Faded Memories

Chapter 8

My eyes stung the next morning when I opened them, the curtains obviously not having been shut and way too much light attacking me all at once. I grunted as I reached for the glass of water that I usually have sitting on the bedside table, confusion lacing my features as my hand flapped in the air, unable to locate it. I turned my head over, shocked to realise that I had fallen asleep in the living room. I assessed my surroundings, realising that I had a blanket laying over me that is normally on my bed upstairs - unsure as to when I fell asleep and why I picked to sleep on the sofa.

I sat up with a grunt, not feeling in the mood for school today but knowing that the longer I put it off the more likely I will be to drop out - and it might not look that great if I have no qualifications to my name. That, and the fact that Joe attached his number under the parent section of my form and although I'm old enough that they shouldn't contact him first, teachers are dicks and if he finds out then I'll be dead meat. I might as well be planning my funeral now.

I reached for my phone that was on the floor beside me, surprised to see a text from Carter lighting up the screen. Skimming the text connected all the dots in my head, the reason why I had woken up in the most uncomfortable position on the sofa ever. Carter and Leo had stayed late last night, insisting that I shouldn't be alone and force feeding me a large amount of pizza - paired with them both bickering over what movie to play, I eventually ended up just drifting off to sleep in an attempt to drown them both out. But I definitely didn't mean to, so Carter must have explored the house in order to find my bedroom and bring me a blanket. Thinking about that makes me feel uneasy, I can't have people going through my stuff.

After dragging myself up to shower, I lazily applied some makeup to make me look half alive before shoving my hair into a ponytail - paired with the darkest sunglasses I could find, and I was happy to head out. Luckily for me, it was sunny outside so the walk to the school wouldn't be too bad today - I could do with the exercise after throwing myself a pity party over the last few days. Today was going to be a good day, and maybe if I constantly repeated that to myself then it would be. I mean it was Friday after all, I was having a much needed break after today.

I reached the gates at the bottom of the drive, suddenly feeling like I wanted to run back home and never leave the house again. I immediately turned around, going with my gut on this one, only to see Georgia standing right behind me, arms crossed as if she had been impatiently waiting for me to notice her. She honestly looked like a model every single day of school, and I just would love to know where she gets the energy to make herself look that good. She was constantly glowing.

"Oh, no. You are not having another day off. Turn your pretty little ass back around and walk up that drive, because I swear to God if you aren't here for another day I am going to end up murdering somebody." She pointed her finger at me, her eyebrows raised as she waited for me to make a move. I didn't. Georgia ended up physically turning me around herself, before pushing me up the drive and towards the main building.

"I'm still feeling unwell, I'm just gonna go..." I began muttering as my heels were pushed forward towards the doors. I couldn't be bothered, school was so much unnecessary effort. If I wanted to, I could take Georgia down. She was pretty small, and very slim - I could tackle her to the ground and be out of here in thirty seconds. I glanced at her body, eyeing up whether it would be better to place my foot on the back of her knee or simply push her gently down. But suddenly, I was launched into the air.

All I could see was the back of somebody's t-shirt, as blood suddenly rushed to my head when I realised that I was hanging off of somebody's shoulder. I could hear giggles coming from Georgia as she walked alongside them, obviously encouraging the idea that this person had. That's when the realisation hit me, it was Noah who was carrying me like this. Who else would it be? Who else would be proud enough to walk into a school building with the new girl on their shoulder, as if they were long time friends? The rage that I felt in my blood was real, but I wouldn't get out of this situation from kicking and screaming - no, I forced my body to go limp, as if he had knocked me unconscious.