Stop it, Elena, that is not what Dad is hiding.
I was in time for art, and I struggled to pay attention to the assignment.
Art used to be the one class that made me forget about everything, but Blake fell into the unforgettable section. What was it with this guy?
The last bell rang, and I looked at the canvas in front of me. I hadn’t even finished contouring the picture that was on the board.
I put the canvas in my tote bag and packed up.
There was no sign of Blake as I walked to the entrance. I dodge a guy here and there as everyone scurried to their afternoon activities.
The cheerleaders were already in their winter uniform, barely covering their asses.
Guys walked around in their hockey gear, with ice skates over their shoulders.
Suddenly, music played, and four boys sangAll of Mefrom John Legend to one cheerleader. She had short brown hair that whipped up at the ends. Her amber-green eyes glistened as a jock in a basketball uniform stood close by with a bouquet. I hated this week. There was constantly a guy serenading to a girl with the help of four guys. I had to admit, the guy singing this song did it justice, and I wondered just how good Blake was with singing songs.
The cheerleader’s grin could go around her face if it wasn’t for her lips that refused to stretch any wider. Everyone around them had phones out to record her reaction. My gaze landed on Chloë standing against one locker, smiling, with a phone in her hand.
I carried on walking out the doors and almost walked into a bunch of ice hockey jocks, waiting to see how the serenade was going to end.
“Sorry.” I walked faster.
Dad’s rusted pickup truck with shaved blue paint stood out like a blotch.
“Bye, Elena,” a group of jocks wearing ice hockey gear said, and my cheeks flushed. I turned around. The group that stood by the entrance were making their way to the ice rink.
Blake wasn’t among them. He was like a glitter pencil among chalk.
I didn’t wave, just swiped a strand of my blond hair behind my ear and opened the door of the rust bucket.
I put the huge tote bag and backpack on the back of Dad’s truck before I hopped inside.
Dad’s eyes followed the guys making their way to the ice rink.
I shut the door. “Hey.”
He looked at me with a small smile, tugging at the corner of his lips.
“Believe me, it’s nothing. I promise.” I took the seatbelt and buckled myself in.
“One of those bozos like you?”
“You can say that, and to be honest, he is not making it easy at the moment.”
“In what way?”
“In a ‘I really like him’ way?” I breathed out a gush of air. “But he knows I won’t be here in three months. I told him not to waste his time.” I hated how sad my tone sounded.
“I promise, one day you will meet someone and you won’t even remember this guy, okay?”
I doubted that.
He switched on the ignition and reversed out of the parking lot.
I hated this feeling. Why didn’t Blake follow me when I ran away? Tears stung, and I tried my best to pull them back. It didn’t matter how thick the walls were that I’d built around me. Blake was right. I was waiting to be rescued. Rescued from my life, rescued from the tower I built around me.
I just wanted to be normal.
