THREE DAYS LATE
'You thought it was real didn't you?'
'It's a wonder you can walk this morning'
'Did he tell you that you were pretty? That you were special?'
The words tear at my brain as my sneakers tear up the track. I'm on my third lap of the school track and usually I would just be getting started but already my legs are burning and I'm struggling for breath.
Not only is my body ugly it's also useless, it can't even run the way I want it to and I can't keep control of my mind as over and over it spirals back to that morning.
Closing my eyes I dig deep and attempt to finish the lap but just as I hit full speed my ankle buckles and I hit the ground hard, crying out at the force of the impact and then hating myself as tears again begin to fall.
I pull my knees up to my chest and just give in to the sobs that have haunted my every second since the revelations in the hallway. The truth about Travis wrapping its self around my heart like a claw and squeezing it tight
It was a plan...
None of it was real
Not the way he touched me, not the things he said to me, part of me wonders if what he told me about his father was true or whether it was just another lie to get into my pants.
I sob loudly as I remember how beautiful and perfect that moment had seemed and then how easily it had been forgotten by Travis as he stood silently in the hallway smirking down at me and what he'd done as his friends destroyed me and my reputation in front of the entire school.
"Miss. Swift" I look up and see Mr. Quinn, our Drama teacher standing in front of me looking over his blue designer glasses, his blond hair sculpted into some fasionable design I have seen European soccer players wear. He's 26 and loves the attention his age and looks gets him from the girls in our school.
"I'm okay, I just tripped and I'm being such a girl by crying over it" I blurt out and then sniff loudly as if to make my point
"Are you hurt?" I shake my head but if only he knew the truth, if only he knew that inside I'm smashed into a million pieces.
He reaches out to offer me his hand and I take it, pushing myself to my feet and then brushing myself down.
"I uh, I heard the rumours about you and Travis Kelce" I feel my face burn once again at the memory "Damaged people damage people Taylor, a boy like Travis will never know how to treat a woman like you, it's for the best that you stay away from him"
I nod, knowing what he's saying is true. Travis is damaged and he damages everyone he comes into contact with in one way or another, but stay away from him? How can I when he is in my blood, creeping through my veins like some kind of disease.
"Oh and Taylor..."
I had been too consumed by my thoughts of Travis to realise Mr. Quinn has begun to walk away but he turns back and shoots me a huge smile
"A beautiful girl like you shouldn't be exercising in a sweatshirt and sweatpants on a morning like this, maybe try shorts and a tank top next time" he winks at me and an uneasy feeling washes over me but then he's gone and I'm left alone on the track looking down at my oversized black sweat shirt and my track pants that now hang loose from my hips. I smile, inspired by the fact the running is helping, my clothes are looser and then decide to celebrate with a few more laps of the track
*****************
I fuckin hate my dad!
Half a bottle of whiskey and God knows how many beers in he decided to take my car out, when I woke up this morning the bumper was hanging off, windscreen smashed and two flat tyres . Safe to say I don't have the money to repair it so with my guitar slung over my shoulder I'm now walking home from school.
