Caffeine [July Nanowrimo]

four; aches

A fake smile made its way to my face as the fifty yet old Botox filled woman tapped in front of me about her new dress.

Or her estate, I don't know. My lower region twisted in pain as I felt another wave hit me. When will this goddamn pain end?

I concealed the grimace that almost came on my face and gave the woman another smile, acting as if her story of lace and sequins -it was dress apparently- was the best thing since the existence of Louis Vuitton.

It probably was to her anyway.

I tapped my foot lightly, nodding my head at appropriate times and gave out sounds of agreement. On the inside though, my thoughts were slowly turning more violent as the seconds pass by.

I would tell you let's keep this PG rated.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Drew, a friend of mine, and I took that as my ticket to get away from this woman.

"And did I mention that these laces are all hand ma-" I cut her off mid-sentence and bid her a good day as I made my way to the boy. Halfway there, I slipped into the crowd and tried my best to avoid potential conversations.

"Why do you look like someone is out to kidnap you?" Startled at the voice behind me, I jumped and gasped. I gave an annoyed look at Derrick. Did he not see that I'm not in the mood for games? He handed me some sort of bite sized food with a face void of emotion, although his eyes led an amused twinkle in them. Pain prickled in me as I realized he was doing that to look inconspicuous so nobody would suspect anything.

I glanced around us and I turned back I him, feeling slightly angered at his actions.

"You need to stop doing that!" I exclaimed, referring to the way he surprised me. "Besides, I was trying to hide from the one woman whose name I can't remember for the life of me."

He let out a lowly chuckle and my heart beat faster at the sound.

Yeah, I got it bad.

"You're so cute when you act mad."

"Well, keep it up and you're about to watch me get real adorable," I bit out.

He turned around to face me with a raised eyebrow.

"Well someone woke at the wrong side of the bed." I clutched my lower abdomen as I felt the wave of pain coming again, leaving me slightly disoriented. Panic flashed in his eyes and his arms shot out to support me.

"Belle, are you okay? What's wrong with your stomach? Are you hurt?" my hands clasped his wrist and I struggled to stand up straight. Once I the pain subsided, I let go of his wrist and waved him off. I didn't want to embarrass him.

"I'm fine, Derrick. Really. It's just cramps." His eyes widened with understanding and I saw pink tainting his cheeks lightly as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

I laughed at his reaction. He was such a typical boy. One word regarding the menstrual cycle, they're already itching to run the opposite direction.

He shot me a subtle glare before his face rearranged back to his normal emotionless mask. I frowned at the sudden change of reaction until I heard the voice beside me.

"Rayla, what are you doing here?" my father spoke in a clipped tone. I knew what he meant to ask was what was I doing with Derrick but I course he would never say that. I turned around and gave him a soft smile.

"Oh nothing. I felt faint so Derrick helped me. That's all." A flash of pain was in Derrick's but it was gone so fast, I wondered if I imagined it. I looked down and realized one of my hands was still tightly wrapped around his wrist. Immediately letting go, guilt crept in me. I didn't mean to hurt him and I didn't expect my grip tone that tight.