Weeping Willow

Chapter Ten - Fake It

I climbed into bed, desperate to forget about the day. Only instead of falling asleep I stared at the roof of my slowly darkening room. Everything swam through my head, making the waters murky. I couldn't focus on one thing, because everything overtook something else. I wasn't sure how long it took for my eyes to close, for my worries to temporarily melt away, but eventually they did.

I woke the next morning, still fully dressed on top of my bed. The moment my eyes opened, everything came flooding back.

Mom.

Barely giving myself time to wake up properly I leapt out of bed and ran out of my room and down the hallway. I pushed my parents door open, the bed was unmade, and neither of my parents were there. I hurried down to the kitchen, hoping to find mom there, but she wasn't. I placed my hand on the jug and it was cold. There was one mug in the sink, my fathers. I frowned and sat down at the table.

Maybe she'd left him... If she had then I was happy for her. Why had she left me here though?

Confused I went back up to my room and grabbed fresh clothes. Once I was showered and dressed I left for school. I walked slower than normal, knowingly extending the time it took to get from A to B, just so I could avoid the drama I'd run away from the day before. Each step I took felt heavier than the last, until finally, a few feet from the gate I stopped. Unable to walk any further. My heart raced as I stared at the school, it looked like a prison. Walked to the stone entrance and leaned against it. I was still early.

"Procrastination Queen?" Kalens voice called from my right. I turned my head to look at him. He was smiling, so much that it was lighting his whole face up. His eyes danced as he walked toward me. "Avoiding the inevitable?"

"How are you so unaffected." I mumbled, pushing myself off the wall. "I want to go home, climb into bed and stay there.... Until graduation."

Kalen shook his head. "If you think I'm unaffected then my plan is working." he grinned.

"Your plan?" I said raising an eyebrow.

"Fake it, till you make it." He proclaimed.

"Right." I muttered. "It's that easy huh."

"No one said anything about easy Willow." He replied. "But at least you don't have to do it alone."

I let out a sigh and turned to face the school again. I could already feel the looks we were getting because he was standing close to me. I tried not to care, but it was futile. Each look, each gaze felt like fire on my skin, rising up the back of my neck.

"Fake it." I whispered.

"We all do it." Kalen murmured. "Porn stars more than most I'm guessing."

My mouth fell into a shocked 'O' I looked at Kalen who was still grinning like a cheshire cat and I couldn't hold back the laugh. Even though I didn't think it was possible, his grin widened.

"Goal One, complete. Make you laugh."

I tilted my head. "Thanks Kalen. I actually needed that." I replied. "What's goal two?"

Kalen leaned in so close that I could feel his breath on my ear. I ignored the following tingles in my spine and the goosebumps that followed. "Thats a secret." He whispered.

All of a sudden my throat felt thick, and my stomach full and achy. I wasn't sure why. Maybe I was coming down with something, or maybe I was still confused about the previous day. Being around Kalen now felt kind of odd and I couldn't really understand why. So we'd kissed, but it wasn't like he was in to me. Not like that.