Songs for this chapter: All Apologies by Nirvana
"Do you mind if I ask you something more personal?"
I stared over at Samantha with a curious glance. We both walked side by side in the middle of school's main corridor as she led me toward my new locker which I had gladly agreed to share with her.
"Sure, ask away!" I replied, smiling at her.
"Why did you move here?"
Oh. I was not expecting that question. As a matter of fact, I expected anything but that question.
Samantha Morgan was the type of girl who would spend a morning eternity standing in front of a mirror carefully moulding her hair into a perfect shape and painting her pale face with several beauty products I hardly knew how to use properly. Nonetheless, underneath that slim layer of makeup, she was gorgeous; to be quite frankly, she seemed similar to those high school popular girls you see on those classic American films who are mean and always try to shoot down everyone who's not like them. Yet, she was not. She was totally the opposite.
In spite of knowing her for only three mere days, right from the very first conversation, Sam candidly appeared to be an honest and inspiring person. She looked like the sort of girl who would be the first one to pick your call at 3am when you were sad and sneak out of her own house to check on you in the middle of the night; she seemed to be so overprotective over her friends and everything and everyone she loved. She seemed to be a marvellous person - and, as much as you search away, you don't find people with such generous spirit very often.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Only now I was realising how long I had been drowned into my own thoughts about Samantha, without any perception or clue of what was happening in the rest of the world. I usually did that a lot, escape from the wide and many-sided reality and close myself up inside a sphere of my own and keep my mind distant of everything around. That was one of the things my mother was always advising me to fight back.
"No, it's just..." I heaved a sigh as both of us approached the locker, resting my temple against the metal of the other aside. "It's complicated."
"I can handle complicated." Sam threw me a quick gaze and half-grinned, while unlocking the padlock. "There's a lot of it in this town. Too much, actually..."
She trailed off, the smile on her face fading away as she evenly tucked the books she wouldn't need for the rest of the morning within the locker, one by one. I stared at the ground, sliding my foot against the cool tile from one side to the other over and over again, my subconscious constantly forcing me to tell her about my past. I wanted to explain everything to her, I really did, but I had collected too much trust issues in the past few years; I didn't possess the knowledge of what she was capable of, I didn't know every single detail of her personality. That fact constituted a disadvantage.
"Promise not to tell anyone?" I whispered lifting my head to look at her, insecurity glued to my eyes.
"Of course I won't, Sky!" She closed the locker and the padlock as well, looking back at me, a wide smile formed on her hot-pink lips. "Pinkie promise!" Samantha raised her little finger, which caused me to chuckle.
I took a deep breath before speaking.
"Well..." I started, wrapping my arms around myself and holding the books even closer to my chest. "Basically my parents split up three years ago and my mother married another man that has a son, Christian, my stepbrother. We moved here because he travels a lot."
Her eyes sparkled, compassion held onto them. "What happened?"
Exhaling heavily, I closed my eyes for a short moment before replying in a slow whisper. "My dad cheated on my mom. I saw him with another woman."
"Oh my god..." Samantha tightened her lips together in a thin line before unlocking them once again and starting to ask even more questions. "Did you tell your mom?"
I nipped the inside of my jowls, the blame for my parents' divorce tracing its way all over me, just like a heavy burden I could hardly bear.
"I don't want you to judge me, but..." I decided to cut myself short and try to figure out the wiser words to say. "What was I supposed to do? I was 13 back then. My father was the one who always taught me to speak out the truth as huge and destructive the consequences might be, he only tasted of his own venom... Besides, I wasn't capable to act all happy and peaceful like I hadn't seen anything. That was too much to handle."
Samantha fixed her big brown eyes on me for a long time, speechless. I could put my hands on fire that she was mentally cursing and blaming me for breaking my parents' long lasting relationship and destroying something that was none of my business - but the thing is, it was somehow also related to me. They were my parents. I was their daughter. I'd caught up my dad kissing another woman. Oh, that was obviously something of my business. I mean, how could someone live knowing something so disrespectful and consuming in secret?
"I understand." She finally said, the low tone of her voice catching me by surprise. "I really do. I just don't think I would have the courage to face the situation the way you did. I admire you."
Wow. Did she just say she admires me? This definitely got me without words to say.
"Eh, I hum..." I stuttered. "Thank you I guess?" I half-asked, arching my eyebrow in both confusion and diversion. We managed to laugh at each other's faces in the middle of the hall when suddenly, reality hit me hard and I realised I was locked up between Samantha's arms.
It wasn't neither clumsy or a simple hug of sympathy. The way her arms gently squeezed me against her, pulling me closer, evidenced no further more than an embrace of honesty, trust and friendship. A smile automatically grew on my face as I realised I had a real friend I could count on.
"Oh, is this a group hug?" I heard Ashton's voice shouting out that beautiful Australian accent of his. "I want to join in!"
I burst into laughter the moment Ash spread his long arms towards Samantha and I, joyfully enwrapping us and pressing our bodies together against his tight and muscled chest.
