Cursed

Chapter Thirty

I sprung out of bed, feeling energized. It could be the high from the motorcycle ride I went on last night with Erik. Or it could be the optimistic outlook I had on today's meeting with Daniel. It was odd -- being in a great mood, but I think I was going to survive. It was Tuesday, which wasn't much better than Monday, but I felt good.

I sauntered over to my closet, wondering what I should wear. I wanted something that made a statement. I found a cute black and red dress that was a little short, but I paired it with some fishnet tights. It was finally a nice day outside, so I wore some cute high heels. I pushed open my blinds, revealing the sun for the first time in over a month. It was the end of January, but not quite Spring. 

I didn't want to jinx it, but I was excited for the day. 

When I walked down the stairs I saw Dara. I flinched. She had severely dark circles under her eyes and she had makeup on from the night before. She wore a black camisole with ripped short shorts that had ripped tights underneath and platform heels. She literally stumbled out of her room, behind her a cloak of smoke. 

She reeked of weed and beer. I waited for her to make some smug comment, but she didn't appear to even see me. As she walked down the stairs, I watched her. She acted like a freaking zombie! I don't think she even blinked once. I sighed. She looked way too skinny, almost gaunt-like. 

It was really depressing to see her like that. As callous as it sounded, I wasn't going to let that ruin my mood. Dara had chosen the bed she slept in, so to speak. I was getting really tired of feeling sorry for her. AKA I was tired of feeling bad for a person who planned on killing me. 

Without saying anything, I left, heading for school. 

For the first time in a week, I was on time to Zack's class. I didn't see Daniel or Giu, but there were a couple of minutes left before they were considered late. I opened up my notebook and bent down to grab a pen.

A couple more minutes went by, the bell rang, and still no sign of either of them. I started to worry. Was Daniel going to show up later? He was the one that wanted to meet up at the cafe after school. I was going to hold him to it. 

They never showed up.

In fact, I didn't see them all day.  It was exactly 3:00 and my phone buzzed right as I got to my locker. I saw the notification that it was Daniel. I groaned, but couldn't deny the butterflies that were suddenly awake in my stomach.

"Be there in 10 mins. --Daniel." 

He was ten minutes away from the cafe? I slammed my locker shut, I was at least fifteen minutes away! I wanted to talk to Erik and Addie before I left, but I didn't have any time. I started walking to my car. Maybe it was better this way. They would just try to convince me that I needed someone to come with me.

I didn't. 

As I drove there I remembered what Daniel said. 

"I have to make arrangements." What the Hell did that mean? When I thought of "arrangements" my mind went to funerals or flowers. I guess they were kind of the same thing, but that wasn't the point. The point was, well I didn't really know that either.

I was frazzled and I hated being frazzled. 

Exactly, eighteen minutes later I pulled into a parking spot outside the cafe. It was crowded, like most things that were downtown. I grit my teeth and got out of the car. I pulled up the sides of my dress that was holding my boobs up since the dress was strapless. It was cute though. It had a heart shape cut that hugged my cleavage, which was covered with tiny red roses against a black silk background. The dress flared outwards, stopping short of my mid thigh.