against one side of the narrow hall. Hi eyes were closed and he looked deep in thought.

“So what happened?” asked Jack.

Bradley opened his eyes “he ended it with Monica, for good”.

“I’ve heard that before” said Silas rolling his eyes.

“He’s serious this time.  He says he no longer wants poison in his life and stated that her opinions towards us were uncalled for” said Bradley.

“Is he ok?” asked Lacey quietly.

“I think so, he’s not upset by the breakup but I think he’s angry that he let her in again” said Bradley.

Lacey nodded. The sun was starting to move through the sky, it wasn’t quite lunchtime but Lacey was starting to have more negative thoughts about the day. They all moved to the seating area that held the games consoles and Ollie. Lacey supposed they’d all grouped together to offer support to Ollie and though Lacey understood that, all she really wanted to do was take Ollie aside and ask him if he was ok and what had happened. Not offer a few rounds on the X-box like the boys were but really talk to him. Perhaps that was just a girly thing to do, after all boys didn’t really like discussing their feelings too much. It didn’t matter anyway because he was ignoring her. He hadn’t even looked at her the whole time she’d been there.