Lullabies

Four.

I had absolutely no idea how long I stayed there. Sitting next to the tree and reading the words written upon the lined paper. I lost count of the amount of times I folded it and put it into my back pocket, only to pull it out again seconds later, my eyes once again scanning over the words. I don’t know what it was that drew me to it. Maybe it was the fact that he knew I didn’t have an answer that I thought he would deem good enough.

My phone rang shrilly through the empty expanse of land, echoing around and sending the birds flying off the branches that they had been perched on into the afternoon sky. I jumped, finally pulled out of whatever trance I’d been in while trying to come up with an answer for this boy who I didn’t know. The boy, who knew absolutely nothing about me and my life, yet looked like he knew more than even I did.

I fished around in my bag, eventually producing the purple device and pressing it to my ear. “Yellow?” I mumbled, holding the paper in front of me once more. I swear if I looked at this much longer I would probably be able to forge his handwriting.

“Red,” came the boisterous reply from Hayley. I grinned, the sound of my best friend’s voice lifting my sprits in a way only she could. “Where are you? You’re missing Chem.”

I could hear her loudly popping her gum; it was sort of her trademark. She’d traipse through the hallways, blowing bubbles so big that I thought it might pop in her face.

“Well you know me, Hales, anything to miss Chem. But I’m at the tree, I need something to calm me down, come meet me?”

“Okay, I’ll go see Brad and then I’ll be straight there. Love ya gorgeous.”

“Love you more, beautiful,” I replied, gazing out at the migrating birds flying across the sky in a v formation.

Suddenly I wished I could fly away – it wasn’t the first time I’d wished for something like this, but the need felt so much stronger than it ever had before. I had it all planned out, I would leave as soon as I turned eighteen in August. Leave my family, leave this town and everything behind and make a fresh start, maybe even change my name. Become a completely different person. The appeal was so strong, that for a second I thought I could do it right now, without waiting to come of age.

My phone rang again and I picked it up, pressing it against my ear once again. “Grace Matilda Hartwood!” As soon as I heard her voice crackling its way through the speakers my heart plummeted. I cursed myself for my stupidity, for not checking caller ID. How dim-witted could I be? “I have just received a very interesting and very informative phone call from your Principal, telling me you were sent to his office. Twice!” I could imagine her, sitting in one of the designer, leather upholstered chairs inside her office, massaging her temples as she poured herself a glass of strong whiskey. Probably the 3rd of the day was my guess.

“Mom,” I groaned. I knew the lecture was about to start, I could feel it coming as if she was a freight train and I was tied onto the tracks, mere seconds away from the collision. “I can’t talk about this right now. I’m just heading into Chem class.” The lie slipped past my lips as easily as the truth.

Whoever said honesty was the best policy had never met my mother. With her the only thing that was guaranteed to give you a mind-numbing headache was the truth.

She clucked her tongue in a reprimanding way. “I have told Principal Ludlow that I cannot make it today,” she informed me, her tone matter of fact. “I have an appointment with Pierre, the masseuse at the club. You know how divine he is, he knows how to relieve all my stress.” I bet he did, I would also bet my life on it that it had nothing to do with massaging her shoulders. “And what with your trouble making and Kara coming home, I do have a lot of stress.”