Chapter 2 - Drama

Rhiannon

It was a chilly morning and the air was thick with fog as we all waited outside of the school to be called in for our last final exam. I had been waiting for this day for almost a year, and I was eager to get it over with.

Not only was it my last day in hell, but every year after my final exams were over I saddled up Dub to make the 5-hour ride over to my grandma's house to stay with her for a week or so. Although I didn't have anything to do with Matt, I still enjoyed spending time with his mom. Her place always felt like home to me, and if it wasn't for the fact that she couldn't drive me to and from school I probably would have asked to move in with her long ago. But the only school near her was a private school that she couldn't afford, and the school bus for the public school didn't go anywhere near her.

I was completely zoned out while thinking about the next day, turning the ring on my finger, when the feeling of a hand on my shoulder startled me back to reality. Without thinking, I quickly spun around and held my sharpened pencil to the neck of Timophy Brotzman.

For a few seconds, the black-haired linebacker and I looked each other eye to eye before he calmly slid a hand down my arm to my hand, lowering the pencil away from his neck, "I just came to apologize for the other day. I never should have splashed you ..... do, do you need a jacket or something? Your skin is freezing ...."

I stared blankly into his brown eyes, completely shocked by the fact that he just committed social suicide by willingly talking to me.

Tim cleared his throat as he continued to hold my hand, "Rhiannon?"

The way he said my name to get my attention sent a shiver down my spine and I quickly yanked my hand out of his grasp, "Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. Besides, it's the only way you'll ever get me wet."

"Alright, everyone! You can start coming in and take your seats!" Mr. Sutter yelled from the doorway of the school, unknowingly saving me from a battle of wits with an unarmed person.

I turned on my heels and started to quickly walk away, only to be stopped by Tim's hand on my wrist. As I went to pull my hand away from him a second time, he placed a folded piece of paper in my hand just before releasing his grip.

Not even paying any attention to what Tim had given me, I shoved it in my pocket and hurried inside to take my seat in the gymnasium that was lined with rows of desks.

Last day ..... this is the last day. I flew through the multiple-choice questions and flipped my test over once I was done. As sat at my desk I anxiously spun my ring, waiting to be released from this hellhole for the last time ever.

Finally, Mr. Sutter called time, told us all to leave our tests face down on our desks and started talking about graduation details. I had no intentions of going to graduation, I just wanted to be out of there. I ignored his words as I grabbed my pencils and hurried out of the school as quickly as I could. I had enough interaction with people, and I had no desire for more. But of course, life couldn't go the way I wanted it to. It never did. No sooner did I turn the corner of the school's property, I walked right into the one and only Laura Cole.

"If it isn't the drowned rat!" Laura chuckled as she looked me up and down with 4 of her friends giggling in the background.

I bit my tongue so that I wouldn't say anything that could hold me up any longer. It was just my luck that the group of them decided to walk instead of drive one of their parents' expensive cars. I decided to be the bigger person just to get out of the situation, and apologize, "I'm sorry, I didn't ...."

"Rhi .... Can I call you Rhi?" Laura asked, interrupting me.

"I rather you didn't," I couldn't believe the audacity of the entitled bitch.

A fake smile formed on Laura's face as she crossed her arms under her chest, pushing up her breasts as if I were one of the guys and that they mattered to me, "Listen, Rhi. I don't know what your intentions are, but stay away from my man."

My mouth fell open in shocked confusion as I quickly blinked my eyes, "Ex ..... excuse me?"

Laura moved her hands to her hips, "You heard me. I saw you flirting with Tim earlier. If you know what's good for you, you'd stay the fuck away."

I looked down at the short girl giving me an attitude that wasn't justified, knowing full well that if it came to it I could knock her out with one punch. But I just wanted to get away from the drama ..... or did I? "He came up to me, Laura. Maybe if you kept your legs closed and didn't sleep your way through the football team you wouldn't have so many guys to keep track of."

Laura's friends gasped and whispered to each other as they waited for Laura to make the next move.

"What ... what the fuck did you just say?!" Laura asked in disbelief as her face turned red with embarrassed anger.

"Kick her ass, Laura!" one of her friends yelled out.

I smiled as I looked down at Laura, "Please, make my day complete and try it ....."

A breeze started swirling around us, blowing away the thick fog to reveal the warmth of the sun. I could smell the scent of summer, and deeply inhaled the lavender and lemon balm aroma, letting it relax me as I mentally prepared myself for Laura to start swinging.

"Get in, Rhiannon ..." a familiar male voice loudly demanded.

I cursed under my breath as we all turned to see a tan car with Tim behind the wheel, avoiding eye contact with us by looking straight ahead.

