Things You'll Never Know

Chapter 1

It was 5 minutes to midnight when he came stumbling into the gas station bringing in a gust of cool wind along with him. His hair messily sat on top of his head as his black jacket hung loosely on his shoulders.

"Excuse me. We're closing." I say failing to sound the least bit happy. I was too tired from working 8 hours to even try. He glances at me before answering.

"That's not what the 'open' sign says outside." he snarls then makes his way over to the coolers where he picks up a few bottles of alcohol and comes to me. He sets all the bottles down with a loud thud making me jump at the sudden noise.

"You're going to need your ID. You can't buy alcohol if your under 21."  I explain rolling my eyes as I finally look up. It wasn't until then that I noticed his eyes were bloodshot red as his eyelids looked heavy. I was positive he was drunk and slightly high. He mutters something incoherent under his breath then digs in his pocket pulling out his wallet.

"Here." he says shoving the ID in my face, which got me even more irritated. His ID stated he was indeed 21 since January.

"Add a box of condoms." he huffs pulling out a 20 dollar bill and stuffing his wallet back in his pocket. My mouth slightly falls agape before I quickly recover.

"Um, what size?" I ask cursing under my breath at how awkward I was being.

"Extra large." I raise my eyebrows, but don't say anything and ring it up.

"That will make it 19.75." I say grabbing the 20 dollar bill out of his hands. It was then that I noticed his knuckles had dried up blood all over them.

"What happened?" I ask out of curiosity.

"None of your fucking business." he snaps grabbing the bag out of my hands.

"Fine," I sigh, "Here's your change."

I honestly could have cared less about what happened to him. All I was doing was trying to make conversation, but apparently he didn't want that.

Right as I dropped the quarter in his hands he rushes to the door muttering. I was used to cranky customers especially at this time of night so this was nothing. Getting my jacket and other belongings from the back room, I leave out the store locking it up in the process.

_____________

I turn slightly, struggling to press snooze on my deadly alarm clock while I buried my head under the soft comforter.

"Don't even think about falling back asleep, Ellie!" my mom shout from outside the door, causing me to roll my eyes.

"I wasn't." I lie, slightly cursing under my breath. I shouldn't have worked those extra hours last night. I was exhausted.

Groaning, I reluctantly roll out of my comfortable queen sized bed and make me way into the bathroom. I needed a quick shower to wake me up. Making sure the water was warm enough I step into the tub and wash up.

I had to admit I was very anxious even though it's just school. Today was the first day of senior year and I was a nervous wreck for no reason at all. Everything was going to go as perfect just like it has the rest of my three years of high school. I had everything I could possibly need: good grades, loyal friends, and Jace. The only thing that is changing is the teachers.

Realizing I've been in the shower too long, I hurry to grab a towel and get out. The mirrors above my sink became foggy and I struggle to even see myself in it as I start to brush my teeth. Walking out of the bathroom when I'm done, I walk to my closet and pull on my undergarments.

"Jace is here!" I hear my mom yell from downstairs.

Smiling, I waste no time in putting on my favorite black skinny jeans and my cute cardigan. I make my way back to the bathroom and I'm delighted to see that the mirrors were clear. I quickly brush my curly  chestnut hair that somehow managed to tangle up into knots overnight and apply my daily makeup, which consisted of a little bit of concealer, eyeliner, some mascara, and, of course, lip balm. Grabbing my book bag, I practically run downstairs to see my parents and Jace in the living room talking it up.

"Hi," I say slightly out of breath, "What are you doing here?"

"Taking you to school. Surprise." he says with a smug smile, leaning in to kiss my cheek since my dad is still present.

I can't stop the huge grin that comes to my face at the simple gesture. Jace and I have been going out for nearly a year now and I don't think I ever met someone so close  to perfect.

"I could have took myself, but thank you. I'm going to go get a granola bar or something to take with me then we can go."

"Okay, " he nods, removing his hands from my waist, where they had recently landed.

Walking into the kitchen, I open up one of the top cabinets and pull out a granola bar. When I turn around I could see my mom making her way to the coffeemaker looking completely worn out.

"What time do you get off from work today?" I ask curiously.

"6:00. Please, don't forget your key this time. Your dad won't be here also. He got called in to perform surgery today at 1:00 and won't be back until later on tonight." 

"Relax. It's right here." I say digging in my purse before holding it up to show her.

"Okay," she nods, "Well, you should be leaving now. You only have 20 minutes until school starts."

"Alright," I say heading out of the kitchen, "Bye!"

I faintly hear her respond. When I'm in the living room I find Jace waiting patiently on the couch looking at his phone. My dad must have went back to bed already. He had a long day ahead of him so I didn't blame him.

"Ready?" Jace asks standing up shoving his phone into his pocket.

I nod as I slip on my shoes then leave out the door with him.

_____________

The ride to school was filled with comfortable silence aside from the casual small talk. Pulling into a close parking spot, Jace and I opened up our doors and stepped out.

"You look nice today." Jace says giving me an approving nod as he makes his way over to me and throw a hand around my waist.

"Thanks. You're not too bad yourself." I say as my eyes light up from the compliment.

"Not too bad? Your crazy." he scoffs, but says nothing more.

I playfully roll my eyes leaning more into his side as we step foot into the school. Everybody was here by now since class was about to start in a couple of minutes.

"Do we have any classes together?" I ask Jace opening my backpack and pulling out my schedule to hand to him. Only a couple of seconds pass before he answers.

"We only have 1st hour English together," he says with a frown, "Why do you have gym?"

"I haven't had it yet and apparently it's required to graduate." I sigh.

He doesn't have a chance to reply before our friends start making their way over to us. Aiden greets Jace with one of those manly hugs while he nods at me in acknowledgement. Being friendly I just smile at him before I notice Lacey by his side wearing a short floral dress. Although I liked Aiden, it wasn't like us to just sit down and talk to other. He was Jace's friend, not mine, so I didn't want to make it awkward by including myself in everything they did. 

"Hey." I say to Lacey, trying to decide if I should give her a hug, but it seems she already made up her mind on that.

"Elle, I haven't seen you in forever!" she squeals.

"I just seen you at Jace's bonfire about 2 weeks ago." I laugh.

"Well, it seems like an eternity." she smiles then divert her eyes to Jace.

"Aren't you going to say hi?" she says with a smirk. I struggle to suppress my grin. Jace always said he wasn't too fond of Lacey, which was crazy. It was impossible not to like her. She was the most energetic person I ever met.

He looks at her for a couple of seconds before he rolls his eyes and smiles "Hi."

A minute passes before I speak up again.

"I'm about to find my locker. Met me in class?" I say directing my question to Jace, who nods.

"Want to come?" I ask Lacey.

"Yeah, sure." she says happily.

"See you later," I say giving a short kiss to Jace's lips, "Love you."

"Love you too," I faintly hear Jace say it back as Lacey and I disperse down the hallway.