Beautiful Mess

Chapter 4

 I was dreading going to school. When my mother came into my room to wake me up, I knew something was up. My mother never came to wake me up for school. And never as cheery as she was this morning.

 “Wake up, baby girl,” she whispered. I felt her hand rest on my back and her hair tickled my face. I pulled my pillow over my face. I felt her hand run across my back. “Get up, sweetie.”

 “No,” I groaned.

 “Maddox won’t be happy to know that you’re running late. He offered to drive you,  you know,” she said. I took a deep breath as she stood up from my bed. I sighed in relief as she shut the door. Suddenly, everything that she just said ran through my mind. Maddox won’t be happy to know that you’re running late. He offered to drive you. I forgot all that stuff happened last night. For some reason, I was hoping it was all a dream.

 It still took me more than ten minutes to will myself out of bed and tell myself I could make it through today and the next and the next. I had to. When he came to pick me up, I’d just sit in his car and say nothing. We’d get to school and I’d run off to class and avoid him the rest of the day. I’d walk home if he had practice and suck up the car ride if he didn’t. I just had to make sure to “prove” to everybody our “relationship.”

 I made sure to put on the baggiest sweat-shirt I had and throw my hair in a bun. I didn’t bother to put on makeup, although that didn’t sit well with my mother. I walked down the stairs in my outfit and my mother nearly fell over in horror.

 “What in the hell are you wearing?” she gasped. She rushed over to me and started to pull the sweatshirt back over my head.  “You will not wear that the first day Maddox takes you back. You should be ashamed.”

 “If it was anyone else, would it even matter to you?” I snapped. I pulled the sweat-shirt back down and glared at her. She searched my face before walking back into the living room.

 “Would it kill you to put on makeup at least? No girl should go around without makeup,” she stated. She grabbed the newspaper she was reading and sat back on the couch. She opened the paper as I walked into the hallway to grab my bag.

 “No girl or me?” I questioned. She looked up from her paper to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of a horn. My heart started to race as I came into realization of what I would have to go through today.

 “If he breaks up with you, don’t say I didn’t tell you so,” my mother yelled as I opened the door.

 “Trust me, I would say so much more,” I said behind the shut door. I tugged my sweat-shirt close to my body as I turned around to face the black truck I had grown to hate. He was sitting in it messing with the radio. He glanced up as I approached the passenger door and the same evil grin appeared on his face. I swallowed and opened the door, getting in slowly. He pushed the arm rest that sat between the two seats up and patted the empty space as I shut the door.

 “You can sit here,” he said. I glanced down at his hand and shivered.