hellbound; cory | ACKLEY BRIDGE

SHELLSHOCK

┍━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┑
need you to cleanse my sins
so i can go to school
┕━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┙

ever since — well, ever since that night, the night of chloe's birthday, my life had been flipped upside down. i feel like i say that a lot, but i guess i'm on a constant loop-de-looping fucking rollercoaster and it doesn't seem i'm getting out anytime soon.

let's talk about care homes, shall we? well, there's not much i could tell you about them other than i had refused kicking and screaming and quite frankly i was not the most deserving case for one.  social services had been in lengthy contact with my dad and were making regular visits, so him and i were practically under house arrest — but not in care. and i could live with that.

on top of that, i'd come to the conclusion that mrs paracha was the most amazing woman in the world. she was stopping by weekly with delicious food and just being the kindest person ever, and with that she would bring nas and razia along with her which meant i was getting closer with the both of them.

i hadn't had a sober christmas in years. december 2017 was a first, and in fact, the best.  it was spent with the paracha's and booth's — hayley was home! — eating kebabs (not quite traditional, but still amazing) and it was also the first i'd spent with my dad home in a long, long time. him and i weren't exactly on the best of terms, but it was christmas. 'tis the season to be jolly and all that — the only thing that was missing was those beloved brothers. one of whom i was incredibly angry at.

*

"i'ma very good, no?!" kaneez paracha exclaimed happily, sat in the drivers seat of the car she'd just tried to murder us (and anyone nearby) in. us three girls looked at each other in the back of the car, and i couldn't tell if i was going to throw up from motion sickness or die of laughter.

"the best, mrs paracha. i bet miss can't wait to take you out again," missy replied sarcastically, and i hit her knee jokingly.

miss keane breathed out slowly, like she was savouring the fact she was still somehow alive. "today was a one off!" she stated, getting out the car as quickly as possible.

"for the record, mrs paracha, i think you did...smashing," i smiled, hastily making my way out from the middle seat.

"oh, yes, very funny!" she shouted through the window.

"what's the joke?" riz had appeared, walking next to me as he bounced a ball up and down on the floor.

"your footie skills, mate, i'd stick to the rugby if i were you."

"not quite as good as me though, hey?" cory's voice came out of nowhere, behind me. instantly my stomach had butterflies, it was like i had a secret crush on him that i couldn't tell anyone about (the exact opposite really, practically the whole school knew that cory and i were a 'kind of' thing).

"haven't seen me since before christmas, and the first thing you do is gloat," i smiled, turning around to see his hair not quite styled, flopping into his eyes and a slight bit of stubble on his face, but still the same gorgeous smile. he was a heartthrob, him. i hugged him quickly, pecking his cheek but deep inside me wishing we could stay in each other's arms for the rest of the day, bin off school and keep each other company.