Blurred Line

🔥

I shuddered as the cold water from the taps hit my bare back.
My Uncle Ernest was waiting for me so that I could get to school early....it was my first day of high school at Canada High and I was pretty bummed that I had to leave private school in Britain for a dirty public school in Canada....why the hell did my mother have to separate me from Alexander?
It's not like I didn't like the distance because of what he did to me but I really wanted to see how he was suffering after everything.
"Mary Aniela Jackson, get the hell out of that room now!" Uncle Ernest shouted. I rolled my eyes as I brushed my long brown hair and put it under a cap. I came out of my room looking absolutely sporty in a pair of black denim trousers under a baseball shirt and my basketball cap and I was not in the mood for all the raves and rants from my mum's younger brother. It was bad enough I was in Canada...a country I hated with a burning passion.
I got out of my room and walked downstairs lazily.
"Hurry up already!" He said. "You're going to be late."
"Its six thirty Uncle." I said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone. My hair was in a ponytail....
"Your tattoo is on full display darling." He said.
I had forgotten about that damned tattoo already.... Alexander's name was printed boldly on the side of my neck. I rolled my eyes.
"I don't owe anyone any explanation." I said bluntly.
"I'm sorry sweetheart" he smiled at me and ushered me out of the house.
I got into the car and strapped myself in.
"I'm going to pick up something from the office then I'll take you to school. You have Orientation today." He said as he drove. I put on my earpieces and decided to soak myself in good music before torture began.
We stopped at Uncle Ernest's office alright. Fantasia, his high school sweetheart and current girlfriend was there. She smiled at me and kissed my Uncle when he got out of the car. They went in for like five minutes and then he came out alone. It was seven thirty when I got to that stupid place called school. Those minutes we spent on the road were painful. I was going to a mixed school.... I wasn't too excited about it anyway. My Uncle walked me to the principal's office through the hallway, where everyone was staring...where all the boys were staring and I was having none of that. Uncle Ernest walked me to my homeroom and when I opened the door,everyone stared. I really wanted the Earth to open up so that I could fall in. I took the last seat at the back and eyes followed me. No one has sitting beside me and I was thankful for that.
I was in high school. I was a sophomore; a very shy and anti social sophomore in a weird looking homeroom with nice looking but absolutely scary boys. Everyone seemed to be using the latest technology and no one had books - at least; I wasn't everyone. My bag pack was full of books and I refused to take my tablet out of my bag. It turned out that my first day was a free day and everyone was playing true or dare in class.
"Hey,new girl!" I turned to my right side. There was this random boy staring at me. "Truth or Dare?" Everyone turned and I shrugged.
"Answer the question, dammit." The boy said in heavily accented English.
I really didn't want to play and neither did I want to fit in..
"What if I don't want to?" I asked
"Well you don't have much of a choice,do you?" He asked rudely.
"Well,I'm not playing." I shot back.
"Ladies,gents;" he addressed the class as he took out a whip from nowhere." Looks like we have a really tough cookie...and what do we do to tough cookies in our homeroom? "He asked as he played with the whip.
My breath caught.
"We break 'em!" The class said in a weird unison. "The Canadian Idiot"(my chosen name for this boy) made his way to my desk and cracked the whip in front of me. He made my heart jump.
"Truth or dare?" He asked.
"Get lost!" I said.
"Truth or Dare?" He asked again before he grabbed my hand.
"Let go!" I said,almost bursting into tears.
"Truth or Dare?" He asked again.
"Let go off me" I said. "Please..." I added.
"Not until you agree to play." He said. In hushed tones,he continued; "I need you to fit in dammit!" He said,cracking the whip again.
"Truth or dare?" He said.
"How many times do I have to say this..... I don't want to play your stupid game!" I said,half irritated.
"I like girls as fine as you....but you're one helluva hard but to crack....hard to get...." He said before a thin icy smile appeared on his face.
"I hate it!" He spat our before cracking that whip again.
"And your point is?" I asked him. I was used to trash talk. I was more of a tomboy so I got it all the time.
I was hoping to shut him up.
"You're different from the girls in here." He said.
"How so?" I asked, still full of spite for him.
"They do everything I want them to do." He said,looking at everyone in there. He winked at one girl and she smiled at him. Hr touched her nose and then she giggled. I rolled my eyes.
The bell for recess was rang.
"Excuse me....I've got better things to do than to sit here with you thirsty lot." I spat out indignantly.
"Sit down!" The Canadian Idiot ordered. I sat only because I was shoved back into my seat.
"Truth or dare?" He said. I was fed up.
"Truth me." I said.
"Honest truth, have you been unscrewed?" He asked. I hated where this was going.
I took a deep breath.
"Answer....." Canadian Idiot said calmly.
"No" I said proudly - a bit too proudly,I guess. He burst into hysterical laughter.
"You can't be serious!" He said.
"Guys," he addressed the class. " this mighty fine chick is screwed tight. " he said.
People started to laugh at me. I didn't really get the joke. My first day in Canada High was shit;  every first day of school was.
I went home that day feeling so stressed out. I sat in my uncle's car right after school was over.
"How was...." I cut him off
" I want to leave this hell hole!"I screamed.
"Sweetheart,what happened?" He asked. I told him exactly what happened.
"Oh c'mon Em....they were just messing with you."
"No man!" I said
"Relax baby." He said
"Can I leave the school?" I asked.
"Lemme talk to your mum about this."
I rolled my eyes. This is the last thing I need right now.
We got home in under 14 minutes and I headed to my room to take a shower. I had never been this much humiliated in my entire life by a douche bag.
                                💮

