Into The Woods

Chapter 3

Friday

Suzette

The bus ride home is unbearable. I watch Lark kiss Marin and laugh with Marin. He doesn't look back at me once and I don't feel like looking at him either. It's like I'm a thorn in his side. The look on his face this morning when he realized he forgot to study for the test made my heart hurt for him. I never meant to be a nuisance to him.

The bus stops at my stops and I make my way off the bus. I keep my head down as I pass by Lark and Marin to get to my house. He holds her hand as they walk together towards his house.

He was going to a party tonight and didn't bother to invite me. It's like he thought that I wouldn't enjoy a party and I wouldn't but it still hurt that he didn't even bother to ask. I didn't fit in with his friends and I guess I've always known that.

I'm finally home. The house is silent like always. I hate being here alone. And I know for sure that Lark isn't going to come over. There's only one person that I have left to call.

*****

Chastity comes over right away. I open the front door and she stands there with her overnight bag, her long hair swung over one shoulder. She smiles, a full smile with her teeth showing. I gesture for her to come in and she does.

"Thank you for coming over." I say, leading her up to my room.

"It's no problem." says Chastity. "I just hope that everything's okay."

I sit down on the end of my bed, Chastity next to me. "Yeah, everything's good. My mom is just on a business trip and I'm alone for the night. I don't like being alone so I called you."

She looks at me with an eyebrow arched, like she knows that she's missing part of the story.

"Where's your dad?" She asks?

I swallow and then look down at my hands. "Uh, he passed away when I was little. I never met him."

Chastity smiles, grimly. "Mine too."

She takes my hand and squeezes.

I'm happy that she is here. After the fight with Lark I felt terrible. And now that Chastity was here things felt right. She was the girl friend that I never had. It had always been Lark, I'd always depended on him but now I didn't have to. With Chastity here I know that I'm not completely alone.

"Did you hear about that party tonight?" I ask her?

She nods. "Yeah. Do you want to go or something?"

I bite my lip.

I do.

I want to go. I want to show Lark that I don't need him. I want to throw it in his face that I have Chastity. I knew that if I went to a party then I would surely get his attention. He wouldn't know what to think if I was there.

Chastity laughs. "You and Lark are so funny."

I want to ask her to elaborate but I don't.

"Do you want to go to the party or not?" I snap.

Chastity looks at me. "Of course. But first you need a change of clothing."

I look down at what I'm wearing self-consciously. Dark skinny jeans and a white t-shirt. Nothing out of the ordinary. But I agreed and let Chastity dress me up however she wanted to.

Since my own wardrobe was pretty bland, Chastity took me into my mother's room and started to look through the closet. While she is doing that my eyes catch on a picture of my father. There were no other pictures of him around the house except this one that I knew my mother kept right next to her bedside table. I'd just never seen it before.