Bad Love (on hold)

Chapter 8

The receptionist glared at me, clearly annoyed at having another late student on her hands. The early morning delay meant that I was at least an hour late for school. Kira had told me that this receptionist was cranky, but the promise of a generous check meant that she came back to this dump everyday.

'Half hour detention after school. At least try to lie convincingly.' She rattled, unimpressed at my excuse of waking up late. If I did tell her the real reason, we would be in this poky little office all day, something I wasn't too fond of.

I heard the sound of a door opening behind me. 'Caleb, that's your second late of the week. Detention.' She scoffed, writing him a note with lightening speed. She was obviously used to doing this for him.

He looked at me with disgust for a moment before snatching the note and pushing past me. 'Move it.' He hissed, taking long strides, eventually disappearing in the distance. I needed to check what lesson I had today, so I got out my timetable.

One look at my timetable and a sick feeling bubbled in my stomach. I had physical education. More like physical embarrassment. Let's just say that me and PE don't go together, a bit like chalk and cheese. I've always been picked last for every single team game. It beat me why the headmistress made it obligatory to practise this subject against our will.

I made my way to the PE block, using my map to guide me to the girls changing rooms. Some of the girls stopped talking once I entered, excited to see who the late-comer was. The teacher stood up and walked over to me.

'Why are you late?' She said steely, cold grey eyes staring at me. Why was every teacher here intimidating? My eyes wandered to the other girls, noticing Stacy sitting down, head faced away from me.

'I slept in late, but it won't happen again.' I said, determined to be in someone's good-books at least. She nodded, motioning for me to get the hell away and change.

I spotted Kira in the corner and went over to her, exchanging gossip. Once we had changed, the teacher who Kira told me was Miss Stuart, led us to the hall where we would play volleyball. This sport had earned me serious unpopularity with my peers in my previous schools, as I failed to throw the ball properly.

'We are going to compete alongside the boys.' Miss Stuart said, eyes scanning the crowd of girls before her. A few girls started cheering at the mention of the opposite sex, something which made me and Kira chuckle.

'Ladies, keep your hormones in check.' Miss Stuart spoke fiercely, giving the girls a death stare before the boys started coming in. This caused most of the girls to turn around, earning a roll of the eyes from the teacher.

Caleb went over to Stacy, putting his arm around her slender waist. Miss Stuart saw this opportunity to separate them. She assembled two teams, splitting me in one team and Kira in the other. I had the displeasure of having Caleb on my team. Stacy, or as I like to call her, Lady Macbeth stared daggers in my direction, a warning for me not to interact with her man. As if.

'Let the game start.' Miss Stuart said, before running over to the bleachers. She took out her smartphone, eyes fixated on the device, rather than the game unfolding.

I underestimated Stacy to be a basic blonde bimbo, but her athletic ability was impressive. She had earned her team a considerable number of points. At one point, she dunked the ball in the direction of one of my team mates, the ball crashing onto her left knee. She highfived her side chicks as the poor girl screamed in pain. Her scream wasn't enough to make Miss Stuart look up from her game over CandyCrush, so I decided to do something.

I withdrew the ball from where it lay on the floor. With shaking hands, I decided on my strategy, before bringing the ball down with a satisfying blow in Stacy's direction. She was too busy chatting with a mate to see the ball hit her square in the face.

'What the fuck Lucy!' Caleb exclaimed, pushing me aside, running over to his beloved. It was at this moment that Miss Stuart decided to get up, the commotion disturbing her game. Stacy realised the opportunity for further damage, theatrically exaggerating the hit.

'Miss, Lucy did this. I don't know why she would do this.' She sulked, eyes filling with fake tears. Sure she was a baby. A crybaby.

'She needs to be punished for this. I probably need a nose-job now.' She sighed, running a hand gingerly over the rim of her nose. Caleb's hands caressed her head, fixing me with a dark look.

'Lucy sit out of this game.' Miss Stuart said, gesturing for me to go to the bleachers. I smiled inwardly, happy to be out of this game, Maybe I should do this more often.

'She's only going to sit out? Where's the justice?' Stacy said, voice getting louder, stressing out her point. Miss Stuart rolled her eyes at her, a headache rising from that girl's whiny voice.

'Stacy don't think I never saw you hit that poor girl.' She nodded her head in the direction of my team member. 'We shall discuss your punishment after your back from the nurse's office.' She finished in triumph.

I think me and Miss Stuart will get along just fine.

-

My detention consisted of Caleb calling me every name under the sun. I retorted, spitting out my own imaginative slurs, causing him to ponder his next insult. The teacher supervising us, looked at us in aghast, astonished at our colourful language.

I looked at my phone, noticing I had received a text from Allison, the social worker.

Mr and Mrs Franco want you to have dinner with them. Once the paperwork is filed, you can stay with them finally. Their car is outside, I informed them of your detention. X

I was confused at how she knew about my detention, maybe she obtained my most recent school records. I looked at the time, realising the detention was finally over.

'You may go,' The teacher said, relieved to have us off of his hands. He rushed out of the class, clutching his suit jacket and briefcase. Caleb followed after, giving me the middle finger, which I gladly returned.

I went out of the school, walking past the moody receptionist. She looked at me with no emotion as I sauntered past. What crawled up her ass and died? I had memorised the make and number plate of the Francos in the morning, as it might be of use later. After a few minutes of searching, I finally found it.

I saw the Francos in the car smiling, but someone else in the passenger seat. On closer inspection, my blood ran cold at who this person was. Arms folded tightly across his chest, furious look on his face, as he avoided my surprised look.

Why is he in here?' I asked, trying not to sound rude. Mrs Franco smiled, revealing perfectly straight white teeth.

'I thought we told you we had a son.' Mrs Franco said uncertainly. 'Say hello to Caleb, sweetie.'

What the fuck?