I open my tires eyes to my grey ceiling. As I drag my feet out of bed and to the bathroom, I notice my cabinet handle that has my razors and gaze in it.
No.
I ignore it and do my morning routine. When I talk down the stairs, mom is in the kitchen.
She's usually at work by now.
She's standing there on her phone, with a piece of jellied toast in her other hand.
"Good morning sweetie," she says noticing me.
"Hi mom, what are you doing here? You're usually at work," I say.
"I decided to go in a little later today. I made you breakfast," she smiles.
She-she made me breakfast? And put off going to work? I guess she really is trying to change.
"Thanks," I say.
I sit down at the table with a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of me. I pick up my fork and take a bite, savoring the taste.
It's been so long.
I continue to dig into my food, when Jacob comes down. He's dressed in his pajamas.
He must notice my confused look.
"I don't have school today," He says.
I nod, noticing the other plate of food on the table. He also sits down, but I finish with my eggs and move on to toast. I check the time and realize it's 7:30.
Shit, I need to get going.
I shove the toast in my mouth and rush up the stairs to get my bag. As I walk out the door Jacob and mom call to me.
"Have a good day Jamie!" They say in unison.
"You too!" I yell back, closing the door.
I walk down the driveway to, surprisingly, see Bella waiting for me.
"Hey, I didn't think you would be at school today?" I say.
"Me neither, but I didn't want you to be alone on a day back to torture," she says giggling.
I'm glad she's here, and okay.
"What happened last night? Where are you staying?" I ask.
"I'm staying at the police station until I find a place to stay for a bit," she starts.
Bella continues on to tell me about last night.
Wow. Her parents really are assholes.
"That's horrible, but good that they're locked up, kinda. I'll have to talk to my mom about you staying with us," I say.
Shit, I was supposed to talk to her this morning.
"It's alright," she says.
We reach the school and head to our lockers, like usual.
"Hey Jamie," Daniel says to me, catching my attention.
"O-oh hey, Daniel," I say nervously.
Bella looks at me confused, but pretends not to listen to the conversation.
"Did you give any thought to my question last night?" He asks smirking.
"I-uh, kinda. I'll have an answer by the end of the day though. It's just, a lot of stuff happened last night," I explain.
"It's alright Jamie, I'll be waiting," He smirks, walking away.
I turn back to a smiling Bella.
"What. The hell. Was that about?" She says.
I forgot to tell her.
"D-Daniel, asked me out last night," I blurt out.
"OH MY GOODNESS! DID YOU SAY YES?" She shouts.
"Shhh, lower your voice! And I haven't really said anything yet. I was waiting to talk to you," I say.
"Why not? You know I would tell you to say yes! What's the worst that could happen?"
"It's all a trick and he doesn't actually like me at all and Ashley will literally kill me," I say.
"Dude, you gotta loosen up a bit. I get it, Ashley's a hoe, but you can't let her control you so much!" Bella says.
"As for the trick part, I don't think it is. He doesn't look at anyone the way he looks at you," she continues.
"If you say so."
The bell rings and we head to our classes.
———
As I walk into the gym for P.E., I see that the gym teacher isn't here today.
That means-
"Free class!" Bella yells running into the gym.
I laugh nervously.
Is that really a good thing though?
Everyone else starts to walk in, and just get on their phones. I do the same, when Daniel walks up to me.
"I never got your number," He says.
How smooth.
I give it to him, and he texts it to make sure it's right. As he texts, I look into his eyes that are making its way across the screen. The phone is being reflected off his glasses. My phone buzzes, and I open the text.
Daniel: 😙😝😁
Aww.
Me: btw, it's a yes 😌
He looks up and smiles at me.
Daniel: then I'll pick you up at 6!😘
Me: sounds good to me! Where are we going?
Daniel: you'll see 😉
I look up at him confused, and he just shrugs his shoulders.
This'll be interesting.
———
I arrive home at the end of the day, and greet my mom in the kitchen.
Did she skip work?
"How was your day?" She asks.
"It was good, yours?" I ask.
