Addison's Hero

By the weekend Addison realised that her first two weeks in America and living with her aunt had gone so fast. School had been hell and thinking back she wondered if she should of took up her aunt’s offer of holding back a bit before starting a new school. It was obvious to Addison now, that school wasn’t going to help her get by, it was just going to add to the black cloud hanging above her head.

She wondered if she could get her aunt and uncle to agree to sending her to a different school. It was a possibility and she was sure that Lacey would be thrilled with the idea. A new, different school would give her a clean slate and she might be able to make friends there, without Lacey’s interference.

Since she and Lacey had had words they had avoided each other a all cost and Rachel and Ben had been helping. Rachel had been keeping Addison accompanied through out the evenings so that she and Lacey were never in the same room as each other. Addison had also overheard Ben and Rachel talking one night. Rachel had told Ben how she had had high hopes that Lacey and Addison would of gotten along and become close, like sisters. Addison had had to cover her mouth so that neither Ben or Rachel could hear the sarcastic laugh that had escaped her at this. Imagine her and Lacey close!

Addison was now lying in a warm bath, soaking in the scented water. She rested her head back and closed her eyes. Pictures of her mum and dad flickered in and out of her head. Days spent together laughing and having fun. The memories flooded her and she gave into the silent tears and let them fall into the cooling water she was lying in. Every time she cried at the loss she promised herself it would be the last. But every now and again depression would overwhelm her and the tears couldn’t stop themselves.

She took a deep breath and thought about what she needed most at the moment, was a strong, supportive cuddle from her dad. Knowing she would never feel his strong arms hold her in comfort again made the tears fall faster. Her father gave the best cuddles.

Her father had given the best hugs and her mother had given the best advice.

Addison thought about what advice her mother would give her now. Her mother would tell Addison that she and her father loved her and were proud of her. She would also tell Addison that she needed to pull herself together and get on with her life. That missing them was ok but that she had a life to live.

Addison smiled through her tears. Her mother may of given the best advice, but that didn’t mean that Addison had always followed it.

She climbed out of the now cold bath and dried herself. She picked up her underwear and put it on. She was just about to put on her clothes when the bathroom door, which she had forgotten to lock, opened. Standing in the door way was Lacey, holding her mobile phone. She quickly lifted it up and a shocked Addison heard the click of a picture being taken.

‘Lacey!’

‘Excellent!’ Lacey said and rushed into her room, laughing.

Addison followed and rushed into Lacey’s sickly girly room.

‘Lacey! What have you just done?’

‘Planning on a little pay back!’ Lacey said looking at her phone.

‘Pay back for what? Delete it, Lacey!’ Addison demanded.

‘No! Pay back for my folks giving me a hard time over being mean to you!’

‘Lacey! This isn’t funny. Stop it. Delete the photo!’

Lacey sent Addison a smug smile and Addison felt panic rise up in her chest.

‘Oh, no! This is too good!’

Addison had to find a way to make Lacey delete the picture, if she didn’t goodness knows what she would do with it! This was bad! Addison thought. She looked around the room and her eyes fell on Lacey’s make up bag. She rushed to pick it up and ran out of the room, still in just her undies. She ran into the bathroom and stood holding the make up bag up over the toilet and waited for Lacey to follow her.

‘What are you doing?’ Lacey asked as she reached the bathroom.

‘Pay back!’ Addison said giving Lacey a cold smile. ‘Delete that photo or I swear this bag falls.’

‘Addison! There’s got to be hundreds of dollars worth of make up in that bag!’ Lacey gasped, her eyes darting from the bag to Addison’s face. Her bright blue eyes wide in her pale face.

‘Shame for it to get flushed down the loo then, isn’t it?’ Addison replied. ‘Delete the photo and I’ll put the bag down.’

‘Addison-’

‘My hand is getting kind of sweaty...’ Addison said and lowered the bag a little, holding a corner of it in the tips of her fingers. Lacey took a step closer.

Addison knew how much Lacey relied on her make up. She also knew how much she spent each month on it, Rachel having complained the cost to her one day.

‘Ok, ok. I’ll delete it!’ Lacey said and she looked closely at the phone in her hand. ‘There!’ she said.

‘It’s deleted? Promise?’ Addison asked.

‘Look,’ Lacey said and turned the phone so Addison could see the little deleted icon.

‘Good.’ Addison said and passed Lacey her make up bag back.

‘Thanks,’ Lacey said and taking the bag she walked back to her room. Over her shoulder she sent Addison a evil look as she clutched the bag to her chest.

Addison couldn’t help but give a mocking smile at her cousin’s sentiments over make up. She couldn’t help but think that Lacey didn’t have a clue about the important things in life, she was so superficial.

She finished getting dressed and then went into her room. She lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Reaching over she opened the draw on her bedside table and reaching inside she took out the photo of her parents. Laying back on the bed she stared now, at the picture. Her mother and father had looked so happy. So full of life. This photo had been took only a few weeks before they had been took from Addison. Who would of guess that when they had smiled into the camera that they wouldn’t be alive to see the picture framed?

Addison stared at her mother’s beautiful face, similar to her own. Life wasn’t fair and it wasn’t easy. Addison had learnt that the hard way and she thought it wasn’t going to get any easier. She felt so may emotions over her parents death, Sadness, hurt and anger being amongst them. It was too much for her young heart to cope with sometimes. So many questions swirled around her head left unanswered. Why her parents? Why did her grandfather send her here? Why now, when being a teenager meant needing the support of loving parents the most?

