Addison's Hero

Addison’s nights didn’t go much better then her days. She got home from school, ate her evening meal in the company of her aunt and uncle, maybe Lacey as well, if she didn’t have plans. And then she would go up to her room to do any homework she might have.

When asked by Rachel or Ben how her day at school had been she gave them a bright smile and told them great. They didn’t notice that her smile didn’t reach her eyes or that it looked a little forced.

By the following Monday though, Addison was actually looking forward to school. She had spent a very long weekend moping about the house helping her Aunt with chores. Lacey hadn’t been seen for most of the weekend instead she spent her days with her friends, shopping, and then both Friday and Saturday night out on dates.

Addison was thankful that Lacey hadn’t been around much, it meant that she didn’t have to put up with her. Instead she just had to help Rachel do the ironing, hoovering, and a bit of gardening. She didn’t complain though, not to Ben or Rachel. She just smiled. After all it was better then not doing anything at all.

Monday lunch time soon rolled around and Addison found herself in her, now, regular spot on the low wall out in front of the main school building. As she sat eating her lunch, she people watched. Everyone seemed so normal, going about their business. Students and staff both. Friends greeted each other, girls stood in groups gossiping and boys played pranks on each other, trying to impress the girls. Addison felt loneliness cover her like a large, black cloak.

She got out her time table and saw that she had Biology next. Biology had been held in the school library the week before due to maintenance in the normal class room, so Addison hadn’t been to the science block yet... She took out the map and saw that on it the science department was now where the gym seemed to be... She got up and put her rubbish in a nearby bin and deciding to get a head start on looking for the mysterious science block she walked towards the main building.

Just before the bell was due to ring, Addison gave in and admitted she was lost. She looked around for someone to give her directions but the hallways were slowly emptying. A guy stood by his locker, by himself. He looked decent enough and Addison had seen him around, she was sure he was in her home room. She decided to ask him for directions.

Walking over to him, she smiled nicely when he looked her way. He didn’t smile back but neither did he turn away, so that had to be a good sign, she thought.

‘Hi, could you help me? I’m looking for Biology...’ He just stared at her. ‘Couldn’t give me directions, could you? This school is so big....’ Addison’s voice trailed off.

The boy just stood staring at her and when Addison was just about to turn around and walk away he spoke.

‘You need to go out by the canteen, down the steps and follow the building round past the bikes...’ He said, not really looking at her as he spoke.

‘Oh, great! Thanks a lot,’ Addison said and he just nodded at her.

As Addison followed his directions her mood lifted. She had spoken to someone and they had answered her. She hadn’t been ignored. She smiled as she walked and her whole day looked brighter.

That was till the lesson bell rang.

‘Oh no!’ Addison said out loud. She hated being late. It was a pet hate of hers and now it looked like she would be late for biology.

She walked down the steps and around the building past the bikes. She looked around. She was at the back of the school, by the bins and the janitors office. There was no building looking like a science department anywhere. She walked further round the building some more and saw a little ally of sorts. She walked down it a bit and saw that it didn’t lead anywhere. It was a dead end.

She was once again lost and she realised that the boy, who she had though had been so kind, had in fact given her false directions.

‘What do you want?’ A shout across at Addison had her visibly jumping in fright. She turned to the left a little to see a boy of maybe a year or two older then herself sitting on what looked like a old arm chair. It was ripped in places and covered with a plastic sheet.

‘Oh, god!’ Addison said when she saw him.

‘Not quite!’ The boy said and threw the bud of the cigarette he had been smoking on the floor by his feet. He turned his face up to look at Addison and she saw that he was really cute. More then cute, in fact he was gorgeous, in a slightly “I’m very cool and dangerous” kind of way. She tilted her head a little to look at him more closely. He had a rough and rugged look to him. He wore dark blue jeans and black leather, biker’s jacket, black boots and had on a grey t-shirt under his jacket. His hair was a chocolate brown colour and his eyes a deep brown too.

‘I’m sorry. I’m looking for my Biology class...’ Addison said when she realised she was staring.

The boy looked at Addison and the look he gave her made her skin tingle. He looked at the tip of her white flip flops and slowly up over her cut off shorts and sunny yellow top to her face and long brown hair held in a high pony tail.

‘Baby, I can give you a biology lesson if you like, though I expect it’s not one you’ll want.’

At his words, Addison wrapped her arms around herself and sent him a chilling look. ‘No thanks!’ she said and turned around to walk away. What a jerk! She thought. He may be gorgeous but he obviously didn’t have a gorgeous personality.

‘Hey you’re that Brit chick, arn’t you?’ he said to her retreating back.

Great, thought Addison, wondering what he would say next...

‘You don’t look like the type to get kicked out of school,’ he said.

Addison sent him a look over her shoulder and replied, ‘That’s because I’m not.’ She then walked away.

Something about the boy irritated Addison, she didn’t know if it was just him or his attitude. She had only met him for a few minutes but she could tell that he was very cock sure of himself.

Addison finally got the right directions off a member of the faculty and only got a mild stare of Mr Hughes, her biology teacher for being late.

She found a desk and sat down. After five minutes of catching up with the days lesson the door to the class room opened and the boy from the ally way walked in.

He looked around the class room and his eyes rested on Addison. His mouth turned up into a smile, which then slowly, to Addison’s eyes, turned into a leer.

‘Mr Lane, once again you seem to have misplaced your watch... Take a seat and please keep the disruptions to a minimum today. Thank you!’ Mr Hughes said from his place in front or the class.

The boy from the ally, the one Mr Hughes had addressed as Mr Lane, sent the teacher a cocky grin and went and sat at the desk, two down, on the next row from Addison.

Addison spent the rest of the lesson sitting stiff with tension, sure that she could feel the boy’s eyes on the back of her head the whole time.

When the bell rang Addison breathed a sigh of relief and couldn’t escape the classroom quick enough. On her way out though she heard a now familiar male voice call out,

‘I’m free if you need a biology partner!’

Addison knew it was directed to her but she just kept her head down and carried on walking.

By the end of the day she was ready to go home and relax. She was stood at her locker getting her things when a shadow fell over her. She lifted her head and let out a moan when she saw who it was.

‘I was serious,’ he said. ‘If you need a partner, I’m free.’

‘Thanks, but no thanks!’ Addison replied. She closed her locker and walked away, making her way out of the school.

‘So, what’s your name?’

‘Addison,’ she said, not being able to ignore him.

‘I’m Max,’ he replied. Addison stopped walking and turned to look at him.

‘What do you want, Max?’ she asked, thinking it was the only way to get rid of him.

‘Well, it looks to me like you haven’t got many friends here, I’m just trying to be friendly,’ He said sending her the cheeky grin she was starting to recognise.

What she was about to say got lost as she thought about his words. He was right she didn’t have many friends here and knocking back one willing one wasn’t going to get her any, either.

‘Well, thanks,’ she said, sighing.

‘No problem,’ Max said and with a wave of his hand he turned and walked away.

Addison walked to the bus by herself and thought about Max. How strange it was that the first person to talk to her properly was someone she found slightly irritating. Something in her told her not to trust him. Addison wasn’t normally one to judge but in this case she couldn’t help it. The way he dressed, his attitude when he was late for class... it all painted a bad picture of him to her. Her untrusting mind was asking her what he wanted, why had he gone out of his way to speak to her when no-one else had?

On the other hand though there was something about him that made her curious. Why was he in her biology class when it was obvious that he was a senior? What was his story?

---

On the Tuesday morning things started off on a bad note for Addison. First her alarm didn’t go off on time so she had to rush to get ready, she was sure she had set it correctly though... Then there wasn’t any milk left for her to have any breakfast, Lacey had been sat at the table with a heaped up bowl of cereal, smirking.

Addison had then missed the bus to school, again. So had ended up walking because Ben had already left for work. She got to school with her feet aching and feeling all hot and bothered. She didn’t have much time to stop at her locker before Home room.

When she entered Home room it was to find that register had already begun. She got a stark telling off by the teacher which made her feel dejected. Her cheeks went bright red as she saw the grins on the other students faces as she went to sit down.

Why is it, she thought, that people get off on other’s miss fortune? She’ll never understand what makes another human happy about someone else’s pain or embarrassment.

On her way to one of her lessons, later on that day, she tripped. It was right in the corridor outside her English classroom and by the last lesson of the day everybody had heard about it. As she walked along the corridor towards her locker to collect some books she had calls of ‘Send us a postcard, next time.’’ and ‘’Was your trip good?’’ thrown at her. She kept her head up though and looked straight ahead, not giving anyone the satisfaction of knowing how embarrassed and annoyed she was.

