Missing All The Signs [a.i]

one

one

*
"Get the hell up, you'll be late!" A voice yelled rudely, disturbing her slumber. Rien groaned and sighed, swinging her legs out of the bed covers. A shiver went down her spine as her feet touched the cold wooden floor.

"I'm up, I'm up," she huffed, loudly enough so her father could hear. He was not a very jovial guy. He hated everything except beer and gambling. Rien didn't even know where he got his playing money from.

Rien attempted to run her fingers through my hair but it failed as it was too full of knots. She sighed, again, and made her way over to the dresser. It was full of clothes and other random knickknacks she had obtained over the years.

She slowly got changed into her clothes as she was still extremely tired. She pulled her black skinny jeans on and a random band t-shirt. That was her usual daily kind of outfit.

After getting dressed, Rien found her hair brush and tried to get out most, hopefully all, of the knots. It was a tough job but she managed somehow. She could now freely run a hand through her unnaturally straight brown hair.

She was always a strong believer in first impressions so she made sure her makeup was on pretty well before heading out to any signs of civilisation. She didn't wear a lot, just eyeliner and mascara. She didn't like over doing things like that. With Rien, things tended to be simple yet effective. It's just the way she rolled.

After making sure she looked half decent, Rien slung my backpack, pre-filled from the night before, onto my shoulders and headed out. She was almost through the front door before her oh so dearest father stopped her.

"Rien," he grunted. She turned to him abruptly, giving him a greasy look. He knew she didn't like it when he talked to her. From his facial expression, she thought he might've said something soft like 'have a good day' but no, of course not. "Tonight's poker night. Don't come home early." Rien just rolled her eyes at him and turned the door handle, which she was holding in anticipation for when their little conversation, if you could even call it that, ended.

She was out of the door before he could've even thought to say anything else. Her dad wasn't someone anyone really wanted to interact with. He was pretty crap, as far as Rien was concerned.

You see, her dad was never really there for her. Her mum left both of them when she was about six years old because he verbally abused and assaulted her regularly. After that, he started drinking heavier and his mood swings became a lot more drastic. He had only physically hurt Rien a few times, never enough to leave people asking questions about cuts and bruises. Her father just verbally abused her constantly.

Oh, but enough about that old shitbag. He doesn't deserve anyone's time of the day. He had his drinking and gambling buddies and that's it. Rien only stuck around because she wasn't legally allowed to leave just yet. In two years, when she'd turn eighteen, she'd be able to finally get away from him.

As Rien shut the door behind her, she stopped for a moment to take in the sunshine. She looked out at the over grown yard and weedy gravel pathway. It wasn't much but it's all she had. She pledged to herself that she'd fix up the yard sometime soon.

She walked down to the footpath where she stood still once again. She glanced either way, deciding which direction had a nicer looking journey. She chose the left as it was the sunnier side. Rien took out her phone and placed her earbuds in. Music started blasting and she began to feel okay again.

She was just walking along, minding her own business until she suddenly felt like she had hit a brick wall. Nope, she just bumped into a guy. He was tall, so she literally had to look up at him. "Sorry about that," Rien said politely, although there was a hint of sarcasm as he should've been watching where he was going.

"It's okay," he smiled at her kindly, showing off his rather cute dimples. He had straight dirty blonde hair and he seemed like a giant next to petite Rien. "Hi, I'm Ashton." He stuck out his hand.

Rien shook it but whilst she was, she looked at him skeptically. She could never tell if anyone, let alone a boy, was talking to her as a joke and she was extremely paranoid about it. It'd be so completely mortifying to find out someone talked to her because they were dared to. She'd be crushed, especially if she learned to like them.

"Rien," she told him. She pulled her hand back as it was in his grasp for far too long. He was still smiling and she felt silly because she couldn't stop staring at his dimples. She didn't understand what was so fascinating about them that it made her so intrigued; they just did.

"You go to Dakota High, right?" Ashton asked, raising his eyebrow questioningly. Rien nodded, indicating that yes, she did. "I haven't seen you 'round but hopefully I will this year."

She looked up at him again and caught herself doing something she hardly ever did anymore. She was smiling. "Cool, okay," she mumbled with a small grin. Rien usually wasn't so illiterate but there was just something about that boy that did something to her. It made her brain go fuzzy but she just couldn't wrap her head around why.

Maybe it was those dimples. Perhaps they were actually deadly. She guessed she'd just have to find out. Ashton said goodbye and told her he was actually heading down the other way because it had more shade. They had conflicting ideas but she didn't mind.

Rien went on her way again but she couldn't seem to get him out of her head. His straight hair and long fringe was attractive. She wasn't usually so into guys like this, especially not ones she'd only just met. She definitely wasn't one to believe in 'love at first sight', it was a load of bull crap. She guessed that her father, being a man obviously, just put her off guys. She hadn't really had very good experiences with them.

As Rien walked, she watched. She watched the mum on the other side trying to get her three children into the car. She watched the birds in the trees and the bees on the flowers. She just watched as life went by. She liked how she didn't effect anything. It meant that things wouldn't change if she were gone.

If she were gone, the mum would still get her kids to school. The bees would buzz and the birds would chirp. She didn't change things. That's the only thing she liked about my life. She wasn't a life changer and she never would be, which made her happy.

Rien hardly noticed when she got to the school gates. She could hear all the students, the bustle of the first day back, or first day of high school for some. She could immediately spot out the different cliques and social groups. There were all the popular kids, the sporty, the smart ones, the outcasts. Then there was her and her friends. Their group was small, only five in total. They all fit into those labels, although they tended to overlap into others. Rien? She was the outcast.

She could feel the paranoia settling in. She felt eyes on her, burning holes into her back as she walked through the hall. She wasn't known as anything or anyone but people still stared, which really confused her. They judged, labelled and stereotyped. One glance and they called her an 'emo freak' for almost no reason. People tended to assume too much for her liking.

Sighing, Rien closed her eyes for a few brief seconds, trying to shake off the feelings. She opened her locker and crammed her backpack inside before getting out her books for the first class. Unfortunately, she had English. One of her least favourite subjects. Although her opinion was a little biased based upon the teacher. She made her way to the room where she'd spend her first hour of hell.

*