It's you

Chapter one

I opened my eyes groggily and stared at the digital alarm clock on my bedside table, 4:30. No way in hell would I have naturally woken up this early, I strain my ears to see what could have woken me up and then I hear a trundling and rythmic banging, and then I remember.
21st of September, the date of my parents first business trip of the academic year, they're away at least 60% of the year and have been leaving me in the house by myself since I was 13. I don't particularly mind, it's not as if they take a huge interest in my life when they are here.
They work as high profile company valuers, basically they make there money by ruining other people's lives by evaluating the companies they work in and advising the owner to sell or liquidate. Everything they do revolves around their work, that's how they met, and I think they confused the ability to work well together for love. It's no secret to me that they don't particularly like me, I'm sure deep down they love me and all that but I know they planned on being the couple that never had children and grow old and work forever. Oops.
They also seem to think that by showering me with luxury they are showering me with love, wrong. I know I'm rich but I honestly don't care, it wouldn't bother me if I had nothing at all. I'm more about loving and loving life and all that. Not that I don't take advantage of the credit card they leave me with.
I hear the front door slam, no surprise they didn't come in to say  goodbye or anything like that. Oh well, rolling my eyes I snuggle further into my sheets and drift off.
When my alarm goes off two hours later I moan into my pillow. It takes me a full five minutes to sit up in bed, my morning routine is always the same, always. I walk the five steps to my own bathroom turn on the shower, walk downstairs and put two spoons of natural yoghurt, half a pack of strawberries and a mango into the smoothie machine and walk back upstairs. The shower is warm and I pull my thick, long, straight, chestnut coloured hair out of its ponytail.  My skin is still brown from the two weeks I spent on Spain with my two best friends a few weeks before. I wash quickly and climb into my uniform; grey skirt ( above the knee for me ha) white shirt and navy jumper. I brush out my hair and pull it back leaving a few wisps escaping out the front. Grabbing my school bag I run downstairs, I turn on the smoothie machine and check my phone while I'm waiting. There's a new text from Tim, a guy in the school next to me who has apparently always had a thing for me, we've been talking a bit recently but I don't want to lead him on. And strangely enough a text from a guy named Jason who I met over the summer in Spain but actually lives in Galway three hours away from Dublin Ireland, where I live. I resolve to check it on the way into school. Grabbing my smoothie and pouring it into a coffee cup I run out the door.
I walk up my drive way and slide my phone into my school pocket, keying in the code to allow me out the gate I swing my school bag over my shoulder and walk swiftly. Two minutes later I arrive at Sally's house, she moved to my school on second year and I never even knew she lived on my road, so many years wasted. She smiled at me and we keep waking until about 200m later we arrive at Ruths house, the final member of our best friend group. We are literally inseparable at the best of times.  We walk up and ring her doorbell, a few seconds later the door swings open and she hurries out, she looks stressed and angry.
"Everything ok" I ask her, she's been down lately. " yeh yeh" she says unconvincingly. I sigh inwardly, she's the worst for bottling up her feelings.
We walk on and talk about light hearted things like what we're gonna wear for the next disco and boys.  "Gabbi, David said Tim is still in love with you" Sally informs me, her long term boyfriend is in the same class as Tim. "I don't know guys, I know he's good looking but I'm not sold on him yet" I say truthfully. "First of all he's the hottest guy in our year, not just good looking" Ruth corrects me "and he's liked you for ages, give him a chance"  I say no more as we approach the gates of our school, it's all girls,Catholic and private. Around the corner is the boys equivalent who we always avoid because who wants boys to see you looking ugly in your uniform? Sally cracks a joke and we laugh as we head into school as the bell rings for class. I hurry to my locker to grab my things and the message from Jason goes straight out of my mind.