A/N: I am so so sorry for not updating in such a long time! I had two other stories to work on alongside this and this was the one I ended up doing last. Sorry again!
We explain to Miele what happened and then watch as she takes in my appearance and smiles. She says that I won't walk her to school and that she can walk with her new friends while I get a lift. Bloom, Layla and I laugh and I tell her that we'll still walk but slower and we'll leave earlier than usual. She asks me how long I have to stay on my crutches. I freeze but for an entirely different reason. Dad. How long will I be able to put up with Dad? We start walking and reach Bloom's Lamborghini.
Not very long. You never last long.
Will you be quiet?! I'm trying to think.
I am your thoughts. If I shut up, you won't be able to think. We can't have that now, can we?
OK. Just quit distracting me.
One point to Flora's conscience! Anyway, you're distracting yourself.
What did I just say?!
OK, OK, Sorry. Sheesh!
"Flora?" Miele nudges me.
"Huh? Oh, sorry, sweetie. What was your question?"
"How long are you on your crutches?"
"I don't know, sweetie. I'll ask Avalon tomorrow." I smile.
You're torn between Riven and Avalon, aren't you?
Do you not know the meaning of shut the fuck up?!
Just admit it. Avalon's on your list too.
Professor Avalon is most likely in his thirties. I am only sixteen. That would just be totally gross.
Just think, dreamy blue eyes, jet black hair, sweet, mellow-
"Just cut it out already!" I yell out loud. Layla and Miele turn to me and Bloom eyes me through her rear-view mirror.
"You OK, there, Flo?" Layla asks. I take a deep breath and calm myself.
"Yeah," I say, "yeah, I'm fine." My heart is pounding and I wait for the taunting voice but it doesn't come.
"Please, Flora, be careful with yourself. I can't live like this anymore." I start and embrace her in a hug.
"Don't worry, Miele." I'll be fine."
"Hey, you didn't tell me your address." Bloom asks. I tell her the name of the next road along and silently will Miele to keep quiet. She understands and gives the slightest nod.
"You live here?!" Bloom and Layla say together incredulously.
"Cool! This is the most posh road in the town! We'll definitely have to visit you one day, when you get better of couse!"
Instantly, I feel bad for lying to my new friends. I see Miele swallow.
"Y-yeah." I say nervously, hoping they won't pick up on the fact tnat my mood changed suddenly. "We-we live here."
"Wow!" Bloom exclaims. "OK, we've arrived." She brakes hard and I go flying forward. "Sorry, sorry! Bye, Flora. Bye Miele."
Layla holds my crutches as I scramble out of the car. "Bye, Bloom. Bye, Layla." Miele waves. Bloom smiles fondly.
"Bye, sweetie." She laughs. We watch them speed off, until the car and the dark pink paint become a dot and then disappear.
"Flora?" I hear. I look to my left as we walk the rest of the way.
"Yes, sweetie?" I reply, trying to ignore the pain in my back.
"Why... why did we lie to your friends?" She looks at me questioningly and my heart flips in the most terrible way possible.
"Well..." We turn the corner into our drab road. The paint on the flats are peeling, the grass in the gardens are overgrown and haven't been cut in months. Half the windows are broken and the doors are on their last hinges. Maybe that's why we get robbed so much. Maybe that's why Dad is always grumpy.
Even though we have been lucky enough to be given a house, Dad didn't have the heart or the patience to care for it. He had been as generous as to give us each a bed, a cooker, microwave, a sofa for the living room and a starter wage of two hundred pounds. Everything else, he told us to do ourselves. I worked and worked my feet off to get Miele a room that met her expectations. Then my goal was to get things for the kitchen. Then my aim was to spruce up my room, to get the small things that I'd always dreamed of. It took me ages to get things for the kitchen but I am still not done.
"But Flora, it's not right to lie. Lying is wrong. The only reason I went along with you is because I didn't want you be embarrassed in front of Bloom and Layla." She fiddles around for her front door key, since my hands are somewhat... occupied with my crutches.
"I know, sweetie. I know. I just... I just didn't want to lose my friends. They've been so nice on my first day." I said as I went in and sat on the sofa in the living room. Maybe, if I hurry up, Dad wouldn't see that I've brought my shoes into the living room.
"Flora! Get in here, you ugly slug!" I hear. I swallow, praying, willing, hoping that my life would be spared this time. I stand up off of the sofa and grip my crutches tight.
"Yes, Father?" I ask as I hobble up the stairs.
