The Price of Perfection (editing)

Chapter 5

This chapter is dedicated to SlytherinGirl1234 for being an awesome friend and writing awesome stories :)

Eric

Over a week had passed, and still every time he closed his eyes, he saw that one image.

Jade

Over a week had passed, and still I stood there uncertain. With a card in my hand and phone in the other.

Eric

All he could see was those eyes. Mistrusting. Wary. Spiteful. Angry. And above all, Sad. There was a deepness to them that made him finally believe that the eye could truly be the window to the soul. If so, she was sad. Not in the way he called his friends when they drooled over every girl that waved in their general direction, but in a way that made it seem like something sad had happened to her and she had never gotten over it. He was completely entranced.

Jade

Setting the things down for the hundredth time this week, I lightly traced over the already fading scar on my hand and not for the first time, I thought of that guy...what was his name? oh yeah, Eric. It wasn't that there was something 'oh so special about him that just makes me want to flutter my eyelids at him like a madwomen' - seriously, I'm not that low. But nevertheless, I still couldn't forget him. I kept thinking about those warm brown eyes, so different to my mother's cold empty brown ones. I kept playing back when he smiled, nothing like the humourless, creepy one of Connor's. Taking one more look down at the SilverSun card, I sighed in frustration and realised that I still couldn't do it. After all this time in search of the perfect life, I finally found it, and I wasn't ready. This is embarrassing.

I sighed and leaned back on my bed. It was just wide enough to fit me on it and if it was any wider I wouldn't have had room to move around. I hated it it here. The white washed walls loomed over me and made me feel claustrophobic. Besides, I barely had any belongings, and looking at the almost empty room, it just doesn't feel like it's mine.

Knowing I couldn't survive another moment in this hell, I pulled on a loose hoody and walked outside. The one thing I liked about this town - probably the only thing - was that the air was clean. Where I used to live a few years ago had terrible pollution and all you could breath in was fumes. Here, though, the air smelt like a mixture of the ocean and grass. Taking a deep breath, I continued on my way.

There was one place I always went on days like these, days where I thought I just couldn't stand my life any longer. So paying the absolutely worth it 90 cent bus fare, I arrived at a small picturesque village. Oranmore, that's what it's called. A pretty name for a pretty village. There was a primary school behind the AstroTurf to my right and behind it was a pretty big secondary school (that's high school by the way), and there was a line of old style shops to my left. But I wasn't here to admire the beauty of the village, so after thanking the the bus driver I kept walking on.

As I walked, I constantly looked around. Despite having been here 100's of times, I still couldn't help but compare it to the town I lived in. Tuam was a dilapidated town, but it did it's best to hide that. If you looked further than the traditional Irish bars and few historical monuments, you would see bins overflowing with rubbish; people passes out in backstreets; sneers of passer-by's desperately clutching at their purses or wallets; old, falling-apart apartments, like the one I was living in. Sure there were some nice houses, but they were dead expensive and most were empty.

Finally reaching my favourite place in the world, a wide smile broke out over my face. The sea looked gorgeous as the sun was setting and the sky was awash with colour, the most prominent being red. I tugged at my ponytail, making it come out. Since I was right beside the sea, it was always windy here. I loved it. Feeling happy for the first time in months, I spread out my arms and laughed. It sounded so unfamiliar that it made me pause for a second. It's not that I never laughed, it's just usually it sounds so... empty compared to this. I stood there for a few more moments, determined to enjoy every last bit of this. I felt so free. I suddenly froze when I heard a voice.

"You look nice when you laugh"

Eric's P.O.V. ( 2 hours before)

"C'mon guys, just leave me alone" I was grateful my voice came out steady.

"You still owe us something...", one of them growled. I was just walking down to my house from the newsagents when I decided to take the long way. I had come right through one of the worst neighbourhoods in Tuam and stupidly hadn't bothered to take off my glasses. I usually didn't wear them, I just needed them for reading and I didn't want to get the wrong newspaper. Things were bad enough at home as it was.

One of them roughly grabbed my shirt, pulling me away from my daydream. I recognised him as Conner Grainy. Great! Just the person I wanted to see, I thought while inwardly rolling my eyes. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He pushed me back and luckily I didn't fall on any broken glass.

Raising my hand I wiped my thumb across her cheek. She froze and blushed, looking away from me and towards her leg. I didn't realise what I was doing and I cleared my throat as I tried to avoid her gaze.

A kick to my side reminded me where I was and I cursed. Another landed a kick to my face, knocking aside my thick black glasses and breaking them. " So Harry Potter, can you wish yourself outta this". After another few kicks and a punch to my gut that made me cough up blood later, I thought back to anything that might have provoked them. But finding nothing I realised that people here just started fights because they were bored.

I knew I couldn't do anything  about it. There was about six of them and only one of me. But even so, I was angry, and angry people tend to make mistakes.

They stood back laughing as I struggled to get up. I was about to spit out some more blood filled saliva when I thought there might be a better use for it. After getting up on shaky legs, I walked over to Connor and as he raised a surprised eyebrow, I spit on his face. Before anyone had a chance to react I stomped on his foot making him lean over and then knee him on the chin, sending his head flying back.. Running away would have been the better option but I wasn't thinking straight. And anyway, it was only a matter of time before the caught up. I took a few steps back as the rest of Connor's crew looked at each other, as if they couldn't believe someone had just dared to do that.

"Don't just stand there! Get him!" I was about to laugh at the cliche line when a punch to my face knocked me to the ground. What they had done before was nothing compared to this. I'm pretty sure a few teeth came loose. I didn't even bother fighting back and bleakly thought I was going to die when a police siren sounded nearby. The boys looked at each other and took off running.

Turns out the police car turned off at a different street but I wasn't going to call them back. Running away while I had the chance, I reached the bus on the nick of time as the next bus for Oranmore was just about to leave. I bought a ticket and sat at the back wishing I had brought a hoody to cover up my bleeding face as a few people looked in my direction.