untitled book- Chapter 2

 After checking up on the girls with the nannie, I find an empty seat in the courtyard by taylor and take out my bagged lunch.

“morning sunshine!” she says. Shes sporting her usual. Hot pink shorts, yellow tank top, blue converse.

“ugh. Tone it down a notch. Or twenty.” Were complete opposites. Taylor with her  bright colors and cheerfulness, me with my wardrobe of dark reds, browns, and blacks. No body understands why were bestfriends. Not even us. But that’s what makes it worth the ride.

 “how are the kiddos?”

“their fine. Annies losing teeth almost every week. Im running out of tooth fairy money.” I say as I take out my ham and cheese sandwich.

“do you need me to babysit? So you can take a night out on the town? Hit up the clubs and such?” she suggests with a sarcastic smile.  She knows I never go out.

“do you just want to see them? Cause you know you’re welcome anytime. I could use a nap every once and a while.  Feel free to come over and watch sleeping beauty for the thousandth time.”

“could I PLEEEEEAAAAASSSSEEEEE! I miss them so much! Being in Canada all summer and all. Im having munchkin withdrawls.” She bats those thick, black lashes and puts on her best puppy dog face as if im going to say no to letting her be the mommy for a few hours.

“sure. Come over tonight if you wanna. By the way how was Canada?”

“ugh. Boring. Too many trees. Too many people saying ‘Ay!’ after everything. Lets just say ‘Im proud to be an American” she gives a mini two fingered salute.

“ haha well were happy to have ya back! Shit! I have to go check up on my work permit before my wonderful dictator of a boss decides he needs a new barista. See ya tonight?” I hurriedly repack my lunch and start to head inside.

“yep! See ya then! Adios chica!” Tay calls. I give a quick wave good bye over my shoulder and speed walk to the administration building. Just as I cross the thresh hold my phone signals that I have a text with a single ding, but when I go to look at it I find myself face down on the carpet.

“Ophf!” I groan, struggling to get to my knees and inspect the damage.

“are you okay? Here let me help you.” a tall, tan figure kneels next to me. Upon closer examination I realize its Cole Venage.  The last person I would expect to help me pick up my books after a spill. Ugh. We dated for two weeks over the summer. After we broke up  I got tons of hate mail and posts on my facebook. All “anonymous.”  We haven’t spoken in 4 months. And its been eating me up inside. I had to delete him from my phone, my facebook, my twitter, and my tumblr to keep myself from throwing myself at him.

“uh.. thanks..” I murmer, at a loss for words. My jeans are torn on the knee cap and I lunch is completely inedible. Great.

“no problem. So uh… how ya been? I haven’t heard from you in a while.”  He says trying not to maintain eye contact. Gosh this is awkard.

“ive been.. okay. You?” oh my gosh. Please let this end as painlessly as possible. Who the hell am I kidding. This is gonna have a nights worth of tears to pay. I flash my most emotionally detached smile hoping  he would take the hint and leave.

“Ive been better.” We lock eyes. He reaches out and tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear.  My eyes close and I try unsuccessfully to hold back a shudder.

“see you later, Char.” He whispers. When my eyes open he’s gone. I suck in a rasping breath and continue down the hall refusing to break down until I reach the bathroom.

 “name?” im brought out of my self pity trance by the annoyed voice of a secretary.

“NAME?” she repeats.

“Charlote Frammer. Two ‘M’s.” I say gathering my things and walking towards the giant dest occupied only by a desk calendar and a computer.

“what do you need?”

“uh I need to check up on my work permit. Is it expired?”

“kay. Give me a second… no your good. It expires in three days. Do you want me to renew it now or do you want to come back in three days?” her eyes barley lift above her glasses before they hurriedly return to the computer screen. I know what she saw. Everyone has the same reaction. Starting at the middle of my left eyebrow, a glossy black slash extends diagonally towards my cheekbone, ending at my jaw line. It’s my mark.  The mark of the “gift”.  Only three people in my world are known to have one like mine. Lucky me.  If you only glanced at it, it would appear to be only a tattoo. But if you looked closer, you would see that’s it is raised as though it were burned into my skin.

“today would be great. Thank you.” I say, dropping my eyes, embarrassed.

“I’ll send you an email when its ready to be picked up.” Gah this is so awkard. I turn and quickly walk out, covering the left side of my face the whole way out.

                                   ~ soapapia