Page 6 of The Heavier The Chains…
And, now, two years later, my father has lost everything, and I start my new school tomorrow because they can’t be bothered. But, hell, if they couldn’t be bothered when their only son died, I can’t expect them to bother now.
The thing is, I stopped caring about money, status, and power when I was old enough to see how horrible my parents were because of those things. Yeah, I enjoyed having the finer things, but I worked on trying to be a good person despite the culture around me. It’s a good thing, too. Now that I no longer had any of those things, I knew college was now a probability, rather than a possibility.
I knew I was going to have to get a regular job and look towards a different life than the one I had originally planned on living.
And that was okay.
I could do this.
If I could survive the loss of the only person who ever truly loved me, I could survive this. This was just a new home. This was just a new school. This was just new friends. This was just a new life. But it was a new life I was alive to live.
There were worse things.
Like losing the only person who’s ever loved and protected you.
Chapter 3
The moments that impact us.
Kenzlee~
Lakeside High looked like all high school campuses across the nation. There was nothing special about it, unless you counted the upside-down mascot that decorated one of the reserved parking spots in the schools parking lot.
The only thing that I was able to take with me, after the banks had seized everything we owned, was my personals. Since my car had been in my parents’ names, that had been taken. So, Alexandria and I had pulled into the parking lot in her used Nissan Maxima that her parents had gotten for her when she had turned sixteen. Oh, they could afford brand new, but they were not about spoiling their only child. Uncle Allen and Aunt Sheri were all about humility and responsibility. It was a cute car, nonetheless.
“Okay, since we got everything last week, we just need to locate your locker before heading to first period,” Alex said as she came around the hood of her car to start walking with me towards the building. Lakeside High was an enclosed high school, but that was about the only thing it had in common with Madison Prep; the lack of uniforms being the biggest difference.
I had agonized all night long about what to wear until Alex had threatened me with bodily harm if I tried on one more outfit. I ended up choosing a simple white button-up men’s shirt, a pair of black jeans, and a matching pair of black ankle boots. It was already October, and the mornings were beginning to feel chilly. I nix a jacket, though, knowing it’d warm up in the afternoon.
And, because I didn’t want to embarrass Alexandria, I threw my black hair up in a messy bun and played my features down with minimal makeup. A little bit of shimmer powder, black eyeliner, and mascara, and a brush of soft pink lipstick.
I nodded in agreement and followed Alex since she knew where she was going. We entered the building and, handing her my locker information from my printed schedule, she led me to my locker. Alex grumbled how our lockers weren’t together, but I didn’t mind. I knew how blessed I was to have one person who I could hang out with; I didn’t want to appear greedy.
After putting all my books in my locker, and only keeping the Econ book and my supplies in my backpack, we headed towards Alex’s locker so she could get her Econ book. Our journey to first period was pretty much how I expected it to be. People passed and greeted or ignored Alex, but the ones who did greet her, gave me a curious look. Alex hadn’t introduced me since they had all been passing greetings, but I knew she’d get around to it during break and lunch.
First period went smoothly with a quick introduction by our homeroom class teacher, and there was an empty desk up front, but close enough to Alex that I didn’t feel like a complete loser. I was on the receiving end of more curious glances, but so far, everyone was cool.
As soon as the bell rang, and we started filing out, Alex grabbed my schedule, and said, “Your next class is just two classes down, but you’ll have to go to your locker for your History book.” She shook her head. “We should have mapped this out better,” she mumbled. “Oh, well. We can get a better feel for your routine later.” She narrowed her eyes at me, all concerned parent like. “Don’t forget, there’s a map on the back in case you get lost.”
I smiled at her pretty face. “I’ll be fine, Alex,” I promised her. “I’ll text you if I start freaking out.”
Alex laughed. “I’ll meet you by your locker for lunch, yeah?”
I nodded and smiled. “I better get going if I have to make it back to my locker, then back here again before the bell rings.”
“Okay,” she replied as she started to head towards her next class. “I’ll see you at lunch!”
I was doing so well, and that should have been my first sign.
I had made it to my locker without getting lost, but when the first warning bell rang, I took off without situating my stuff in my backpack first, and that was the reason why I wasn’t looking where I was going and slammed into a brick wall.
A brick wall dressed in a blue, soft cotton Henley shirt.
My bag fell out my hand, and a couple of pens rolled onto the tile floor. I dropped down to gather my stuff, all the while apologizing to the wall. “Oh, my God,” I gasped. “I’m so sorry. I…my fault…” After gathering my runaway pens, my eyes took in white sneakers, a pair of dark blue jeans, the Henley shirt, and they kept rising so I could apologize face to face. They landed on a face I didn’t think existed outside airbrushed GQ covers.
Holy Mary, Mother of God.
I wasn’t too ashamed to admit my knees wobbled a bit as I stood to stand face to face with him for my apology. Well, face to chest, but still…
