It had been three weeks since my sister attempted to fracture my skull, and the scars were beginning to fade.
That meant it was safe for me to go back to school.
That also meant it had been three weeks since I saw Tyrone and Jason. They had offered to come visit when they heard I had an "accident", but I did not want them anywhere near Anne. I had done a good job of keeping them away from this side of my life for so long, and I that was not about to change anytime soon.
It was Monday morning, and. I had no idea how to get to school. I definitely was not borrowing Anne's car again, but I did not want to take public transportation either.
I wanted to call the guys, but I remembered they had both been relying on me to get to school for a while now. Then again, they had managed just fine without me the past three weeks. Maybe I should just skip, I thought.
Eventually, I decided against calling Ty, but I was still going to school. I just needed to know how. I got dressed and prepared to leave the apartment, but on my way out, I saw (to my surprise) my sister sprawled out on the sofa. In one hand, she a bottle of some sort of alcohol, but she was fast asleep. I wondered how she still had her job at the hospital at this point. She was drunk half the time, surely someone must have noticed by now.
I tippy-toed past her and slipped through the door. I made my way hurriedly to the lift which was just at the end of corridor.
"The stairs are the other way," someone said from behind me.
"I'm taking the lift."
"That thing has been broken for a month now," the voice replied.
And so began the long walk of shame in the opposite direction. Well, it was only a few meters, but you get the idea. What made it even more embarrassing was that the girl who pointed this out to me had a huge grin plastered across her face as I slowly walked towards her.
Then I realized something. She was the same girl who had been in the music room with us the last time I went to school. I wondered what she was doing here on a Thursday morning, but then I answered myself. She lived in this building too. It also explained why she knew my name. What my theory did not explain was why I had never seen her before, so I asked.
"Hey, do you live here?"
"Nope, my dad does. I just visit sometimes. I assume you don't know my name, so I'm Taylor. I must warn you though, I'm not very swift."
"I see what you did there. Very smart."
"Thanks."
This was my opportunity to ask the most important question of my life. "So how are you getting to school?"(Okay it may not have been the most important question of my life, but I needed a ride.)
"Oh, uh, my dad is gonna drive me. He's already downstairs in fact. Why do you ask?"
This was the moment. I had to decide between an uncomfortable car ride with two strangers, or an uncomfortable bus ride with many strangers.
"Do you mind if I tag along?" I asked shamelessly.
"Well I don't, but my dad might. We'll ask him when we get down," she replied.
The trip down the stairs was one of the most physically demanding things I had done in a while.
"I can't go on. Go without me."
"You've only gone down three steps."
"First of all, it's three and a half, seeing as my right foot is already on the fourth step. Also, that's three and a half steps more than I would usually take.
" You don't exercise much, do you? "
"Nah,"I confessed casually.
She just shook her head and kept moving. I begrudgingly followed, cursing whoever was in charge of repairs in this building under my breath.
After what seemed like an eternity, we finally made it down to the ground floor. All that remained between me and a free ride was the mountain of a man that Taylor indicated to be her father. I began to feel my legs shaking as we approached him.
"Taylor?"
"Yes, Rhian?"
"Your father scares me."
"Well, that's a first."
What did she mean by that? Her father was the living, breathing definition of intimidation,or so I thought.
I thought she was going to stop when we reached the tall man and his pickup truck, but she passed right by him and stopped at the sedan behind him.
"Hey dad," she said to the man sitting on the car's hood.
"Wait, your father is Mr. Blackmore?"
Mr. Blackmore was about the coolest person in the building. I spent most of my time in his apartment, but not once had he mentioned having a daughter. This was strange, because he told a lot of things I did not care to know. For example, he was a well-known rapper in the nineties, going by the name D-Black.
"Hey Rhian. What's up?" Mr. Blackmore asked.
"I'm good. I was just wondering if I could tag along with you and Taylor today. Also, why have you never told me you have a daughter?"
"It never came up?"
"Nope."
"Well this is my daughter Taylor," he said, before telling us to get in.
The next forty-five minutes were horrible. Mr. Blackmore decided to tell the story of how he met Taylor's mother in vivid detail. He described how he had met her at one of his concerts, and how one thing had led to another and how that thing led to another thing and so on.
Thankfully, we were spared the story about the night Mr. Blackmore believes Taylor was formed. We had arrived at our destination.