"Did you seriously just tell HER to get in your car?!" Laura shrieked as she pointed at me.

This level of drama is really NOT what I needed in my life .....

"Laura, shut up. Rhiannon, get in," Tim calmly said, as if his words weren't continuing to stir the pot.

Laura and I turned to look at each other, her hazel eyes shooting daggers at me. I had no desire to get in that vehicle, but I didn't feel like getting into a fight or being harassed on my entire walk home, either. Getting in that car was the lesser of the evils, so I swallowed my pride and got into the passenger seat next to Tim.

"I'm really sorry ....." Tim attempted to apologize yet again as he started to drive away.

I scoffed loudly as I buckled my seatbelt, "Save your breath. And this isn't me forgiving you. This is me choosing the best option for the situation I was unwillingly dragged into."

Tim turned his head slightly to look at me with a raised brow, "Are you always like that?"

"Like what?" I immediately regretted encouraging the continuation of our conversation.

"So .... I don't know ....... cold ......"

I closed my eyes and sighed before I decided to answer Tim's question, thankful that we were somewhat close to my house so that I could kill two birds with a single stone, "Emotions don't get you far in life. You can let me out here, I'll walk the rest of the way. Thanks for the ride."

Tim slowed the car to a stop, "Are you sure?"

"Yep. Thanks again," I answered as I exited the car and waited for him to pull away before I started walking.

He probably knew exactly where I lived, as I'm sure most of my peers did and that's exactly why they treated me the way they did, but it made me feel better pretending that they didn't. Emotions don't get you far in life, that's what I told Tim, and it's true. Emotions only bring pain, fear, embarrassment .....

I walked up the stairs to the house I called home and stared at the large glass window in the door, thinking back on the day I had a panic attack and put my fist through it. I don't even remember punching the window, let alone what triggered me that day. The sharp pain as the broken glass cut into my skin is what stopped the hyperventilating and sense of fear. Emotions never brought me anything good.

"Now is as good of a time as ever," I whispered as I opened the door and walked into the house.

"Rhiannon?" Catherine called out from the kitchen.

I exhaled a stress-filled breath of air and made my way towards her, "Yeah. I still need to do chores, I just wanted to catch you before you left. Don't forget that I'll be leaving for Gram's first thing tomorrow morning ...."

Catherine spun around to face me, her fair skin showing her anger, "Seriously?! You're still going? I thought that you were going to start looking for a full-time job?!"

I closed my eyes and shook my head, "I will get a summer job as soon as I get back ...."

Catherine squinted her eyes and glared at me, "We've had this discussion multiple times, Rhiannon. Now that you're out of school I could use some help around here financially. And as long as you're living under this roof ......"

"I haven't even graduated yet. What if I go away to college? What if I want to further my education instead of continuing to live under this roof? What then?" I could start to feel my own anger grow from deep within me, getting ready to boil over.

"What do you mean? Did you apply to a university instead of a community college like we've discussed?" Catherine placed a hand on her hip as she raised a questioning brow.

I crossed my arms over my chest defensively, knowing where our conversation was going, "Maybe I did ....."

Catherine's eyes widened as every possible emotion took turns dancing across her face before she started freaking out, "Rhiannon, why?! Why would you leave me?! Why do you hate me so much?! What did I do to deserve this?!? I need your help around here!"

"ENOUGH! Enough of the bullshit! Enough of the drama and enough of the guilt trips! I can't keep going like this! I need to do what's best for me, and what's best for me is getting out of this town and making something of myself!" I yelled my words so loudly that my throat felt scratchy.

Always one for theatrics, Catherine slammed her fists on the kitchen table, "I'm your mother!'

"And I never asked to be born! We all play with the cards we're dealt, and that's exactly what I've been doing my entire life!" I yelled back as I pointed at myself.

Catherine chewed on her bottom lip as if she was thinking carefully about her next words, "I need to go to work. We'll talk about this when you get back."

Quietly fuming on the inside, I watched as Catherine grabbed her purse and stomped her feet as she made her way through the house, slamming the front door as she left. She acted no different than a spoiled child who didn't get their way.

As soon as I calmed down, I walked to the barn to do chores, taking my sweet time while the sounds and scents of nature and the animals made my anger slowly fade away.

Once back home I made myself dinner and got ready for bed. I set my alarm for 3 in the morning and curled up under my blanket, hugging my spare pillow while I thought about the day that I had. As my body started drifting in and out of sleep, a sharp burning pain started forming in my core, moving its way into my chest and around my heart.

The intense pain made me hug my pillow even tighter. I knew that it wasn't PMS, but I had no clue what it actually was, nor why now and then the sensation would hit me like a freight train.

My breathing became short and fast, and before I knew it darkness consumed me.