With The Labels

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

I wake up the next morning smiling. Just one day at our new house and my new school has been better than years of my old life. It almost lets me forget the death of dad and all of the other drama that surrounded my life. Almost.

Groggily, I get out of bed. Walking into the bathroom, I brush my teeth and hop in the shower. Once I get out, I curl my hair and apply a coat of mascara to my already curly eyelashes. I slip into a pair of tights, combat boots, and a knee length floral dress from Hollister.

Mom is in the kitchen, with her hair up in a bun, making pancakes. "Morning, hun."

"Morning, mom. Thanks." She hands me a plate of pancakes and I drench them in syrup. I quickly eat the pancakes and make myself a steaming cup of black tea with milk and sugar. I have a couple of minutes before Blake will be picking me up.

"I'm gunna go feed the animals. Have a good day at school." Mom says, walking towards the door.

~

"We have to break the hip bones so we can make the incision." I inform Zeke, who is my lab partner in AP Bio. We are on a dissection unit. Today in double period we are dissecting cats, and thankfully not the cute kind.

Zeke laughs at me, "Care, your interest in skinning and dissecting dead cats is kind of scaring me."

I put on a pair of latex gloves and punch Zeke lightly on the shoulder. "You tell me that you don't find this the least bit interesting. It's kind of cool, in a gross kind of way, you gotta admit."

He rolls his eyes at me. "I guess, Care. Whatever you say."

Behind me I hear Mandy, also in my bio class, let out an obnoxious giggle. Zeke and I make eye contact and roll our eyes, both looking back to see what she is laughing about. Of course, Mandy is lab partners with Blake. They are both laughing, Mandy more than Blake. I can tell his laugh isn't that genuine. He makes eye contact with me and winks. I shake my head and turn back to the lab table.

The bell rings and Zeke and I dispose of the cat. "Well, Zeke, I am happy to say I have officially skinned and dissected a cat with you." We both laugh.

He grins at me, taking off his latex gloves. "Same to you, Caroline." He and I walk out separate directions out of class. It is now lunchtime and it couldn't have come any quicker.

"Care! Wait up!" Someone calls my name in the crowded hallway at school as I walk out of AP Bio. Not sure who was calling me, I continue walking as if nothing had happened. "Care!" Someone runs up behind me, grabbing my shoulders. It was Bella.

"Hey, Bella." I smile at her. We both were on our way to lunch.

"So, I was just wondering if after school today you wanted to have a girls night at my house. Ya know watch movies, play games, paint nails, gossip. I can drive you home after, if you want." To be honest, I had no urge to do anything after school besides hack Penny and maybe take Jack on a walk. But Bella's enthusiasm was contagious and I didn't want to upset her.

"Sure. Sounds like fun." She gives me the biggest grin. I think back to Blake asking me to go to the football game. "Maybe on Friday we all could meet up at the football game, too?"

I swear, she has never looked prouder. "YES! My, Care, my social butterfly skills must be rubbin' off on ya." She gives me a gentle nudge in the shoulder.

"Totally, B." And with that, we walk into the cafeteria to enjoy the one class period where we won't get pestered by teachers.

~

The school day flys by. Most of the teachers hand out homework, but I am able to complete it in lunch and my open period. At lunch I sit with Bella and her friends. They are a genuinely nice group of people. I easily fit into their friend group. I can't wait to hang out with them at the football game. It will be my first time seeing them outside of school. At my old school I had people I talked to, but no one I would really hang out with, besides at parties. I was closer with my barn friends. After his death, though, I kept to myself. I didn't hang out with my school or barn friends as much.

Blake and I would make eye contact a couple of times, but never talked. He's been acting weird ever since the drive to school this morning. We drove in silence and once we got there, he parked the car and practically ran inside. He basically ignored me every time I tried to say hi.

At the end of the day, Blake comes up to my locker with two of his football friends, Will and Luke, by his side. All three of them are dressed in their uniforms. Luke typically sits at the lunch table with Bella and I, and sometimes Will will be there too. I have never seen either of them hang out with Blake besides at football practice.

I close my locker and face the trio. "Hey, guys." I say to all three, but I am only looking at Blake. Will and Luke say hey back, but Blake just stares at me.

"Do you need a ride home, sweet cheeks?" He asks me. He acts like his normal self with the nick names, but doesn't say them like he usually does.

"No. I'm going over to Bella's house." I reply, taking out my phone. I quickly text Bella a 'Be right there'. I was supposed to meet her at her car three minutes ago.

"Good 'cause I have practice all afternoon."

I furrow my brows, noticing that Zeke isn't with them. Usually Blake and Zeke are inseparable, with them being best friends and all. "Where's Zeke?"

Blake snorts. "You should know, huh."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I put my hand on my hip, staring at Blake angrily.

He shrugs and holds his hands up in defense. "You guys have been talking a lot lately, thats all." I roll my eyes. I am allowed to have my own guy friends. "Look, forget I said anything. See you later." The trio walks away and I roll my eyes. It was time to forgot about them and have fun with Bella.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope you enjoyed. This was my third time rewriting this chapter :/ Thanks for over 100 reads on WTL

Pictured to the side is Graham Phillips who plays Zeke