One Plus One

Chapter 21 - Confident

I open the lid of my laptop, and quickly type into google:
How to remove hair dye.

I almost search it, but instead shake my head and tell myself off.
"Deal with it, Anna." I say. Climbing off my bed, I take a quick shower, eat breakfast, and count down the minutes until I had to walk to school. Once dressed, I look in the mirror, and smirk at the girl before me.
Her wavy red hair that stops at her shoulders, her dark shirt and leather jacket, her ripped navy jeans that tie in with her studded black boots. I give myself a smile, and silently thank Bella. That girl knew what she was doing.
Leaving my house, I walk down the streets, nerves bubbling in my stomach. Although nervous, I was looking forward to seeing Aidan's reaction. Would he realise how much I'd changed, and how little I missed him?
I hope so.

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I slowly walk up to the school entrance, seeing groups of students chattering either side of the doors. I see their chatters turn into whispers, and how they took secretive glances at me. I could just imagine what they thought of me.
"Is that the nerd?"
"She looks stupid."
"What the hell happened to her?"

Smiling at my conscience, I strut into the hallways, using the attention as a confidence boost. I make my way to my locker, watching as groups of people take quick looks at me. Even though I hadn't seen the one person I wanted to yet, I found joy in watching as other students looked at my newfound personality.
"Anna, you look stunning!" I hear Bella's voice from behind me, and I turn around to face her.
"I don't look too bad; do I?" I say with a smirk, and get my books.
"Woah girl. Confident?" Bella says with a laugh, and pats my shoulder.
"Have you seen Aidan yet?" I ask her quietly, ignoring the stares on my back from other kids. She shakes her head and gives me a sympathetic smile.
I sigh, and begin to walk to class.
Maybe he was already there?

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Wrong. I sit down in my seat, the rest of the class filing in. I impatiently watch for Aidan, but disappoint myself. Neither him or his friends turn up in class. Opening my book for maths, I tell myself to not expect Aidan to be there today.
Just get over it. School is for work, not boys.

I repeat that phrase in my head a few times, and let my mind float away into a daydream as the class begins to learn simple mathematics.

The memories I try to shove to the back of my mind repetitively play in my mind like a movie. A horrible, fake movie.

Feeling the wind blowing through my hair as we jumped down the waterfall at our first date. Aidan asking me to homecoming, and having my dog Bruno step into my life. Going to homecoming and thinking how hot Aidan looked. Dozing off in Luke's car on the way to being a prisoner. Seeing Monica and Aidan holding hands as she unlocks me. Them driving away into the night, their feelings for each other finally there. Feeling my heart sink at the look on his face.
Zombie-like. Blank. Expressionless.

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Looking up, I notice that most of the other students had already left class and gone into the hallway, and it was just me and a few others left. Standing up and quickly putting my stationary away, I step into the hallway, and immediately the silence of the hallway.
Why though?

The answer quickly makes it way to my head as I see Aidan and Monica, hand in hand, walking confidently down the hallway. Aidan's face is nothing but a polite smile. Monica's face was the total opposite, her smug smirk showing from miles away. I decide to ignore them, and instead go to my locker. Shoving my head in there, pretending to be busy stacking my books, I hear a sickly sweet voice behind me.
"Hey, Anna." Monica says. I ignore her, and continue rummaging around my locker.
"Oh, is someone jealous? Just because Aidan doesn't like you doesn't mean you have to hate me, Anna." Monica says. I turn around and see her smugly grinning at me.
"I'm not jealous, Monica." I mutter, and push past her. I meet Bella at the doorway to English. She smiles weakly at me, and motions for me to look in class. I take a quick glance and immediately regret it. My heart races as I try to pull my gaze away from Aidan sitting at his desk.
Sighing, I walk into class, catching his attention.
His mouth drops for an instant, but he recovers quickly. I give him a glare, and flick my hair over my shoulder.
Sitting down on a seat near the back, Bella sits next to me. I give her a grin, and whisper.
"Did you see his reaction? It was priceless! He looked like he'd seen a ghost." I tell her, laughing.
"No, not a ghost. Just his face when he realises what he missed." Bella laughs at her statement.
Bella grins at me, and I turn my phone on. Raising my eyebrows when I hear a notification, I read it, and let out a worried gasp.
I show the message to Bella, and she gives me a panicked frown.

I can't trust that you haven't spent all your money on useless teenage things and that you've gone broke. I'm coming to visit you this weekend. If you can't prove that you're responsible enough, you will come home with me.
Dad

I feel my stomach flip, and I count the days until my dad was here.
Today, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

What would he think of me when he sees that I dyed my hair, sold all of my clothes, and gotten a dog?

"Bella. This is bad." I say.
"Do you think he'd mind that you dyed your hair?" She says with a hopeful smile.
"Bella, he used to worry when I was 5 minutes over curfew. He's gonna freak." I say, feeling my head begin to ache.
"It's ok Anna. We'll sort something out. Ok?" Bella says with a comforting smile.
"How? I've got red hair, a dog, and gone goth!" I tell her loudly, catching the attention of some other students.
She frowns for a moment, but quickly recovers.
"I'll live, somehow." I mutter, and relax into the lesson. The teacher lets us focus on our poems, but I spend my time on Instagram and other social media platforms, sick of life.
I have to write a poem about someone who hates me, and deal with my Dad this weekend.

Why is life so cruel?

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A/N

Hello readers. (: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm very excited about the next few upcoming chapters!!
And please remember comment, vote and share!

Jennifer (: