Romance Reloaded

The cold breeze prickled my face as I walked from the car to my front door. I brushed the dried tears and mascara from my cheeks with the sleeve of Frank’s jacket. It smelled freshly of Linx and cigarettes as if he’d only just taken it off. My shaky hand twisted the key in the lock. ‘Don’t cry again Kat!’ my conscience instructed me. I stepped in out of the cold and closed the door. This is it; I’m not seeing Frank until April. A sharp pain shot through my heart as I dragged my weary body up the stair case and to my bedroom door. Throwing myself down on my bed a whimper escaped my lips. I brought my hands up to my face and embraced it. Breathing heavily and trying not to cry.

After crying myself to sleep I had a surprisingly peaceful nap until the alarm on my phone went off at mid-day. After not going to school for nearly 2 weeks I decided it was time to head back. I got up, wiped the smeary makeup off my face and put on my uniform. I smirked through teary eyes at myself in the mirror as I ran my hand over the faint mark where the wine stain once was. Thinking back to the good memories cheered me up a bit but I still wished he hadn’t gone. I gathered the motivation I needed to manage this half day at school and headed down stairs.

Key in ignition and off I drove down the street feeling quite nervous about what might be awaiting The Trinity Academy. The courtyard was packed with students when I arrived. It must still be lunch break. I parked up near to the gate so I could be one of the first out. I bit my lip awkwardly as I stepped out of the car into the cold November air. There are so many places I would rather be than here, but really I had no choice. Throwing my bag over my shoulder I trudged across the car park and towards the cafeteria. The idea of standing in the cold with some complete strangers didn’t faze me much.

I bought a coffee and a small sandwich, just enough to last till this evening. “Hey, Kat.” A voice came from over my shoulder as I walked towards a table. I turned around, slightly startled. Brie was standing with her hands in her pockets smiling optimistically. “I didn’t expect to see you here today, Kat.” I sighed and gestured my head for Brie to follow me as I walked to the table and sat down. “I thought I should come.” I began “I’ve missed so much work and we’re graduating in May.” Brie sat opposite me with both sympathetic and understanding look on her face. We sat in silence for a few minutes as I ate my sandwich. “When is Frank coming home..?” Brie asked reluctantly. I took a sip of my coffee and stared down at the table which my elbows were resting on. “April.” Brie opened her mouth and closed it again, as if she was going to say something but immediately changed her mind. She repeated this action a few times before speaking again.

“Wow, he’s really gone for 5 months?” I silently nodded, still staring at the table. “Yep. 5 whole months…” my words trailed off as I took a final drink of my coffee and stood up from my chair. The bell rang as I put my disposable coffee cup in the bin. “I’m going to class, Kat. See you later.” My face broke into an awkward half smile. “Bye Brie.”

The rest of the day went pretty quick, 3 classes this afternoon: Math, Business Studies and English. All pretty okay apart from math. I found myself drifting around the corridors in a daze, my mind blurred. I wasn’t really thinking about Frank much. If I did, I’d cry again and that wouldn’t go down well in school. I was suddenly woke up as the final bell rang and the corridor flooded with students. I took to walking down the courtyard and towards the car park at a fairly quick pace. I wasn’t staying here any longer than I had to.

The drive home lagged quite a bit and so did the rest of the evening. Snuggled up in front of the TV in a huge, cold, empty house. To say I’d lived here for 6 months now it still didn’t feel like home. I’d only spent about 2 weeks staying in the house. The rest of the time I was sleeping at Gerard’s. The Way household felt like home to me. I soon realised ‘home’ isn’t in a house, it’s wherever you are with the people you love most and right now I was homeless.

I didn’t leave the house all weekend. What was the point? There’s nothing to do in this damn town. It’s so isolated here, there’s not even anywhere I can go shopping to distract myself from the hole in my heart. I was starting miss my parents now, they’d been gone for 5 months, my grandfather didn’t take my grandmothers death very well and my parents needed to be there for him. I needed them to be there for me too though. I groaned loudly, frustrated with myself for over thinking. The mind numbing crap on the TV was boring me beyond words by Saturday afternoon. I grabbed my school bag and raided though it for any work to do; two mock exam papers and some class word to complete. That should occupy a few hours I thought.

I yawned and stretched my arms above my head, it was getting late. The sun was setting reflecting a warm orange colour on the clouds above, I scrunched my bed head hair pushing it back into space as I gazed out of the window longingly. Cramming my books back into my back I got up and lazily dragged my feet through into the corridor. The marble floor felt like ice under my feet as I sauntered through into the kitchen in search of food. After stuffing my face with a pizza the found in the freezer I went upstairs and stood in my bedroom door. I scanned the room, taking in every detail and closed my eyes. Memories of Frank carrying me upstairs and throwing me onto my bed flooded my mind. I set out a small sigh and walked over to my desk, running my fingers lightly over the chair before sitting on it. The mirror before me was coated in a thin layer of dust through neglect. I traced my index finger through the dust and wrote. ‘I’ll carry on.’ I’m not sure what I meant by that but it gave me hope for the future, hop for something better.

Sunday was pretty pointless, I didn’t get up until mid-day, once again I spend the rest of the day watching TV again and moping around the house, wandering through the various uninhabited rooms. When Monday morning came around I was actually ready to get out of the house. I spent all day studying; the idea of socializing with any of the other students didn’t entertain me. Every time I passed someone and caught them looking at me I’d smile politely but they just scowled back. A few weeks passed this way. But each day I was missing frank even more than before.

Thursday lunch break and I was in the study hall catching up on some of the work I missed. I was deep in thought when one of the sisters approached me. “Kat, please take these documents up to Miss Momsen’s room in the art department.” I smiled up at her and took the documents. Picking up my bags by the desk I headed out the floor and up the stairs. I came to a corridor on the top floor, walking slowly over the tiles I counted the doors as I passed them on either side of me. “Hello, Kat. How’s life without MY Frank.” I halted suddenly, not needing to turn around to the source of that voice. I knew full well it was Shiloh.

Notes

hey guys! welcome back! :) sorry not much happens in this chapter but I've already planned the whole story and i actually think its gonna be better than the last... <3