Hello!
I have another chapter for you guys!
I was feeling motivated and decided to write another one before I got too busy and lost inspiration.
I had a plan for this chapter, but it sort of got away from me. I hope you guys enjoy regardless!
To be honest, I was just glad to see that people still wanted to read this. So a special shout out to those who reviewed/story alerted/favorited! Thank you!
I don't know how soon I'll be able to get another chapter done for you guys because we're in the process of moving and it's taking up any time I'm not busy with school. I'll do my best to get another chapter done either before Christmas or after.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except my characters!
Enjoy!
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Maybe I know somewhere deep in my soul that love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways to make it alone,
Or keep a straight face
And I've always lived like this,
Keeping a comfortable distance
And up until now,
I had sworn to myself that I'm content with loneliness
Because none of it was ever worth the risk
You are the only exception
-Paramore, The Only Exception-
Rowan:
Looking at myself in the mirror, I grimaced at my appearance. There were dark circles underneath my eyes, tear streaks from where I'd cried so much throughout the night, my curls were wild and fuzzy from constantly tossing and turning, and my skin looked a shade paler like it always does when I get less than five hours of sleep. I was nowhere as exhausted as I was when I literally had two hours of sleep, but the emotional rollercoaster I'd been on the past couple of days made up for it.
I decided to jump in the shower. It took me all of ten minutes. It was a small attempt to make myself look a little better, but no shower could cure the dark circles and the exhaustion I felt deep within my bones.
Wrapping a towel around me I quickly padded into my room. Immediately I looked at my nightstand that was empty except for a lamp and a box of tissues I found in a closet somewhere. My picture was gone, and that had been my source of sleeplessness last night. The picture wasn't just a picture of my parents; it was a source of comfort. Like a security blanket. If I woke up in the night, I could always look over and see them. I still had my locket thankfully, but I felt alone without my picture.
Sighing, I quickly dressed myself in jeans and a long sleeve teal shirt. I threw my wet hair up into a bun not wanting to bother with it, and quickly threw on some eyeliner and mascara. I was in the process of putting my socks on when Talon appeared in my doorway, "Bye Rowan, Jack's taking me and Autumn to school now" he said.
I looked up, "Okay, come give me a hug before you go" I said opening my arms.
Talon eagerly obliged. His little arms wrapped around me and I was glad that at least I had him. "You be good at school today, okay? Do good on your math test" I said ruffling his hair.
He smiled up at me, "I'm always good! And I'll do my best!" he said.
The corners of my mouth turned up at his childlike enthusiasm. "Come on Talon, it's time to go" Autumn said appearing in my doorway.
"Go on, don't' want to be late" I said pushing him toward the door.
"Wait! I have something for you!" Talon said reaching into his little coat pocket.
He pulled out a piece of folded paper. He quickly unfolded it and handed it to me. "I don't want you to cry anymore, so I drew you a picture of Mommy and Daddy since Clara took your picture" he said.
I almost cried, but that would just make Talon upset. So I forced myself not to.
It was a crayon drawing of my picture of our parents. Our mother was drawn in all pink except for her brown curly hair, and our father was drawn in all blue except for his blonde hair. There were trees drawn around them and a smiling sun in the top right hand corner.
"Thank you, Talon. This is the best present ever. I love it" I said smiling at him.
He beamed at me, "Yay! Well, I have to go to school now" he said.
"Okay, bye" I said. Talon walked out of the room following Autumn downstairs. I took a deep shaky breath and sat the drawing on my nightstand where the picture usually sat. I wanted to cry, but I didn't allow myself.
I was tired of crying.
Luna:
It hasn't been a full day, and I already despise this cast.
It's awkward to sleep with, I have to cover it with a bag before I can bathe, I have to constantly make sure the darn thing is dry at all times, and not to mention I can't scratch my leg when it freaking itches. I also hate my crutches. My armpits are already rubbed raw. I placed two thick wash cloths over the rubbery "cushions" in an attempt to make them less painful.
