My Favorite Song

Chapter 11: Epic Fail!

The day after that, I woke up feeling not much better than the day before. Sure, most of the pain went away, but the bruise remained as a reminder of last night, something I desperately wanted to forget. *How could I have been so careless?!* That's what I wanted to know. *I should've known better! Stupid!* I thought to myself, smacking my forehead; although, I knew it wouldn't do me any good. *There's gotta be some way to cover this up.* I searched my room frantically for something that could help, but of course, I didn't own anything of use to me. *Ugh!* After pacing around the room a little while more, I stopped in front of the mirror. *Hmm....* I took out my hair-tie and let my hair down, then brushed it all nice and neat. *.....There. Now it's all covered up. ^w^* Although my little 'disguise' wasn't exactly 'perfect', it was the only option I had. So, I got ready for school and left the apartment. *Here we go....*

This time, I actually NOTICED that Castiel wasn't standing by his tree. (Yeah, it's HIS tree. w) I figured he'd try and spy on me again, since he wasn't so successful yesterday. And I was right. The first thing I saw when I walked through the front doors of the school was Castiel, standing at his locker again. As soon as he saw me, he looked at me for a moment; as if he never saw my hair down before. Even so, after a few seconds, he closed his locker and left, heading towards class. Just like yesterday. I rolled my eyes. *You're not that subtle, you know.* Anyway, I got everything from my locker and went to class as well. As I expected, all the morning classes were just like yesterday. Castiel just sat there in the back, paying no attention to class whatsoever. And after class, Lysander and Nathaniel, although they also stared at my hair for a moment or two, made little-to-no contact with me whatsoever. And that was fine with me. The only thing that really surprised me was how little time it took for me to get used to being spied on. *It's just a normal day, nothing more...*

At lunch, I sat with Iris (again). She looked at my hair for a moment, stroking it a little. *Is my hair REALLY that unnatural?! .* "Aww Julia, your hair's so pretty! You should wear it like this more often." *....Oh, alright. I'll let it slide...for now. =.=* "Thanks Iris." I replied with a smile, which she returned; saying, "Well, SOMEONE seems happy today!" I looked at her, surprised. "I do?" She just kept smiling, completely ignoring me. But now that I thought about it, I WAS feeling happy today. I had no idea why though. I mean, I have a huge bruise and HUGE problems; yet, I felt happier than usual. Suddenly, Iris spoke again; snapping me out of my daze. "Hey, tell me something. I've noticed that the boys don't seem to be hanging around you as much. What'd you do?"

I looked at her, faking a look of confusion. "What? Me? I didn't do anything." "Well, you got Castiel to come to school. How?" Almost as soon as she said that, I shot back without thinking, "Oh believe me, that WASN'T on purpose!" Iris grinned at me. "Ohhh, so you DID do something?" I suddenly became nervous. I mean, I couldn't just TELL her that Castiel was spying on me. Iris wouldn't be able to keep my secret; I knew that better than anyone. "Oh....um, I-I-" I started to say, but Iris interrupted "Well good for you!" Now I was REALLY confused. "Huh?" She just smiled and continued "Whaddaya mean, 'huh?' You finally found a way to get 'em off your back! No wonder you're so happy~!" She ruffled my hair, and then stood up and left. *Argh, Iris! Don't touch my hair! .* Though, it didn't take long before I realized she was right. I mean, sure, I still had problems with the boys to deal with, but ever since Castiel came to school, the other boys have been staying away as much as possible. And of course, since Castiel was supposed to be 'secretly' spying, he wasn't gonna come near me either. I finally had some room to breathe. School had become a safe haven for me, and (although I felt a little guilty for doing so,) I was loving it.

Even though I was swamped with homework during the last classes of my school, I didn't mind one bit. I was already used to the amount of homework the teachers gave me; now I was focusing more on my new-found freedom (at school anyway). Before long, I found myself spending all my class time with this unnaturally happy grin on my face. No one could've stopped me from smiling if they tried; I was THAT happy. (AND I was glad that Castiel sat behind me. THAT way, he couldn't see my face! X3) It wasn't until the end of the day, as I walked towards the exit of the school, that I realized I had basketball practice that day. With Castiel. My mood instantly dropped. *Happiness just.....hates me I think. -.-* With a sigh, I started towards the gym. My thoughts consumed my head the whole way there. *Wait, since he's spying on me, maybe he won't talk to me during practice.* I hoped to God that he wouldn't. *No, he won't talk to me. He won't.....* That was all I had time to think; before I knew it, I was already there.*Alright...let's get this over with...*