Making Circles by Vanessa Gilbert (summer beach reads .txt) 📕

alone now…completely and utterly alone. I closed my eyes and embraced the loneliness and let the dark clouds of sleep fell in.

“Arien, sweetie wake up,” I heard a deep voice say.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw my father’s face. “Dad, what are you doing here,” I asked drowsily.
“I’m here to take you home,” dad responded.

Chapter Six: No Pain No Gain

After dad took my home he made an appointment with my doctor and then took me in to see if the nurses were right…to see if I did re-fracture my ankle. I didn’t, thank god, but I did cause a mild sprain which requires me to have someone help me get around and carry my stuff it also caused me to have my ankle in a soft brace that’ll keep it in place and make sure that I don’t hurt it any more than I already have. I carefully put on my black and white high tops and then straightened out my clothes. My mom went shopping and bought me new black tight skinny jeans, a white thigh length, baggy, spaghetti strap shirt, and a bunch of other stuff. I straightened out the white thigh length, baggy, spaghetti strap shirt, the black tight skinny jeans, and then the necklace Carter has the other half off.
After I went home Carter visited me after school and gave me the necklace back. I stared down at it and sighed. Why did I have to get back together with him? I wobbled my way down the stairs and then wobbled my way over to the door and called out to my mom and dad, who were sitting at the table eating breakfast, “Bye love you guys!”
“Love you to,” they called back.
I grabbed my bag, my keys, and then walked out of the door and towards the car that now is officially mine, my green Toyota. Yes it’s finally mine! I walked over to the car and began to make my way over to the school.

After the 15 minute drive I finally made it to the school and slowly made my way towards the school buildings. The people starring at me still starred…but at least this time it’s a sympathetic stare. I wobbled carefully and slowly not wanting to push my injury but at the same time wanting to get in fast before someone giving me the sympathetic stare realized who they were staring at. I made it to the door when I felt large gentle hands holding my hips and pulling me close to a body. I froze in surprise and stayed like waiting for them to announce who they were. “Hey babe,” I heard Carter’s voice say.
I sighed and relaxed and said, “Jesus Carter you scared me.”
I felt him chuckle and smiled to myself, he always got a kick out of scaring me. Carte began to pull me over away from the entrance of the school and almost completely out of view of any one and said, “Why didn’t you let me drive you to school?’
I sighed and said, “Because I can drive to school and I just got the car I’ve always wanted.”
Carter shook his head and said, “You and your cars.”
I sighed; yep it’s always me and my cars. I’m not obsessed with cars like Carter sometimes gets or how most of my guy friends get but if I see a car I think is cool and gets good mileage I’ll get a little excited and get a little obsessed but that’s it. I don’t breath, eat, or speak cars. Terri and Jacie were obsessed with cars…that’s what lead to…their demise. I closed my eyes and fought to keep from crying…fought to keep from drowning under the pain…under the water.
“Babe, why are you crying,” Carter’s voice asked out in the darkness.
I opened my eyes, brought my hand up, and felt a wet spot on my check. “Um, just thinking about Terri and Jacie,” I responded.
“Oh, are people still bothering you about them,” Carter asked.
“No Carter well yes but that’s not what I meant, “I said as I turned and made my way into the school.
“Well would you please explain?”
“Carter, why does it matter? I’m not hurting myself, I’m not depressed, I just cry okay. You would to if two of your best friends died because of you.”
“The accident wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes Carter it is, the car accident was my fault. Who was driving? Me, I was driving.”
I sighed and made my way to my locker ignoring the fact that Carter was hot on my tracks and kept saying the accident wasn’t my fault….it was.