"What the hell have you done to yourself!" He thunders. I sigh. The same drill over and over again.
"A boy in my French class." I say bluntly. That is definitely a big mistake. It just makes him even more angrier than when he found out about my injury.
"A boy in your French class what?" He shouts.
"A boy in my French class jabbed me with a fork."
"Right." He says in disbelief. "And why did he have a fork in his French lesson?"
"It... it was at lunch time. I was walking out of the Dining Hall when he supposedly 'was pushed' into me. And those were his words, not mine."
"Get lost. I haven't got time for your stupid stories!" He crossed his arms. "Do you know what? You can go to Gareth"s store and get the groceries." He reaches into the store room under the stairs and takes out a few bamboo shopping bags. I loop my arm through them and grip my crutches again. He fishes in his pocket for a wad of notes. He counts them out into his hand and then hands them to me. "One hundred pounds. Exactly enough for everything that you usually buy." Again, he brings his face up close. I inch back and stumble to the ground. My back erupts into pain and a fight everything that will make me scream.
"OK, OK. Miele!" I call.
"No. She has to do the housework and then her homework."
"Whatever. OK. See you." Before waiting for a reply, I stumble outside.
I hobble to the bus stop and wait. I am vaguely aware of about thirteen boys and four girls. I notice them staring and sigh. The bus arrives and they all board with me. I sit at the front and stare out through the window. Suddenly, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look to see a strawberry blond boy. I remember him being one of the group at the bus stop.
"Excuse me?" He says. He has a huge smile on his face and shining golden eyes.
Told you so that you compare to the goddesses.
Whatever. No body says he thinks I'm good-looking.
Get back to him.
Oh, yeah. Right. "Sorry, I just went off into my own world." I look at him with apologetic eyes.
"Hey, its fine. Don't we all?" He chuckles softly and his beautiful golden eyes (wait, what?) look distant as he looks out of the bus window. He shakes his head and turns back to me. "Anyway, we were wondering if you'd like to come and sit with us? You seem lonely." He beckons to all his friends and the... sixteen or so of them wave and smile. I smile back at them and sigh.
"Alright." I say, gathering up my shopping bags and my crutches. As I stand up, he holds his hands out.
"Hey, where are my gentlemanly manners? Let me take your bags." I smile gratefully at him and he takes them from my arms. "Say, what have you done?" He asks as he helps me into a seat next to a white haired girl.
"I, er, had an... accident at school." I explain.
"Ah. Right. What did you say your name was again?" He asks me, leaning forward intently.
"Flora. And you guys?" The guy straightens up and smiles.
"My name is Baltor, we all use nicknames, by the way." I nod and wait for him to continue. "That's Darkar," he points to a black haired boy, "Icy," the white haired girl,
"Darcy," a brunette girl,
"Stormy," a navy blue haired girl,
"Knut," a blond boy,
"Ogron,' a red haired girl, much like Bloom herself,
"Gantlos," another blond boy with a hat on his head.
"Anagan," a black haired boy,
"Duman," a guy with a pink Mohawk,
"Tritannus," a dark haired, dark skinned boy,
"Selina," a girl with dirty blonde hair,
"Sky," another blond guy,
"Brandon," A brunette boy,
"Helia," a navy blue haired boy,
"Nabu," another brunette boy,
"Timmy," a geeky dark blond with square rimmed glasses.
"Wow. That's a lot of names." I say. "There's only one of me and seventeen of you guys. I won't be able to remember you all." I say, stunned.
"Well, you have time. I take it you go to Sacred Heart?" The red haired boy, Ogron(?) winks.
"Y-yeah. That's the one. OK, I need to go." I smile and slip my arms through my crutches. As I walk to the front of the bus, I smile at Baltor. "Thanks, Baltor, for the offer." He winks and the bus comes to a halt.
I collect the necessary groceries from Gareth's and go to his till.
"Afternoon, Miss Cheffriz." He nods at me.
"Good afternoon, Gareth." I say with a faint blush.
"What have you done, lovey?" He asks kindly.
"Accident at school." I explain.
"And your father still makes you collect the weekly shopping." He tuts. I feel a pang of guilt in my heart. He scans my groceries and reads my total.
I fish in my pocket for my purse. "Oh no!" I gasp, when it is not there. I check all my other pockets and panic when it isn't there. "My purse is gone!"
A/N: There's the end of chapter five. What do you think?
Next chapter, Riven and Flora (start to) have a moment.