The Haven High Book Series (Wattys2017)

Chapter 18

Megan woke from her crappy sleep feeling tired and cranky. Last night had been 'a real night at the picture show' as her mom used to say. And just the thought of her made her heart sink into her stomach; she still missed her every day.

Out of habit Megan picked up her picture that sat in a pewter frame on her nightstand. It had been silver once, but each year since her enlightenment she had grown a deeper aversion to the metal. Now her stepmom called it an allergy and she went with it.

Her finger lined the contours of her mother's beautiful face so much like her own. They looked like sisters now her mom had been so young when she passed . Megan even had her bright red hair, but their eyes were different her mother's were an emerald green; Megan had her father's crystal blues. The shape of the eyes and face and even the small upturns noses were identical though which made Megan wonder if that was why her father had disowned her, because of the resemblance.

But if only it were that simple, she knew he blamed her for her mother's death. A familiar feeling of guilt and shame washed over her, but she pushed it down to the deepest recesses of her soul with a jagged sigh.

As she shimmied out of her too big bed she thought of Cam and how much he'd love her bed. Then she blushed and thought how much she'd love to have him share it, before grabbing her nearby crutches and heading for the shower.

The shower was sweet bliss; she let the hot stream hit her directly on her back where the constant pain resided. She couldn't wait for her swim after school today. And just maybe she'd trick Cam into the water again. That brought a smile to her face just thinking about it.

Megan exited the wet shower careful to grab the built in railings. What she wouldn't give to have the freedom of movement that others took for granted. But she was lucky she guessed, she could remember the scene her father had thrown when the doctor's had told him she would never walk again. He had her on a plane to Switzerland that night and that was when the years of tremendously painful surgeries began, but he had been right. She did walk again with the aid of crutches; at least she had that much mobility.

Megan got dressed for the day. She was a casual clothes kind of gal. What she wouldn't give to wear high heels and miniskirts, but they really didn't work for her. Thankfully, she could wear: long flowing skirts, off the shoulder and scoop necked blouses that gave her the appearance of being a little curvier, and of course jeans of every description, as long they were feminine and fun, but they still needed to be functional. She wasn't into heavy makeup either. Some liner, mascara and lip gloss was usually all she wore unless it was a special occasion like at the Yule ball. Then she'd splurge and have someone in to do her makeup and hair for her.

She checked her face in the mirror. She had deep purple circles under her eyes so today she used a little cover-up she kept on hand for her acne days. She brushed and blow-dried her hair deciding to leave it down today. Cam seemed to like that the best. Whenever she did it was like he couldn't keep his hands off of her. She liked that. Yeah she'd leave it down, a small smile spread across her face.

Looking at her watch on her wrist she cursed realizing she was late, she'd have to hurry if she wanted to have time to pick up Cam. He always seemed to leave her waiting in his driveway for at least five or more minutes, so getting there early was usually her strategy for not being late, but now she was the culprit.

Meg raced past their chef in the kitchen yelling. "Thanks," as she snatched the bagel off her already prepared breakfast.

"Sorry," she yelled over her shoulder, "No time for breakfast."

"Will Miss be home for dinner?" he asked in a detached manner. Like he couldn't care less just didn't want to waste his time if she wasn't.

Ouch! She thought. But she said aloud instead, "There's no way to know. Please don't go to any trouble. Just something simple will do," as an afterthought she yelled, "Thank you Simmons."