The Untitled Audrey Project

Untitled Part Four

When Monday morning had rolled around, Connor had to fight the urge to skip school like he did every Monday. But Miss Ferri's voice echoed through his head, reminding him of the consequences of a bad school attendance.

Connor considered that the worst weekend he had ever dealt with. Saturday and Sunday consisted of him not leaving his room, writing seven essays and creating a poster that had to do with the Great Depression. It wasn't a great poster either, as Connor lacked creativity and motivation. He had to ignore Keith and Mia, who constantly called him while they were out partying.

Connor walked into the kitchen with his backpack over one shoulder. His mom averted her attention from Josie who sat in her white high chair to Connor, looking surprised to see him up so early.

"Do you want me to make you anything? Some toast? Eggs? I mean, you still have twenty minutes to spare." His mom said as she carefully placed a spoonful of mysteriously yellow baby food into Josie's mouth. Josie let it drip down onto her pink bib around her neck and the sight of it was enough to make Connor lose his appetite. As much as he tolerated babies, their bodily functions and fluids grossed him out.

"No." Connor said. "I just need money for some cigarettes."

"Oh." His mom suddenly looked disappointed. "But I bought you some on Thursday?"

"Yeah? Your point?"

"My point is that cigarettes are pricey and you can't finish a pack of forty in less than five days. Not at your age." She said in a scolding tone.

Connor bit his tongue before he could lose his cool, backing away. "Fine." He said simply before heading down the hallway towards his parents room. He opened the bedside table drawer and roughly dug through the miscellaneous items until he came across his dad's own cigarette packet. He hastily opened it, finding that there were only three left. It would have to do until he could get some more himself.

Before he left the room, he took one last glance at himself in the mirror of his mom's dresser. The hickeys on his skin still had not faded completely, though they were not as prominent as the day before. He internally groaned, thinking about getting in trouble for having them on his skin like he had on numerous occasions. He hoped it wouldn't count towards his new grades though.

Eventually, Connor borrowed his mom's car to drive himself to school as he knew that Keith wasn't going to be at school until later and Mia was always dropped off by her rich mom.

He struggled to park his car straight and in the end, decided "fuck it" and left the car parked sideways taking two parking spots. At first, students stared before realizing who it was, then they'd look away, afraid of what Connor could do to them.

When he reached his locker, he pulled out his Psychology folder and went straight to class. It felt strange to be sitting in a classroom early for once in his life. He grabbed his phone to check the time. There was still five minutes until class started but Connor had nothing else to do. Keith still wasn't at school and Mia had Mathematics.

Connor stared down at the table, reading the pen markings on the light wood. They were crude drawings and slang words etched into it. His head shot up when he heard the classroom door open. Expecting it to be the teacher, he found out that it was the same girl he had seen smiling to herself the other day- the one with the beanie. And today, she wore a light grey beanie instead of a black one.

The girl gave Connor a weak smile, but her eyes had a different emotion. Connor did not smile back, instead looked down again but slumped lower into his seat. He heard the girl drop her things down two seats in front of him before she pulled back the chair, the legs scraping against the linen floor.