"Venice! Venice!" MY mother bursts into the room and shouts. I was a light sleeper I could hear her shouting in her head before she actually did it. The hinges to my door must be crying cause what the hell. I sat up and I had balls of paper thrown at me.
"What is this mom?"
"You tell me. These are all over the study and your father is a neat freak. Why would he leave his office like this?" She said and I felt my eyes getting heavy with sleep again. She ranted on and on about how disorganised my life was that I was leaving papers lying around. If I could I would laugh at how serious she sounded. I don't enjoy seeing people mad, but I lost the ability to care what my parents did years ago.
"I'll clean up, mom. I'm sorry for the mess," I said and that was the ticket to shut the yap fest and leave my room in its original state of peace. I hadn't entered his office in years truthfully. He had forbid me from entering and I had obeyed. I got up and threw them in the trash to get ready for school thirty minutes earlier than usual because I had a whole scolding early in the morning.
I drove to school this time because there was no way I was staying in the house with those people, just to wait for my usual time to leave. I had a wonderful peaceful time driving and even had time to go to my favourite coffee shop. It was small business that started with a neighbour of ours. I support her small business every morning. She had amazing pastries too.
"Hey Venice, you stopped by extra early today," Danny the owner and neighbour said. I hugged her and we both moved to the counter.
"Yeah, I thought I'd test out what people make a fuss about being up early." I replied.
"And? How is that working out?"
I sighed and groaned.
"Never again. How you guys do it is beyond me Danniella" I checked my phone as I paid and whistled. "I have to rush, but thanks for another amazing coffee day."
I got to class pretty early to sort out my notebooks, and my classes cause apparently the schedule changed. Oh, more free lessons for me, yeah History was never going to cut it for me at any point. I felt a cold hand creep up my arm and I jumped.
"Felicity oh my God, you scared the shit out of me!" I exclaimed and we hugged. Felicity was the first friend I ever made in high school. We had been tight since then, through break ups, failing and passing classes, she joined the cheerleading BBL seeking snakes. If what I sound like seems like an exaggeration, most of them acted like they were in some kind of melodrama, it was both funny and cringe to watch.
"Are you about to get to class? You're in school early," she said and I either had eye bags to scare off people around me or I was just obviously early.
"My mother woke me up about trash in my dad's office and I haven't been there in years."
"That's seriously petty, she couldn't wait for you to come back from school to ask? You're a senior for christ's sake, you need the rest."
She always had a valid point which is why she was the only motivation I had to go through the day without crashing out completely. I lifted my head and saw Jace entering the class, he was huge. I guess that was a qualification for players his age. When he started to walk towards me, Felicity disappeared into some kind of mist in the wind. Weird.
"Should I be worried?" Jace asked.
"Why?"
"You came early, that should be a cry for help right?" I rolled my eyes and got on my desk to get like twenty minutes if shut eye before first period started.
*. *. *
Felicity, Jenna and I had study sessions at my place every Thursday and it went well until Jenna sighs and puts her head on the desk.
"Jenna almost there, out your back into it sweetheart," Felicity said and Jenna groaned.
"I would but I feel like my skull will split open any second I swear."
Felicity and I glanced at each other. She was suffering at the expense of her crush. He was a party animal and Jenna was the complete opposite. So this drinking she was doing just to please him was getting out of freaking hand.
"I'll use the bathroom really quick." And she stands up abruptly hitting the bin by the door where all the papers she had thrown away earlier. They spilled to the floor and Jenna picked up one and unfolded it.
"What's with the print paper?"
"No idea. Mom found a bunch of it laying around in dad's office and assumed it was me so I had to clean up."
"Alright, but who throws around a blank sheet of paper with a signed name below it?" She asked and my head snapped up. A signed what? I hadn't noticed or bothered to check.
I took the paper from her. It was a signed name and a signature but all it said was OQ and a signature....who the hell was OQ? No one in our family had that name. But it was blank.
"Who signs papers at the bottom of a blank page?"
"It's an artists thing Jenna. Signing off to claim your piece."
"Dude, it's blank. Unless bank papers became a new trend in the art industry"
Sadly, I forgot to mention that this wasn't the first blank paper I saw. Last night had been the start.