I never thought I would be this happy to see the building I detested so much, but I guess whenever your normal order of living is interrupted, it is the little things you take for granted that you miss most.
On the matter of things one takes for granted, I needed to find my friends. I wondered if they would even be here at this time. I was a full thirty minutes early today, and I must admit, it felt nice knowing I didn't have to rush to get to class. I should probably do this more, I thought.
I did not have a hard time looking for the guys, though. I bumped into Jason at the entrance, and that meant Tyrone was not far away.
"Yo, look who I found," Jason said to Tyrone, motioning towards me.
"Rhian, how you been?". Ty playfully slapped me on the back of my head as he said this, and I winced. My wounds may have begun to heal, but the pain wasn't gone just yet.
"I'm a little sore, but I'm good," I replied.
"You never really told us what happened though,"Jason said.
I felt like telling them my sister attacked me so violently I nearly died, but I decided against it.
"I was in a really bad car accident. Nearly lost my life."
"Is the car okay?"
"Yes, and I'm fine too. Thanks for asking, Jason."
"Don't mind him. Believe me, you have been missed," Tyrone informed me.
"Ty, you missed me?"
"Not really, but Noelle from Art three and some guy named Jack have asked about you everyday you were gone. In fact, here comes Noelle."
As if on cue, Noelle came up to us and said hi. She was a bit of an introvert, and she would not willingly engage in conversation unless it was really important. At this particular time, I knew exactly what she wanted from me when she asked to have a word alone with me.
I excused myself from the group, and followed her into an empty classroom.
"Noelle, before you say anything-"
"Look at me!"
She looked miserable. Her eyes were shifting about nervously, her skin was clammy, and her hands kept fidgeting about. I did not want to look at her.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be here, but I have my reasons."
"I haven't had anything since you decided to ditch me without warning. You could have at least left me with a week's supply before you left."
"I'm sorry, and to make it up to you, I won't charge you for your next three packages."
"That's cool, but do you have anything on you right now?"
I shook my head no, and without another word, she left me there. I felt sorry for her, but there was nothing I could do. She needed her fix, and I needed the money.
______________________________________
I blanked out as Mr. Kapoor, our Physics teacher, explained something about the nature of cathode rays. You know that joke about the Indian guy who explained things better than your teacher ever could? Well my teacher was that guy, and I still slept through his class most of the time.
"Rhian, stand up," the teacher ordered. I obeyed, yawning as I got up. "If you plan on making something out yourself in the future, I suggest you don't sleep in my class. You think I got into Harvard with that kind of attitude?"
Well, you're still a relatively unimportant high school teacher, so I fail to see your point. "Sorry, sir."
"Sit down."
The rest of the lesson consisted of me fighting the urge to doze of as Mr. Kapoor continued explaining whatever he was explaining. For someone who spent the majority of the last three weeks in bed, I sure was sleepy.
Anyway, I was the first person to leave the classroom when his lesson ended, but I almost instantaneously regretted it. Waiting for me right outside was Jack, and once again, I knew exactly what he wanted, but unlike with Noelle, I couldn't care less. Especially now I knew who Taylor was.
"Hey man," he said. "It's been a while."
At this point I was having déjà vu.
"It's been three weeks to be precise."
"Yeah, so do you have any information for me?"
Nope. I wasn't doing this. It was just plain stupid.
"Actually, I do. You might want to write this down." This clown actually took out a pen and paper. "Well, she loves water. She drinks it everyday. Also, she's addicted to breathing air. She just cannot get off that thing."
To say I was proud of myself was an understatement.
"Those aren't specific details. Those are just-"
"Well I gotta run. It was nice speaking to you, Jack,"I said as I sped down the hall before he could say anything else. Again, I instantly regretted my actions. I ran straight into the headmaster. He was hardly ever seen outside his office, but the one time he came out, I just had to barrel myself into him.
"Are you Rhian?" he asked.
"Yes, sir."
"You're in top shape now, right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Good. Ask your friends about the little assignment I have specially for you."
"Yes, sir."
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but I decided against. I was going to find out what he meant from Tyrone and Jason. Whatever it was, I was not looking forward to it.
Hey guys. It's the author here. I haven't updated for so long because I was having a serious case of writer's block. I knew where I was going, but I just didn't have the words. I'm back now, though. If you enjoyed this chapter smash the star and share with your friends. Also, I love an interactive audience, so feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to reply.