Traces of scars: chapter six
Disclaimer: you know the drill…I don't own the characters…but the plot is ALL MINE! *scampers off*
Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, I was away…but now I am back! I have two more chappies after this one written, but I still need to type them up… but don't fret, you will see them soon! Notes to my kind reviewers:
MandELLA: wow, I really appreciate your thought out and well written review. Yes, I will admit, Mandella has changed quite a bit in my story, but I wrote it that way because she changed after the prom (she softened and tamed her rampant desires for 'William'…at least, that's what my twisted mind has contrived) but I truly am grateful for your detailed review and I hope to see another one soon!
Nauti Dolphin: Thank you for YOUR review! I am glad to find yet ANOTHER 'Iris' and Goo Goo Dolls fan! Long live the Goo Goo Dolls! Your compliments and encouragement honestly mean a lot to me.
Steelsings: Why have you not been reviewing more, my pet?!?! (just kidding…we need to have lunch soon!) I am most happy-full with getting a luxurious review from you! We need to work more on our joint story!
YourWinter06: my most faithful reviewer…your admiration and flattery are a wonderful gift…I am so bloody thankful for them! (your flattery and admiration, that is) your reviews make me upload more chappies!
And now, ladies and germs, chapter six!
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Traces of Scars- Chapter six: not enough
My bus finally came lurching down the road and my shirt sleeve clung to my skin where my fresh wounds' red streaks seeped through the fabric. My change clinked into the plastic box next to the bus driver. His name tag read 'Earl.' That's such a wretchedly unfortunate name. there were only four people on the bus. An old woman with baggy beige nylons bunched up around her ankles, a crisp, clean man in a sharp suit, a teenage boy from Padua with his headphones lodged in his ear canals (I hope his ears get really sore) and a pregnant woman looking as if she was about to burst. I sat down beside the woman 'great with child,' and almost immediately she started chatting at me.
"What are you doing out here alone at night?" she asked. God, that woman was FAR too perky.
"I'm a streetwalker." I was feeling ornery and generally pissed off, so lying seemed to make sense.
"Oh." She said, "is there much money in that business?" right, like she cared.
"I just make enough to pay my rent and support my heroin addiction." I was almost having a good time, poking with her.
"How nice. Well, here's my stop." I could tell she was starting to get uncomfortable, and I knew it wasn't her stop at all. Still, 'how nice?!?!' man, I've never been that trashed. Can't be good for the baby, whatever happy pills she's on. Some people are just too insanely happy!
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
When the doors of the bus closed behind me and I walked over to the apartment complex, I began to feel oddly guilty. I should probably call Michael and explain that I needed some time away. Besides, summer had just started and I didn't need or want to be tied down. I mean, Michael's a great guy, and he's really smart, but I don't see how we can be together anymore. I'm glad I didn't let him kiss me. It would have made it a lot harder to tell him.
I got to my apartment door and tucked under the 'Come on in!' mat was an envelope with just my first name handwritten on it. My mum's handwriting. I began to read the note inside as I unlocked the door and shut it behind me.
'Della, Dear,
The cheque is in the top drawer in the kitchen. You know, where we keep the silverware. It's not a lot, but it should hold you up until the next one. I won't be ale to come home as soon as I thought, I was hoping you would be home tonight, so I could tell you in person, but no matter.
All my love,
Mum.'
I walked over to the top drawer and saw a cheque made out to me for twenty-five dollars. There was no way I could make it on a lousy twenty-five bucks. But I guess I'd cross that bridge when I came to it. I would skip out on a couple meals, that would cut down on costs a bit.
The nagging need to call Michael kept yanking at my thoughts. I picked up the receiver, dialled and waited.
"Hello?" God, hearing his voice was making this harder. I hung up. Ok, then I dialled again.
"Hello? Mandella, I know it's you, I have caller ID."
"I--"
"Listen, Mandella, I was a horse's arse at the theatre. What you said what right and true. I don't think for myself anymore. You keep lurking in my thoughts, and everything I do, you are in my mind while I'm doing it."
"Michael, don't worry about it, but I—" he cut me off again.
"No, Mandella, wait. I'm not finished yet. I've been putting this off for far too long. You know how a group from Padua has been chosen to go to Munich, Germany? Well, I was on the waiting list. I wasn't going to tell you till I got in, if I got in. I'm in, though."
"Oh." Wow, I didn't even need to tell him that we had to break it off.
"and Mandella, I just think we should hold off for a while." Gosh, he was doing all the hard work!
"Michael, when do you leave?"
"Thursday. That's the same day Kat is flying to the east coast to go to school. I'm so sorry to be leaving you here, along with the Stratfords. But Cameron and Patrick will be here, Cam is living and working with his uncle, and Patrick is taking a gap year, just like you. you'll be fine for the summer, and then I'll be back. Mandella?"
"I have to go now, Michael." *click* I slowly put the receiver down.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
A.N. well, sorry for the long wait, but was it almost worth it? Don't worry, the story WILL have a reasonably happy ending, despite what these dismal chapters might suggest….please leave a review!