Fix Me

Chapter 16.

*****

I sat in English barely paying attention. It was Friday and I was pretty tired. I didn't even have the 'it's Friday' relief considering that I had work right after school. Maybe everyone was right and I shouldn't have taken the bartending job, but I needed the money now more than ever if I was somehow going to get my savings back. Though, I wasn't sure what I was saving for anymore...

I hadn't looked up once in class, I could feel staring but I didn't want to find out who it was. I was too tired to think about what was wrong with me, what was making them stare. Damien seemed to have finally gotten over his weirdness and was leaving me alone, it was a lot harder to avoid Mr Creed though... I guess I didn't trust him yet, and I probably wouldn't be able to, I kept wondering what it is he wanted from me, Natalie along with him. They both made me feel weird like it was okay to be around them but I still needed to keep my guard up, just in case they were pretending. He had been driving me to work every day, he insisted. Usually I would walk to the park after school and he would go home before picking me up later to drive me to work. I guess I didn't mind, it gave us time to talk and hang out, I had learnt that he was actually studying music while he taught at the school, so we had that interest in common. He even offered to teach me how to play the guitar, which I was actually really excited about. He usually forced food on me when he drove me though, apparently I was 'too skinny' and it 'freaked' him out.

"Hannah?"

"Huh?" I asked snapping out of my dazed, almost asleep state as I looked up at Mr Creed to find him directly in front of my desk.

"The bell rang. Five minutes ago." He stated motioning around us. My eyes followed his hands and I realised we were alone. He sighed staring down at me concerned. "Hannah, you're working too much, you're going to get hurt. I'm really worried about you." He said.

'Sure, you are.' Is what I thought but I said, "I'm fine, Lyle... I'm late for Maths." I got up grabbing my bag.

"Then just don't go. I won't tell on you." He shrugged as he walked over to his desk. What?

I looked at the door. I was late; which meant that when I walked in, the entire class would be staring at me. The thought gave a dreadful weight in my stomach. Mrs Rye wouldn't mind since I was ahead of the class and I never gave any trouble. I looked at Lyle as I sat back down and he smirked.

"So, how about you come over to my house before I drive you to work and I could show you some strings? Maybe you could play them while you sing some of those lyrics you're constantly writing down?" He said.

"You can show me some strings, I'm not signing anything," I replied. He laughed.

"Take that off." He said. I pulled my hood off.

"What does Nat do?" I asked.

"She's a surgeon at the Netmarc Kids hospital." He replied as he shuffled through papers on his table.

"Oh, cool..." I said.

"So, tell me about them...?" He gave me a questioning glance before resuming his work.