Well, the contests are done for now and I've been able to work on this!
I have good plans for it, so I hope you guys enjoy them as much as I do.
Here's chapter six.
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The English Test
Chapter 6: Apologies
by LadyRiona
The phone rang a few times, causing the caller to become nervous. It was ten o'clock. Was he asleep already? He'd been working on some research notes when she had left, and the television had been on. It was possible that he'd fallen asleep. If that was the case, he'd just have to wake up.
At last, the sound of the phone being picked up snatched the caller's attention away from hearing voices downstairs. There was a small silence before a sleepy, "Hello?" greeted her.
"Hey Dad," Victoria said, trying to sound casual. She was afraid, though, she sounded suspicious about something being wrong. "Were you sleeping?"
He father sighed quietly, like he was relaxing against the couch again. "Yeah. What is it, Victoria?"
"Nothing," she replied, almost too quickly. "I'm at Katie's right now."
That sudden declaration seemed to wake him up a little more. "Katie's? Why? Did something happen?" Her father sounded genuinely concerned now.
Victoria sighed. Too many lies had already been told that night. She wasn't going to continue the string. "Yes," she said softly. Before her father could say anything, she continued with, "but I'm all right."
"What happened, Victoria?" He sounded fully awake now.
She paused. She wanted to tell him, intended to tell him, but right now, over the phone, wouldn't be best. The possibility of him freaking out was too high. "I'll tell you," Victoria began, "but not now. It isn't something I can tell you over the phone." She smiled so he could hear it in her voice that, if things were not all right at that moment, they would be soon. "I'm going to stay at Katie's tonight. Come pick me up in the morning and I'll tell you in the car."
There was another pause, but from her father now. Then he sighed. "Okay," he consented, reluctant sounding. "I'm going to trust you, Victoria. Don't make it a bad choice for me."
Her smile became real now. "It's a good choice, I promise. Thank you, Dad."
"You're welcome," he said gruffly. "What time am I picking you up?"
Victoria thought a moment. "Around eleven, but I'll call you."
Brief goodbyes and they hung up. Victoria looked over at Katie and sighed, relieved. "We're good." Katie sighed, as well.
"So, tell me what happened?" she asked.
Victoria paused and thought. "Remember at the beginning of the year, I signed up to counsel other students?" Katie nodded. "Bryan is one for me to counsel." They both laughed for a few moments, but quickly sobered.
Katie had been the one to pick up Victoria and Bryan from the party and had seen his condition. Since her parents were used to drama similar to this because of her older siblings, they hadn’t had too much of a problem letting Bryan stay overnight. They had set him up on the couch with someone observing him at all times. Katie’s parents were both in the medical field; hence her want to be a pediatrician. Since her mother was an ER nurse, she knew what to do with patients who came in with drug overdoses. While Bryan hadn’t overdosed, he still needed to be observed.
Victoria had offered to take one of the shifts to watch him during the night, though it would be later when Katie’s parents felt the need to sleep. At the moment, Victoria was taking the time to recall the events of the past week and the party that had not already been relayed to her friend. Katie sat across from her on the single bed, nodding, staying silent until Victoria was finished. They were quiet for a few minutes after that, Victoria lost in thought and Katie probably thinking over the events.
Katie broke the silence first, speaking softly. “I don’t mean to offend you, Vic, but…you know it really wouldn’t kill you to speak up once in a while,” she mumbled, pulling at a string on her comforter. Even though she had acknowledged the fact Victoria
had spoken up for herself at the party, the older girl was referring to before that.
With a shrug, Victoria looked away. “I know,” she replied as quietly as her friend. “It’s just…difficult sometimes. A lot of the times,” she added when Katie looked at her pointedly. “You can’t—“
“Please don’t finish that sentence.” Katie held up her hand, shaking her head. “Because that’s one of the biggest lies society has to offer eighty-percent of the time. We
are able to help our actions, we
are usually to blame.” Victoria began to speak again, but Katie continued to shake her head. “I know the crap you’ve had to deal with in the past, Victoria, and how a lot of it has followed you to high school in different forms, but you shouldn’t let it dictate you. Sure, a lot of the people from grade school still live here and still happen to be our fellow classmates. A lot of us turned over new leaves when high school started, though. It was a chance to try out something new and different.”
Victoria, unable to listen much longer, frowned. “Yes, and look where that put more than half of us. Carmen and Rebeccah are long-gone in that ‘new and different’ thing they tried out, and Meg and Adrian are well on their way to opposite sides of the high school spectrum. It seems like you and I are the only people who
didn’t turn over new leaves, with the exception of maybe…ten other people.”
Katie sat back on the bed, pressing her weight onto her hands. “Well, maybe I didn’t because I was happy with who I was, and I still am.” She gave Victoria a pointed look like her statement would end the discussion.
With a shake of her head, Victoria finally scooted toward the edge of the bed. “Did you ever think, before starting this, that maybe I was happy with who I was, too?” She shrugged her shoulders a little and slid off the edge of the bed. “I’m going to go check on Bryan. After all, he is sort of my responsibility.”
Not giving Katie much of a chance to respond, Victoria left the bedroom quickly. She hated having arguments with anyone, especially those close to her. It made her feel sick whenever she couldn’t avoid them. So before going to check on Bryan like she said, Victoria made a stop in the kitchen for a glass of water. She slowly drank it, leaning on one of the counters in the kitchen, reflecting on the slight altercation with her friend.
Katie was right. Victoria didn’t speak up for herself enough. That was something she’d already come to terms with, however. She spoke up when it was absolutely necessary; was it so bad that she didn’t like confrontations? People made her positively nervous, especially when they were angry or frustrated for any reason. For her to have to respond in a similar way would probably send her into nervous shock. She was just one of those soft-spoken people that sat back in their corner, watching the world as it went by them.