It wasn't working as well as I'd hoped it would.
I didn't feel like putting much into my appearance today. I wore gray sweat pants, a black long sleeve shirt, and a light blue jacket. I decided to wear a pair of old sneakers instead of rain boots or converse. My hair was still wet from my bath this morning, and I put it into a single French braid down my back. I wore enough make-up to cover the healing bruises on my face and that was it.
Grabbing my crutches, I hobbled out into the hallway. Slowly I lowered myself onto my butt where I proceeded to scoot down the stairs dragging my crutches behind me. I felt like a little kid, but I don't see any other way. My room is upstairs and everything else is downstairs.
I just reached the bottom step when I heard a loud knocking on the door. I had no idea who it could be, but I knew it wasn't my mother or her sorry excuse for a boyfriend. They both have keys and come and go as they please.
Using the stair banister, I pulled myself to my feet. Grabbing my crutches I hobbled toward the front door. There was another knock, this one a little more impatient. "I'm coming!" I yelled aggravated more with myself than the person.
With a little difficulty I opened the door. "Paul?" I asked surprised.
Paul grinned at me, "The one and only" he said.
"What're you doing here?" I asked carefully opening the door wider so he could step inside. He was careful not to knock me over when he did so.
He gave me a look, "You really think I was going to let you walk to school?" he asked.
I looked at him sheepishly, "Yes?"
Paul raised an eyebrow at me and gave me a look, "Luna, really?" he asked.
"I'm sorry…I'm still getting used to this whole people care about me thing. What about Rowan? I walk with her to school every morning" I said.
"Don't worry. Embry's going to pick her up. She won't be left by herself" he assured.
I felt better knowing she wouldn't be walking by herself.
"So, you ready to go?" He asked.
"Yeah, just let me grab an apple real quick" I said maneuvering my crutches so that I could go into the kitchen.
"Want me to get it?" Paul asked as he followed me into the kitchen.
"No, I'll get it. I'm not totally paralyzed" I said carefully opening the refrigerator door. I quickly grabbed an apple. I tried to shut the door. Key word: tried.
I lost my balance, dropping my apple, and almost falling in the floor. I thought I was going to end up in the floor, but Paul grabbed me by the waist and stopped my would-be embarrassing and possibly painful fall. He gave me an amused look, "Paralyzed? No. Stubborn? Yes" he said. I felt my cheeks turn redder than my apple.
Rowan:
Everyone was already gone when I finally walked downstairs. Of course, they always are. I'm always the last to leave. Clara leaves extremely early every morning to go to work, Miranda drives herself, and Jack takes Autumn and Talon to school.
Not bothering to turn any lights on, I went into the kitchen and grabbed a granola bar from the box sitting on the counter. I caught a glimpse of the dishes from dinner last night and breakfast this morning. I'd have to clean those dishes and many more before Clara gave me my picture back.
Forcing myself out of the kitchen away from the dirty dishes and pessimistic thoughts, I walked through the living room and out the door. The sky was gray and dreary, but it wasn't raining. Hopefully it stays that way.
To my surprise and confusion, a familiar truck pulled into the driveway. Embry stepped out of the truck and walked up to the porch. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what're you doing here?" I asked.
"I'm picking you up for school, what'd you think I was doing?" He said giving me a playful smile.
"Oh. Okay. Does this mean we're picking Luna up?" I asked.
"Paul's picking her up. He's probably already over there by now" Embry said.
"Okay. That's good. I hope she was okay by herself last night" I said worried her mother might have come home early. I quickly dismissed those thoughts because Luna would've called me if that had been the case.
"I'm sure she was. What about you? You look like you didn't sleep well last night" Embry said looking at me in concern.
"It's nothing. I'm starting to get used to this whole lacking sleep thing" I said shrugging my shoulders, trying to act like it wasn't anything to worry about. Embry just raised an eyebrow at me and if anything looked more concerned. Not the effect I'd been looking for. At my other schools, this would have worked.
