Who did she think she was? Isobel fucking Flemming! This chick had only just met me and she felt the need to accost me in the hallway because of my disappearing act. Did she want to humiliate me in front of all of our peers? Cause a scene in front of the entire town? I could just imagine the rumours flying around town. It would reach the Grille by mid morning and the members of the PTA would be gossiping over their coffee and croissants. What was wrong with a good old fashioned bagel? God those women were priceless. Any new fad to come to town and they jumped on it like ravenous beasts. I was thankful my Mom had not engaged those women. She was everything good about this town and when she died things were not salvageable. They were irreparably damaged. Her death broke me and my father, Grayson too. He hit the bottle within weeks of her death and Grayson and I were left to pick up the pieces until we couldn't anymore.

I've dealt with a lot in my life and this jumped up bitch was yelling because I had left her house when I woke up. It's not like I bailed after I banged her. Hell it was only a kiss. One she pulled away from. The bell sounded and our growing crowd began to disperse to their classes and I was left staring down at this raven-haired creature, she looked like a wounded bird in response to frustrated retort in regards to her behaviour. I honestly didn't have time for this. I shook my head and grunted angrily as I stepped away and proceeded toward my class. Isobel Flemming. She could suck my dick for all care. I wouldn't waste another moment on her petulant mood swing and assaulting tongue.

I barely made it to my class on time and had to break into a sprint to land in my seat before the bell stopped ringing. I had English and as much as I'd rather be on the field working through this frustration, the downtime would do me good. We were reading George Orwell's 1984 and I hadn't even cracked the spine of my copy when we received it yesterday. I hoped they wouldn't ask about our first impressions. It had been a while since I read the book and in my state right now, I'd likely hurl before I could competently recall sufficient details. From what I could remember some dude called Winston was a member of some weird ass political group called The Party in a Nation called Oceania and some weird stuff occurs with telescreens and some leader they call Big Brother. Other shit happens and Winston meets a girl called Julia and then he gets caught by a Party Spy who pretended to be a member of the Brotherhood and then Winston gets brainwashed and feels nothing for this Julia woman and it kind of just ends. Admittedly the details were fuzzy and a lot more happens in the book but as I sat staring at the wall I prayed silently not to be called on and my prayers were answered. We weren't going to discuss the novel in class.

I zoned out as soon as we were told and dropped my head against my desk and stared out of the window. My tolerance for alcohol was waning and as much as my head pounded I had to be alert. If I got caught sleeping, I'd surely get reamed by as many as five obnoxious individuals, so instead I propped my arm up and leaned my head against it while a single headphone clasped against my palm and pushed against my ear. The dulcet tones of Guns N Roses' – Don't Cry echoed into my drum. "Give me a whisper and give me a sigh. Give me a kiss before you tell me goodbye."

When class ended we all headed toward the door like we were sheep. The thought came to me as I stood behind a short blonde as she struggled to carry all of her books and had to rely on her friend to assist. We were still shuffling forward in an orderly fashion like we were lambs to the slaughter. My cassette had clicked and as I slid my fingers against the tape deck to turn it over I bumped head on into a buddy of mine. He was grinning from ear to ear and couldn't help but commenting on the dispute between Isobel and I. His amber hair covered his eyes and I shook my head as he blew warm breath outward to shift the strands.

"Gilbert, it's all over school. You nailed the new girl? Fast work dude."

I didn't have time or energy to correct this jackass and shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. If Isobel felt the need to accost me in the hall, she should expect the rumour mill to churn out ridiculous assumptions.

"Hey man, you know I don't kiss and tell."

I knew my remark would vindicate the assumption but it wasn't my place to set people straight. Let them think I nailed the Flemming girl; it wouldn't hurt my reputation only Isobel's and she didn't deserve my leniency right now. Brandon's face lit up, his grin had grown tenfold. What a fucking chump. He lives vicariously through me. How pathetic.

Two singular bells rang out which alerted us of our next class which incited Brandon to bail in a hurried run. I pulled my headphones on and clicked the play button to kick-start Morrissey; Tomorrow as I headed to my Chemistry class. We had a sub and I could finally get some rest.

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After Chemistry the day ran by without incident. I hadn't seen Isobel or had any more annoying assholes come up to me for details just a few concerned teachers inquiring about my face. The bruises had darkened a little and I explained fraudulently that Grayson and I had got into a heated basketball game the day before. They all accepted the lie and exhaled when they thought I wasn't looking. Talk about ignoring the obvious.

I couldn't blame them. I was convincing. The art of a good lie is to incorporate as much truth as possible.

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When the night came, I was waiting. Waiting for my father to return and finally lay eyes on my handiwork. I had assumed I'd landed a few good punches. The state of my knuckles led me to that assumption but he hadn't come home yet. I remained in my darkened room, listening to U2 when I finally heard the front door close and my name was called.

Grayson's familiar tone lured me from the dark pit of my bedroom and as I slinked down through to the kitchen he was stood by the sink with a bag of groceries.

"Where's the old man?"

My question wasn't out of concern or wonder. It was a reflex. I wanted to be prepared.

"He-he's staying at the cabin for a while. He's let the school know and Pastor Young. So, he'll be there until his bruises are gone."

Ah... I knew it. I'd landed in a few good punches. I nodded and uttered a solemn 'okay' before turning on my heel to head back to my room when Grayson stopped me and handed me the bag of groceries.

"Give me a hand with dinner and then sit your ass down and tell me everything."

Everything? Fuck no. I didn't want to burden him with the bullshit that's gone on since our mom died. Gray would be compelled to stick around and take care of me. I didn't need that. I'd been looking after myself through this whole fucked up situation and Grayson had already deferred from university a year. He needed to go. He needed to get out of Mystic Falls so when we sat down for dinner I spun him a tamer version of things. I implied that our old man had only been that way once or twice. The truth would have broken him and I didn't want that.