"I decided to skip work today, just thought I could use a break," she says.
I walk over and sit down next to her at the table.
"Can we talk?" I ask.
She nods.
"My friend, Bella, is going though a really hard time right now with her family and might need a place to stay. Could she stay here if she needed to?" I ask.
My mom looks down, deep in thought.
"This is a big favor your asking. She goes to the same school right? And you both know each other well? Is she polite?"
"Yes yes, and yes. Right now she's staying at the police station until she finds somewhere to stay. I said that if she didn't want to be there, she could possibly come here." I explain.
"You know I'm not around a lot. Can she take care of herself a bit? I want to say yes, but I hardly know anything about her!" My mom says.
"I know, but I know that she's a very good person. She's responsible and polite," I say.
"You having another girl in the house might be a good idea. I can't imagine you get along the best with Jacob," she chuckles.
Mom keeps thinking, then sighs.
"Okay. If this, Bella, needs a place to stay, it wouldn't hurt to try," she says.
"Thanks mom, she means a lot to me," I say, hugging her.
We continue hugging, when I bring up the recent topic at hand.
"Uh, also mom...I have a date tonight," I say, hesitating.
She unleashes herself from the hug, and grabs my shoulders.
"What?! Who is he? How long have you known him? What does he look like? Is he cute or hot or both?" She bombards me with questions.
"His name is Daniel Rider, I've known who he was for awhile now, only just taking notice. And you can see him tonight when he picks me up at 6," I say.
Her eyes are wide with a facial expression I can't quite figure out.
Is that fear, or excitement?
She smiles and hugs me again. I look at the clock and it's about 4:30.
"You should go get ready! I don't think you've ever been on a date before," she says.
"Yeah, I haven't. I should probably go."
I walk up the stairs and into my room. When I close the door, I frantically get out my phone to text Bella.
I don't have anything date-worthy.
Me: I need your help. Now.
Bella: the date I assume?
Me: yeah, I have literally nothing to wear and I've never been on a date before and I'm gonna mess it all up
Bella: calm down. What's in your closet?
I look over and see mostly hoodies, t-shirts, and about two dresses. I take a picture and send it to Bella.
Bella: hmm, I can make that work. Wear that red dress, and compliment it with those silver lined flats or converse, your choice. For your hair, you can probably leave it down, but comb it.
Me: and what do I say on they date?
Bella: just be yourself. He won't like you if you pretend to be someone you're not
Me: okay, I'll text you a picture when I'm done.
I change into a dress that's a bit longer than the other one.
Somewhat like this:
Next, I choose the plain black flats. Then I realize something wrong.
It's not long sleeve.
I try to pull down the sleeves a bit more but it's no use. I get out some makeup and try to dab some of it over the scars so it's not as noticeable. It works a little, so I decide to do a bit of makeup on my face.
I usually don't wear makeup, since I like my natural looks better, but I just do a little. A bit of concealer (I think that's what it's called) to cover the acne, and a bit of lip gloss. I grab my black and white patterned comb and brush out my brown hair. I check the time, and it's 5:40. I take a picture in front of me and wall mirror, and send it to Bella.
Me: *image* how does this look?
Bella: AMAZING🔥✨ he's picking you up at 6 right?
Me: yeah, I'm freaking out. I'm not gonna know what to say, what to do, what if I stutter the whole time? What if he tries to make moves on me? What if this is all a trick?
Bella: just calm down, when the time comes either you'll know what to say or he will. Daniel knows ur not the most talkative, so he'll probably start most conversations. Once you start having fun, u won't feel as nervous anymore. I want u to have a good time!
Me: thanks Bella. I don't know what I'd do without u🖤
Bella: me neither 😉 jk 😂. Have fun!
Me: lol I hope I do
I put my phone into a small black purse I'm taking, but I check the time before. It just turns 5:55.
Five more minutes.
I silently wait, and head downstairs.
"You look beautiful," Jacob says, walking out of his room.
"Thanks dude," I say smiling.
I guess they're both waiting for Daniel.
We talk a bit with my mom, until the doorbell rings.
Here we go.