Oh, Heather

Chapter Fifteen

Heather landed dramatically on her bed, her phone in hand.

“She just aggravates me.” She complained, leaving out a few details from class.
“She aggravates everyone. Just try and get your work done and pay like no attention to her.”
“I have to work with her, though.”
“Don’t you do most of the work, anyway?”
“She helps. Sometimes.”
“Exactly. So just make it look like she’s working, but you do all of it. That way, you don’t have to deal with her, but you still get the work done.”
“But I hate chemistry. And not only that, she answers most of the questions I have.” She said.

“Then just ask her questions when you need them.” She said.
“But what if I didn’t hear the teacher?”
“You think she will? It seems like you’re trying to work with her.” Miley accused.
“What? No. I hate her. That was the purpose of this call. I hate being around her and I want nothing to do with her.”
“Okay then.” Miley replied.
“I have to go with my moms to the store, so bye Heather!”
“Bye Miley.”

Heather nervously bit her nail, more bothered than she should have been by Miley’s comment. That next morning, she reluctantly walked to school, wasting as much time as she could. She usually enjoyed school, but Jada had been making her days insufferable for many reasons. She blew her way through her classes, trying her best to ignore Jada in all of them. When she made it to chemistry, Jada didn’t show up. It went by much slower than she had hoped, but not having Jada to pester her made the class itself much more entertaining. She made it home to find her mom gone and Matthew laid out on the couch.

“Hey Heather. Your mom went to the store.”
“For what?” She asked.
“Groceries. I gave her some money.” Matthew answered.
“You couldn’t have gone with her?” She said.
“Corey did.” He replied.
“Why didn’t you go with them?”
“Your mom told me to wait for you.”

“She could’ve stayed and you could’ve gone.” She said.
“You don’t like me that much, huh?” He asked.
“I never said that.”
“The way you’re acting says you don’t.” He said.
“I’m not gonna immediately like you just because you're dating my mom.” She replied.
“We’re just friends.”
“Please,” She scoffed.

She rolled her eyes and walked quickly back to her room, refusing to hear another word from Matthew. She sat on the side of her bed, picking up a book from underneath her nightstand. She sat straight up against the wooden headboard, flipping the pages between her fingers. The front door opened loudly, the sound of her mother’s heels scraping against the tile of the kitchen.

“Heather, can you come help get the bags from the car?” Alyssa called.
“Yeah!” She called back, putting her book face down on her bed.

She grabbed a few bags from Alyssa’s car, setting them on the counter. She put up a few of the cans, as well as whatever went into the fridge, leaving the rest for the others to put up. She picked back up her book, placing her back up against the headboard. She had re-read the book several times before, but it gave the lovers a happy ending and that was all she wanted. She was proud of who she was. She had an accepting mom, she knew her friends wouldn’t care. But there’s a difference between being comfortable and being out. Being out was terrifying to Heather. She didn’t know how the students at her school would react. They were seniors, but they had the maturity of junior high kids. She didn’t care much about people’s opinions, but that didn’t mean getting bullied for something she couldn’t control wouldn’t affect her. She finished her book, putting it back in its spot. She looked out of her window to the sunset, listening to the sound of the light autumn rain tapping against her window.
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This is a bit longer, I tried my best.