"Ashton, I-I can't breathe!" Samantha loudly gasped, her face literally being smashed to his steady body. As soon as he released us from his lengthy arms, both I and Samantha started laughing even harder. "You screw up all my makeup, you bastard!" She raised her thin elbow and slightly guided it towards his chest, bringing him to curve his body ahead.
"Ouch, that hurt so much!" Ashton moaned in mock pain, leading his giant hand to the spot that had been hit not long ago. He shook his head while throwing an amusing gaze at her which she returned by sticking out her tongue. "You guys know Danny Winters is throwing a party tonight, don't you?"
My eyebrows joined as one, curiosity flattened through my face. "Who's Danny Winters?"
"An old pal of mine." Ashton's sparkly eyes met mine as a smile curled in between his lips, his dimples showing up. I knew in the first place that Ashton and I were only friends, but honestly, that smile always made my insides melt. "And th-"
"And the richest kid in town." Samantha cut off, crossing her arms over her chest and coving one eyebrow. "Wanna come with us?"
The way my eyes widened felt as unreal as the question I had been asked just now. Were they really inviting me to go to a party? With them?
"I-I, I don't know..." I hesitated, feeling stunned. "I don't know if my mother would let me."
"My mom can drive us there, is not far and-" Ashton spoke, yet Samantha cut him short in a swift second.
"And you can stay over my house!"
I stared over at her expression of excitement as both of her palms clapped powerlessly against one another and her body threw quick short hops in the air. The figure of her right now, the happiness coughing hold of her mind and body, made me loosen a slight chuckle between my teeth. She looked like a 5 year old girl, she was so hilarious.
"I'm going to ask her, I promise." I replied as the bell rang above us causing my to crinkle my eyes in attempt to send the loud noise away. "God, this bell is so irritating."
Ashton, Samantha and I, who were standing in one side of the main corridor near the lockers, turned our heels to the back and maneuvered our way to our next class. Sam walked all the way over the classroom complaining and mourning about the fact of her being so exhausted of this boring school morning - and I had to agree with her on that. As we approached the door to come in, I found myself catching the glance of that pair of eyes, that pair of blue eyes which made me lose my mind and also the perception of everything else around.
Luke.
My chest halted completely as I felt my breath being held on, causing me to stop breathing aright. Several white flashes clouded up my mind, appearing and disappearing endlessly, as a clear scenario of the living room of my house started to form amongst the air.
"What the hell, Chris?"
As soon as Christian walked into the house and slammed the door shut behind him, I raised from the couch where I had been tediously holding the remote and zapping in attempt to find any good program or TV Show to watch while waiting for him to come home. He seemed to do nothing but ignore me since he immediately headed over the kitchen. Is he kidding me or what?
"Again: what the hell, Chris?" I inquired, even more harshly than before.
He turned to me while dropping some cereal into a bowl so I could see his face, yet he didn't looked me in the eyes; instead, he fixed his on the ground before he turn his back again. What the heck was he doing? "I thought you said you wanted to talk to me?"
I crossed my arms in front of my chest, watching his shoulders easing back and his head pointing upwards as he heaved a deep sigh. "I said we needed to talk, I didn't say when."
His voice came out almost in a murmur, thing that made everything appear to be even more odd and peculiar about his usual behaviour. Furrowing my eyebrows as my mouth fell open in both resentment and confusion, I let my arms topple down on either side of my body as I slid my feet over to him and leaned my low back against the kitchen sink. I hardened the glance I was throwing at him, trying to exhibit my inner anger and impatience and pluck anything out of his tongue. However, he continued preparing his meal acting as if I wasn't even there. "So?"
I relaxed my muscles as I felt the threatening aura resting upon us soften itself the moment he managed to turn his head and look at me. His jaws clenched tightly against each other, shooting a ruthless gaze at me. "Just stay away from that guy, okay?"
Blinking unconsciously several times, both of my brows arched over my widened eyes, confusion spread throughout my face. "And why should I do n-" I started, but Chris quickly cut me off.
"Promise. Just promise that you'll stay away from him, alright?" He sunk his teeth into his bottom lip before speaking again. "It's better that way."
I opened my mouth into a perfect O shape as I managed to speak; however, the words seemed to have been left stuck in my throat, not wanting to come out. Why was he suddenly acting so damn overprotective?
Biting the insides of my cheeks, I tightened my arms into one another and against my chest as I coarsened my eyes on his in deep posture. "You don't wanna tell me? Fine. I'll stay away from him."
I was just crossing fingers that he would believe in such reckless lie.
"Sky? Are you coming inside...?"
What?
As I heard Ashton's voice calling me from the entryway to our classroom, reality slapped me hard on the head, swiftly and unexpectedly. After watching Luke passing by us and reliving the conversation inside my own mind, I found myself staring at a mere set of lockers whilst a very few people continued to print their footsteps on the school's pavement in almost pure silence. Tilting my head upwards, my eyes hunted Ashton's brown-greened ones, a mask of shuffle and suspicion shining on them.
