No Guidelines

Chapter 16

16, Dec. 2015 Wed
Audrey

A week and a half went by since she last spoke to Natalie in full. There were moments of Natalie trying to reach out, even through Jacob but Audrey just ignored it. She spent the last week at school hiding out from everyone, not wanting to face anyone. Everyone she saw seemed to laugh or snicker when she passed by. Chris even tried to talk to her but she gave him the cold shoulder.

She never had to deal with this when she was a nobody. Nobody saw her. Even when they did it was just a small hello, not barf noises. Some girl she never talked to passed her a note in Econ asking Is it true you threw up giving Chris head? Audrey's face scrunched up in anger and embarrassment. She crumpled up the paper, gathered her stuff and left. She recalled the event, and regretted making a scene out of it. Everyone watched her and a group of girls that sent the note were silently laughing to themselves.

The past week was pretty much like that. She couldn't say if it was that bad in the beginning of the week because she feigned sickness to skip a day or two.If it were up to her she would have skipped the rest of the semester. Start over next year. Maybe no one would remember her. She would dye her hair black and keep a low profile. But she liked her brown hair and her mother wouldn't let her skip a whole two weeks. Even if she did, her mother would have been mad that they returned the plane ticket. Audrey was glad about that. She didn't want to go anyway even if she decided not to do the winter play. She was looking forward to being alone all break. After a semester of pretending to be someone she wasn't, she needed a social break.

Today she sat in the nurse's office. Looz and Sam were aware of where she was but understood she wanted to be alone. She was laying down on her back, hands on her stomach and music in her ears. She was back where she belonged. Alone in the dark. here she knew at least she'd be home soon and she didn't have to deal with any of this.

Suddenly a hand touched her ankle. It startled her but it was just the Nurse. Audrey removed an earphone to hear what she had to say.

"How are you doing sweetheart?" She asked.

"okay." she replied with an empty tone.

"If you were, you wouldn't be here." She looked at her with concern in her eyes. Audrey didn't know what to reply with that. "Someone is here to see you." She left and from around the corner Adrian took her place. Audrey sat up in surprise.

"How'd you know I was here?"

"Looz told me," he said. He sat beside her. Audrey rolled her eyes. So much for being alone. Then again, seeing Adrian was a pleasant surprise for her. "How are you holding up?" He asked.

"How much have you heard about what happened?" She asked.

He rubbed his neck and gave a half-laugh. "Enough to know whatever people are talking about is bull. Depending on who you ask, something different happened."

Audrey did not need to know that. she let out an exhausted sigh.

"Oh. Sorry. ignore me," he said.

Audrey fell on her side. "It's fine. Just two more days and I'll never have to see anyone again."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked. He sounded worried.

"Winter break of course."

"Oh... yeah." you could hear relief in his voice. Audrey turned her body so she could see him. "What did you think I meant?"

"I just thought maybe you were going to leave. switch schools or something."

"I thought about it. But Looz and Sam would miss me—or rather—I'd miss them."

"And I, You.'' He was sitting up straight and tapping his fingers along the top of his thighs. This was enough to have Audrey lift her body up slightly, putting her weight on to her left arm.

"You'd miss me?"

"Of course! Team 22 remember? out of everyone I met this year you're the one I'm closest to."

Audrey could feel her cheeks warm up. For a moment, the world didn't seem so dark any more. She was stunned silent and eventually fell back on the bed with her hands on her stomach again, tapping her fingers.

He got up and moved to the otherside of the bed and laid down next to her. He didn't stare at her, instead they both looked up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry all this happened to you."

Him saying that broke the trance of happiness. Reality seeped into this brief moment of serenity she had with him. She was still happy to be this close with him but now her mind was on other things. She sighed. "It's fine. One day I really will leave all this behind. go somewhere to be alone. start over."

"Sounds depressing."

"N-no... It'd be nice. Like, Sometimes i fantasize about being on my own island. Just me. It's peaceful and none of the tribulations of life get in the way of me enjoying the things I love."

"Sounds lonely...But I guess I've had thoughts like that too," he said. He seemed solemn. A silence fell between the two until he spoke.

"Well, If you ever decide to leave I'll join you."

She nudged his side and he chuckled it off. "Ow! what was that for?" He exclaimed. She found herself smiling again. "The point is to be alone," she said.

"We could be alone together. I mean think about it! We could write our books and make fun of those movie adaptations. You can be the breadwinner and I'll clean the house."

"We're playing house now? and why do I have to work?" She couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous he was sounding. hearing his laugh was cheering her up.

"Because we have to defy social norms and all that jazz."

She nudged her body on his. "You're such a dork, I swear!" And just like that, Adrian Made things right in the world. Only they existed in their fantasy as they stared up into the ceiling imagining a future together. Oh how this boy meant so much to her.

Authors note
Hey!! Been a while! How are you? I hope you have been writing or practicing your craft! I know I have a little at least in my absence! I believe in you even if you don't believe in yourself! I can't wait to see what you accomplish so just go ahead and take that leap of faith in yourself!

Over the next few days I'm going to upload the rest of the story. Whether it's good or not (spoiler. It's not) because I now know what I'm trying to say with No Guidelines in its whole (it will be a trilogy). I now understand fully why I want to tell this story and why Audrey and Natalie are the main characters. I understand why it must be told. I just hope you all will like it when it's done. Here's hoping by next year it will be fully realized but for now enjoy the rest of this first draft!

Songs
Name: Artist
Anything You Need: Low Roar