"Why do you care if I'm mad or not?" It was the only thing I cared about knowing at this point.
"You're smart King. You figure it out."
Ace Carter was bad news and so were his friends. Luckily, I stayed away from him, his friends and all their dram...
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The next day I took my time getting ready, mindful of the aches from my wrist. The brace was still on and it was starting to itch. It looked warm and sunny out so I carefully pulled on a white skirt that ended halfway up my thighs and a thin, long sleeve shirt. It was black and helped the outfit seem more decent and reserved.
I hadn't showered the night before, afraid to leave my room, so I pulled it up into a ponytail. My face was free of makeup until I covered my under eye circles with concealer, swiped on blush to hide my pale skin and mascara to liven up my eyes.
I grabbed my backpack on the way out and saw Charlie sitting at the dining table, a bowl of cereal in front of him. "You don't need to wear a skirt to impress the boys Mellie."
His words elicited a shiver of disgust. "I'm not wearing it to get noticed. It's warm out."
"Just like your mother," he muttered and went back to eating.
My phone dinged with a message and I saw Charlie narrow his eyes.
I'm here.
A smiled made its way to my lips and I opened the front door without saying anything else to Charlie and headed downstairs. He was waiting in his car out front and I hopped in and set my things down.
"You're pretty chipper for a Tuesday morning," Ace told me, looking suspicious.
I turned to him with a light smile. "Is a girl not allowed to be happy?"
"Not when there's still a whole day of school ahead of her," he rolled his eyes at me but then glanced down at my arm. "What did you do to your wrist?"
For a moment, I thought about telling him. I thought about Ace wanting to help me and take me away from Charlie and his anger. But instead I forced a blush. "I tripped on the stairs taking out the trash last night and landed on it wrong."
He eyed me for a moment but when he decided I was telling the truth, he smirked. "Only you, klutz."
"I thought I was sweetheart?" I asked, to get his mind off my wrist but to tease him a little as well.
"You are sweetheart," he paused, "sweetheart."
I rolled my eyes this time and told him to start driving. If we kept this banter up, we'd be late to school; and I would not be having that.
"So, your family leaves this weekend right?" I asked him, not knowing what I was starting.
He glanced over at me quickly. "Yeah."
I sat there for a couple more seconds in silence. "So, less than a week until we break up," I told him, making air quotes around break up.
"I guess so." Ace was suddenly quiet; which was unusual for him. But I had gone quiet too. "We'll still be friends right?"
