Love Triangle

Welcome back to school.

My alarm clock rings at 7:40 am. Shit! I thought I had set it for 6:45 am. What the hell? I scurry out of bed and Michelle pokes her blonde head into my room. She’s all dressed up and ready to go.

“Hey sleeping beauty. Woke up late on the first day of school? I wonder why.” She smiles mischievously and flicks her long hair as she leaves. I fume where I’m standing. She must have reset my alarm clock! I’m so gonna get her back for this. I have only ten minutes left before Lucie leaves for work and I have to follow her. And it is not fun taking the bus. I take a very brief shower which really upsets me because the water is so warm. I brush my hair and pull it into a ponytail but as usual, a few stubborn brown tendrils curl at my temples. I hate when this happens. I grab a black Alice band and put it on. There. All good.I wear my outfit for the day: a small, white, bare midriff shirt, a short black skirt paired with black pantyhose and tiger striped flats. I have to admit that I do look good. Maybe even as good as SabrinaWells on a normal day, but let me not get ahead of myself too much. I grab my phone and backpack and I go downstairs. The time is 7:45 and I have just five minutes to eat and feed my little Chihuahua, Arielle. Michelle watches me with mock satisfaction and I ignore her.

“Ari! Arielle sweetie, where are you?” I call as I don’t see my Arielle in her usual cozy spot. I search the large sitting room and I hear a honk outside.

“Nadine! Hurry up, I’m leaving!” My aunt shouts from outside. “Coming, Auntie! I can’t find Arielle!” I shout back and I see my aunt look frustrated. “Forget the dog and just come. We can leave her with our neighbor. It’s not like she’s gonna die.” I feel upset. I don’t like anyone but me taking care of my little Ari. The last time our little female neighbor had fed her, she gave her all the wrong things and Ari was sick for weeks. I hear a tiny little woof and I see my beautiful Arielle running towards me and I’m immediately uplifted. I grab her and caress her fur and I give her her favorite food.

“You like that don’t you, Ari-boo.” I say and tickle her tummy.

“Nadine Danielle Bellerose!” My aunt shouts and she must be really angry. She never calls my full name unless she’s mad. I peck Arielle lightly on the cheek and quickly drop her off at Mrs. Morgan, our dog-loving elderly neighbor. I run to my aunt who shakes her head and starts the car and drives off. Michelle sits in silence by my side till I get a phone call from Holden. Actually it’s Hunter but if Lucie knows that I’m still in contact with Hunter, she’ll skin him alive. Well she won’t but she might as well cause him harm.

“Hi Holden.” I grin as I answer with the pseudonym. Lucie narrows her brown eyes at me through the rear view mirror and Michelle smiles mischievously at me.

“Hi yourself.” Hunter says and I can picture him smiling his boyish grin. “Is your sister there?” He asks and I frown. Why is he asking after Michelle? Oh, yeah. Their date.

“Yeah, she is.” I say curtly. Hunter doesn’t say anything and after a few seconds he asks me why I am jealous and that I don’t trust him. How dare he! I’m not jealous. I just feel it’s really inappropriate for him to go out with my sister. And I trust him. I just don’t trust HER.

“You know I’m in love with you.” He says and I can’t help but smile goofily. Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe he’s just gonna hang out with her.

“Yeah, I do.” I sigh and twirl my brown lock.       

“Okay. So tell her that I won’t be able to make it for our date.” He says and I sit up, a feeling of glee warms my body.

“You won’t? Why?” I ask but I really don’t care why. The bottom line is he’s not gonna go out with my sister! Yippee!

“I actually mentioned the date to Damien and he asked if he could go instead of me.” Hunter says simply and I feel uncomfortable all of a sudden. I don’t fancy the idea of Michelle being alone with Damien for a few hours. But Michelle’s a pretty smart girl. She’d be able to handle herself. “He’ll pick her up after school.”