Addison collected the things she wanted from her locker and made her way out of the school and towards the bus stop. She had been kept behind on her way out of her last class, as the teacher wanted to talk to her about the homework she had handed in. Nothing was wrong with it, he just wanted to praise her for being able to adjust and hand in a good solid piece of work, those had been his words. Because she had been held back though that meant that she had to rush to get her bus.

As she got close enough to see, she was pleased to find that it hadn’t left yet. She rushed the last few steps towards the front doors just in time to hear a voice say,

‘We’re all here, you can go now.’

The doors of the bus swung shut and the driver pulled away just before Addison reached the curb, the bus driver not noticing her, but Lacey’s smiling face watching from a window as the bus got further and further away told Addison that her cousin had known she was rushing for the bus.

Addison felt like throwing her books down. This was the last thing she needed. Now she would have to walk home, again! In the heat. A heat that she couldn’t stand. She was use to the cold. The cold and rain. It hadn’t rained here since her first day.

She gave in and slammed her books down on the ground. Sitting down on the curb next to her books she didn’t feel any better for letting her temper take hold. She put her brown head in her hands and shook it, side to side. She’d start walking in a minute, she thought, she just needed some time.

The voice telling the bus driver to go had been Lacey’s voice! Lacey had known that Addison was getting the bus. She got it everyday, unlike Lacey who sometimes caught a lift with Claire. Why was her cousin continuing to be so cruel to her?

‘Missed your bus?’ A voice asked.

Addison groaned and didn’t bother to lift her head up, she knew it was Max Lane. ‘Go away!’

‘Now that’s not nice, especially when I was going to ask if you wanted to catch a ride...’

At his words she lifted her head quickly, hopefully, maybe she could be nice to him long enough not to find him too irritating on the way home if he gave her a lift. When she saw him though she shook her head, it didn’t matter, she thought. She wasn’t going anywhere with him on that thing!

Max was wrapped up in his stylist leather jacket, a black helmet on his head and he was sat astride a motorcycle. He arched a eyebrow suggestively.

‘No thanks,’ Addison said, her voice slightly muffled as she put her head in her arms again.

‘Aww, come on Addie! It might not be a long walk but it’s all up hill.’

‘Don’t call me Addie! ‘ she said, then frowned. Did he know where she lived? ‘How do you know it’s up hill?’ She asked surprised.

‘Because I know where you live. You’re living with Lacey Phillips and I know her address. I live in the same street. Across and a few doors down from Lacey, now you too I guess.’ he explained

‘Oh,’ Addison said. ‘She’s my cousin.’

‘So I heard, listen do you want a ride? I have a spare helmet,’ he gave her that cheeky grin and she felt the corners of her mouth turn up slightly.

‘No, thanks,’ she said again. ‘Not on that death trap!’

‘Hey, shush... This baby gets easily offended,’ he said stroking the bike lovingly. ‘I’m safe. I’m careful and I promise to get you home in one piece.’

Addison looked at him sat astride the black bike and thought how cute he looked. He really was fantastic looking. He had the bad boy image down to a T. His dark hair just falling into his brown eyes a little and he really suited wearing a leather jacket.

Addison thought about getting a lift with him but she was unsure of getting on the bike. Was it safe? It must be... She shook her head though, she wasn’t going to take the chance. She stood up and picked up her books.

‘I’d rather not, though thanks anyway,’ she said to Max. She didn’t bother to smile as she said this and with a small wave of the hand turned and started to walk home. A few minutes later she heard the throttle of the bike’s engine and the Max came shooting past her on the road, zooming down the street. Addison didn’t need to be a traffic police officer to know he was going too fast.

By the time she was half way home though, she was having regrets. Even though she had saw him speed off at a ridiculous speed, that didn’t make Addison not wish that she had said yes to his offer of a lift after all. Her feet where killing her and with every step she took in the hot heat of the sun, her temper worked it’s way up into a good mad.

It didn’t help that when she got home and walked into the kitchen to get a drink and kill her thirst, that the first person she saw was Lacey. That just made her vision go red. Addison slammed her books down on the counter top and took a glass out of the cupboard, walking over to the fridge she opened it and took the orange juice out. She poured her self a drink and drained the glass in one.

