Runaway Girl >> hemmings a.u

Chapter 35

Maybe I didn't want to go back to Melbourne any more.

Maybe singing didn't matter to me.

Maybe Luke was all I needed at the moment.

Maybe.

But no matter what thoughts ran through my head on Monday morning, I couldn't do anything about it.

My parents had sacrificed everything for me so that I'd be able to peruse my singing career. I wasn't selfish enough to make them move back to Sydney. Life wasn't fair and I had to deal with it.

School sucked. There was absolutely no other way of putting it. Everything around me just reminded me of Luke. A quick flash of blond hair or a sudden glance of a boy with a broad chest. I couldn't escape and I was drowning in my own thoughts.

The hardest thing was explaining everything to Roxy.

'Tell me everything.' She would swoon, brining her hands over her heart. 'I love romance. Don't you just LOVEEE romance?'

Through gritted teeth I would tell her everything in as little detail as possible, trying my best to blink away the bitter tears that came.

Dark clouds hovered over Melbourne as we made our way to English on Monday morning. My fingers always seemed to find their way to the necklace Luke had given me, the cold metal of the pendant always comforting me. Closing my eyes, I was almost able to feel his soft fingertips on my neck as he gently put the necklace on for me for the first time at the airport...

'Uh hello?' Roxy shouted, my thoughts instantly evaporating into thin air. 'Why are you eyes closed? Are you tired?' She whispered.

I opened one eye and squinted at her.

'No I'm not tired.' I shrugged, shaking off the memory of Luke's touch.

We walked in silence and finally reached our class. By the time lunch time came around, I was full on depressed.

'But it can only get better by time.' Roxy insisted, picking at her Mac and cheese. 'Please cheer up. It's not like you're going to marry him or anything.' She laughed, making me smile a little for the first time that morning.

Right on cue to catch my bad mood, a girl with perfectly straight blond hair and amazingly thin legs flounced her way to our table, with her little gaggle of friends. I caught Roxy's eye as I turned to face her. Flopping down with their plates of salad, they gagged at my unhealthy Mac and cheese before lifting their heavy eyelashes at me.

'Hey.' The tallest one said, facing a thin dark girl on her left. 'I dare you to chuck a piece of pasta at Miss Kirsty. Go on, do it!'

Her stunning face broke into a smile as she picked a piece of pasta off my plate and flung it in a perfect arch to the teacher, hitting her straight on the back, then dropping to the ground.

Miss Kirty's eyes immediately dart round to look at me, her eyes full of accusation since me and Roxy were the only ones at our table eating the pasta. But she had no proof so she turned back to her own food. I shoot the blond girl an icy look.

'What are you staring at?' She scowled.

'Nothing.' I whispered, my eyes scanning the group of girls sitting at our table. My mouth twitches into a smile, as I see the blond girl's bra sticking out of her shirt.

'And now she's smiling!' She turned to her friends, flicking hair off her shoulder. 'What a freak!' She dramatically whispers, making sure I was able to here her. I don't care though, popular girls' opinions on me just didn't really matter.

'Oh I'm Honey, by the way.' She smiled sweetly, but I could obviously see way beyond that grin. 'I saw your...pictures online. With your boyfriend. If he even is that. Luke his name is, if I'm correct. And I am correct, obviously.' She examined her nails as my face burned red.

'What do you want?' I asked, through gritted teeth as I looked at my pasta, now cold and clumped together.

'Oh, nothing.' She smiled. 'Just wanted to say hi, you know, introduce myself. And just let you knew that, well, Luke is wayyyy out of your league. I don't even know why he likes you. Just beware. It may all be a trick.' She laughed and adjusted her lipgloss. 'And did you guys know.' She turned to her group of friends, her perfect legs crossed on top of each other. 'That Rebecca is so retarded, that she can't even remember anything. I mean anything! How pathetic.'

'You don't know anything about me!' I said quietly.

She laughed. 'But I do, darling. I've done my...research. And I know that you definitely don't deserve Luke.' She reached over, bringing a cloud of cheap perfume with her. She looked down at my chest. 'L for Luke I'm guessing?' She asked sweetly. Then, I watched as she grabbed the necklace and pulled it off my neck roughly and threw it over her shoulders. 'Maybe Luke's not even your boyfriend after all. Maybe he just met you coincidently and decided that you're such a freak he doesn't even want to be around you any more. And that's why you're here, loads and loads of miles away from him. Maybe you're just a big, fat, liar.' She spat, looking at me as if I was just something small and slimy, something she had discovered stuck to her lettuce.

I dared to meet her gaze, my cheeks bright red with fury.

With shaking fingers I lifted my plate of macaroni cheese and tipped it over Honey's long, blond, perfect hair. I watched as the cheesy glop dripped down her hair, then down her top.

'Oh. My. God.' She screeches.

Honey just gave me another reason to want to get away from Melbourne.

And before I knew it, I had ran out of the school, away from Honey, away from the accuses and away from everyone.

Because at that point in time the only person I wanted by my side was Luke, but he was half way across the country.