You become what you think.
~Earl Nightingale
As always, the weekend had gone by very slowly, but on the bright side I didn’t have to go to the hospital and get needles poked in my skin or have any intense flare-ups, the worst I had to encounter was the rush on my face which I had worked so hard to have cleared and well as the aching in my joints, overall, I had quite a good weekend.
It was Monday and I was so excited to get out of the house, getting up at the sound of my alarm, I got out of bed. I didn’t know why I kept my alarm because having had the same routine for years, my mind was accustom to doing everything I was supposed to at the set time without having to check the clock, I just knew what and when I had to do things, it had become a norm.
Entering the bathroom, I stared at my reflection in the mirror set above the sink on the door of the vanity cabinet and relief filled my lungs, the red spots on my face had cleared out and it looked normal, pale but normal.
With a smile on my face, I took a shower and afterwards delt with my hair which was easy because I had gone to the salon over the weekend. Pulling it into a sleek ponytail, I went to the closet and slipped on my outfit for the day which consisted of a pair of dark denim jeans, a button down shirt and grey high neck sweater with hearts littered all over it. Pairing the outfit with black converse, I looked at myself in the full length mirror one last time before grabbing my medication, backpack and going downstairs to have breakfast.
“Good morning.” I greeted my mother who was already dressed, sitting at the table with a cup of what I presumed to be coffee and scrolling through her phone in another, she was often in that position.
“Morning.” She mumbled back in a very low tone, if my ears weren’t so sharp I wouldn’t have gotten it.
Taking a seat, I was served and ate quickly, I only had 20 minutes before Albert would have to drop me at school, he just like my mother hated waiting.
Going to the kitchen, I grabbed my lunch bag and rushed to the car, my mother was already waiting for me. Getting in, Albert begun by dropping me off at school before proceeding to take my mother wherever she was going.
Something had been off about my mother over the past couple of days, she was rarely home, which I was not at all complaining about and also she seemed more tense than usual, her eyes were practically glued to her phone even during dinner which was unlike her, she had this sense of respect for dinner time, she wouldn’t have anyone doing anything that wasn’t eating when it was dinner time, even when my father was around the same rules applied to him, I remember how she would always get his phone and place it out of his reach whenever we eat.
Deciding not to dwell on my mother, I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind after making a mental note to ask her what was going on later, she would probably not tell me but I told myself I was going to try. I tightened my grip on my backpack and walked into the hallway and straight to my locker to get the books I would need for the day.
“Good morning pigtails.” An all too familiar voice greeted followed by my strands of my hair being played with.
“Leave my hair alone Raphael.” I groaned looking away from the inside of my locker and turning to face him. Surprisingly he had a huge smile on his devilishly handsome face. “Do you need something?”
“Yes, I need you to help me understand a certain concept, I have a test in last period.” He told me.
“I can’t help you with that, I have classes to attend.” I told him.
“Lyra you are my tutor, it is your job to tutor and make sure I understand everything.” He retorted.
“Am I your tutor, yes, am I supposed to make sure you understand everything, no.” I said. “That sound like your teacher’s job, not mine, I am only but a student, just like you after all.”
“Lyra-”
“Raphael.”
“I can’t fail this test and that is the one bloody concept I can’t seem to understand, you need to help me otherwise, I’m screwed, my future of whether I get to play in this season is solely depending on this damn subject.” He pleaded.
That was something new, I had never seen Raphael so desperate for anything, in fact, I was almost certain this was the first time he was doing it.
“What subject is it?”
“Math.”
I cocked my eyebrow at me and he scoffed.
“I told you we-”
“I know, I know.” He groaned. “Now will you help me or not?”
“Say it-” I smirked. This guy had been teasing me from the very day we had me and now, I finally had a chance to not make fun of him but to make him use a word that I doubted was even in his vocabulary.
“No.” He groaned looking me dead in the eyes.
His gaze made me a bit uncomfortable but I stood my ground. I was not going to let him intimidate me.
“Fine then, have fun not throwing your ball and running around the court.” I shrugged shutting my locker and turning to walk away.
Before I could take any step further, he held onto my hand and released a frustrated groan, in that very moment, I knew I had won.
“Fine Lyra,” He groaned out. “will you please help me out.”
“Louder, I couldn’t get you.” I turned to face him so I could enjoy the moment even more.
“You are enjoying this aren’t you?” He scoffed and I nodded yes.
“Chop, chop, we don’t have all day you know.” I said holding back my laughter.
“Lyra will you help me-”
“Say you are in dire need of my help.”
“I am in dire need of your help.” He added.
“Great, I’ll meet you in the library during second period.” I told him.
“My test is in sixth period.” He said.
“I am aware but I have a quiz in first period, I can’t miss that for your test besides, the hours between the second and sixth period will be more than enough for you to understand.” I told him. “Unless you are oblivious of everything you have covered in the subject thus far.”
The last part was meant to be a joke but he clearly didn’t get it because all he did was stare at me with a straight face.
“That was supposed to be a joke.” I scoffed. “Anyways never mind, I’ll see you in second period, don’t be late.”
“Noted.” He nodded and walked off.
Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward finding the answer ~Dennnis WaitleyAs planned, immediately the bell indicating the end of first period went off, I handed in my quiz answer sheet before grabbing my things and going to the library where I found Raphael leaning against the wall beside the entrance.His back was against the wall and with hands shoved in his pocket and iPod in his ears, the corner of my lips tugged into a small smile as I admired the man before me, he was very handsome, with midnight black hair that complemented his perfectly shaped face, dark lips and hazel eyes.“Hey.” I tapped his arm when I was in his reach.“You are late.” He grumbled while shooting me a glare.“Ungrateful, I’m skipping class for you and that’s all you can tell me.” I glared back. “I’m going back to class.”“Relax Lyra.” He held onto my hand before I made an attempt to walk away. “I’m sorry.”That was a first, from the time we
To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others ~Anthony Robbins Getting through the weekend had been very tough for me, no sooner had I gotten home from school that I got another flare up and I had to be rushed to the hospital. The doctor said the flare up had occurred because of something I had taken earlier and that made my mother furious, she had warned me on several occasions that I shouldn’t take anything I knew was a hazard to my health but here I was doing the opposite and that was not only inconveniencing my life but hers as well. She went on and on for hours on how I was being irresponsible and that was taking a toll on her work and social life. She already had to stay away from work to take care of me when I had been admitted and now this. “I’m sorry mum.” I mumbled. “Your apology isn’t enough!” She exclaimed. “You need to be more careful, you’r
You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you~Brian TraceyThey were here, my worst nightmares.The car came to a halt and I looked over to my mother who shared the same shocked expression as mine. Just like me she clearly wasn’t expecting to see them anytime soon, especially after what had happened while on the family trip.“Won’t you give your mother a hug?” My grandmother spoke immediately after getting out of the car.“Mother.” My mother walked up to her parents and gave them quick hugs. My feet stayed glued to the spot I was in. “What are you-”“Don’t star with your interrogation sessions just yet Patricia.” My grandfather told her. “We’ve had a long flight at least let us settle first.”“Sorry father.” She took a step back.My grandparents ordered their driver with Arnold’s help to remove their bags out of the car into the house while my mother asked the house helps to thoroughly clean the room they used whenever they were h
“The real lover is a man who can thrill you by kissing your forehead or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space.”– Marilyn Monroe"What kind of A+ student skips lessons?" Raphael's voice reached my ears and I internally groaned, I wanted to be left alone. "Leave her alone." Emilia warned before opening her arms in an attempt to give me a hug but I was quick to move away. "Please don't touch me." I mumbled pulling onto the long sleeves of the grey and black hoodie I had worn, it was quite warm outside but because of the terrible red patches on my skin I had to cover myself up. She looked hurt by my words but still took a step away from me and thankfully didn't speak about it. "Isn't someone in a mood?" Raphael commented. "A sour one at that." Leo spoke. "Come on babe, she clearly doesn't want you here." He added while glaring at me. "It’s great to see that you're alright now." She told me with a small smile. "I'll see you around." With that she waved and her and Leo w
The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus. ~Bruce LeeRaphael “Marcus.” I called as we wound up with our practice secession.“Yes cap.” He answered turning to look at me.“I need to speak to you after this.” I responded rather casually so as for him not to think it was a really big deal or something of the sort.“About?” He frowned as our teammates turned to look at us.“Nothing overly important.” I shrugged playing it cool.“Alright sure.” He nodded and we went back to finishing the few plays we had to learn before the game that was happening a few weeks from now.Upon freshening up and changing out of my gym clothes, I stepped into the locker room where Marcus was standing, it was only him and I, everyone else had left.“You wan-”Before he could finish his sentence I punched him square across the face, the impact was so intense he stumbled into one of the metal lockers.“Fuck!” He cursed holding onto his cheek. “What the actual fuck Raphael!” He snapped eye
When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you. ~Lao TzuRaphael As I moved around the big elegantly decorated hall filled with prominent people I couldn’t help but loath my sister even more for putting me in this position. It had been a whole week and I had been doing everything my father had demanded of me, I had attended almost every meeting and because of that I had skipped a few classes, I never even got to see Lyra and that didn’t sit well with me.“Smile.” My stepmother whispered and I rolled my eyes at her.“Go bother someone else mother.” I spat bitterly. I had never fancied this woman and if it were up to me she would have been out of my father’s house long ago.“Your father will not be hap-”“I’ve been doing your husbands bidding since before you came into our lives, I know exactly what is demanded of me, you need to back the hell off.” I whispered back rather harshly. Her chestnut eyes burned with fury but she said nothing, instead, she just curled h
Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. ~Maya AngelouLyra. I hated this gathering, I hated that I was forced to socialize with strangers and most importantly I hated having to have been pulled out of my comfortable bed despite not feeling too well. All three of them knew I was unwell but still made me attend anyways, they claimed that if I could handle hours of school then I could do the same here, after all it was only going to last a few hours.Barely enough second after we had gotten here, even my mother, the woman who was always supposed to be by my side granted my condition disappeared on me to socialize with heaven knows whom. She didn’t even bother to tell me anything aside from the fact that I should behave and do nothing that would embarrass either her or my grandparents, basically, what she did was make sure I never forgot the warning my grandfather had given before disappearing, neither of them wanted to be seen with me and I honestly di
Each man has a built in kind of resentment against any kind of authority. ~Major Reisman [The Dirty Dozen]My blood run cold as the words left his mouth and his eyes bore into mine with a mix of different emotions flashing through them. I could tell he was thinking but couldn’t quite find the words to ask what exactly without triggering me. Quickly I tried to pull my arm out of his hold but he wasn’t having it.“Is it Marcus?” The question flew past his lips following a growl.“What, no.” I finally managed to pull my arm away and take a step away from him.That didn’t sit well with him because he took a step forward.“Just tell me, is it him or any of the guys at school.” He told me and I couldn’t believe his words.“No.” I retorted.“Then why the hell do you have bruises on your arm!” He whisper yelled narrowing his eyes at me. “Your neck too! Geez Lyra who the hell is hurting you!”My head was now spinning, the headache intensifying as I thought of a response that was anything apar