Love, Lies and Mistaken Sexual Orientation

Chapter Two

As soon as my last class for the day is over I rush home, eager to escape Alex and his teasing. He seriously pisses me off. All I wanted to do was slap him every time he commented on my unstylish haircut, my manly hoodie and even my handwriting. It is an understatement to say that I am relieved school is over.

I burst through the door of my new house and throw my bag onto the polished white tiles. Running upstairs, I wonder where Corrie is. Probably out doing something active.

She is the complete opposite of my lazy self, her looks just as much as her personality. Corrie has a head full of bouncy brown curls, huge eyes and long eyelashes compared to my straight, especially dark strawberry blonde almost auburn hair (okay, I'm not kidding anyone... It's red) and green eyes. Not only is she very pretty, she has an IQ higher than I can count. Or at least pretty close. Lucky girl

Luck doesn't exist for me, I think as I fall back onto my bed. I blow a few wisps of hair out of my eyes and sigh. There is a pile of homework lying at the bottom of my bag. Who has ever heard of so much homework given to a new kid on their first day? I close my eyes and let my mind drift from the reality of my life at the moment to more trivial, fun matters. Sleep almost overcomes me when I hear the door open and a pair of feet rush up the stairs, two at a time. Corrie runs into my room and jumps on my bed.

"Hey Lara!" my crazy cousin screams. I jump up, shocked and then calm down again. "Want to go for a run?"

"Where do you get so much energy?" I groan. Corrie rolls her eyes and laughs, her curls bouncing up and down.

"Your mum and dad called earlier to ask how your first day at school was" She tells me. My first reaction is to say how bad everything was, minus the nice girls, but then I feel an itch of irritation.

"Why don't they come here and ask me themselves?" I demand.

Sighing, Corrie answers, "You know why."

I frown down at my turquoise bedspread before she adds, "Their business is very important to them. The prospect of branching out in three other countries is an exciting idea."

"More important than me?" I ask, still a little down. Corrie moves over to sit next to me and puts an arm around me.

"No. But I thought you were enjoying these few weeks without any adults around- especially with your favourite cousin!" She grins, back to her usual self. I smile back and agree. "Now, about that run?"

~Next Day~

I wake up early on my second day of school and try to get back into my old routine. I used to go for a run every morning back home, despite my laziness, and going with Corrie yesterday actually helped clear my head. After changing into a pair of yoga pants and a bright pink hoodie, which I refuse to wear anywhere else since it clashes with my hair so badly, I head down the stairs. Corrie is already in the kitchen gulping down some disgusting looking homemade smoothie. She looks at me, surprised, and then grins.

"Going for a run?" she asks, poorly disguising how happy she is that I am finally 'getting over the move'.

"I guess," I reply nonchalantly and Corrie starts washing the remaining green liquid out of her cup, humming happily. Sitting down, I lace up a pair of sneakers and then I head off.

As soon as I open the door, a blast of cool air hits me. Later in the day it will reach anything up to thirty degrees Celsius so I savour it. One good thing about this new place is that it's a ten minute drive from the beach, which will be a definite bonus next summer. Currently it is still the early days of autumn, meaning it will still be warm for another few weeks.