Strange Trails

2

"Sophie?" Noah asked as I ambled into the kitchen.

He was sitting at the small kitchen table, a box of cornflakes opened and a jar of honey beside them.
"Yeah?' I asked, rubbing some sleep from my tired eyes.
"Oh dear lord," my mother muttered as she glanced up from the newspaper she was reading, a mug of coffee- black- in her hands. She peered at me over her glasses and I frowned at her.
"What?" I snapped as she placed the newspaper down on the table slowly.
"What on earth have you done to your hair?" She snapped back at me, shaking her head in disapproval.

"Cut it," I answered, turning my back to her and the conversation to grab some cereal from the cupboard.
"I can see that," My mother continued and then added "Why,"
I sighed and turned back around.
"Because I wanted to," I answered, pouring some cereal into a bowl and not bothering to add milk to it as I began to pick at it.

"Well sometimes just because we want to do something doesn't mean we should, Sophia," She told me, before lifting her newspaper back up and taking a sip from her mug.

That was her way of telling me she didn't like my short hair. But I didn't care. I liked it.

Noah glanced awkwardly at my mother and back at me.
"I like it Sophie," He grinned at me, one of his teeth missing from where the baby tooth had fallen out a few days ago.

"Thanks Noah," I grinned, ruffling his curly hair before grabbing my book bag from the kitchen counter, my homework from yesterday untouched and made my way out the front door.

Fifteen minutes late to class, all because I don't have a driver's licence, or really know how to drive stick, so I have to get the bus and today the bus was late. I don't get the school bus, I get the town buses, purely because before Ollie got his licence the two of us would get the school bus to and from school and now, I couldn't sit on it without being reminded of him. So, I adapted, got public transport instead.

I watched as the first few days of fall welcomed us, excited for summer to be over and winter to join us, then everything else would be cold, much like me. Finally, the outside temperature would match how I felt inside and maybe everything would feel right again. Maybe. Highly doubtful, however.

I grimaced at the idea of walking into my AP physics class late considering Mr. Boyle was an A-grade A-hole. At the same time, I knew that I wouldn't get into trouble, maybe just told- not to be late again, but not into trouble.
I never got into trouble, I could probably kick a teacher and spit in their face without getting into trouble. Purely because they all knew me as the girl whose brother killed himself last Winter. They were all scared to get me into trouble, to give me detention, to do anything that might push me over the edge too. Which was stupid. I hated the look in their eyes, the fact that they could barely look me in the eyes. I'm not the one who killed themselves, so I don't understand why everyone's acting like it.

Ollie had been the school's golden boy, star line-backer, in all the AP classes, friends with everyone. I still didn't know why he'd done it. His life on the outside seemed so perfect. All the teachers knew Ollie and liked Ollie. He hadn't even left a note.

Nothing.

Now here I am, drifting through life on my own, one day at a time without my best friend. Sure we fought, and we didn't always hang out at school we were siblings, but he was still my best friend. I wasn't dealing with all this on my own when he was around. But then he just left me here, to deal with everything on my own. Our crazy mother who he'd always known how to deal with, when dad left and mum started working all the time, it had just been Ollie and I, Noah was too young to really be part of what Ollie and I had.

He'd promised me, that I'd never be left again. Yet here I was. Alone.

I pushed open the door and the class' eyes all snapped over to me, I rubbed my nose, blinking at their faces before turning to the teacher uninterestedly.

"Ms. Chambers," Mr. Boyle spoke, lifting his glasses slightly to examine me.

"I'm late," I announced, rubbing my left eye with the back of my hoodie sleeve.

"Yes- well, yes," He muttered, obviously feeling awkward.

"Sorry," I told him, on behalf of being late, but I didn't really mean it, and he probably didn't really care for it either.

"That's alright, just don't let it happen again," He told me, nodding and I shrugged, making my way to my seat in the far left of the classroom, sitting next to Louis Johnson.

He offered me a smile as I sat down and I raised an eyebrow in response before pulling my seat out and resting my head on the desk.

"Soph!" a cheery voice spoke from beside me as I rummaged through my locker, looking for my history textbook.
I glanced to the side and saw Charlotte smiling at me.
I sighed and continued rummaging through my textbooks.
"Hey Charlotte," I muttered.

"I love your hair, it suits you," She grinned, and I glanced at her.
"Thanks," I muttered, not really wanting to invest into this conversation.

Charlotte had been one of my best friends 8 months ago, she wasn't a bitch or anything, that wasn't why we stopped being friends.
I actually had a lot of friends eight months ago. I was one of the popular kids, mostly because of Ollie but still. I had sat with the cheerleaders and bunch of preppy girls, the table full of jocks was close to us and that's where Ollie and all his friends sat.
Every party that was thrown I attended, every sports game, I'd even been a cheerleader myself. That all seemed comical now.

"You going to try out for cheer this year?" She asked as I began moving down the hall, hoping she wouldn't follow.

"No," I answered flatly, squeezing through the crowds of people.

Charlotte was genuinely a nice person; she had been one of my two best friends. Charlotte and Ava had been my two best friends, all three of us met freshman year and had been inseparable ever since. Where Charlotte was sweet and innocent, Ava was fierce and wild. The three of us had had many fun experiences but they were something I didn't see the need for in my life anymore.

I'd hated Baskerville a little less back then, but the hatred had been there. I suppose I just wasn't as bitter.

"Really? You should! I'm captain so it'd be a sure spot, Ava isn't doing it this year either but it would still be fun," She rambled, she always rambled.
"No thank you," I Answered bluntly weaving my way through the crowd, Charlotte was short, so she easily slipped through the crowds of people.

Her blonde curls were pinned back today, and she wore a light layer of lip gloss.

She went to say more but I made a quick getaway outside the building, closing the door behind me. I didn't mean to be rude, I never did, but I just didn't have the energy to talk to people anymore, or to do the things I didn't want to do. Frankly I didn't even know what I wanted to do. Everything seemed pointless lately. I made my way to the bleachers which was where I sat now. Mostly because the bleachers were usually empty apart from the occasional recluse sitting there or a couple arguing. I however just sat up the back, both boots resting on the bench with my back against the railing as I picked at my lunch, waiting for today to be over.