"Was it Clara?" Embry asked carefully.
I pursed my lips and my expression must have said it all. Embry stepped onto the porch with me and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. He was extremely warm and smelt like pine. "It'll be okay, Rowan" he said gently stroking my hair.
I needed to hear that from someone other than myself. It sounded much more convincing coming from someone else, and it was even more believable coming from Embry. I don't know why…Embry's just special.
"Thank you" I said quietly.
"Anytime" Embry said just as quietly. We stayed like that for a few quiet minutes before I forced myself to break comfortable silence.
"If you keep playing with my hair I might just fall asleep on you" I said.
Embry chuckled, "C'mon, we'll be late for school if we don't hurry" he said reluctantly releasing me from the hug. I immediately felt too cold and missed his warmth.
Luna:
If I thought I hated my crutches at home, I despised them at school. The hallways were crowded and it was hard to maneuver them around people. I almost fell three times due to people tripping over my crutches. I managed to right myself once and the other times Paul had to make sure I didn't fall.
"And you said you didn't need me to walk you to class" Paul said beside me.
I glanced up at him, "You're enjoying this too much" I said.
"I could carry you. I'd enjoy that more" Paul said.
I felt my eyes widen and my cheeks turn ten shades of red. My stomach felt like it was doing cartwheels and my heart started hammering in my chest. For the first time in a long time, none of these reactions were caused by fear. Instead, it was some girly reaction to the thought of Paul carrying me.
Sure he carried me when he took me to the hospital, but I'd been in pain and couldn't walk.
"N-No…I'd r-rather walk" I stuttered.
I was glad when we made it to my locker. The hallway here was much less crowded. I was about to open my locker, but Paul beat me to it. He opened my locker and got my Physics book and binder out while putting my English binder and Pre-Cal book back into it. Paul put the books in my backpack and instead of giving it to me, he continued to hold it.
"Paul, I can carry my backpack from here. My class isn't too far away" I said.
Paul shook his head, "No can do, Angel" he said smirking.
I pouted, "Please?"
"Nope" he said continuing to smirk and look thoroughly amused.
I sighed in frustration, "Fine, you big meanie" I huffed. This only served to make Paul laugh. When he was done laughing, he looked at me and there was some emotion in his eyes that I couldn't name. "What?" I asked.
"I like it better when you're like this" he commented.
I felt my brows furrow in confusion, "Like what?"
"Happier. Not looking at me like I'll attack you, or hiding your face from me with your hair" Paul said.
His comment threw me off. I didn't realize how normal I was acting around him—well as normal I can get. "Well. I like it better when you're like this" I said. Paul gave me a confused look.
"Not angry or shaking."
Rowan:
Embry walked with me to my locker once we'd finally arrived at the school. Opening the old squeaky door, I began to sort through the things I'd need and won't need. Embry leaned against the lockers beside mine as I did this.
"Crap!" I said angrily smacking my locker door in anger when I realized that my AP U.S History book was missing from my backpack and locker. I'd left it at home.
"What is it?" Embry asked.
I sighed in frustration, "I left my History book at home….and I have that class second period" I said running a hand down my face.
"I'll be okay. I'm sure there's an extra book lying around the classroom that you can use, or someone can share theirs with you" Embry said.
"It had my worksheets in it that are due today. Perfect. I would say it's one of those days where I should've just stayed in bed and slept, but I couldn't sleep! So that would've been a waste!" I said feeling myself get worked up.
Embry gently grabbed me by my shoulders, "Rowan, calm down. It'll be okay. I promise. Mr. Gregory is usually pretty understanding, so he'll probably give you another day" Embry assured.
I took a deep breath, "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just…frustrated" I said.
Embry offered me a smile, "It'll be okay. C'mon, I'll walk you to class" he said.
It wasn't a long walk to my Physics class and we were forced to part ways. I quickly said good-bye to Embry not wanting him to be late. Mr. Greene wasn't hung over today; he was writing something on the board when I walked in. Luna was already at our table. Her crutches were propped up against the back wall.
