As soon as Bella entered her usual lonely apartment, her fifty percentage sadness was increased to a hundred percentage loneliness.
Before she left for school she had done the dishes so there was no use going into the kitchen especially when she had already made up her mind to get drunk for dinner.
She slowly climbed the stairs dragging her feet on the steps out of tiredness. Her favorite drink, bourbon, was in her right hand and her English text and notebook were occupying her left hand.
Planning to drink all her sorrows away, she headed straight into the dark hallway not bothering about the darkness. Already knowing every nook and cranny of the house, she walked fearlessly till she got to her room door and opened it.
Turning the light on,the light from inside her room immediately shone in the hallway and she walked in shutting the door behind her softly.
She dumped the books on her study table and made her way to her dressing table. She opened the top drawer and brought out her favorite frame photo, then she closed the top drawer and reached for the bottom one. She brought out a glass cup and smiled at it's still colorful turquoise blue designs.
She dumped both things on her dressing table then walked towards her wardrobe. She brought out a white hoodie and a pair of black shorts, she closed the wardrobe taking the clothes and the drink to her bathroom.
After preparing the tub for her nice warm bath, she stepped back into the room clad in nothing but a white bathrobe as she walked towards her dressing mirror and stared at her reflection.
She tied her light brown hair in a messy bun then she grabbed the framed photo as well as the glass cup as she walked back into the bathroom. Tonight was going to be long and lonely.
♥♥♥♥
It wasn't the first time they had done silly things just to get his attention. But this was the first time they had ever dragged the company into it. And to think that his father was in on the plan this time, Okay, Justin didn't quite see this coming.
He stared at Gwen who was busy resting her back on the car as she ate her icecream ever so slowly. She smiled at him and he didn't know what got into him but he smiled back and started approaching her.
He had rushed to his father's production company thinking there was a huge problem that needed his assistance urgently and being the supportive son he was, he had always wanted to help out in whatever way he could.
He got there only to be told by his mother, Mrs Jennette Gray, that he should leave his car in the company's parking lot and that he should get into his father's car.
There he had found his Dad seating in the driver's seat and his little sister in the back seat looking at him all sad and dejected. He couldn't quite understand why they were in a hurry, they all had panicked looks on their faces as though something serious was happening and he couldn't even ask what.
The car finally stopped moving and Justin looked up only to find their car parked in front of an amusement park where there was currently no one but just them.
The sad looks on their faces vanished as they all got out of the car and yelled, it's Happy family's night out. He hadn't known what to say but he had ended up smiling as his mother showered him with kisses and his Dad pulled him in for a hug.
They got into the amusement park and they ended up having so much fun that they even had to listen to Gwen sing a song, it was horrible to listen to, her voice was the... worst, but his parents cheered her on, they were always so caring.
Times like this brought smiles to his faces but it was also times like this that scared him the most, the thought that he wouldn't be able to do all this things in a month or two gave him cold shoulders.
He wished he could have faith like his mother did. He wish he could hope like his sister did, but he knew hoping was only a means to getting hurt in the end.
He finally reached where Gwen was and he rested his back on the car as well as they sipped their ice creams in silence. They had both gotten one after Gwen's horrible singing and it had really helped a lot.
" It's almost eight, I'm not sure the stalls in the park can stay open any longer", Justin said as he looked at the time on his phone before putting it back in his Jean pocket.
Gwen stared at him and smiled before returning her gaze back to her icecream. " Relax Jay, Dad covered all this, remember, we are rich. The point is he payed all this people so they are not actually tired", she said as she stared far ahead watching their parents play around in the park like young lovers not minding that their kids were watching.
They were obviously giving her and Justin time alone as she and Justin were no longer close as they used to be during childhood.
" What do you think of my singing?", she asked positioning herself sideways so she could stare at him. Justin felt her gaze and wanted to do the first thing that came to his mind which was to ignore her, but instead he turned sideways as well staring back at her.
" Your singing is horrible and you should never sing on a stage", he said and he watched her smile drop as she glared at him. He burst out into laughter and soon enough, she did as well, admiring the way he laughed, it had been such a long time since she saw her brother laugh and she wanted to live in the moment.
They both stopped laughing as she freely spoke. " I don't need a stage when I have you Jay, you will be my stage", she said and he ruffled her brown hair fondly. " Stay the hell away from my room door Henrietta", he said warmly and she glared at him for the second time that night.
" Are you trying to piss me off, you know I hate it when people call me that", she said softly, pouting her lips in frustration and he punched her cheeks softly.
" Relax Henrietta, it was just a joke, Henrietta", he said once again pulling her cheeks as he spoke and she hit his hand away annoyed. She stared away from him suddenly feeling like she was pulled back in time and towards her childhood memories.
What she didn't expect was that Justin would go out of his way and do what he used to, Five years ago. He suddenly held both her shoulders and started shaking her continuously, moving her in all directions repeating the words, am sorry, am sorry, am sorry.
Gwen didn't know when she burst into uncontrollable laughter as she started trying to shove his hands away from her shoulders. After much difficulty, she finally removed them and hugged him tightly enjoying the warmth of her brother, it suddenly felt like childhood again and she wished that every day would forever be like this.
Their parents seemed to have seen them laughing because they started approaching them. Justin returned the hug and all of a sudden they felt two more hugs join and they burst into laughter. The night was long and very comforting.
♥♥♥♥
Thursday 7:09am.....
Jennifer smiled heading towards the basketball court as she knew Duke would be there. She was dressed in a purple mini skirt, black ankle boots and a black cropped top. Her Sandy blonde hair was short and wavy and her light brown eyes were shimmering with untold excitement.
She took a left turn walking into a less crowded hallway. Students were barely around as it was still too early to be in school and it was probably the good kids and the basketball players who were present at this time.
She had actually come to school early because she wanted to share the good news with Duke in person. He would be at school at this time as all basketball players were told to arrive before seven thirty today.
As soon as she got to the court. She let her eyes scan each and every human body in the court and then she found him, seating on one of the bleachers talking to one of his many guy friends. She could barely remember any of them and only remembered few.
She continued her journey with her eyes glowing heavier with excitement. Ten feet away from Duke who was now laughing at something the guy next to him must have said, she smiled back only to see some girl run past her and towards Duke who got up and suddenly enveloped the girl in a big hug laughing hard.
They broke off from the hug and shared a deep kiss that had Duke snaking his hand around the girl's waist and drawing her closer to him.
Jennifer just stood rooted on the spot not able to continue her journey. She suddenly turned away from them, feeling hurt, as she walked out of the basketball court, her untold excitement remaining untold.
******
Authors note:
Dear readers. I hope you are enjoying each chapter. I'm so sorry if you find them late but it's because of my tight schedule. Please if you love this book, don't forget to leave a comment, vote with power stones and drop a review, Thankyou.