‘Thirsty?’ Lacey asked and Addison slowly turned round to look at her.

‘Well, wouldn’t you be if you had to walk home in this heat?’ she asked in return.

Lacey shook her head at Addison and in false sympathy said, ‘Addison, you really should make sure you get the bus on time.’

‘Cut it out, Lacey!’ Addison said her voice rising a little. ‘I heard you tell the driver to go!’

‘Well, I though you were already on the bus... It wasn’t my fault you wern’t,’ Lacey defended her self, flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder.

‘I don’t believe you! You saw me out the window! You’ve done everything you can to make my life hell at school. You’re a total bitch, do you know that?’ Addison said. She could feel the tears caused by temper prick at her eyes and she dug the nails of her fingers into the palm of her hands to stop them from falling, she didn’t want Lacey to see that she was that worked up.

‘Get over yourself, Addison. Not everything is about you!’ Lacey shouted back.

‘No. Then why did you spread those lies about me? Why make it so that nobody wants to talk to me? What have I done to make you be so mean to me?’

‘Nothing, just by being here and being you! You drive me mad by being a proper little miss goody two shoes. Mom was always going on about how well aunt Shelly said you did in school. How proud she was of you. Then you had to come and live here! And now my Mom can’t stop going on about you. How well you’re coping and adapting...’ Lacey cried at her.

‘You’re jealous!’ Addison said, finally realising what her cousin’s behaviour had been about. Addison was getting all the attention at the moment and Lacey was jealous. She always had been a spoilt child and now that she had to share her parents a little she didn’t like it.

‘No I’m not.’

‘Yes, you are. You’re jealous of the fact that I’m getting some attention and you want it all for yourself. You really are selfish, do you know that, Lacey?’

‘I am not selfish! Or jealous. I just want things to go back the way they were. I hate you being here!’

Addison felt tears pricking at her eyes again and this time they wern’t caused by temper getting the better of her. Now they where caused by sadness and a sense of loss.

‘And you think I don’t!’ she said quietly to Lacey, fighting to hold back the tears. ‘You think I like being here, knowing the reason why? Do you think that I don’t want things to go back the way they were. Oh, Lacey I would give anything to be at home in England right now. To be sat at the kitchen table doing my homework while Mum cooks tea and waiting for my father to come home from work. I’d give anything for them to be alive...’ she ended on a sob and before Lacey had the chance to say anything the tears started to fall and Addison ran off to the safety of her new room.

On her way out of the kitchen she ran past her aunt Rachel who had been standing outside the door. She sent Addison a worried, torn look and didn’t know what to do first. Confront Lacey of comfort Addison? She choose her own daughter first and walked into the kitchen saying,

‘I think you better tell me what has been going on? I only heard half of it.’

Lacey looked at her mother and shook her head, ‘Not now, Mom.’

‘Yes now!’ Rachel said, pointing to a seat at the kitchen table. ‘Is it true? Have you been spreading lies about Addison?’ Lacey sat down on the seat her mum had pointed to but she didn’t look at her, instead she looked at the empty table top.

‘Oh, they wern’t bad ones,’ Lacey said, rolling her blue eyes.

‘Oh, so that makes it alright then, does it? Lacey why?’

‘You heard why, didn’t you? According to miss goody goody, I’m jealous. Ha! As if I could be jealous of her!’

‘Sounds to me like Addison’s right, though,’ Rachel said. ‘Lacey, why did you do it? You know what she’s been through.’

‘Ugh! It’s all about her! What about me? I’m the one who had had to start sharing my home, my school and more then likely will end up sharing my friends. I don’t want her here!’

‘Lacey Jane Philips, Addison is family and we help and support family in this house. I know for a fact that if it had been me and your father killed, that Shelly and Peter would of took you in no questions asked. Be nice to her, kind, that’s all I’m asking...’

‘If she stays out of my way I’ll leave her alone!’ Lacey said, not looking at Rachel but looking at her hands folded on the table.

Rachel had the feeling that she was wasting her time on her daughter. She knew what Lacey was like. Years ago Ben and herself had decided not to have any more children so that they could give Lacey all that they had to give, she now though that they had made a mistake. Lacey was selfish and spoilt and at this moment in time Rachel was ashamed of her.

---

Thankyou for reading. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think :)