"Hey" I said sitting down in my seat.
Luna looked up at me and smiled, "Hey, what's up?" she asked.
"Nothing more than typical things like forgetting my History book at home with all the worksheets in it" I said.
"It'll be alright, Mr. Gregory isn't a stickler for the rules, so I'm sure he'll let you turn them in tomorrow. And we can just share my book" she said.
"Thanks. So, were you alright last night?" I asked.
"Yeah, my mom didn't come home. Not that I expected her to. The only thing that bothered me was this darn thing! It's annoying" she said gesturing to her cast.
I laughed, "You haven't even had it on for a full day" I said.
"I know! That's what sucks about it. I think the worst thing about it is that I can't scratch my leg when it decides to itch" she said.
I couldn't help but laugh again, "Armpits hurt yet? I sprained my ankle once as a kid and my armpits got so raw it wasn't even funny" I said.
Luna gave me a look, "Yes. And look, I even put these wash cloths on them" she said grabbing one and showing me.
"I had hand towels that were double over and they still hurt. I feel for you" I said as she propped the crutch back against the wall.
"What about you? Did Clara make Talon clean toilets with bleach?" she asked.
"No. Thank goodness. She did, however, find out that I wasn't as school yesterday. She decided to yell at me and accuse me of playing hooky. She took my picture of my parents and won't give it back until she thinks I've 'learned my lesson'" I said feeling both angry and upset.
Luna furrowed her brow, "You're kidding me? She can't do that, can she?" she asked.
"As much as I'd love to say no, but yes, she can. I've been in plenty of foster homes in my three years of being an orphan, and I'd have to say this is one of the worst. It ranks up there with the couple that only used us for the government funds and the family of three that used to make us sleep in a modified attic" I said.
Luna looked completely bewildered, "They made you sleep in an attic? How's that even possible? Aren't they supposed to do checks and stuff?" she asked.
"They do. This family was just really good at putting on a show at a moment's notice. At least the attic was pretty big and insulated" I said.
Luna shook her head, "And now Clara treats you like her personal maids" she said.
"Pretty much" I said.
"I'm sorry Rowan. You don't deserve to be treated that way" she said.
I looked at her, "I could say the same about you."
Luna looked at me for a moment before the corners of her mouth curved upward into a small smile.
Luna:
Rowan was much better about letting me do things on my own than Paul was. She allowed me to carry my backpack, but did help me switch out books and such when I needed to. Because it was hard for me to get around in the hallways my teachers allowed us to leave five minutes early so I could beat the crowd.
We ran into Embry once while on our way to Spanish, he was on his way back to class after taking some papers to the office for a teacher. He stopped and talked to us for a few seconds until he had to go before the teacher thought he was skipping class. Before he left he invited us to sit with them at their lunch table.
Rowan told him we'd think about. I know Rowan wouldn't have any problem sitting with Embry because she can get along with strangers. I'm sure I could handle sitting with Paul and Embry, but I don't know about all the other people that sit there. As a general rule, I don't get along well with strangers. Rowan is the exception.
I was glad when lunch finally rolled around. This meant that the day was almost over. My armpits hurt from the damn crutches and I was beginning to feel worn-out from lugging myself around all day. Maybe I'm just a weakling or maybe it's because my bodies not used to this yet.
Even though we were let out early for lunch, we didn't make it to the lunchroom before the bell rang. It was my fault because I'm slow and had to stop by my locker. Rowan never complained about my slowness or having to help me with my books and stuff. I tripped once on the way to lunch and she managed to steady me before anything embarrassing could happen.
"Careful there, Crip!" Rowan joked.
"Crip?" I asked.
"Yeah. Get it? Crip? You're crippled? Explaining the nickname makes it no fun!" Rowan said laughing.
"Oh! I get it. Duh" I said feeling stupid.
Rowan laughed. "C'mon, let's go to lunch" she said through her fits of laughter.