"What, what is it?"
Ashton's eyebrow readily shot up, his forefinger pointing to the inside of the room. "The class, are you coming?"
"Oh! That, yeah, of course..." Trying to conceal my expression of a complete lunatic girl, I nodded several times, which caused Ashton to smirk as I stepped into the room.
God, why do I have to be so damn weird?
With my body relaxing over a classic and padded chair, I slowly raised my eyes from my thighs to find them staring at my reflection in the big framed mirror.
The little quantity of nasty remains of acne and also glitter glued to my skin had absolutely disappeared beneath a thin layer of foundation and compact powder. The dark circles surrounding my brown eyes had vanished along with any imperfection spread all over my face; leaning forward to get a better vision of me, I slid my middle finger across my rosy cheek very slightly, as if I could ruin Samantha's work of art if I touched with too much pressure. It felt as clean and smooth as a baby skin. It felt amazing.
I looked at me even more intently than I had before. I knew Samantha had worked very hard under a curtain of pressure in attempt of not making me look like a complete Barbie or any other doll in the end. She knew I wasn't very familiar with taking care of my face that way, so she had done it the simplest method possible.
Hitting my back on the chair once again, I felt Sam's footsteps approach me as she stood still beside me, staring at my face on the mirror with a winning smile plastered on hers. "So, you like it?"
"I love it, Sam." I said, the corners of my lips curling upwards. "I really do."
"Now, let's do the hair!" She shouted with wide eyes, while throwing her hands in the hair as she held a curling iron between her fingers. "You have to be perfect tonight!"
I furrowed my eyebrows together before putting them back on their place while Samantha combed my hair all the way down, effortlessly.
"Why? Why do I have to be so perfect just for a teenage party?" I inquired with curious intentions, emphasising the word in the middle.
Sam let a piece of curled hair slid down through her fingers and, grabbing another one with the same thickness, she said "You don't have to look perfect for a teenage party," At this, she heightened her arms and mimed inverted comas in the air with two of her fingers. "You have to look perfect for Danny."
At these words, my body immediately leaped over the chair as I out of blue turned around to find her expression screaming shock. "What the hell, Sam?" I spat in sudden anger. "I don't even know him!"
"For Christ's sake, Sky, chill out!" Exhaling heavily, Samantha cupped my chin and drove it towards the mirror so my eyes would strike on my reflection once again. "You won't have to do anything with him, you just have to make him think you will."
The second she finished her line, I felt the rhythm of my heart instantly slackening. "Oh... Okay, then. But why?"
"Because it is the way he works, my darling." Sam's fingers continued its trail throw my half curled hair, stroking and fettling. "Danny never accepts any girl he thinks he won't be able to flirt with on his parties."
"So it means I won't have to do anything with him right?" I asked. I was hopefully expecting an affirmative answer. "I don't really have much experience with boys, you know..."
I trailed off, leading my chin downwards almost like it could skim into my chest. I sensed my cheeks filling with heat and embarrassment since I was certain that Samantha had been with tons of guys through her life while I hadn't even had my very first passionate kiss.
Samantha landed her spare hand above my shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze. "Well, that makes two of us. And no, you won't have to do anything with him."
My eyes opened even widely at her confession, which made me drive them towards the big mirror one more time to look at hers through it. "How come? You're so beautiful, I honestly thought you were on the top of any guy's list!"
"Well" Going back to her work on my hair, she shrugged. "I simply don't. I mean, I had a boyfriend once but he was a freshman and all we did all the time was make out. I eventually got tired and broke up with him. He was a bit childish, though."
"Poor boy, Sam." We both chuckled at told situation. "But that's still unbelievable..."
"Now tell me" I could see a smirk forming upon her face in her reflection printed on the mirror. Whatever was about to come out of that mouth, wasn't a good thing at all. "Have you caught the eye of anyone by now?"
I swallowed in dry. What was I supposed to say? I couldn't tell her about Luke. No, that was completely and absolutely out of the question. "No, not anyone in particular."
"Hum." Turning off the curling iron from the plug, Samantha concluded her task by scrubbing and tenderizing her fingers amongst my curly hair to give it a more natural look. She smiled, her eyes glowing in selfless pride. "Don't worry, there will be a bunch of hot guys you can flirt with at the party. So I guess we're ready to go!"
Sweetly pricking my done hair with the tips of my fingers whilst contemplating the final semblance of mine athwart the mirror, I stood up from the chair and headed off over Samantha, who as standing in front of other full body mirror.
I was wearing a sleeveless black tight dress which had a provocative, yet classy triangle figure underneath my breasts without any fabric, showing off a little bit of my skin. I was honestly pretty, with dark red lipstick and different shades of brown covering my eyelids.
"Seems like Ashton's mom is here to pick us up." Samantha stated, looking at her phone. "Time to go!"
Entwining my arm with hers, she dragged me out of her house in pure excitement.