She Needs Love

Chapter Five

Song: Youth by Daughter*

The weekend had finally arrived. Five days of torture had finally come to an end. Ida unlocked the door of their apartment and entered the small flat. The sickening stench of cigarettes and cheap air freshener hit her like a brick wall.

"Ma! I'm home!" Ida's voice fell flat in the cluttered apartment.

"Good. You didn't do the damn dishes before you left!"

She heard her mother's voice clearly. Although she couldn't see her from where she was standing, she knew that she was still laying in bed. In the exact same position where Ida had left her in the morning. Fridays were her day off from work. Her day off from being a mother. Though her lacking mothering skills were consistent.

Ida sighed quietly and did as she was told. She couldn't get her mind off what had happened the day before. Her book seemed to be long gone and so was her composure. She kept hoping that she had just misplaced it. That it would show up in the very near future, just as she had left it. That was the only thing that put her alarming thoughts to rest.

"Ida! I need you to go to the store. We need groceries for dinner!" Her thoughts were cut off by her mother's voice. It was sharp and unwavering.

"I left the list on the fridge!"

"Okay, Ma!"

She took the yellow note off the fridge and threw it in the trashcan. She had memorized that list months ago.

The store was crowded and busy. If it weren't for the fact that she had been coming here since she was three years old, she would be having a panic attack right now. Luckily, she knew exactly what she needed and where to go. She could make her usual quick enter-and-exit.

Her basket was filling up. She was scanning the aisles for mayonnaise and for a split second, she forgot to watch where she was going. With her never ending misfortune, that split second was more than enough time for her to crash into someone at full speed. Her groceries went from being held safely in her hand, to spilling across the entire floor.

"Shit." A male voice erupted.

She didn't dare to look up. She was certain that she had heard that voice before. She didn't know his name, but she surely knew his face.

"It's fine. It was my fault," she spoke quietly. She wasn't sure if he had heard her.

"No, of course not. Let me help you."

He looked apologetically at Ida. She bent down to collect her groceries from the floor. He did the same.

Ida wasn't expecting this boy to react like this. He wasn't a friendly person, from what she had gathered, only when he needed to be. He and his friends were the bullies of the school. Everyone worshipped them, but they were bullies nonetheless. She had always made sure to stay out of their way.

When her eyes met his, she had expected them to be filled with resentment. He would swear at her and demand that she cleaned up the mess she had made. Instead, she was met with a pair of piercing grey eyes. Seemingly filled with nothing but kindness.

His appearance was undeniably striking. Tall and lean, he carried himself with radiating determination and confidence. She had seen his face a hundred times, plastered all over every social media. Yet, she had never really looked at him.

"Do we know each other? I feel like I've seen you somewhere." He broke into a questioning smile, revealing two deep dimples.

His eyes were still glued to her, but she was avoiding eye contact. Ida was thrown off by his contradicting personality.

"We go to the same school," she replied. Still too insecure to raise her voice.

His eyes widened in shock. Clearly completely unaware that they were attending the same school.

"You go to Redding Academy? What grade?"

"Same as you."

"Oh," he said. Embarrassed that it took a shopping incident at their local grocery store for him to notice her.

"What's your name?" He sought to lighten the mood by initiating small talk. But to her, small talk was the biggest mood killer of them all.

"Ida." She hated telling people her name. It was strange and foreign and she always had to repeat it. Three simple letters and people still managed to get it wrong.

"Ida," he repeated after her. Saying her name like he had known her for years. "I like it." He was still smiling.

"It's nice to meet you, Ida. I'm Thomas."

Thomas. That wasn't the name she had expected. It didn't match his mischevious personality.

"I'll see you at school on Monday." He flashed one last smile before he left her where she was still sitting on the floor. Confused and baffled by what had just happened.