Ready or Not, Here's Some More!

Chapter Five







Traveling back home was a nightmare; I was almost to the point of crawling. Not just because of Blake, but I felt so sick. My lungs felt like they were simmering- burning. The dinner we’d had was in the back of my throat, waiting to spill at any moment. My head was pounding, my vision fuzzy. I really hoped no one would mistake me as a drunk.
I sat on the bus, burning holes in the back of someone’s head. I was zoned out, nothing or no one could rill me back to reality. My hands clasped my mouth, clamping it shut. Thoughts began seeping their way into my brain again. Stupid thinking. Why did we need it again?
Griffin whispered my mind Griffin is taking Kelly down with him. What does he want from you? Why is he using Kelly?
Oh no. I had to meet that punk tomorrow. My eyes closed and I rubbed them tiredly, exhausted. Griffin. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
My mind flashed back to how we met. His hair had been longer then, but he had a soul. He had smiled at me, shyly, sweetly. His voice was going through puberty when he first talked to me, “Roxy? Uh, my friends told me about… you and stuff.”
“Really? I heard you were pretty cool,” I had gushed. Kelly and a preppy girl I used to chill with, told me everything about Griffin, we all thought he was hot.
My eyebrows were now knitted together at the memory. Griffin had changed. He use to be sweet, even innocent, even with his attitude. Now he was a sneering, perverted, molesting punk who was trying to kill my sweet innocent friend’s soul.
“No,” I croaked in a whisper. No. He couldn’t have Kelly. It didn’t work that way… well, it shouldn’t. Griffin needed to be stopped. He couldn’t have my best friend…


When I got home, my mom was on our couch, staring vacantly at the T.V. which wasn’t on.
Closing the door quietly behind me, I leaned on it and watched her. Something was obviously off, more than usual. She had a empty expression on her face, giving me chills.
I sniffled, feeling like crap. Physically and emotionally. Lifting myself from the door, I began to walk to my room. It freaked me out- my mom didn’t flinch or turn as I passed behind her. What happened between her and Dad? Was Dad even still here? The questions echoed in my head. I tore my sight from Mom’s zoned out trance.
Once in my room, I walked up to my vanity, sat down, and looked in the mirror. Pale and sickly, I lifted my hand to pull off my beanie. My hand shook like I was having a seizure or something. What kind of flu was this? What makes your stomach, head, nose, throat, and body ache and pain? Suddenly I started breathing faster. Did I have swine flu? I had heard quite a few people die from it. My reflections eyes grew wide. Oh no. I had kissed Blake. What if he-?
I had to go to work Monday and tell him about my illness. Quickly too.

♪~♪

Morning came, slapping me awake. After brushing my teeth, I knew I felt even worse today than I had last night. I was uncontrollably shaking and when I inhaled it was soar. Ouch.
After dressing I walked to the kitchen, and then I remembered Mom. What had happened to her? Peeking through the doorway I saw her at the table, staring into her mug, sadly. Not good. Stepping into the open, I allowed her to see me.
Wearily, she raised her gaze. Without attempting a smile, she croaked, “Roxy.”
Coughing softly, I replied, “Mom?”
She averted her sight again and raggedly sighed, “Roxanne. You know your father and I have… cheated ourselves.”
Biting my lip, I stared at her, waiting for her to continue.
She inhaled, “The night you left… well you saw what happened. It was… an… a sign of what I should do…”
Those words… it brought me to the real, hard, heart-wrenching truth. It hurt so much, that I tried to keep it so far from my actual thought so I wouldn’t let my emotions show. I whisper, “…Divorce.”
Eye contacts re-met, and Mom gasped, “Yes.” Suppressing the sadness, fury roared into my body, “So you two gave up? Awesome. You know, I hear nothing but good things about divorce- especially from the kids.”
“Roxy,” She calmly whispered.
“You know what? No, I’ll love visiting Dad and his wife of the month. Oh, and you and Phil. Yeah, what a stud he is, I mean, I’ll love to see the man who my mom cheated with all the time. Yay! Happy day for me!”
Mom didn’t even defend herself. Only sat in silence.
“That’s what perfect lives are like, huh? Torn, cheated, and fake. Hm, yeah last time I checked, when you got married you vowed to love, um, oh yeah. Each other. But, no, instead it’s some random person you meet at work!” I was getting light-headed. Yelling is not good for you when you’re sick. Close to vomiting, I saw the blurred figure of my mom stand. From what I could see her face, it was screwed up into a scowl. Whoa, that wasn’t my mom.
“Roxanne Kay ,” Her voice level and steely, “You are way out of line. Yelling at me is disrespectful and I won’t tolerate it anymore.”
I blinked at her, trying to clear my mind more than trying to seem unaffected.
“Now you go to work,” Mom hissed, “And we’ll talk about this later.”
Fine by me,” I rolled my eyes and exited the room.
Confused on whether I should be angry or shocked, I stomped down the street, coughing my brains out. Yeah, I know, I should be going to work, but I had to tell Blake about my getting sick- and I had to talk with Griffin.
Praying no one would mistake me as someone who’d had one-too-many drinks, I reached my building. Squinting through the crowd, I looked for a guy whose hair mopped over his face. One fuzzy figure matched that description and I knew who it was. Heart turning cold as ice, I stalked up to him.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” I growled. To my disgust, he smiled. Just like him, to laugh at cruel remarks. Even more ticked, I snapped, “Well? What is it you wanted?”
Grinning, Griffin smoothly replied, “There are lots of things I want,” He looked me up and down, “A lot of things.”
“Poor flattery will get you no where,” Came my sharp reply, “Why are you here?”
He shrugged, unaffected by my disinterest, “A… compromise, I guess.”
Lifting an eyebrow, I scoffed, “Compromise? With you? The devil’s assistant? Pass.” I coughed deeply.
“You may want to listen, because you aren’t the only one who’ll be affected by the choice.”
I felt myself stiffen. What was Griffin playing at? Slowly I asked, “What’s the deal?”
I watched his hands rub together, wondering if it was from the cold, or pleasure I had taken the bait. Smiling, Griffin said smoothly, “You and I get a second chance- my rules and all.”
It took all the self-control I had not to lash out and instead ask, “Or, what?”
His face fell when he realized I didn’t jump at his offer. Still he remained composed. Replacing his hands in his pockets, he said, “Or me and Kelly will have a chance. She and I have been talking lately… intimately. And, well, she’s agreed to my rules and all.”
I’m sorry; please excuse me as my brain explodes. WHAT? Griffin? Kelly? My stomach knotted and fell… far and hard.
“What?” was all I could muster. Oh, witty am I.
“So, Roxy,” Griffin yawned, “Get back to me tonight with your decision.” He walked a ways before calling over his shoulder, “You know my number,” he smirked and was gone.
You know what I did then? Yep. I walked into the Café and… I tried not to trip over my own feet as the room spun. Dignity is not something I owned at the moment. Clutching the counter, I breathed deliberately and slowly to stop the nausea. Staggering to my seat, I fell on it, feeling like… uh, crap.
Now it was the wait. The wait to see Blake.
♪~♪



This is only a little bit of it, I still need to write the rest of this chapter!