"Mary Anne!" Uncle Ernest shouted from downstairs. I opened my eyes only to realise I had fallen asleep. I checked my watch and it was already 7pm. Shit.
I woke up with a start and headed downstairs.
"You hungry?" He asked as I walked down. He had set boxes of Chinese takeout on the dining table.
"I guess I am." I said as I perched myself on a nearby seat.
"Sweetheart. What's going on with you? You know you can tell me anything and it's going o stay between us."
I sighed. I told him how depressed I was about Alexander and my move and me thinking that my mum really hates me.
"Em. Your mum can't hate you. She's just scared she'd lose you like she did your dad."
I rolled my eyes.
"Dad's death hit all of us. Especially me. I'm the only girl, remember? I can't continue to do this to myself Uncle E. I'm just really tired of pretending everything's fine with mum and I." I said.
"I totally understand you." After a minute or two of awkward silence and me picking at my food, Uncle Ernest spoke.
"Fuck Chinese. Let's go get that sad little girl some ice cream." I smiled at him and left the table to go get my coat from my room while he cleaned up.

"It's a school night so you're eating just two jumbo cups and that's all. I don't want you getting sick." I heard Uncle Ernest say. My mind had really wandered off course. I was thinking of my dad even as I ate my chocolate ice cream in silence.
"Em...." Uncle Ernest poked me to realism. I smiled weakly. My eyes had already watered.
"Let's take two more to go. I don't like this." He said. He ordered two more cups for me and we were on our way home. I didn't really feel like being around him so as soon as he parked, I put all the ice cream in the freezer and went straight to bed.

                                     💮
I woke up really early with a headache. I took a quick shower even before Uncle Ernest came up to wake me.
"Someone's up early." He said cheerily. I grumbled as I brushed my hair into a ponytail. I wore very simple clothing that day; a black printed tee under a pair of black slacks.
I popped two Aspirin tablets before I sat down for breakfast.
"We've run out of milk." He said. I sighed, went into the fridge and pulled out a carton of Greek yoghurt.
I poured some of that into my bowl of cereal and ate it indifferently.
Uncle Ernest shook his head and smiled.
"I can't bring you home today. I'm working late." He said even as he frowned.
"It's fine. Only problem is I don't have a license to drive here." I said.
"Take your passport. You're not going to get pulled over. Unless you're really late tonight." He said as he threw the keys to his Panamera at me. I smiled.
"Thanks Uncle E." I said.
"Anytime sport. Just don't tell your mum anything. I don't want her flying here telling me trash." I smiled and quickly finished my cereal and cleaned up after myself.
"I'm getting groceries!" I said after I left to get my stuff from upstairs.
"Sure!" He called after me.
I locked up after him and drove to school.
I parked and took a deep breath. The Canadian Idiot had already spotted me at the parking lot. I got out of my car with my bag pack and my phone in hand. He was walking towards me and I was already close to tears. I was so intimidated by him it wasn't funny.
"Hey." He said as he approached me.
I walked away from him as fast as I could and I dropped my iPhone in the process. I knew that was the end of me.
"I'm so sorry. Let me fix that for you. I'll get it back to you by recess." He said.