The Obstacles of Love

Chapter ten

I’m standing in front of the mirror looking at myself, just as nervous as the first day of school. I'm wearing my sweater dress with leggings again. It's almost too cold to wear it. I was going to miss it.

            I sigh as I pin one side of my hair back. It was going to be a long day and maybe even a long week. Or… maybe even a long school year.

            It was Monday and the first day that I would be seeing Mary after what happened the other night. I was worried that she would lash out at me. Maybe wait until I am segregated from the group and trip me down a flight of stairs. Or... maybe she would just snicker every time I tried to say something in class. Something was coming though.

            I have no idea how she is going to make my life miserable… but I know she will. There is no way she will forgive me. I took away the boy that she wanted (and thought she almost had). Then I took away her friends only a few days later. Also, she probably wasn’t going to be pleased that her pretty face was going to have a bruise on it.

            I frown. Johnny has a bruise as well. His isn’t as bad. He’s a lot taller than me making it harder for me to put my full strength into hitting him. Also, I didn’t even try to hit him as hard as I hit Mary. I mean I knocked her out. The only reason Johnny has any mark at all is because his skin is so pale.

            I am not looking forward to see his mark in its fully formed state. I knew it would make me feel guilty again. Johnny had called me last night and we talked until midnight. That showed me that we were completely past what happened. We weren’t going to let it affect our relationship. It was a lot of misunderstandings and hopefully we would learn from it. Only, seeing what I did to his beautiful face, I knew it would bring back that guilt.

            After I put my shoes on I know there is nothing else I can do to get ready. Johnny will be here any minute to pick me up. I could call out sick, but I would still have to face Mary’s wrath at some point. I’d rather it be now then her think I’m afraid of her. That would only make her worse. She would think she had the upper hand, when really I did. I had Katie, Miles and Johnny all on my side. They knew her weaknesses, self-doubts and phobias. If it came to fighting fire with fire I would destroy her.

            The idea of attacking Mary after everything I had already done to her made me shiver. It also made my stomach twist. I would never want it to come to that. However, there is no way she is going to let go of the fact that I took almost everything from her lightly.

            I can hear Johnny’s car pull into the driveway. I was happy he brought the car and not the motorcycle but I still thought, time to go, with a frown. I look at myself one more time. My mother would offer to let me stay home but she would also tell me not to be afraid of a petty creature like Mary.

            Pickles is sitting on my bed so I scratch behind her ear and then leave my room. I shout goodbye to Sara and Tom and wave to Johnny as I head to the car. He waves back with a smile. He is so cute and he is all mine.

            I climb into the car and he leans over to give me a kiss. I wrap my arms his neck. He can tell by my blush when he pulls away that I intended on keeping him there. “As much as I would like to make out with you we need to get to school.”

            I blush deeper and shake my head. My hands are already in my lap. “I wasn’t thinking about that.” It’s a lie and you can hear it in my voice.

            Johnny laughs. “Sure.”

            He backs out of the driveway still smiling. I don’t look up from my hands as we drive down my road.