The Price of Perfection (editing)

Chapter 16

Dedicated @morina25 because she read and commented on my bff's poem:) THANK U!!!

Well, I'm back.

And nobody noticed. It seemed like so much had happened that just going back to school seemed to normal, so unimportant. But considering it basically decided my whole future, it was pretty important. 

Thinking about that I suddenly remembered it was my birthday in less than a week. A year closer to freedom.

When I turned 18, I had always dreamed of just leaving here and never coming back. Never looking back. But it seemed that that would be a bit harder now. Now that I had ties here.

First of all no matter how much it hurt me I was going to find out more about my dad. Secondly, I suppose Eric and I were kind of friends now. I mean I saw him nearly everyday and it wasn't a bad feeling. I had been avoiding him the past few days, preferring to be alone, but I decided I was going to stop now. It would be good to have someone to talk to.

And finally, the biggest one would have to be SilverSun records. They were based in Galway and I didn't think moving 10 minutes away from here counted as leaving, and anyway I wasn't about to leave a shot at my dream just so I can fulfill a another dream that wasn't realistic in the first place.

So, at least for now, I was stuck here. I was just going to have to see where life lead me and go with it.

Okay, enough sad talk. To cheer myself I got my headphones out and walked down the busy corridor of Oranmore high school. 

Lost in my thoughts I kept walking and didn't realise as I bumped into someone. Actually, two someone's.

"Hey Kate, Emma", I nodded. We had never been the best of friends and now it just seemed pointless. What was the point of wearing fake smiles and pretending to know people just for show? I mean, I didn't know the first thing about these two.

They both looked at each other and then at me. "Hey" Emma said awkwardly. She was the friendlier of the two and looked it, with her soft blond curls falling to her shoulders and innocent looking brown eyes.

Kate was something else though. I'd never met another person like her before. She liked wearing dark clothes but wasn't a goth. She seemed like she was depressed all the time to lots of people but the truth was that she just didn't express her emotions a lot.

She simply looked at me with her piercing grey eyes that were partially hidden behind her black fringe. She didn't really share much about herself and the only person from her life that I had met was her father.

She just gave me a smile that looked anything but sincere and after some small talk they both walked away. I was glad for that, that conversation was nothing if not awkward.

The rest of the day went like that. I kept my head down and out of notice and others didn't notice me. Thankfully I was able to concentrate in class though, I really wanted to catch up. Even though I didn't miss out on much.

The most interaction I got from people was the occasional stare and whisper as people realised I was the girl who got a record deal, or that my apartment burnt down. Usually the latter. 

*               *              *

After school the first place I went to was the shop.  I was surprised to see a closed sign on the door. The shop was usually busiest at this tme because of all the hungry teenagers and children coming home from school. 

I walked around the back door and unlocked it. Sarah (the owner of the shop) knew me long enough to trust me with a pair of keys. After all, she had constantly told me that I was one of the most responsible teenagers she knew. I had met her kids, and trust me I know why she thought that.