Chasing Miss Conner •OLD VERSION•

Thirty Five

|Song: Forever and Always By Parachute|

Thirty Five

My happy, strong-willed resolve lasted for about six seconds as I fought to hold myself together as I made my way across the parking lot and climbed into my car. It was like every memory up until we first met just slammed into me with the force of a Mac truck. I'm sure I looked like a crazy person as I screamed and cried and slammed my hands down on the steering wheel, repeatedly setting the horn off.

I don't know how long I sat there and cried, feeling my heart break over and over, but eventually I mussed up the courage to start the car and drive away. I drove and drove without any regard for where I was going until I found myself outside of Genny's house. I waited for a few minutes before I got out. My hand was poised to knock when the door opened in front of me and a disgruntled Genny grunted in annoyance at my abrupt appearance.

The annoyance melted off her face almost immediately as her gaze ran over my pitiful appearance, taking my smudged t-shirt and jeans that were clearly becoming way too loose around my hips.

She muttered an "oh baby" and all the tears I thought I'd cried out appeared all over again and cascaded down my face as she pulled me into a hug, smelling strangely comforted with her usual scent of faint cigarettes and fruity perfume.

She pulled me inside without another word and led me upstairs. Tucking me into her bed and feeding me ice cream while watching re-runs of Bobs Burgers as I occasionally cried into her shirt. Mrs. Meyers came in once and kissed me on the forehead and told me I could stay as long as I wanted. I'd always been a fan of Genny's mom but that sentiment just smacked the nail on the head for explanations of why.

I stayed at Genny's for three days after that, and it became a tradition of a few days every other week. My mom said she didn't mind since she was swamped with work anyways. She knew what had gone down with me and Juliette and was filling me in every now and then on how she was doing.

School was as torturous as always but luckily with some major groveling and a good word in from Genny and I was able to get my mind off of it for a while as I filled my days with working at Starbucks 12-9 every day. It was hard. At first I cried just when I would hear her name, but then I realized how pathetic I was being and managed to pull myself together some.

My birthday came and went in this timeframe as well. Sadly I didn't feel any different or gain any new knowledge. Just the privilege to vote and legally buy tobacco. But I did get some pretty cool stuff. Mom got me a suit for my motorcycle that I'd been wanting for a while now, some small rings, and she also handed me a necklace that apparently came from a friend from work, which was sweet.

It was a gorgeous little dreamcatcher with dangly little turquoise feathers off the end. I haven't taken it off since. Genny got me some new band t-shirts and some other cute outfits.

After about another month and a half when she was released from the hospital, and I nearly dropped my books today in the hallway when I saw her walk into her classroom in a baby blue button down coat with her makeup all done. God she is so gorgeous. I pushed students out of the way, ignoring their dirty looks as I made my way over. My heart just about stopped in my chest as she turned to shut the door and caught my gaze. We stared at each other for an excruciatingly long moment while I desperately scanned her face for any kind of reaction to my presence but my heart sunk to my knees when she maintained that impenetrable mask and shut the door without a backwards glance.

I swallowed back the sobs and hurried out of the building, meeting Genny in the parking lot. I didn't have to work tonight and I was eternally glad for that because I could hardly function as it is. She drove us back to her house and we focused on drowning ourselves in college applications and homework before we decided to just lounge on her bed and stuff our faces with popcorn and Netflix.

This became a normal routine until a few days later and I guess Genny had finally had enough. "Get up." She growled above me, kicking my foot from where I lay sprawled across her bedroom floor. I groaned and pulled her pillow over my head, hoping she would forget about me.

Yeah, not likely.

That tactic lasted about 10 seconds before she ripped it out of my hands and hit me over the head repeatedly with it.

"Get the hell up!" She yelled.

I yelled curses back at her before I grudgingly gave in and sat up, rubbing my eyes. "What." I growled at her.

She jumped into her closet and threw a black skirt and cute blue and green plaid button-up blouse at me. "Put that on. We're going out." I started to protest but she shot me a warning look that had my jaw automatically clamping shut.

"Where are we going?" I asked hesitantly as I pulled on the clothes. She'd pulled on the dress she chose (a silky shimmery material that highlighted her creamy skin perfectly) and was now spiking her short black hair up with copious amounts of gel before she started on her makeup.

She glanced at me through the mirror as she worked on her eyeliner. "First, I'm taking you to a salon to fix that mess you call hair." I frowned and patted my head in offense, grimacing when I felt the greasiness. She gave me a look that proved her point and I just stuck my tongue out at her in response.

"Then, we're going to a club." She offered no further detail after that no matter how hard I tried to pull any from her as she sat me down in the chair in front of her vanity. She outlined my eyes in a light stroke of eyeliner and a lot of mascara, and my lips in a pale-pink gloss. She didn't bother with my hair for obvious reasons so we just left it down.

I got up and grabbed my purse, slinging it over my shoulder before heading in the direction of the door.

"Wait." She walked over to me and untucked my shirt and tied the ends in a knot so that my belly was showing. I threw her a questioning glance but she just patted my cheek and walked out. After a moment of confused silence I rolled my eyes and followed her.

|Prepare yourselves, I know this is a short chapter, but things are gonna get interesting 😏|