Crushed

Chapter 17

What if... were the last words I thought before drifting off into a deep dreamless sleep. Nothing felt better then waking up naturally before my alarm the next morning. I opened my eyes, and pushed off the covers. Giddy, I practically jumped down the stairs, and was humming a random tune as I made breakfast for myself. I checked the clock, 6:58. My alarm goes off at seven. I ran back upstairs to catch my alarm as soon as it went off, and then skipped joyfully back down the stairs to make my lunch. I zipped up my lunch bag, and stuffed it in my backpack. I finished getting ready at 7:26, and didn't know what else I could do until I had to leave. I decided to read, surprise surprise. I'm such a nerd... Why do I even bother. At least the people who matter don't mind. My parents, Nathan, Julie, Alex... Yup, that's all of them. Anyways, when 8:00 finally came, I left to meet Julie at the corner to walk to school together. On the walk, the topic of Anne came up. Julie said that she noticed Anne acting and looking strange recently too. She said that Emilie said that Jacob heard that she was taking something for stress relief. Honestly, why does nobody ever tell me these things... Oh yeah, because I'm the one they whisper about. I'm the person who they talk about behind my back, all thanks to Anne and her little group of wannabe celebrities. I just hope that Anne, acting the way she has been, will have put me off their radar, at least for a little while. Just a little while. Just until Anne goes back to her normal self... if she goes back.

When we got to school, Anne was nowhere to be seen, and I have to admit, I was slightly worried for her. Terrible scenarios kept popping up in my head, and I didn't know which one to believe. None of them were likely, but was still convinced one of them had to be true. All of them ended in her taking some kind of drug, that would make her sick, and would mean she'd have to stay home from school. This is what my mind does to me, it makes up ridiculous scenarios that are usually almost impossible, and makes me believe that all of them are real. Every single one of them.

On a lighter note, Alex asked me to the dance, thank god, now I don't have to do it, I thought. He did it by slipping a note into my locker before I arrived, which read,

Isabella Grey,
It would be my greatest pleasure to accompany you to the school dance.
I'm just kidding, I'm not going to be that formal in a note. Besides that, the invitation was genuine, and I would love it if you'd go to the dance with me. To confirm, find me. I'm not as far away as one might think...
-Alex Sheason

Oh Alex, he knows what a sucker I am for love notes, and light mysteries... and hide and seek. I grabbed my binders, and put them on my desk before starting the search. I checked the entire classroom - even in the cupboards - until I realized, I know where he is. I ran out of the class, and went to the closest place we had been alone together before. I checked my shoulders before opening the door to the supply closet, which last time I was in was when I was telling him about the Anne's latest rumor, however, this time it should be good. I entered the small, dimly lit room, and closed the door behind me. Now, standing in front of me was someone I recognized. That someone was wearing the same dark wash jeans, and a navy Aeropostale hoodie, with the hood pulled up. He stood there, facing me, holding a small gift box, tied with a gold ribbon. He handed me the box, and I thanked him for it. I slowly tugged on one of the loose ends of the bow, and removed the lid of the box. In it was a small silver chain necklace attached to silver and black yin yang pendant. It was beautiful, the way the metal reflected the light of the small light bulb that lit the room. "Thank you," I said looking up at him. The figure before me didn't say anything before slowly reaching up to remove his hood, which was draped over his face, obscuring my view. Alex smiled up at me, with that oh so sweet smile of his, and simply said, "You like it?"
"I love it. Should I wear it to the dance?" I asked. "Of course," he responded, "Do you want me to put it on you?"
"Please," I said, handing him the necklace, turning around, and lifting my hair to reveal my bare neck. He undid the clasp of the necklace, and hung it around my neck, refastening the clasp again. I dropped my hair, and turned back to face him. "So, the dance?" he asked. "Yes," I answered, smiling back at him. "I can't wait."
"We should go, the bell's about to ring." He said, motioning towards the door. "Yeah, I guess..." We left, and arrived in the class just as O Canada was staring. Oh Canada, our home and native land... The song finished, and we sat to listen to the announcements. Julie remarked my necklace, and commented on how fast we were moving in our relationship. No kidding... It's crazy to think that just three months ago, we had barely spoken a few sentences to each other. I told her how I thought it wasn't that fast, while thinking about how crazy we are for doing this. Grade seven romances never last... I thought, and a brick dropped in my stomach. I decided I would just live this up for as long as possible, so I wouldn't regret not doing such.

For the duration of the day, I kept getting compliments from various people on my new necklace. Even Josh noticed it, and that's saying something. He's usually oblivious to anything fashion related, but he still noticed! I was impressed. Besides that, the day was boring, as usual. The teachers were annoying, and decided to ask give us a new project in every subject. So, now we have French reading for tomorrow, a math test Friday, and a history project due Tuesday of next week. This should be fun. What kind of teachers gives their students a math test the day of the spring dance, I mean honestly. Sometimes I think they arrange it so that everything overlaps, just for their amusement. To say that these next two weeks will be stressful would be a bit of an understatement. I hate this time of year. Every year at around this time, teachers pile loads of projects onto the students, and every year, I get super stressed out because of it. Who knows what will happen with it this year.

*****

This is not going to be fun. I just discovered that, well... Let's just say that there may be a bit more hormones at play with this stress then anticipated. And significantly more blood. Why body, why now? You couldn't have waited just a little longer? I guess this is what I get for not tracking... Ugg, this happened last year too, I should have seen this coming.

Besides this little... Set back, I'm just hoping that it won't make it so obvious how much school really affects my mood. I feel bad in advance for whoever pisses me off next. Hmm... bets anyone?