My Messed Up Past

High school

Beep beep!

Ugh, I groaned, rolling on my stomach.

Beep beep!

I thumped my hand down on my alarm clock, silencing the noise.

It was 7 am, giving me a lot of time to get ready for school. I used to just wake up at 8:25 and rock up for school at 8:30. But when my mum left, I got responsibilities in the house, so now I have to think more carefully on how to spend my time.

I jump out of bed, open my curtains and hurry to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth and washing my face with water, I rushed downstairs to the kitchen.

The fridge was full of food-- we'd gone shopping yesterday. I pulled out a pack of frozen berries and then found a bag of waffles in a nearby cupboard. I let the berries defrost as I placed the waffles in the toaster. Ping! Our breakfast was ready: I put the waffles onto two plates, assembled the berries on them and then yelled, "Dad! Breakfast's ready!"

I ate my breakfast quickly, dad's uneaten-- I think he was in the shower.

Back upstairs in my room, I made my bed and pulled on the outfit I had chose yesterday that was hanging off my door handle.

I've learnt that if you look good, people are less likely to assume your messed up and they don't judge you as much. That's why I put so much thought in my outfits everyday.

Today I will be wearing blue mum jeans, a white adidas tank top, a grey chunky knit turtle neck jumper and a pair of fila trainers.

Seated in front of my mirror, I stared for a second at my reflection.

My grey eyes were shockingly bright  against the dark bags under my eyes, my eyebrows messy. Chocolate coloured hair, short, only just reaching my jaw, stuck up like a birds nest, twisted and matted. When I smiled, I looked like I was screaming on the inside, unable to pull off being alright.

In the hope of looking better for school, I brushed my hair and applied make up all over. I added extra concealer for my bags. I even decided to add a cute pearl clip, to distract people from the dull look in my eyes.

As soon as I was done I quickly packed my school bag and headed downstairs with all my stuff.

Before I left the house, I quickly started the washing machine, shouted goodbye to my dad and then left for school.

◇◇◇

First lesson-- English. It's not bad, expect that I have to sit next to James Cook. James himself is lovely: I like him. But his parents died five years ago and I... it's hard to be around him. Especially since my-- no, I shouldn't think like that.

My second period is maths, which just sucks. It's a bit better now though, because my teacher goes easy on me.

Lots of my subjects do that now,  allow me to be late, or not do homework, or even let me skip class!

They all walk on eggshells around me, it's like they think I'm the crazy one. Which I'm not, by the way.

Lunch is always akward-- I usually sit by myself, playing with my food. Kattie, a tiny girl in my form, sometimes sits with me; she doesn't have many friends either, because people bully her about her height.

The rest of the day flashes by, lessons merging into one.

I hardly work at all, and no one is bothered. My dad sometimes does, but even he has started to not care.

◇◇◇

I opened the door to my house and stepped in, turning on the lights.

Dad works until late at night: he's a mechanic and loves to stay longer.

That's why it's my job to fold the laundry, start dinner, dust the house a little, close the curtains and, something we just started doing, searching the newspapers for anything that could clue us to where mum is.

A bit depressing, isn't it?

I sometimes text my classmates on a group chat, but it's hard being around them knowing what my mum did to them and their families.

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How do you like part two? What do you think Lola's mum did to her friends families? Comment your guesses!