Trusting You, Falling After

"On this perfect day why can't my life be perfect?"

"This is your seventh suspension since the second half of the year!"
Jack slumped down in his uncomfortable seat and muttered, "yeah yeah," as the principal agitatedly walked by him, running hands through his hair, and basically ruining his suited outfit by pacing the room.
"This is seven too many, young sir! What do you have to say for yourself?"
"What can I say?" Jack shrugged, snickering. "The suspensions have it for me, hard."
"You-" Mr. Prik sputtered. "Do you have any idea what is coming out of your mouth?!"
"A question deserves an answer. I'm just giving you one," Jack replied, grinning.
"Because of your extensive record of suspensions, I have taken the liberty to draw up your past records!" Mr. Prik revealed, his double chin wobbling as he sprayed spittle onto the mirror. Hurriedly cleaning it before anyone could notice, he stuffed the handkerchief back into his suit and turned to glare at the King Jackass. "And they were not good!"
Freezing in the act of rolling his eyes, Jack held the gaze of his principal. His records... The girl he hurt?
"She was in the hospital for two weeks," Mr. Prik confirmed. Suddenly sitting up, Jack mustered up his never-ending confidence and said icily, "My records aren't a liberty you may have, Mr. Prik."
"That is Principal Prik to you," the man cried, heaving a deep breath. "As for liberty and rights, the mere having you a student under my care is enough for the courts to bypass security."
"Fuck that!" Jack exclaimed, his face growing red. "That's all a load of-"
"You will mind your language or I will add an eighth suspension to your record!" Principal Prick threatened. Yawning, Jack insolently leaned back and leaned his head against his crossed arms. "So why did you bring up my records? Aren't principals supposed to encourage and say cheesy things?"
"Such as?" The rage was nearly visible in the principal's trembling voice, but Jack grinned. "Such as, the past is in the past."
"What of the the result of your misbehavior, you know what I'm talking about, the ch-"
"You will not talk about that!" Jack roared, standing up. The chair clattered to the floor but neither took any notice of it.
Towering of Mr. Prik, Jack clenched his fists, and with a clear effort, lowered them to his sides. "If you will excuse me," he muttered, leaving the room and slamming the door behind him.
That fucker.
*
Rory couldn't believe his luck. There were countless records of the woman who'd ruined his life, Ms. Piper, going in and out of his dad's office. And there were security cameras in there. Not the live action ones, but the kind that records everything and is sent back to the attendant or whoever to sort out.
And somehow the attendant, Mrs. Lana, had given the authority for him to receive those video tapes.
He sat with them, the tapes burned into a disk, and with a deep breath, shoved it into his laptop.
Immediately a file popped up and he clicked on it. Downloading... Downloading... Downloading...
Finally!
This was the moment- the one he'd been waiting for, the one that would tell him whether his dad had been cheating numerous times or not.
A deep breath, then he pressed play.
And was instantly disappointed. There was a conference going on, two weeks before he had seen his dad making out with another woman than his mom, and it was playing at the moment.
Skip... Skip...
At a random point, he paused and played the clip from that point on. It was one week before he'd seen his dad.
After five minutes of staring at his dad doing work, he was rewarded with the sound of a door opening and a woman walking in.
"Hey, Mr. Aren," she purred, walking over to his dad. He looked up and smiled. "Ms. Piper."
"That's boss to you," she murmured, running a manicured hand along his chin. He made a strangled noise and grabbed it, holding it away. "I have a wife, boss," he gritted out. She laughed, then leaned close to his face. "No one's here," she breathed, licking her lips. "She won't know."
Rory fully expected his dad to kiss her then and there, but he was shocked when his dad pulled away. "I said I have a wife. And I won't have an affair with you!"
"Fuck you," she hissed. "I want you. That bitch doesn't deserve you!"
"That bitch is my wife!" Mr. Aren retorted, slamming his palm down. She flinched, then sidled close to him. "I know you want me, too."
"Not for the world."
"What about for your job?" she spat, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at her. "If you don't take me, I will take your job. I will fucking spread rumors about you. I will ruin you. And if, at the end of the day, you come in and beg to lie down with me, I will take you in."
"Boss-"
"Don't you fucking "boss" me," she yelled. "You either fuck with me or I will carry out my-"
He grabbed her and kissed her. Immediately, she swung over the desk and sat on his lap, wriggling around. He pushed her into the desk and started to open her shirt, feeling her up, pulling his own shirt away from his head in the meantime.
Rory started to feel sickened, and he looked away for a moment, trying not to throw up. He was a teenage boy, which meant that he'd seen it, but this was his dad. His own flesh and blood. And that wasn't even the worst of it. Rory's dad had been blackmailed into this affair. Normally it would have relieved him to know that it wasn't his dad's idea, but it only disgusted him more. Family before all else? Not in his dad's case.
He looked back to the screen, immediately wishing he hadn't. Because who wants to see their own dad's boss half naked on the desk?
And who wants their mother to walk in at the exact same time?
Both happened.