I swear Paul was waiting for me because as soon as we entered the lunch room he was at my side. "Hey Angel" Paul said smiling down at me.
I looked up at him, "Hey" I said feeling my cheeks turn red from the nickname. Rowan of course noticed and gave me a curious look that meant I'd undoubtedly have to explain later.
"Ready to get some lunch?" he asked.
I looked at him, "Uh, yeah. I guess so. Coming Rowan?" I asked.
She shook her head, "I was just going to go through to help you with your tray. I'm not hungry" she said.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah, you go on ahead" she said.
With that, I followed Paul to the lunch line. "What do you want to eat?" Paul asked grabbing a tray. I looked at the options and wasn't impressed with what they had to offer. "Um, a salad sounds good" I said.
Paul filled my tray with salad but allowed me to put the dressing on because I'm picky. I don't like too much dressing but I don't like not enough either. "You know I'm a vegetarian" I said drizzling ranch dressing over the green leaves that covered my tray. It was probably more than I'd eat, but oh well.
"Really?" Paul asked looking at me curiously.
"Yeah, I've been one since I was five. Meat makes my stomach hurt. It's just a random fact about me" I said carefully grabbing a water bottle and placing it on my tray.
Paul smiled, "This may not come as much of a surprise, but I absolutely love a good cheeseburger" he said.
I laughed, "No, not surprising at all" I said.
Maybe Paul was an exception, too. But in a different sense than Rowan. Paul somehow turned from foe to friend and I'm not sure how that happened. But it feels natural for reasons that I don't think I'll ever understand.
Paul didn't give me much of a choice as to where I was going to sit because he led me to his table. I was comforted by the fact that Rowan was being led by Embry to the table as well. I managed to catch her eye and I tried to shrug—I wasn't that successful because of my crutches. Paul sat my tray at the end of the table beside another tray that I assumed was his. Rowan sat across from me and Embry took the seat between her and someone I didn't know.
Paul took his seat next to me. I felt a little nervous—this was uncharted territory. Scanning the faces at the table, I recognized Quil Ateara from my gym class and Jared Cameron. I had never said a word to either of them before; I only knew who they were because of the rumors that float around about them. There was a girl that sat beside Jared with another nameless face on the other side of her.
The girl has a wide face that's mostly cheekbones; her eyes were a bit small and her nose and lips were broad. She had black wispy hair and beautiful russet skin. She's the type of girl that has her own type of beauty as opposed to what most of society deems beautiful. She noticed my staring and I felt my cheeks turn red in embarrassment from getting caught staring at her. She smiled kindly at me, "Hi! My name's Kim" she said cheerily.
I blinked, "Uh…I'm Luna" I said quietly my shyness taking over.
"It's nice to meet you! What's your name?" She asked peering around Jared to look at Rowan.
"Rowan, yours?" she said.
Kim smiled at her, "I'm Kim. And this is Jared, Quil, Jacob, and Seth" she said pointing to each one as she said their names. I merely nodded taking a huge bite of my salad in an attempt to make the fact that I had nothing to say less awkward.
"It's so nice to finally meet you guys! Now I'm not the only girl!" Kim said excitedly. I don't know how to handle this level of happiness and enthusiasm. Rowan was handling it better than I was, but I suspected that from her.
"It's nice to meet you too" Rowan said smiling one of her scarily perfected smiles.
"Yeah, it's nice to finally meet you after having to listen to Paul and Embry thi—I mean talk about you guys all the time" Quil said. I couldn't stop from blushing again. I'm sure I was as red as the tomatoes in my salad. Paul and Embry shot Quil a glare, he merely shrugged.
I glanced at Paul who didn't notice. Did he really talk about me all the time?
Rowan:
When gym rolled around I was seriously ready for a nap. I was in no mood to run laps or do push-ups. When Luna and I walked into the gym I was happily surprised to see the substitute teacher from the other day. My momentary happiness was ruined by the fact that students were in the gym stretching and dressed for actually working out.