Addison reached back over to the night table and put the photo, in it’s silver frame, back into the drawer. She lay back on the bed once again and tried to work out answers to her questions.

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Before Addison knew it she was once again getting ready for school. She didn’t bother to spend ages picking out a outfit, nobody at school was interested in what she was wearing anyway. She picked jeans and a simple t-shirt. She put her hair up in a high pony and dusted her face with a little blusher so she wouldn’t look so pale.

The whole episodes with the school bus played on Addison’s mind so she decided from now on that she would walk to school. It would be regular exercise for her, she told herself. So leaving earlier then normal she was surprised to find that Lacey had already left.

Every step she took towards school the worst she felt about going. Back in England she had use to enjoy school, having a good circle of friends and being good at her studies. Granted she was doing fine with her studies here, even if some of the things she learnt, she hadn’t learnt in England. Here she was taught all about American history, in England it had been British and European history. She was getting by though.

When she arrived at school and she saw the giant, complicated building looming in front of her and the students rushing by too busy to notice her, she thought again about speaking to her aunt about enroling in a different school. It made sense and she was sure that if she produced her argument soundly that her aunt would agree.

She walked into the main building and headed for her locker. Students were milling around in little clusters and there was a small group of girls stood by her locker. One of them was the girl who Addison had tried to befriend in her first week. The one who’s locker was next to hers. Addison had learnt that her name was Nat.

As Addison got closer she saw that the girls were stood directly in front of her locker and were looking at something taped to it. She rushed over, her heart beating madly in her chest. Dread filled her body and she didn’t need to look to know what it was.

She reached through the crowed and pulled down the paper with the picture of her in nothing but her pink bra and panties on it. Lacey! she thought to herself as she stuffed the offensive piece of paper in her locker and tried to ignore the laughter around her.

Addison turned around to walk away, wanting somewhere to hide and she noticed that the girl called Nat was looking at her closely. Something similar to concern on her freckled face.

A girl with shiny black hair laughed and said mockingly to Addison, ‘You really should learn to lock doors, you know?’

Addison ignored her and rushed past. She was half way down the corridor when she noticed that flyers where pinned up along the walls, all baring the embarrassing photo of herself.

Her breath caught in her chest and tears pricked at her eyes as she looked on in horror as girls she recognised as friends of Lacey’s handed out the flyers. Everywhere she looked kid’s were looking at the photo and laughing. They saw her walking past and pointed her out to each other.

Addison felt her cheeks burn with colour and she wanted a big hole to open up and swallow her whole. She felt faint through lack of being able to breathe properly and before she knew it her feet were taking her out of the building at a run. She rushed past laughing students and fought back tears. When she had to stop running so she could catch her breath she found it hard to do so. She took gasping big breaths and it was a while before she managed to control her breathing enough to feel better.

She looked around her and saw that she was at the back of the school, near the ally where she had first met Max. She walked the little way that would take her into the ally and she saw that he was sat on the ripped armchair.

‘Hey!’ he said when he saw her. ‘I wondered when I would have a visit from you.’ He sent her a wide grin.

Addison just looked at his smiling face, not trusting her voice to speak. When he saw that she wasn’t going to reply he looked at her more closely.

‘Are you ok? You don’t look too good!’ he said raising from his seat.

Addison took a deep breath and shook her head.

‘Addie? What’s the matter?’ he asked. He walked over to her and when he was about a foot a way his hand reached out to touch her arm. She froze upon contact with him and he seemed to notice as his frown deepened. ‘Addie?’ he asked again.

Addison shook her head again and moved away from him. She didn’t want to add to her embarrassment by telling him. If he didn’t know about the picture, he soon would.

She went to sit on the ripped armchair and found to her surprise that it was quite comfy. She looked around and noticed that this part of the ally had some kind of hard plastic covering over the top of it, similar to what was used to make the roof of the bike shed.

‘This is a kind of cool place to pass the time,’ she said to Max.

Max followed her gaze and smiled at her again. Addison noticed that he did that a lot, smiled.

‘It works for me,’ he said. ‘Passes the time if you want to skip class. The teachers don’t really know about it and Hobs, the janitor, just ignores anyone here,’ he explained

Addison nodded her head and heard the bell, in the distance, ring.

‘You’re going to miss class,’ Max told her.

Addison looked into his deep brown eyes. ‘So are you!’ she said in return.

‘Yeah, but I’m not a study buff, like you.’

‘How do you know I am?’ she asked.

‘Because you’ve got that look to you. You look like a serious student. Ha,’ he said and gave a bark of laughter. ‘You look serious full stop!’

‘Thanks!’

‘Well, you do. Whereas I on the other hand look nothing like what I am.’

‘Oh, so you’re not the cool rebel then?’ She asked, a very small mocking smile on the corners of her mouth.

‘Ok, I do look like what I am. But I’m also bad... and wild!’ He sent her a devilish grin as if to prove his point, wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively. Addison couldn’t help but laugh at the silliness of his expression.

‘Hey! That’s nice, ‘ he said.

Addison frowned. ‘What’s nice?’ she asked.

‘The sound of your laughter,’ he said. ‘You should do it more often.’

‘I haven’t had much to laugh at,’ she told him, her voice going quiet.

‘Oh?’ he said questioningly.

Addison looked at him and realised how easy it would be to confide in him. She opened her mouth then closed it again. She didn’t want to talk about herself and now wasn’t the time. She stood up and began walking out of the ally.

‘I’ve got to go!’ she told him, as she walked past. ‘You’re right I’m going to miss class, and I’d hate that.’ She left him staring after her.

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