Apple tried her best to get all the smoothie clumps from her hair, but no matter how hard she had tried, there was still so much clinging to her long hair, the sticky substance was impossible to get out.
The college bell had long gone and she was still in the girl's bathroom, the events of earlier played over in her mind as she hid in the bathroom stall until everyone left.
┍━━━━🍎━━━━┑
"Why was Luka Ellis looking at you?" A girl Apple only knew as the head cheerleader Kim had walked up and asked her.
She had pushed Apple into the wall once all the girls made it back to the changing rooms, now everyone was cornering her as Kim stared her down with a hand on her hip.
How could she possibly answer that question? When Apple herself had no idea why Luka would look directly at her, and look he did, his eyes never left hers which caused a chill to go through her because she had a feeling.
Apple had a feeling so strong that it made her feel sick, and the feeling she was getting from his eyes were 'I know who you are now Apple Brady, my stalker'.
This was her karma, you don't just like Luka Ellis and not make other girls mad, Apple had been so stupid and now it's all coming crashing down on her.
"I-I don't know, I-I promise." It was the truth, she only had ever watched him.
Kim's face twists in annoyance then she reaches out both of her arms and shoves Apple to the ground, it had hurt as Apple had landed on her wrist wrong but the laughing from the other girls took her mind off the pain.
"Keep it that way, freak! He's mine, you got that? If I see him looking at you again I will make your life miserable, understood?" Apple nodded her head and with that, Kim and the rest left satisfied as Apple sat up straight on the floor holding her wrist.
Apple didn't cry, she didn't even care what Kim said, instead she got up from the ground and got changed out of her dirty gym clothes, threw them in her bag, and left the girl's locker room.
She wanted to just leave and go home, today had been too much for Apple and she needed to reflect and think about the day she just had, from actually talking to Luka to the most popular girl in college threatening her.
Apple wanted to forget, so she went to her locker and grabbed her coat but noticed a lot of people were coming directly towards her, when she turned around and saw who they were, she froze in her spot, right up until they stood right in front of her.
She noticed Kim standing next to a guy Apple knew was part of Luka's friend group, he was staring her down with his hand behind his back, and even though she didn't know what was going on, she had a suspicion this was going to end badly.
"Who do you think you are, huh?" Mikki asked.
Apple blinked and asked herself what he meant, but before she could open her mouth, he moved his hand from behind his back and before it was too late to see, Mikki had poured something sticky with chunks inside over her head.
Everyone around her started to laugh and there were flashes from phones going off around her, she stood completely still, trying to understand why he would do this to her and what was actually happening right now, but she couldn't think of a reason why this was happening.
"Let that be a warning, leave Kim alone or this will only get worse for you." He warned her and she felt her stomach drop.
She was completely confused, stay away from who? But as she raised her head to see through her long wet sticky hair, she got a glimpse of Kim beside Mikki and she was smirking at Apple in victory as everyone continued to laugh at her.
┕━━━━🍎━━━━┙
It was dark outside when she finally got home after college, she was cold and wet from the sudden downpour that had happened as she got off the bus, none of that bothered her as much as what she thought Luka might think of her now.
Apple didn't even need to ask why Kim did this to her, a public humiliation was bound to happen, she just didn't think Luka would find out who she was so soon, she had secretly hoped to graduate before he found out who sent him Apples for two years.
She knew that those pictures and videos people took of her will be everywhere by tomorrow and there was nothing she could do to stop it, it was karma and it had finally come to destroy her and her nonexistence.
She didn't feel like going to the Gringlys tonight, the only people to her who treated her like family, she didn't want to answer any questions that they may have, and she didn't want them to make a big deal out of it.
Opening the front door to her house, she was welcomed with a quiet and cold atmosphere, 'when was the last time I was here?' she thought to herself, not remembering when she last went home.
After sending a quick text to Martha Gringly to say she is spending the night at home, Apple took her shoes off and shut the front door, the lights inside instantly lit up the room.
Compared to Martha andJohn Gringly's house, hers was more like a museum, a cold uncomfortable tomb for the dead, it was pale and partly empty, her mother had assured her when her father was alive that it was aesthetic.
Apple and her father didn't care much about furniture, so they both accepted her mother's vision of what a home should be.
Apple knew the truth after spending so much time with Martha and John next door, her house was never a home, there were no pictures of a family hanging up on the walls here, there was nothing to say a child grew up here, not a single photo of their once happy family, it was like nobody lived here in all the years she had been alive.
The only room that her mother didn't touch was her bedroom, it was completely Apple's and she did what she wanted with that space, the only place she could go to at the end of the day and relax and get away from her mother when she was at home.
The day her father died Apple thought a lot about her mother, who didn't cry at his funeral nor hug her to comfort Apple who was close to her father, she was sure her mother didn't care about them at all, after the funeral she had disappeared, leaving behind a single note that she had to go travel for business.
That was almost two years ago, and since then Apple gets a text here and there, her mother telling her that she was busy and will be gone for another month, Apple had stopped replying to her mother's texts, her mother soon caught on and didn't bother texting her anymore, she texted Martha instead.
Martha and John had been there when her mother choose not to, they brought her into their family and welcomed her like family, and since then she was happy, she was no longer a ghost living in a big house alone anymore, she had people who made her hot meals, and asked how her day was like a family should.
Apple showered and decided to watch a movie to wind down from the events of today, knowing that it's only Tuesday and she has to go to college tomorrow, she thought about skipping, it wasn't like she needed to go anyways, she could've graduated at the start of the year and start at a new life.
'I could still do it, it's not too late' Apple thought to herself, but every time she thought about it, it made her sad, she had tried too hard the last year to try and make things enjoyable in college, she watched students be teenagers, talks of parties and gossip.
Apple felt like an alien in her college, the students knew she was different so like gravity they avoided her like she wasn't even there, the teachers knew her most, and they encouraged her to graduate early every time they got her alone, telling her how she's wasting her time in college.
Apple had wasted so much time doing nothing that the day she left a note in Luka's locker, she made a decision to finally do something about her boring life and make a bucket list, it was advice from Martha, to do all the things she wanted to do before she graduates college life and moves on to working life.
Losing her virginity was never a big deal, but if she were to give it to anyone it would have to be someone she liked, so why not Luka Ellis? She knew he was hardly a virgin, she had seen photos of him tagged on other people's Instagram, he was always surrounded by good-looking beautiful women, plus he was athletic and charismatic.
Apart from him being surrounded by all these attractive women, Apple eventually learned from watching him that he wasn't a jock at all, he was more for himself even surrounded by friends and Apple noticed that and liked that about him, he didn't gossip or say a bad word about anyone, he was nice to everyone.
The more she thought about her bucket list, the more excited she got, and she rarely got excited, now that everyone probably knows who she is, why not start the list now? There are only a few months left of college before graduation, she may never see Luka Ellis again after that.
Turning off the light and getting under the covers, Apple made a decision to start tomorrow on her list, she would finally do something she has been wanting to do for a while, she was going to stay home from college and put all her effort into the first thing on her list.
Apple was going to cut her hair and make an Instagram, the first step to pushing herself to be more social, it was always a struggle for her to go online and let others see photos of herself, but it was too late.
Once she put her mind to something, she did it, and she was going to do this, Apple wanted to be like every other girl her age and do the things they did, she was going to go outside of her bubble, even if it was online, it's a start.