I hated walking past my old secondary school. Just even the smell of it and a glimpse of those grey concrete blocks would fill me with fear and anxiety.
It was a prison to me, a place where I had been not my best self and consistently bullied from year 7 onwards - mostly for being 'different' – listening to Twenty One Pilots and Avril Lavigne and dyeing my hair black. God, people were shallow and judgmental. But today I had to do it. Nadia was super busy styling for Grazia magazine (again) and sent me on this mission to drop off clothes at our store - Punk Rose. This wasn't the only way, but I wasn't about to pay for a tube or taxi to avoid it so, here goes.
Suddenly the bubbling chatter of familiar voices began crawling uninvited into my brain over the sound of wheels grinding over the pavement behind me. Hang on a second. I knew those people gathered in front of the school. They were my friends!
Well, not exactly.
They were people I went to secondary school with, who I hadn't kept in touch with since last summer when we all graduated but... anyway, here they were. Where was my invite?! Everyone had nice dresses and suits on. I could see them all holding papers. They seemed to be exchanging cards.
Catching a glimpse of a guy I dated back in year 11, I got up the courage to walk over to him, tap him on the shoulder and say hey. Nothing. I tried once more.
"Hey, Aaron! Good to see you again!" But sure enough: no reply. He didn't even turn around. Nobody seemed to notice I was here. Was this a dream? Then there was Ella, who I shared English classes with during our GCSEs. She also ignored me. Was I even real? Had I died? Was I a ghost? One last time, I tried to say hello to somebody before deciding to walk away.
I guess nothing changed huh?
Kicking up pebbles and dragging the suitcase along with me, I joked to myself as I dawdled around the park just next to the school entrance; completely forgetting about the clothes. In a way it was kind of comforting - to be isolated, alone. Rejection didn't have to hurt, it could be empowering. One door closes, another opens. Haha, yeah right, I thought, stopping my overly positive thoughts right there in their tracks before I got too carried away.
That's when it happened.
***
"Come on, it'll be fun!"
Two Instagram model girls with their bleach-blonde overly shiny hair, fake-tanned skin, lip fillers and designer clothes came over to me smiling.
"Alright love?" The taller of the two linked arms with me. "Fancy coming to a party tonight? Looks like you could do with some fun you do!" She winked at me, already dragging me along with them towards a red Porsche parked on the side of the road. What party? I kept thinking, not saying a word. Why would these kind of girls ever want anything to do with someone like me? The plain and boring local Angel of Islington weirdo: Callie Rose...
Panic started pounding in my chest - sensing a kidnap, or worse, a murder approaching.
"I- I'm alright," I muttered. "I'm actually kinda busy right now, working, sorry..." I hoped they would just let me go. Guess this is what I get for slacking off! The critical voice inside my head kicked me.
"Oo where you working?" The shorter girl chirped in.
"Ah, nothing fancy. Just a clothing store." I faked a smile.
"We could give you a lift there on the way?" The taller girl suggested.
"Umm..." I hesitated. Didn't they get the message yet?
"Well, if you don't fancy coming with us, ya don't have to, but here's an invite anyway!" Tall model girl handed me a small white invite card framed by manicured fake nails and continued, "Think there's someone who might want you to be there!" The tall girl winked again, adjusting her red velvet handbag on her shoulder.
Suddenly with the pressure taken off, plus the fear of having to walk back past my school, I was so tempted. Tempted to just get in their car and not have to face my shame or embarrassment anymore. Or my past. And I was feeling lazy. And a little reckless.
"Are you sure it's okay to take me past my work first?"
They both smiled.
"Yeah, no problem babe!" The shorter one unlocked the Porsche with the button on her keys and started walking round to get into the driver seat. "The party's starting around 6, we got time!"
"What time's your shift until?" The taller one asked, flicking her dyed blonde hair over her shoulder with those long red nails and leaving the door open for me to get in first.
"Oh it's for my shop... I don't have a shift today, I just need to drop off this suitcase of clothes," I heaved, struggling to lift Nadia's trusty purple suitcase onto the backseat. Quickly, before I could change my mind, I slid in next to the baggage, arm holding it in place.
"Okay, no worries love! We'll take you there. What's the address?"
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We Really Need To Stop // ImAllexx
Romance[ ImAllexx x OC ] When Callie gets a message from Alex, she never expected it to lead to this. But she does something terrible that drives everyone she loves away from her, including Alex. Can she overcome her demons and win the boy of her dreams ba...
