Falling In Love with a Bad Boy !

Chapter 2 - All that Glitters is not Pink

Annabeth's POV💖

I sit on my new bed testing it out, I felt like it was not plushy at all, or maybe it was plushy and I was just biased because I was missing my old bedroom. I fall flat on the bed spreading my blonde hair behind me and stare at the walls and sigh, they were pink, bright pink, and honestly, they were giving me a migraine.

 I lay back down on the bed and sighed, biting my lip in frustration as I looked around the entire room. Mum had bought this house and she made sure when the workers renovated the house that they gave my room the pinkest of pink decor. Everything from the carpet to the drapes, to the furniture, was pink. The funniest thing was pink wasn't even my favorite color but I dont think mum knew or even cared to be honest. I had already unpacked all my stuff and had spoken to both Sven and Kimberly for a few hours. Now I was just lying on my bed until dinner feeling sorry for myself and dreading school tomorrow. 

"Annabeth'' I could hear mum calling from downstairs. ''Come down for dinner''. 

She never called me Anna or Beth, it was always Annabeth which used to annoy me to no end. All of my friends had cute nicknames that their parents called them, but my mum never referred to me as anything other than Annabeth, or in certain instances when we had company she would call me darling which honestly was even more infuriating than Annabeth. 

I stand up and stretch lazily and then walk to the mirror to inspect myself.  I was petite and had the same slim figure that mum had, but unfortunately, I was blessed with bigger boobs than her. Which my mother considered to be my biggest assets. 

I cringe as I remember one night when she had a few too many wines at dinner, she slurred ''Annabeth with those breasts you will snag a richer man than I did, I am so happy for you. Those will make your future'' I think that was when I started hating my breasts. I did not want a man to fall in love with me for my breasts. I was a huge romantic and I used to read all these sappy romance novels which Sven and Kimberlee always made fun of me for. Somewhere deep down inside I had a fantasy of a strong, intelligent, and kind man finding me and falling in love with me for who I was, not what I looked like. 

But I was scared to give people a chance to get to know me. Although I was pretty and had a lot of friends at school, the only two who knew me well enough were Sven and Kimberlee. Although quite a few boys were interested in me in my old school the reason why I stayed away from them was my mother, the fear that nobody would be good enough for her and her tantrums,  was what stopped me from getting to know any of the boys at school on that level. 

Subconsciously, I knew that I only ever had the option of selecting Jeremy or else my mum would have made my life living hell. I don't even think I ever really liked Jeremy, he seemed to be really superficial and he never wanted to get to know me on the few dates that we were on. I think for him I was just a pretty thing to take around and show off to the rest of the school.  I put up with it although I was dying on the inside just to have some peace and quiet at home. 

"Annabeth" I jolt out of my reverie when I hear Mum's shrill voice from downstairs " come down for dinner this instant, you have school tomorrow and you need to sleep early, wake early, and dress to kill. I will not have you going to school with bags under your eyes''

I sigh and straighten my mickey mouse red shirt and shorts and pile up my long blonde hair into a messy bun and trudge downstairs passing by all the family photos or 'portraits' as she called them. I glance at them, in every single one of them we all looked plastic with our perfect outfits, hair in place, and fake smile, almost as if we were frozen in eternal pretend happiness. 

I see mum seated at the table as I got down drinking a glass of wine. I roll my eyes preparing myself ''Great now she's going to start with her lecturing'' I mumble and sit down, helping myself to a plate of grilled fish and salad which she had already served for me.

She always had my food ready on a plate, and I was never allowed to eat more than what she had served. "It's the perfect portion for your perfect posture'' she used to say and I never contested her. I remember once I sneaked a burger in with Amelie and Sven and she found out. That day she almost screamed my ear off and I had to go without dinner that evening and breakfast the next day along with a half-hour squat exercise to get rid of the calories. Ever since then I was super cautious and although I still ate junk food I made sure it was outside and I always lied to her that I had salads.

I start eating, the only sound in the room is that of my fork scraping the plate and the wine glass clinking against mum's bracelets as she drank. 

"So Annabeth" she slurred. I stop eating and look up at her my face a mask of indifference waiting for the onslaught of her speech. 

She smiled at me looking at me carefully like she was examining one of her prized possessions. "You're going to start a new school, and everyone is going to be looking at you to see if you're perfect. You have to be perfect" she pauses to let that statement sink in and then she continues "you are Mary Leanne's daughter after all and I was and still am the top supermodel that has ever graced fashion week'' She stopped staring straight into my eyes. 

"Now all you need to do. Number one, you make it into the cheerleading squad, Number two keep some decent grades, nothing too fancy, you know no one likes a geeky girl, trust me being intelligent is such a turn off for boys, Number three- you make some pretty and rich friends, not like the lame loser ones you had before'' She scrunched her nose and took a big swig from the wine glass.

''And lastly Annabeth... you find yourself a new fancy rich handsome boyfriend, one that will be able to pay for everything and you hang onto him, don't sleep with him too early.. just keep those legs closed and when the time is right bam'' She opens her hands wide spilling some of the wine out on the carpet. 

I just stared at mum imagining her in slow motion, looking at her speaking animatedly wine sloshing out of the glass once in a while. I slowly stood up my appetite half gone and she stopped her monologue staring at me curiously. 

''What's wrong Annabeth, aren't you finishing your dinner? '' she cocks her head at me.

I smile tightly at her ''I umm, need to sleep early mum, school and all"

She looks at me emotionless for a second and then beams at me almost as if she figured something out '' Yes, yes, a wise idea to not eat much. You will look more toned tomorrow which is good, well then off to bed'' she waves her hand at me dismissing me. 

I smile at her, the perfect fake smile that was her signature, and I walk up the stairs dragging my feet all the while to my room. Once I get in I shut the door locking it behind me and sink to the floor while leaning on the door, I gather my knees to my chest and bury my face in my lap, wondering how many more nights I would have to put up with this until I go away to college. I want to go somewhere far far far away from this. 

A solitary tear rolled down my cheek. I haven't felt more alone than I was feeling right now. 

I slowly stand up and drag myself to bed and set my alarm for 6:00, if I have to be at school by 8:00 am I am going to need all the sleep possible.  I closed my eyes and drift off to sleep.