Becoming Beautiful (Wattys2014)

| Chapter 20 |

“Did you take your car and unplug your aunt’s alarm clock?” my mother hissed.

“She took it out of my room! I woke up at 8:15 and I didn’t bother waking you up!” I responded. “What was I supposed to do? I have an important meeting with my art teacher after school today!”

“You’re lucky your aunt woke up when she did. She only had ten minutes to get ready before she would’ve been late. She had to go view a house,” my mother chided. I knew that she was shaking her head and I refrained from scoffing.

“I’m sorry but it’s not my fault that she took my alarm clock. I didn’t know it was her decision to choose what’s more important- a house viewing or school,” I sassily stated.

“Watch your tone,” my mother demanded and I immediately shut my mouth. “While she’s staying here, you will respect her and treat her as a guest. That means you’ll let her use what she needs. You have an alarm on your phone, don’t you?”

“Yeah, it would’ve been nice to know that she was going to steal and reset my alarm while I was asleep,” I muttered.

“Hey! What did I just say?” she snapped.

“Sorry, I just want my car back,” I muttered.

“She’s leaving on Wednesday, okay?” my mother sighed. “Just hold on until then.”

“Okay,” I murmured, feeling twenty times worse than I did only five minutes ago.

Once we hung up, I walked towards the cafeteria to see Marissa sitting at the table we share. I walked into the lunch line and grabbed a meal before strolling towards Marissa. I sat opposite to her and let out a sigh. “What’s wrong?”

“I overslept,” I muttered, “And I got in trouble by my mom for taking my car and unplugging my alarm clock that my aunt casually borrowed last night. And to top it all off, your brother decided it’d be great to embarrass me in the middle of American Literature for reasons unknown.”

“Wait, what happened with my brother?” she asked. Of course that’s the only thing she’d take from my rant.

“I was late to class. I sat down next to him. He glared at me and told me to quiet my breathing. I said something funny and sarcastic, like usual. He got all angry and I’m guessing his panties were twisted because when I asked him what was wrong, he acted like I knew what I did wrong. Obviously, if I asked what I did wrong, then I don’t know,” I continued to rant, “And then he practically yelled ‘No, Kennedy, I don’t want to kiss you’ and everyone heard him.”

Marissa looked at me before she nearly fell off of her chair because of her laughter. I sighed and continued eating, rolling my eyes tiredly. “You’re like a guy, I swear.”

“What?” I asked.

“You, you’re like a guy. Guys do that whole ‘I don’t know what I did wrong’ thing,” she shook her head. “Maybe you should just talk to him.”

“So he can embarrass me in front of people again? No thanks,” I muttered.

“Come on, it won’t be that bad,” she told me. I simply shook my head in response.

“No, he’ll probably shout at me to get away from him and that he doesn’t want to kiss me,” I noted. Obviously, he needs space, so that’s what I’ll give him.  

“Yeah, probably, but at least it’d be funny to watch,” she laughed.

<<>><<>> 

I had a study hall after lunch and I decided to spend it in the library. That’s where I study best- in silence. I entered the library and cringed when I saw Noah sitting at a table with a book in his hands. I awkwardly walked over and sat down, taking a seat at a table not too far from him but far enough so he wouldn’t be able to jump over it and attack me. I kept glancing at him over my text book, not bothering to study. I can study when I get home. I can’t help but wonder what I did wrong. I didn’t do anything wrong on Saturday, as far as I know.