Last Secrets

Chapter 5:Wrong Direction

As a girl, Tracie took her time to take a shower.She had already laid out her outfit, a simple t-shirt paired with black jeans. When she got out of the shower, she wore her OOTD and applied some concealer and powder. Tracie had been obsessed with bows so she clipped a bow clip to keep her hair out of her face. And she was set to go.

She was just double checking her things in her backpack when she heard a knock at the front door. She looked through the peephole and saw that it was Alexander. She felt something funny inside her but decided to ignore it and opened the door.

And there stood Alexander Collins with his backpack. Tracie cocked her head to the side as she has no idea why Alexander was here. Seeing her questioning gaze, Alexander opened his mouth and said, “Do you mind showing me the way to school?”

Tracie almost asked why would he need her to do that but she remembered he was new to this area. Without thinking Tracie said, “Sure,the bus stop is just a few houses away.” And she started walking to the direction of the bus stop.

“Actually,” Alexander said, “I have a car,so I was hoping we could take it so I will be more familiar with the road.”

Tracie stopped at her tracks and turned to Alexander, “Oh sure. Trust me to be your GPS,” she said sarcastically but Alexander could not sense the hint of sarcasm in her speech. He replied with a simple “Cool” and got into his car,starting up the engine.

“What have I got myself into?” Tracie said to herself. She knew how bad she was with directions but had just agreed to lead the way. May a miracle happen so that they may reach to school on time and in a single piece.

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Luck was not on Tracie's side as they got lost after a series of turns. Tracie remembered how the bus would go through this corner and that but she had always slept halfway through the bus ride. So she had no idea where to go.

Alexander just let out a frustrated sigh and mumbled something incoherent. He looked at his watch and realised they were late. He then looked at Tracie, expecting some directions. Tracie could just shrugged her shoulders.

Alexander's patience ran thin and he decided to retrace their tracks. He managed to get them back to their house. “Thank you so much for your help," be said and got out of the car and slammed the door.

Tracie jumped slightly and felt guilty. She had always been wanting to help everyone but usually failed to do so. And this one is a sure fail. She decided to get out of the car and apologise to him. But Tracie being Tracie, she tripped and fell onto the driveway.

The impact of the fall was great that she felt a headache coming. Although she definitely did not fell on her head. She decided to skip school as she was feeling unwell. She called Momma and asked her to call the school about her absence and Momma told her to rest and promised to buy her favourite chocolate on her way home.

Tracie entered her house and heard a light snore coming from Gramps' room. She made her way to her room and laid on her bed, feeling sick and miserable. She felt guilty because now Alexander could not go to school because of her and her lack of sense of direction. She was almost asleep when a knock sounded at the door. She got up and made her way to the door for she knew Gramps slept like a log.

She opened up the door to a smiling Mrs. Collins.She was holding something in her hands and Tracie invited her in. Mrs. Collins saw how pale Tracie was and dragged her into the kitchen where she sat her down at the dining table. Tracie was about to say something when Mrs. Collins cut her to it.

“Don't worry about Xander,he took a cab to school. I'm so sorry I asked him to ask you to guide him to school, I thought both of you could become friends.Oh and your mother called me telling me you are feeling unwell. So I cooked you my special soup thats bound to make you feel better almost instantly,” Mrs Collins said, filled with cheerfulness and every component of the rainbow.

Tracie let out a sigh of relief and was now savouring the soup Mrs Collins had served her.  “Mmmmm this is so good, Mrs Collins. You should teach me the recipe so I could cook it for myself,” Tracie said as she was stirring her soup.

“Call me Michelle darling. Aren't neighbours counted as family,” Michelle said, oozing a motherly feel.

Tracie thanked her for the soup and Mrs. Collins excused herself for she had to prepare the dinner. Tracie checked the time and decided to take some Paracetamol before taking a nap.