“Arien, hurry up I don’t wanna be late,” Terri called.
Terry, Jacie, and I were all hanging out in Terry’s room and suddenly Jacie got a brilliant idea, she said we should go out to karaoke night with a bunch of our friends from high school and just party. Terri had her perfect milk chocolate hair straightened out, her brilliant green eyes covered in black mascara, black eye liner, and a light forest green eye shadow with a light lime green out lining it, and her perfect dark tan body covered in a strapless, thigh length, green dress with matching green five inch green high heels that wrap around and buckle around her ankles.
Jacie had her bleach blonde hair curled and pumped up, her pale blue eyes covered in black mascara, black eyeliner, light blue eye shadow with white out lining it, and her ordinary pale body covered in a spaghetti strap black, thigh length, dress that is a bit puffy at the bottom and six inch black high heels that are pointed at the toes and have straps around her heels. “Yea hurry Arien or we won’t get to sing when everyone else is there,” Jacie said.
Jacie and Terri were in Terri’s room, Terri sitting on her bed and Jacie pacing in front of the bed, both waiting for me, in the closet, to hurry up with dressing. “Are you trying to hurry me up, Jacie, or slow me down,” I asked sarcastically.
I heard both of them laughing as I completed my outfit with the last finishing touch…the shoes. I walked out and watched as their eyes grew big and as their mouths dropped wide open. “How do I look,” I asked.
They both smiles, their mouths still wide open, and after a while they both said, “You look amazing!”
I smiled then stepped over to Terry’s standing mirror in a corner of her room and checked myself out. I do look good, I thought. My faded red, shoulder length, layered hair was strait and teased a bit, my pale blue eyes were covered in black mascara, black eyeliner, dark red eye shadow with white and black out lining it, and my pale, chubby body covered in a strapless, white dress that was tight from my chest down to my hips and from my hips down to my thighs it goes out in puff and I also have on a pair of black and white flats. I smiled at my reflection then at my friends and said, “I’m ready.”
They smiled both smiled and began to race down the stairs with me fallowing close behind. Terri grabbed her keys that sat beside the table that stood beside the door and then raced out towards her car. Jacie and I fallowed and as soon as we got to her car Terri threw the keys at me and said, “You’re gonna drive.”
I looked at the keys and then at Terri and asked, “Are you sure?”
Terri nodded then walked to the back driver side door and got in while Jacie got in the passenger side of the car. I stared down at the keys then at my friends. This isn’t a good idea, I thought. I sighed and shook my head then went to the driver’s side and got in. Okay I can do this…I mean the karaoke place isn’t too far away. I put the key into the ignition, turned it slightly, and listened as the car roared to life. Okay good so far. I put the car into reverse then slowly backed out of the drive way. I shifted the car into first and eased my way out of the property and made my way down their main street and towards the direction of the karaoke place.
Jacie turned up the radio and began to sing with the song playing. “It’s been said and done. Every beautiful thought’s been already sung and I guess right now here’s another one. So your melody will play on and on, with best of them. You are beautiful, like a dream come alive, incredible, a centerfold miracle, lyrical you’ve save my life again. And I want you to know baby,” Jacie and Terri sang.
I laughed then joined in singing loud and proud. “I-I love you like a love song baby, I-I love you like a love song baby, I-I love you like a love song baby and I,” that’s as far as our singing group got before…we were hit.

“Arien, baby, come back to earth,” Carter’s voice called out in the haze.
I blinked my eyes and then starred at Carter in surprise. “W-what was I about to do,” I asked.
Carter’s eyes looked down at my grey ordinary locker and he said, “You were gonna get your binders, I think.”
I grabbed my forehead and shook my head. I haven’t thought about that night…since forever…and now I remember why. I slowly bent down, opened my locker then pulled out the binders that I’d need. Okay, just got to put a smile on my face and push past the memories. I quickly stuffed the binders into my backpack and then stood and threw my backpack on. I cringed in pain, my shoulders and neck are still sore from the accident. I sighed and kicked my locker shut, then bent down and locked the lock again.
I felt two huge hands on my hips and as soon as I felt that I said, “Carter if that’s you drop the hands.”
I heard a chuckle and a, “Oh come on now, I just wanna show that you’re my girl.”
I stood up and turned to face Carter as I said, “So that calls for you to almost rape me in front of the school.”
Carter smiled and pulled me closer to him and said, “If that’s what it takes.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes at him as he leaned in and gently pecked my lips with his. “Come on, you can’t deny that I’m cute,” Carter said.
I rolled my eyes again and sighed, no I can’t. I made my way over to my class Carter still fallowing right behind me and Carter now going on about how I’m his girl and he’ll protect me and blah, blah, blah. God, I wish he could just shut up about me being his girl…I mean I’m not property. I walked past groups of people shuffling along trying my hardest not to fall from the extra weight. “Arien, do you need help,” I heard a familiar cute voice ask.
I looked and walked towards us was the marvelous Kyle. “Hi Kyle, and yes could you please help me,”