An Angel and a Demon

Chapter 1

“Shit.”

That was the first word that came out of Marilyn Carson’s mouth on Monday morning, as she whipped the covers from her bed and ran into the bathroom. Once again, she was late for school. She realized that she’d left her phone in her bedroom, so she ran back, tripping on the carpet as she went. She sprawled onto the side of the bed and cursed once again. Finally regaining her composure, she took a deep breath and managed to successfully retrieve her phone and get into the shower.

Eventually, after a painful episode of finding her toothpaste under the cupboard and running out of toilet paper, she hurried downstairs, into the kitchen to find her mother, Lydia, singing to Aretha Franklin while making breakfast. She’d always thought that her mother had the most beautiful voice in the world. She admired her for working so hard and building the life that they had today. The relationship she had with her mother was one she treasured and was proud of, unlike most girls at her school.

She grabbed an apple for breakfast and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi mom, bye mom. Love you!” she called as she threw open the front door.

“Wait, wait, wait! You haven’t had breakfast yet, sweetie!” her mother called back.

She paused at the door and replied, feeling the warm morning sunlight touch her face.

“Nah, its fine! I’m late so I’m just gonna have an apple!”

Her mother came rushing to the door, her heels clicking on the wooden floor and holding her arms out, wrapping Marilyn in a tight hug.

“Ok then, but make sure you get something from the cafeteria,” she mumbled, shoving some money into Marilyn's hands.

She sighed and smiled at her mother.

“Thanks mom. I gotta go now, I’m late!” she laughed as she went out the front door, stuffing the note into her pocket.

Marilyn got to the bus stop just in time. The driver shook his head and smiled at her as she ambled in, panting heavily.

“Cutting it a bit close today, aren’t we, missy?” he chuckled.

She smiled apologetically and went straight to the back of the bus, where she found Zayn waiting for her. Today he wore a plaid shirt with faded jeans. He had his earphones in and was scrolling through his phone. He was one of the richest kids in her high school and had been her best friend ever since they were in primary. The only reason he chose to go to school with the bus, was so that he could keep Marilyn company. That, she reckoned, was true friendship.

He looked up at her with those startlingly pale blue eyes as she approached and gave her a smile.

“I was starting to think that you decided to sleep in on purpose,” he teased as she slumped down next to him.

“Yeah, well just be glad I actually showed up to keep you company.”

She took out her history textbook and started going through the work that she should have studied the night before. Zayn raised an eyebrow.

“Since when do you study?"

“Look who’s talking. I bet you didn’t study either, smartass."

“At least I can pull it off,” he murmured, which earned him a punch in the arm.

“Don’t gimme that. I’d laugh if you went in there today and completely failed!”

He shot her a smug look and snatched away her textbook.

“Which is why I have you to lend me your textbook so that I don’t fail.”

He held the textbook out of her reach and she cursed him, only half managing to suppress the giggle that escaped her lips.