Blood Roses

chapter four

"How dare you! How dare you go behind my back and sneak out! I needed you at that dinner!" Dad's eyebrows are crossed so close together they could form a monobrow, I haven't seen him so angry before. It scares me, the way he is yelling, the way he seems to age twenty years when he screams another sentence. 

 "It was vital for you to be there! I even got you a stylist! One time, Luna! One time I ask you to come to dinner for something very important and what do you do? Run off! Off to a pointless party! Since when did you become so social! And walking there, you don't know what kind of creeps are out there!" Tears of anger well in his eyes, but soon disappear.

 "Dad, I was fine. No one bothered me." I feel bad telling a whole lie to Dad, but it's not the first time. Sometimes it's just better he doesn't know some things. Sometimes that’s the safer thing to do.

 "Next time someone could though! From now on you're grounded, on lock down for two months." What?! Two months! I can barely last a week without escaping for a few hours. I guess my friends have become my life support. I understand that Dad is just trying to keep me safe and I sure didn't want to run into those guys again, but two months? That was harsh.

 “Off to bed, please. I really don’t want to discuss this any further. There’s another meeting in the morning and I expect you to be there willing and ready.” I take a peek at his face, his eyebrows are gently raised and his eyes screaming that he’s fed up with me.

 “Sure, Dad.” I mumble softly as I make my way up the stairs to bed.

~      ~     ~

“Ha! Where were you? With your boyfriend?” Tommy’s small face appears from his doorway as I pass.

“Oh go to sleep, and for your information, I don’t have a boyfriend.” I push his head gently back into his doorway. “Go.”

“I bet you got in so much trouble. Ha! You missed out on so much.”

 What did I miss out on? Everyone seems to be carrying on. Must be something important, or they are just pulling my leg to make me regret going. Whatever, I’ll probably find out tomorrow.

~      ~      ~

I actually find it hard to get to sleep once I lay my head down on the pillow. So much has happened today, getting styled for an important dinner I didn’t even go to and  missing out on lunch Not to mention walking to Carrie’s on the road, two sick guys trying to get me into their car, telling Sam off, Dad coming and Alex. Alex, the one with the deep green eyes that seem to stare into my soul.

 I rub my hand over my wrist, tracing my barcode. I snap out of my day-dreaming of Alex. Get back to reality, Luna. You’re still owned by the government, everyone is. No matter what, Dad will always have the last say in everything. I feel a change coming though, a very big change.

~      ~     ~

Who the hell put my alarm on?! Being woken at six in the morning isn't exactly a refreshing and joyful experience for me like the people in movies make it out to be. I guess Dad really is serious about this meeting today. I lie in bed another hour trying to sleep off this sore throat I seem to have before making a lifeless effort to move out of bed. So much for sleep in Sunday.

 For about half an hour I roll around on my bed, crinkling the white sheets, before finally waking up enough and standing up. My face scares me, huge bags have appeared under my eyes. A thin scratch traces along my right cheekbone piercing my slightly tanned skin and don't even get me started on my hair. As I struggle to brush it I find that the rain did it no good and has in fact created a bird nest on top of my hair, I soon find one last bobby pin in my hair that I missed last night. The bags under my eyes have ruined my whole look for today, the mindless puffy lumps. I grab a damp towel from my bathroom and dab the bags with it, hoping to make them disappear. There's a gentle knock at the door before I hear my father's voice.