"Rory?" His mom stuck her head in. "I'm sorry for yelling- is that porn?" she asked in astonishment, squinting at the screen. Rory groaned and turned to her. "No, mom."
"You're a teenager, I get it, Rory. It's perfectly understandable to watch-"
"I'm not watching porn, mom!" he exclaimed, standing up.
She stepped behind him in one neat move and bent down to look at the screen.
"He looks familiar." She suddenly let out a horrified gasp and stared at the screen. "Is that your father?"
*
Another day had gone by, with no one commenting on a certain nerd's paper, Andria noticed with relief.
She walked home, noticing that the sun was shining, that the birds were chirping, that everything was right with the word. Yeah right. When the world does that, it's just a tease.
Because when she got home, she arrived to see her mom collapsed on the floor, gasping and wheezing.
"Mom! Are you okay?" she asked desperately, shaking her. "Mom, what happened? Wake up!"
A noise came out of her mom's throat. It sounded vaguely like "Caplice."
"Say it again, I couldn't hear you," she urged. Leaning closer, she managed to hear... "Call police."
"Oh."
Now she felt stupid.
Digging her phone frantically out of her bag, she dialed '911' and held her breath.
"Hello, this is emergency services. How may we help you?"
She exhaled in relief. "My mom is on the floor. I don't know what's wrong with her, I came home, she was there, she just collapsed, and it looks like she can't breathe!"
"Ma'am, please calm down. Where do you live?"
"I live... Around the high school, the forest-"
"Your address!"
She said it quickly, mentally hurling insults at herself for being such an idiot.
"Thank you ma'am, if that will be all, we'll be there shortly."
"Thank you, yes."
Throwing her phone at the couch, she sank down to her mom and cried. "Mom, don't die on me, please!"
"Won't... Die," her mom choked out. Andria, smiling through tears, pressed her hand to her mom's cheek. "You're the only one who's still there to look after me. Especially since dad died!"
At the mention of his name, her mom seemed to have even more difficulty breathing. "Dad..."
"Don't talk," Andria murmured, sniffling. "Shh."
Banging at the door made her leap up and hurriedly open it. "I haven't moved her at all!" she told them quickly, as the police filed in and grabbed her mom, lifting her easily up onto the stretcher.
"Stay calm, please," one of them told her. "The patient is usually more comfortable when they don't feel like they are putting a loved one through hardship."
"Yes, okay sir," she replied, then wiped away her tears, clearing her throat. "Can I ride with her?"
"I don't mean to be rude, but only if you hurry up," he urged. "Life or death!"
Life or death.
The words pounded through her head as she rode with her mom. As she watched her being pulled into a room. As she paced the empty hallway.
Life or death.
She stared at the door as it opened.
Life or death.
"How is she?" Andria demanded.
The doctor held up his hands. "She is struggling to breathe, so we hooked her up. Other than that, she's fine. Just a few nutrients and-"
"Can I go in?" she interrupted impatiently. He nodded. "For a few minutes only."
She pushed past him and into the room. She was shocked. All the machines around her, the weird bags hanging from the ceilings...
"Mom!" Rushing to her mom's side, Andria clasped her last parent's hand. "Mom, don't die on me!"
"I... Won't die," her mom replied with difficulty, swallowing. Andria sobbed into the bed sheet. "I love you, Mom."
"Love you... Andria."
"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but this is not visiting hours," a nurse informed her gently, coming in and knocking.
"Okay," she said, sniffling. "I'll be back as soon as I can, mom."
"Do... That... Miss you," her mom answered, smiling weakly. Sobbing, Andria left the hospital room. She hated the sun. The light was undeserved. She hated the wind. How could it blow cheerfully across the grass? And most of all, she hated the birds. Stop being so damn chipper!
"My mom is hurt!" she screamed at the sun, outside.
It didn't answer.
Defeated, she walked home, cursing.
At her laptop, she hesitated, then opened it. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard before being driven into furious action.
Reason Two -Anonymous-
Jocks are lucky. It's indisputable. Their very lives are proof. But here's more proof. When the sun is shining, they can be happy. Even when it's raining, their basement parties are loud and scare away the outside noises. They don't have to watch the rain because of their huge TV. They don't have to read a book all the time because they have friends over. But for us nerds... Every time the sun shines it's mocking us. And as for when it's raining? We're shy. Quiet. Fucking unbelievably different...
This shitty rule about Nerds-
This is such a load of shit. Such a fucking load of shit.
On this perfect day, why can't my life be perfect?
-Anonymous-
***
Ok! Yeah that is such a cheerful chapter!
For part one of it: Jackass, who do you think Mr. Prik was going to talk about before Jack cut him off? P.S. Did anyone else imagine the principal's voice as Snape's when he was mad at Potter? Mumble mumble YELL!
For part two: What do you think Rory's mom's reaction to an affair will be? And I hope it wasn't too intense! I don't want to make this mature, so I won't put any of those scenes in this book.
As for part three: What's wrong with her mom, and how will Andria end up expressing her feelings?
Have fun, comment, and please vote!
Love from your favorite and most amazing writer, cheerios!
-stelewolfe-