Chapter 2- Candy Bars & Crushes
My 5-inch heels click and clack against the school's shiny white tiles and envious eyes drift to my Michael Kor bag that goes perfectly with the blue blouse and pencil skirt that is on my body. I strut throughout the halls with confidence as if I owned this place. My hair flows past my shoulders with luscious curls and I catch a glimpse of my reflection in a freshly polished window. My face looks flawless. Glossy lips. Smokey eye. Voluminous lashes. I look like a model and I definitely do not look like myself.
Fellow students that never bothered to even look at me before, now greet me as I pass them by. Girls glare at me and the boys gawk over my looks. A few people walk with me to my class even when their class is all the way across the school.
When I get into class, I realize I have to retrieve something from my locker. On my way to my locker, more people gawk at me asking, "Who is she?"
As I open my locker, I feel someone come up behind me, "Hey there, beauty." My eyes lock on the gorgeous blonde boy that I have a crush on. "The name's Zac, how about yours, beautiful?"
Butterflies flutter in my stomach just at the sight of him. His blue eyes stare into my warm, brown eyes. A smile creeps across my lips, "Lace."
"Nice to meet ya, Lace," he nods his head toward my open locker, "do ya need to get anything out of your locker?"
"Oh," I was so caught up with those eyes of his that I forgot about my locker. One thing is really weird about it, though. There is only a binder in it; no books in there and I always have books piled in it. I shake the weird situation off and snatch my bulky binder up in my arms.
"I'll take this for you, Lace," Zac takes the heavy binder from my arms and holds it for me. "I'll take it to your class for ya."
He is such a gentleman! Zac escorts me to my class and sets the binder on my desk. Before he leaves, Zac places a light kiss on the back of hand.
***
Suddenly, I wake up from the luxurious dream of me being popular and meeting Zac. Reality hits me and I feel stupid for thinking it was real. I should've known it was fake when there were no books in my locker... totally unlike me. And I should've known since my black eye disappeared and all my bruises were gone.
Speaking of my black eye, it actually seems better. I can at least open it!
What I really wish was real was the fact Zac actually noticed me in the dream. That dream was so cliché! The super hot guy finally noticing a girl that nobody knew until she transformed herself into someone totally different than who she really is.
When I'm at school, nobody really notices me except for my friends, Candy and Nadia. But if someone told me in order to be popular I would have to change everything about the real me, I couldn't do it. Why be someone I'm not just to have friends? That would mean they favor the facade I put up for them and not Lace. I want people who will love me for me; sadly, there isn't many of those people. Even my own father doesn't love me...
My eyes flick over to my alarm clock and I groan. Running late... again! My stupid alarm clock didn't go off. I begin to leap out of bed, but the ache of my injuries stops me. My side has sharp pains shoot throughout it, and my teeth bite my lip furiously in order for me to stay quiet. If I let out a scream, my dad could awaken. Most of the time, he is out like a light but occasionally, he will get woken up easily.
Once the pain is tolerable, my body eases itself out of bed and into the bathroom. Rushing to get ready, I pull my stringy, strawberry blonde locks into a very, messy bun. Once I am done in the bathroom, I fit my body into a Divergent T-shirt and some bootcut jeans.
As I am walking out the door, I realize I forgot my book and my binder, "Oh, pansycakes!" Speedily, my hands shove my book and my binder into my bag and I take off running right out the door.
My converse pound on the hard concrete that makes up the sidewalk. The impact of my shoes on the hard ground makes a thumping noise.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
My side begins to ache, but I continue sprinting. Trying to ignore the pain, I close my eyes -- bad idea. Apparently, I was running just a bit too close to the edge and fell on the pavement. In the process of me meeting the not-so-comfy ground, my ankle just decides to do a few summersaults and flips.
A few painful groans escaped my system as I lay there, trying to find the urge to get up and keep going. I sit up and look at my foot that is already swelling. My eyes scan over my bruising ankle, and when I gently move it, the pain increases. Immediately, I hiss in discomfort.
"I just cannot get a break, can I?" I mumble under my breath.
The roar of a motor makes me look up to Zac, who is driving his car. His blue eyes latch onto me as he rides closer. As Zac nears me, he slows down to a complete stop, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just twisted my ankle a bit..."
How embarrassing, the first time he actually notices me I am a complete wreck! Bruises, scrapes, black eye, twisted ankle, and ratty clothes... great first impression...
Zac gets out of his car, "Let me see how bad it is." Kneeling down to my level, he examines my swelled ankle. My crush shakes his head slightly, "Man, looks like you twisted it pretty good." His big hands that he uses to pitch the baseball on our school's team, lightly grab my injured ankle. The motion is painful.
"Does that hurt?"
"Very much so." When my eyes attach to him, I can't help but be distracted.
"How about I take ya to the school and make sure you get to the nurse?"
A small smile comes across my face, "Thanks, that would be awesome."
Instead of him just helping me up, Zac picks me up. It catches me off-guard, but at the same time, it brings a huge smile to my face that I hope he doesn't notice. He sets me down, allowing me to lean against the car while he opens the door and guides me into the passenger seat.
The car is very grand with the leather seats, high-tech radio, and the overall style of the car. The scent of the leather seats is a little overwhelming, though. Zac closes my door and sits into the driver's seat, and he begins driving.
"You're Lacey, right?" Zac says out of nowhere.
