𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐀𝐂 ♬✼:* hunter sylvester

shards of hope

shards of hope ｡･:*:･ﾟ★ Chapter 8

3 ᵈᵃʸˢ ˡᵃᵗᵉʳ 

I gripped Lyra and Clarren's hands, practically trembling with anxiety as I clicked on the mail icon on my dusty laptop. I scrolled through TV and store deal emails, the ones with no good, expired coupons-- searching for anything with the subject line of Berklee College of Music, acceptance letter, or even a 'congrats, June Schlieb!'. But I saw nothing, save for the email from the school, the subject title alone was already expressing their disappointment with my vandalism thingy. I could almost feel the hope slither away from Clarren and Lyra's grip on my hands.

Groaning with disappointment, I theatrically fell back on my herd of pillows, almost wanting to burry myself away. There's nothing like psyching yourself up, only to be brought crumbling back down.

"Hey. Don't let this get you down, okay?" Lyra joined me on my pillow stack of misery, giving me a encouraging smile. "You've still got some time to get that acceptance letter."

I swiftly sat up with  a trickle of hope. Hope was the only thing I could hold onto, as well as my multiple prayers-- well, pleads-- to the Lord himself, considering I only had mere months left till' the end of senior year, and I'd always seen Laurie praying, so I thought I'd give it a shot. She'd pray so much He must've been on speed dial.

 I had to be accepted into this school. I applied late because of my lack of decidedness, and am now paying the ultimate price.  

"Why don't we go down and check the mail, huh? They might've sent the letter in there."

Clarren sighed and slumped down on top of me, squishing me back in my pit of hopelessness. "If they had sent a letter, they would've sent an email too. They aren't that old fashioned."

"But-"

Lyra put a finger to my lips, cutting me off. "Shhhh. Don't drive yourself crazy, please, for our sake." She pulled my computer onto her lap, clicking off of the emails. "Okay, who wants to play dress up games?"

I rolled my eyes as she typed 'girl games' into the search bar. "We should be picking a song for the Battle of The Bands."

"Sureee, but playing makeover games helps my motivation flow."

"I didn't even know you had a motivation flow."

"It comes and goes." Lyra grinned childishly, scrolling through the pink, eye-damaging game icons, where Disney princesses were fashioned in hideous gowns.

The heat of of being sandwiched between a teenage girl and mass of pillows-- as well as the newfound sense of desperation and wondering if I'll ever get accepted into that goddamned school--  was starting to creep up my skin, so I shoved Clarren off of me, getting up from the bed.

"Where are you goin?" Clare asked, sliding down from the bed to the carpeted floor like nosey cat-- or a concerned mother.

"Getting water, mom." I flashed an innocent smile, digging up what was left of my normal-ness. Disappointment was one of those emotions that hit me like a bug on a windshield, and I couldn't stand to be around others, because I may very well cry. And the thought of how pathetic it was to be crying over the letter was going to make me cry even more. Fucking fantastic.

Right before the first tear could roll out, and before I could fully enter the kitchen's threshold, I spotted Kevin and Hunter by the back door, clearly about to leave.

"And where is it you two are off to?" I leaned on a nearby doorframe, avoiding any kind of eye contact with the long-haired boy, who was clearly giving me annoyed glances.

Kevin looked over to Hunter, and then back at me with parted lips, "Oh... you didn't hear?"

I was rudely cut off, and my reluctant attention turned to Hunter, who looked to be in somewhat of a hurry-- and not the excited kind of hurry, I gathered.

"Obviously she didn't hear-- or maybe she's decided not to go. Let's just go and get this shit over with." He was almost halfway out the door.

"Alright, alright." Kev muttered, watching as the other boy walked off, towards a parked car on the side of the road.

I just stood there in obvious confusion.

He sighed. "There's this party... everyone's invited apparently, and... I don't know..."

I simply glanced over to the boy sitting in the car. "He seems to be jumping with joy for that idea."

"Hey, what if you just come along? I know you don't have anything better to do."

With a scoff, I defensively folded my arms across my chest. "And how do you know that?"

Out of nowhere, Lyra popped her head out from the hallway door frame, "June, we were literally playing princess game a second ago, let's just go."

"Oh my God, have you been eavesdropping or something?" I whipped my head around. "And, no, I'm not in the mood."

"Oh, please, please, please, June... I'm so bored." Clare suddenly joined Lyra's side, propping her arm over the teen girl's shoulder.

I rubbed at my forehead, realizing this might be my best bet at just forgetting about the acceptance letter for a while. A chance to let loose. Crying in the kitchen by myself, forced to deal with all my feelings  wouldn't have gotten me very far, and at least at a party I could just get buzzed out of my mind, where those feelings wouldn't even be able to touch me. I just shrugged, and next thing I knew, I was in an old, red tank top, and squished into the back seat of Hunter Sylvester's car-- that probably cost more than a local college tuition. I thought about digging my nail into the leather seat as payback for the stunt he pulled at the convenience store, and, well, everything else he's done to inconvenience me-- but decided against it, mostly because he would often glance at me through the rear view mirror, almost every two minutes. Yes, I was counting at that point.