Mated to the Rogue *DISCONTINUED*

T W E N T Y - O N E

The next day was a rough one. I was jolted out of my slumber by the slamming of the front door and for a few precious seconds, I was lost in the space between awake and asleep and the only things I was aware of was the pillow under my cheek the comforter wrapped around my legs.

Lifting my head, I glanced at the clock and then collapsed back onto my bed with a muttered curse. I fought the urge to roll over and fall back into slumber as I glared at the ceiling. Suddenly, all thoughts of the school day were wiped from my mind and replaced by the antagonizing realization that Alex was gone.

I took deep breaths to fight away the torrent of tears that prickled in my eyes. Frantically searching my mind for something to distract me from events of last night that were playing in my mind I desperately latched onto the fact that I didn't remember getting into bed last night. Actually, it would be more accurate to say this morning.

The last thing I recall was talking with Alex into the breaking dawn. I remember futilely trying to convince him not to go one more time and the last thing that comes to my mind was him woefully shaking his head.

That must have been around 4:30 in the morning. Alex must have brought me home and left soon after. I pressed the palms of my hand to my eyesockets and let out a regretful sigh. How could I have wasted the last fleeting moments with him asleep?

I don't know how much longer I remained in bed but when I finally mustered the will to get up it was obviously apparent that I wasn't making to school on time.

I went through the motions of getting ready, all muscle memory. I scrubbed, brushed, combed, and washed but when I looked in the mirror all I saw was two dark bags under my eyes and the light shadow of the bruise Alpha Ryan left yesterday.

I mindlessly reached for my concealer and dabbed a little of it around my cheek. My mind was muggy and my eyes droopy and unfocused. I turned away from my reflection and squeezed my eyes shut.

I opened them some time later and swung my bag over my slumped shoulders, making my way out of the house.

~*~

"Emilia!" a feminine voice called, causing me to look up from the ugly linoleum that covered the school grounds.

My attention was drawn to a girl that was the exact opposite of myself in this moment. Melanie's blonde haired head bobbed as she bound towards me, a smile present on her face.

I halted my trek to the cafeteria to let her catch up.

"Hey," she said, slightly out of breath but definitely not out of cheeriness.

I just nodded politely, keeping my hands tucked deeply into my pockets. I'd spent the whole day with my head down, avoiding confrontation. By the time I got to school second period was already half way over and for a moment I'd debated ditching. But then I remembered I was the sole person who could get me out of this place, and the only way to do that was to graduate with better-than-passible grades, which weren't going to be achieved by skipping class.

Sometimes I confuse myself with a middle-aged mom.

"Sorry I haven't texted you," Melanie said as we made our way down rows of red lockers.

"That's alright," I replied, forcing myself to take on a pleasant tone. "I've been...busy."

"A good busy or a bad busy?" she asked, turning her head to look at me.

I sighed, lifting my shoulders and letting then drop in a tired shrug.

"Bad, huh?" she said comfortingly. Her voice dropped. "Me too."