Ange (girlxgirl)

Chapter Sixteen

I wake with a headache. I sit up and look around, I have no idea where I am, I'm lying on a couch in a slightly familiar room with a fire going in front of me, I've seen enough thrillers to know this may not end well. I raise my hand to my forehead and feel around, there is a lump that feels like the size of a round lip balm container.

I groan and swing my legs around, looking for my boots at the end of the couch and slowly pulling them on. Someone is coming down the hallway. I squint into the darkness of the hallway, my eyes aren't seeming to be working well.

"Hello," I call down the hall to the stranger.

"Hello Ange," says the voice of Miss Winnett, she sounds a little mad.

"It's just you, I thought I was taken captive," I joke. "I'll be going now." I stand up and sit straight back down, feeling really dizzy.

Miss Winnett crosses her arm and raises her eyebrows at me as she leans against the door frame, carrying my t-shirt that I was wearing and it looks freshly washed. "You gave me a heart attack. I came home and here's a person on the ground in my paddock. I freaked and then I find out it is you and I freak even more. You had blood on your head and on your shirt. Who knows how long you were there for. So I had to get my neighbour to help me bring you in and you've been here for about two hours, in and out of consciousness," She comes across the room and sits beside me. "My Dad is a doctor so I know the basic stuff, I knew you weren't going to die." She smiles at me in relief.

"What's the time?" I ask.

"5ish," she replies.

"Fuck, I need to go." I say urgently, pulling on my boots.

"Ok."

"Katherine will want to know where I'm at. Where's my phone?" I ask after I pat down all my pockets and notice I'm back in my school uniform. "What's the go here?"

"Your shirt was covered in blood, your phone is over there." She hands me my freshly cleaned shirt and points to my phone.

I stumble over to it and squint down on it, there is only one message and it is from Katherine, sent seven minutes ago.

Hey, Ange. Do you need me to pick you up? - K.

Shit, how will I get home.

"Everything ok?"

"Yep, I just have to walk to Emma's so Katherine doesn't suspect I was riding a horse by myself. Or at my really nice teacher's house. I mean, you washed my shirt." I smile at her, she blushes a little and looks down.

"I can drive you," Miss Winnett volunteers.

"Are you sure? I really don't want to put you out." Really, all I want is to go straight home instead of walking to Emma's and waiting for Katherine.

"All I was going to do was sit around anyway. Besides, if I were to let you walk around I think you'd get lost or hit by a car. You have a concussion." She grabs her keys and walks out to her car, I follow her.

"I live near the really old footy oval, then along the road til the dead end." I say drowsily as I settle into Miss Winnett's car.

"Alright." She replies and we pull out of the parking space and into the darkness.

We travel in silence for a while and I listen to the radio, it is one of them rare channels that play weird music.

"Honestly, what were you thinking?" She says seriously.

"I don't know, I thought it would be fun. Obviously didn't think I would bleed from my head, get a bad headache and have to be dragged inside by my teacher."

"How is your head? Do you have a fever?" She slips a hand onto my forehead, I feel awkward and I notice her hands are freezing and really soft.

"Jesus, why are your hands so cold?" I say, trying to make conversation.

"Hmm," she mutters, ignoring my remark. "No fever. I don't know if that is a good or bad thing. Probably bad, maybe I should take you to the hospital? No, cause then you will be in trouble with Katherine. I should ring my Dad and just put up with his prying questions. Nope, I can't put up with that now. Hang on, maybe I should ring and just say-"

"Jesus, Natalie. Calm your tits," I say in disbelief that she could ramble for so long.

"You're right." She admits quietly and goes back to driving in silence, tapping her hand to the beat of the song.

"How do you know my name?" She asks after a while, casting a glance at me.

"Smart," I reply, pointing to my head.

She scowls. "Seriously, how?"

"The internet. Some accounting newsletter. My school is ridiculous with teacher privacy, yet they want me to confide in them and 'open up.' How bizarre."

"What did the newsletter say exactly?" She asks casually.

"A left here. Um, something about how you were fired."

She gapes at me. "What? No, I wasn't." she says sadly and angrily, looking at me in anger about the lies.

"Fuck, Natalie," I say abruptly. "I'm kidding. It said you were a partner in some big arse firm, no wonder you drive a Merc," I add as a joke.

She laughs. "Yeah, I'm loaded," she jokes.

I don't laugh because it is probably the truth. We are driving down my lane now and I can see the lights are on in the house and in Dad's office.

"Probably not as loaded as you though." Miss Winnett says impressed as she sees the house and garden. "Be careful now." I open my door and step out, noticing I feel a little stiff and sore.

"Will do. Thank you so much, now I don't have to wash my shirt." I grab my bag and hoist it onto my shoulder. "See you, Nat," I say cheekily.

"Bye, Angie." She says, rolling her eyes and driving off.