Dang.
I helped Luna over to the bleachers and then made my way into the girl's locker room where I quickly changed into red shorts, a black t-shirt, and my tennis shoes. I was in the process of putting my hair into a pony tail when I walked out of the locker room.
I glanced toward the bleachers where Luna sat working on her homework. She was in the middle of Physics homework. I silently wished I was sitting beside her getting my own homework finished.
"You okay?"
I jumped maybe five feet in the air. I whirled around to see Embry, Paul, and Quil giving me odd looks. "What?" I asked.
"A little jumpy are we?" Quil teased.
"You would jump too if you had three people sneak up behind you" I said.
"Nah. I'm always on alert. I always know when something's going to happen" Quil boasted.
Paul and Embry shared a look before Paul smacked Quil upside the head. "Ow! What the heck was that for?" He asked angrily.
"My bad, I thought you were always on alert" Paul mocked.
I couldn't stop myself from laughing. Quil just glared angrily at Paul who didn't seem to care in the least, and Embry laughed along side of me. A sharp whistle caused all talking and laughter to stop. We all looked at the substitute who was holding a clipboard.
"Alright guys, all this says is to run twenty laps around the gym and then do your stretches. I assume you know what stretches to do?" He asked.
A few students voiced their agreements and the substitute blew his whistle again. Paul and Quil took off immediately taking the lead. I expected Embry to take off with them, but he ran alongside of me. We were in the middle of the group and I had to fore myself not to slow down. Embry didn't have any trouble keeping this pace and that made me feel slightly embarrassed.
Every now and then when we would pass Luna she'd look up and offer words of encouragement. I envied her at this moment. These twenty laps were torture. I'm so out of shape. My legs felt like they were on fire, I felt like I was slowly suffocating, and my chest hurt. Isn't running just so much fun?
Twenty torturous laps later, I felt like I was going to die. Of course I'm being dramatic. Paul and Quil had already finished and were already started on their stretches. Embry didn't even look sweaty whereas I was drenched from head to toe in sweat. I felt disgusting and I undoubtedly smelled disgusting.
I wanted a shower.
Then a nap.
The longer I stood still, the worse I began to feel. I felt nauseous—really nauseous. I felt like I was about to hurl all contents of my stomach onto the floor—it wouldn't have been much since all I've eaten today is a granola bar. I couldn't catch my breath and I was trying to calm the queasiness I felt. Darkness began to cloud around and I started to panic when I realized everything was slowly turning to dark.
"E-Embry…" I barely managed to get out before my legs buckled and everything went black.
Luna:
I looked up from my homework only to see Rowan collapse to the floor like a limp doll. I felt my book and papers fall from my lap into the floor.
"Rowan!" I yelled feeling fear seize me.
Embry was at her side in an instant and everyone began to crowd around her. Quil and the substitute shooed people away as Embry effortlessly scooped Rowan into his arms. She looked so pale. Embry held her protectively to him as he rushed out of the gym with her to the nurse's office.
"Paul!" I yelled a complete frantic mess.
He was at my side almost instantly, "Luna, what's wrong?" he asked.
"What's wrong?! My best friend is unconscious! Help me get to the nurse!" I said not sure what to do.
In the back of my mind I'm sure panicking like this wasn't the correct thing to do, but I couldn't help it. It was just my first reaction; I'd never dealt with anything like this before.
"Quil! Get Rowan's stuff" Paul said a lot calmer than I was.
Quil nodded and a girl ran into the girl's locker room to get Rowan's things. Paul grabbed my stuff and began shoving my books and papers into my backpack. The girl ran back out with Rowan's things and handed them to Quil.
"Let's hurry up, Embry's probably freaking out" Paul said.
Embry's not the only one. I hope Rowan's okay.
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I hope you guys liked it!
I apologize for any mistakes you see. It was late at night when I finished this.
I'm also going to apologize for the fact that it may be awhile before I can update again. Hopefully I can find time, but I make no promises.
Review? Please?