Maybe it was a good idea for her to pursue being a medical examiner rather than a doctor. At least then the people she would deal with would be dead.
With yet another sigh, Victoria finished her water then placed the glass in the dishwasher. “This is ridiculous,” she grumbled. Hadn’t she just spoken her mind to Katie only minutes before? Maybe Victoria was turning over a new leaf, like her friend had said most people had done. Maybe Victoria was just a late turner.
She was going to go talk to Katie again. If there was one thing Victoria had to say bothered her the most, it was having things unsettled. She had to apologize to Katie for probably being a snot from how she’d spoken, and from leaving like she’d done. On her way to the stairs, though, she passed through the living room to check on Bryan. His dark hair was in his face. That was another thing, on quite a lesser note, that bothered Victoria: hair in the face.
Carefully, she pushed his hair out of his eyes and back onto his forehead. She felt so silly doing that, but she couldn’t help herself. Nor could she help herself when she ran her hand over his hair for a few more moments. It took her a moment to realize a smile had curled onto Bryan’s mouth. When she did notice it, though, it was too late; he was already beginning to laugh. Victoria frowned down at him as he chuckled quietly at her. She was about to walk off when he spoke.
“Thought I was asleep?” he mumbled, opening his eyes a little.
Once again, those green eyes kept her rooted to her spot. What was it with him being able to render her so speechless and motionless? Slowly, Victoria knelt down beside the couch. She rested her elbows on the edge of the cushions, letting her gaze rest on Bryan. One of her eyebrows twitched upward. “Obviously.” There was no use in trying to redeem herself or make up some excuse. It was too late. Besides, maybe she didn’t want to excuse herself…
Bryan’s lips curled upward a little more. “I’m pretty good at that, huh? Pretending to be asleep. It’s saved me from many things.”
Victoria really didn’t know if she should humor him and stay or leave him there to go back up to Katie. Where was Katie’s mom, anyway? She was supposed to be watching Bryan. So, with the reason in her head to stay until someone else came through, Victoria nodded at him a little. “Yeah, you are,” she agreed honestly. He really had fooled her. “How are you feeling?” Her hand itched to touch his hair again. She lifted her arm a little but decided against giving into desire and only rested her chin in her palm.
Bryan shrugged a little. “Definitely felt better.” He squeezed his eyes shut again like it hurt to keep them open, sighing lightly.
With a sympathetic smile, Victoria gave in a little and took his hand closest to her, if only to comfort him somehow. His fingers tightened around hers a little for a brief few moments. “I can imagine so,” she told him. She wanted to ask him questions, wanted to be nosy and poke into his life. She was curious if he often partied like this, but she didn’t feel right as she formed the question on her lips, so let it die away.
The two held a small silence for a few moments before Bryan spoke again. “So…you and Katie had a bit of a tiff upstairs?” he asked.
Surprised, Victoria let go of his hand so she could straighten her shirt a little. “What makes you ask?” She was trying to be evasive. It was only after that thought processed that she realized that she was his student counselor. If she wanted him to open up to her, she had to be open with him.
“The vent in the ceiling carried down part of the conversation,” Bryan explained. He pointed up at the ceiling toward said vent.
“Oh.” What else was there for her to say? It wasn’t like she could deny it. Nor was she too keen on elaborating, as he’d heard bits of it. So she shrugged nonchalantly as though shrugging off the care for it. “I was on my way to apologize to her,” Victoria mumbled.
Bryan seemed intrigued. He shifted a little on the couch so he was almost on his side. His face contorted momentarily in discomfort. Victoria could only guess his stomach was protesting the movement from the way his hands covered his abdomen.
“Why were you going to apologize?” he asked her when he recovered. “I mean, she did have a point; you really should speak up for yourself more. But you did. You told her what you thought about that then left. Why should you apologize for it?” His green eyes peered at her from beneath long, dark eyelashes. Victoria looked away so she could think.
After a few moments, she shrugged again. “I don’t know. Maybe because I was mean about how I said some things? Because it’s the right thing?” she suggested.
That seemed to amuse Bryan. He chuckled at her. “The right thing. Since when do people do that nowadays?” he asked cynically.
Victoria frowned at him. “Since a lot of times. The world really isn’t as bleak and dismal as you think, Bryan. Sure, it’s not the brightest crayon in the color box, but it isn’t totally black. More like—”
“Murky-brown? Dark gray? Midnight blue?” he suggested in an almost mocking tone.
“No.” Victoria wrinkled her brow a little. Unable to help herself any more, she placed her hand on Bryan’s forehead and brushed his hair away from his face. “It’s more like a medium, foresty green. You know, the kind that you’d color trees or grass. Not really bright, but not totally dark.” As she spoke, Victoria’s expression softened considerably. “Some people are just in the darker, waxy parts and get stuck sometimes. There’s always someone to smooth it out, though.”
Bryan seemed to chew over what she’d just told him. He wore a thoughtful look for a few minutes, letting the only noise be the occasional loud footstep from upstairs and the ticking of the clock in the kitchen. Since it was late, no one was really talking that much, leaving the two teenagers close to silence. When he finally spoke, though, it was with a grin.
“So you’re going to smooth me out, then?” he asked, his grin changing to a smirk.
For some reason, Victoria couldn’t help but blush at him. The way he spoke and looked at her was more than enough for her at that moment. To recover, though, she continued to smooth his hair back from his face gently. “Yes, I am. I’ll do my best.”