Annabel's POV
It had only taken a day at Pinole High school for me to feel like blowing my brains out. Where did we leave off...
"Annabel?"
Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool were both staring at me with expressions I couldn't read. To be honest, I'm not very good at telling what people are thinking or feeling, so we can just add that onto the ever-growing list of ways I fail as a human being.
Anyway, as I stood, somewhat frozen in shock and my mind running wild in finding a way to escape, the two boys looked at each other in surprise.
"YOU know her?"
The lady came back with my timetable, and in true style of The Inept James Bond Part 2: The Great Avoidance Of 2/3 of The Guys That Watched Me Fall Apart Last Night, I took this brief moment of confusion to bolt from the stuffy office.
So after successfully fleeing like the insanely impolite person that I am, I made my way to my first class, Science. To sum the lesson up briefly, my teacher was a sexy beast (and by that I mean he was a 72 year old fossil with glasses that made his eyes bulge, a voice that sounded like he could have a heart attack at any moment and an obvious fetish for knitted sweaters) and thankfully didn't make me introduce myself to the class (which was probably due to the fact that he probably didn't even notice he had a new student). I spent the time taking notes quietly at the back of the classroom, pretending that I didn't see the many stares from my classmates.
For English I had a Mrs Leigh, who happened to feel some sort of comfort in taking her 40-something year old problems out on her students. She explained how Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice could basically go fuck himself because Elizabeth Bennet would have ended up far happier if she had never given in to marrying him and could have done something much better with her life like travelling and writing a book rather than stuck in a run-down town in the un-glamourous part of California with a crippling mortgage, a gambling husband and a stupid class of 16 year olds who have nothing better to do than stick their gum under their desks (at which she glared with the upmost anger at Jeremy Williams who was carrying out this precise action).
Lunchtime was a blur of Mona's smile and more friendly faces and I felt like I was going to throw up the cafeteria's grey concoction that was loosely inspired by mac n' cheese halfway through, so I ended up running to the bathrooms and doing just that.
In Maths I nearly got a detention for sneezing, and in History my over-enthusiastic teacher forced me to introduce myself to the class, even though it was the end of the day and they all sure-as-hell knew who I was: Annabel Winters, aka That New Chick Who Was Dancing On The Dining Table Last Night Blind Drunk.
Anyway, it was not Rock n' Roll High School. It was Bullshit High School. It was Get Me Out of Here Now Before I Jump Off A Cliff High School. It sucked, and by the time the bell rang I was ready to burst into tears. And I did. I was, in fact, running to find a good secluded tree to let the waterworks flow until the resource had expired, when I head-butted into a vague-looking guy with his head in a notebook.
"Oh god, I'm sorry I..." I began, hurriedly wiping my face to try to conceal the marks the tears had left on my skin, when after retrieving the fallen notebook, the person looked up to me.
And I was stunned by two emerald eyes.
Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me.
"Really? Really? Can whoever is stabbing a voodoo doll of me quit it!"
I screamed into the air, my frustration of this stupid day boiling over. I couldn't help I was being a Grade-A bitch, I was beginning to fucking lose it.
"Oh god, it really fucking sucks doesn't it?"
I looked back to Billie, who was studying me with a sympathetic expression.
"What?" I garbled through the tears that were still threatening to spill. I had never cried in front of someone in years, and I sure as hell wasn't trying to make a habit of it.
"This school's the fucking worst. I had never believed in hell until I came here."
He had a point, but to be completely honest, I wasn't 100% sure what was wrong with me. I mean, sure I had a shitty day, but that kinda stuff happens all the time and I never really let it affect me before all this. Maybe lack of sleep and a vicious hangover had a part to play. Basically, I really don't want you to think that I'm that girl who flips out and cries about everything, because I'm really, really not. In fact, my mother once thought I was sociopath due to my emotionlessness.
"I'm ok...I'm sorry." I pulled myself together, taking a deep breath and wiping the remainder of the dampness from my face.
"Hey, don't worry I get it. Hangovers are killer. And the shit at the cafeteria probably isn't helping. I would say it gets better, but it kinda doesn't."
He shrugged, and I could tell he was having a bad day too.
"Sorry.. about last night by the way. I was drunk and..." I began, not looking at him.
"Don't. Seriously, I had fun." He smiled sincerely, and I scoffed.
"Talking to an embarrassingly drunk girl on a roof at 3am in the morning totally sound like fun."
"I admire your sarcasm, but really you made my really made my night...interesting. Thanks for that."
I couldn't help but smile, but suddenly a loud clap of thunder, like the sound of bowling balls slamming onto the sky, interrupted us. We both snapped our heads upwards as thick, heavy rain began to pour from the clouds.
"Shit! Come on this way!" He called to me, pressing that tattered notebook against his chest as he ran for cover under a bundle of trees. I squinted through the downpour, jogging behind him.
I pulled on my bomber jacket, sighing while he cursed under his breath.
"What? It's just rain dude."
"I know DUDE. I have a gig tonight that's in a backyard and they're gonna have to call it off because we can't get all our equipment wet." He snapped, obviously annoyed.
"God, sorry I asked." I huffed, crossing my arms as goosebumps spread across my skin under my jacket. We stood in an uneasy silence for a while longer.
"You could get like a... tarp or something..." I suggested.
"Could you please just not, talk for a second please." He groaned, rubbing his temple as if he had acquired a killer headache. Alright, sure I wasn't the most polite person in the world but I had managed to have the worst first day of school possible and I really wasn't in the right headspace to deal with pissy teenage boy. So, I stomped back out to the street to walk home.
"Hey! Oh god sorry I didn't mean to..."
He caught up to me, keeping his head down to shield his eyes from the rain that was getting heavier at every second.
"Look, I really don't have time for this. I'm sorry about your gig Billie. Just, please leave me alone."
"Shit Annabel I'm sorry I snapped at you I just..."
I sighed and turned back to him, not bothering to shelter my face from the mass downpour.
"Billie I really don't have time for this right now. My head feels like it's being ripped in two and I also feel like I'm going to pass out at any second. I just want to go home."
I stated bluntly. He gave me a worried look for a second, but then his face lit up, an idea sparkling in those emerald eyes as he reached out and wrapped his calloused fingers around my wrist.
"I know what will cheer you up. Come with me."
A/N so yes I'm sorry this chapter wasn't very good but I had exams all this week. I also don't know why I insisted to leave it on a cliffhanger but I guess I'll leave my future self to worry about that...