Oh brother, if I had a dollar for every time people thought that was my name, I would be a billionaire. Okay, I get that Lacey is a common name and mine is similar to it, but it is super annoying. Why is it so hard for people to grasp that there is no "y" in my name?
"Not exactly, it's Lace." I state.
"Like the fancy fabric?" Zac jokes and I laugh slightly.
"I guess you could say that."
Zac introduces himself and then he asks a question that I dread, "So how'd ya get that black eye?"
No, nobody can know, and nobody will ever know. What my father does to me isn't for anyone to know. It is a secret that shouldn't ever be let out, so instead, it will be locked up tight. What happens in those apartment walls won't be spoken of.
One time, when he had one of his biggest temper tantrums ever, I threatened to tell the police. At the time, I was only eight, and immediately, regret filled me. Punch after punch. Kick after kick. Beating after beating. Through his gritted teeth, he told me that if I ever told a soul about how he treats me, I would not live to see another day. Ever since then, I never dared speak of him.
"Really bad skateboarding accident... I apparently don't have good balance," I lie. I have never even attempted skateboarding in my life.
Zac chuckles, "Well, hopefully you will get the hang of it."
"Yea, hopefully..."
He parks his car in the parking lot and carries me inside. We are late but the ladies at the office excuse it due to him helping me. Zac drops me off at the nurse and tells the nurse what happened. Then, the nurse writes him a pass to class.
Before he leaves, he tells me, "See ya 'round, Lace."
"See ya." Just him talking to me makes me all gushy and giddy. I think he just made me have a bigger crush on him. This definitely has made my day, and it is funny how just a small conversation and an act of kindness made me feel special.
Wow, he is such a gentleman.
***
The nurse examined my ankle, wrapped it tautly in a bandage, and put ice on it. She allowed me to skip some of my classes. She said it was to examine it overtime, but I think she was just being nice. Well, if she insists on me staying and reading, then I am not going to object.
When it was time for lunch, she checked my ankle and noticed that it wasn't really improving. The nurse gave me a crutch, so I won't have to put pressure on it. She wrote me a pass for when I return to class and excuses me to lunch.
Once I enter the lunchroom, Candy waves me over to sit beside her. Sitting down, I ask, "Where is Nadia?" Nadia always sits with us, and it is unlike her to not sit with us.
"She texted me saying she was sick, but in reality, I think she just decided to not come just to play her new video game." Candy states as she scrolls through her phone.
"Sounds like Nadia."
Candy nods, "I know, she can't ever get her nose out of any video game. No matter if it is Mario & Luigi or Halo, she loves them all. And she is like you, your nose in ever book and you love them all."
I shrug, "What can I say, reading isn't just a hobby, it is a passion."
Candy clears her throat dramatically before she speaks, "Ahem, so is crafting."
Candy is obsessed with crafts and she will search all over Pinterest just to find anything new for her to do. She says that by the time she was four years old, she could make lovely pieces of pottery and stained glass ornaments for her mom to sell. Candy's mother owns a small crafting shop with materials and supplies for crafts. Occasionally, they will meet up with their customers and teach them how to do cute little projects.
Honestly, Candy is really good at it and she can make the cutest decorations. She has a real talent for it and when my birthday comes, I can count on her to make me a really adorable knick-knack.
Candy opens her little lunch box (that she decorated herself) and hands me a bag of chocolates, "My dad told me to give this to ya."
"Oh, tell 'em I said thanks. Is it from his store?" I ask, thankful that her dad decided to give me a sweet treat.
Her father owns a chocolate store that makes the best chocolate in the whole world! It is absolutely delicious. Also, Candy's father treats me with pure kindness, and I am truly thankful for that because I do not receive that a lot.
"Yep, you bet it is! He knows how much you would like it so he told me to hand it over to you for 'em," she looks at me for second, "Now, speak to me why you are late and totally beat up."
"Um," my hand scratches my head nervously, "just another skateboard accident. And I was running late today and was running on the sidewalk when I twisted the ankle. Then, Zac saw me injured and drove me to school."
"Ooh, isn't that the cute baseball player you have a crush on?"
"Yea... and he knew my name! Well, sort of."
Candy raises an eyebrow and puts a smirk on her face, "He called you Lacey, didn't he?"
"You got it."
She laughs until someone chunks a Snickers candy bar at her, hitting her in the face. A group of people, including Tina, are laughing, snickering, and smirking. They all have a candy bar in their hands, and then they simultaneously take a bite out of it, mockingly.
"What up, Candy Bar?"
"Hope ya have a sweet day."
"Did ya hear, guys? Her daddy owns a candy store!"
This has been going on for a while and people have picked on Candy's name: Candy Bar. Yes, her parents really named her Candy just so it would go with the last name. Okay, her name might not be the best, but neither is mine.
"Thank you for the Snickers, guys." She acts like it didn't bother her, and tries to play it off cool. "Yea, it is my favorite candy bar, SO THANKS!" Then, she unravels the Snickers and takes a big bite out of it. "Heh, jokes on them..." she mumbles as she continues to eat the Snickers.
I watch for a bit as I notice that all of them are popular or well-known. They laugh and enjoy themselves and forget all about Candy and me. They do not have any guilt for how they treated Candy. Sadly, that is how it goes.
The thing that bothers me most is that they don't have a care in the world.
I wonder how that feels...
A/N: Thank you to @lara9988 for making the lovely fan art. Thank you for reading this book, I am thoroughly excited about it and hope you enjoy it. Thank you for the lovely support. :) Love ya guys and God loves you.