Now, Then and Inbetween

06

taste my disaster
it's heavy on my tongue

R U T H  P O V

As soon as the morons dropped me off at home, my mom was on my ass.

"Where were you?"

"What were you doing?"

"Why is your hair wet?"

When I told her we'd gone swimming, she immediately became concerned. Because she knew it was in my underwear.

"You did WHAT?!"

I told her to chill, that we all went in our underwear, but for some strange reason - and I couldn't possibly imagine why - this made her even more concerned. Eventually Rick stepped in and put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. The only reason she actually calmed down (to my vexation) was when I told her Elias was there. She trusted him, so then it wasn't as big of a deal.

As if I couldn't be trusted.

That was yesterday.

I was now walking into my English class and noticed the only seat left was next to Elias, who immediately started smirking. Louise was sat somewhere in the front.

Great.

I mentally jumped off a bridge before sitting down next to him.

"So, how bad did your mom freak when she found out?" he mused, pulling out his books and pencils.

"Fucking don't even start," I groaned, slumping in my seat after I'd grabbed all my stuff.

I was fuming with firey rage my mother had started in me last night, and I was on the brink of exploding. It annoyed me to no end that she felt she had the right to control every aspect of my life. Every little thing had to go through her for approval.

If my life was a videogame, I would've rage quit by now.

"She's like- ugh, she's so annoying. Don't get me wrong, I love her but God..." I complained, not finishing my sentence.

"What?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow, faking interest. I knew better, but I had to vent or else I'd bash someone's head in before this class was even over. Probably Elias's.

I continued my rant about my mother, well into the lesson. I just quieted my voice so the teacher wouldn't be disturbed. Then I looked ahead as I was talking and noticed I was getting nasty looks from multiple girls.

Confused, I resumed my rant before said looks became more vicious by the second.

I looked to Elias and spoke in a hushed voice. "Is it just me or are there some weird vibes in here?"

He shrugged, looking disinterested. I glanced ahead and finally noticed Michelle.

Ahh, so these were her friends.

It all finally made sense. She was giving me the most vicious look of all and I raised an eyebrow. She sneered at me as she looked between me and Elias.

"Seems your girlfriend is in need of a little lovin'," I subtly grinned, glancing to the side.

"Huh, what?" his eyes set on mine intently, searching my face. "What do you mean?"