Angie by Candy J Starr Read Free Book Online

chung ee !"
    The two of us squeezed together in that tiny bathroom felt way too tight. I didn't even know why I was there. I needed to escape. I ran out to grab my bag. Eric-Papa gave me a look of surprise as I walked out then he ran after me.
    "If you’ re leaving, let me give you a lift. You might not want to catch the train..."
    He had a very good point. Sheesh, Eric-Mama had been worried about me scaring the neighbourhood kids when I arrived. Imagine what they'd think if they saw me like that. Maybe I'd have to wear a hood over my head for the rest of my life. Wait, would it be permanent? Would I have scarring? I didn't have the greatest face in the world but it was my face and I kinda liked it how it was. Maybe the damage wasn't as bad as I first thought. Maybe it was just a bit of redness.
    Eric-Papa looked at me when we got in the car.
    "Actually, maybe I should take you to the hospital, just to be on the safe side.”
     
    -o-
     
    We waited in a horrible, cold waiting room. When we’d walked in, a kid sitting with his mother looked at me and started crying. Wow, that made me feel great.
    My face felt like a balloon, swelling up bigger and bigger until it stretched my skin out and I felt like it was going to burst.
    I wanted to scratch my face off. It itched like crazy. I sat on my hands to stop myself. If I started scratching, they'd probably put a cone on my head, like a dog. The burning had at least stopped.
    Eric-Papa waited with me , even though I told him it was okay to go home and I'd be fine on my own.
    "It's fine," he said. "I'd just be watching the TV anyway."
    I smiled at him. Then they called my name.
    So, after hours and hours of waiting at the hospital, I finally got to see a doctor.
    The doctor poked and prodded at my face.
    "What did you put on your face?"
    "How the hell do I know? I didn't ask and even if I did, it was in Korean. I can't read Korean."
    Eric-Papa said he'd find out and left the room to make the call.
    The doctor peered at my skin again, this time using a magnifying glass thing.
    "Is it going to cause permanent damage?"
    He didn't answer, just tutted. It was going to be permanent, I just knew it. I'd spend the rest of my life as a red puffer fish. That woman had disfigured me so that Eric would lose interest in me. It'd been her evil plan all along. I didn't get it. Eric loved his mother, so she had to be an okay person. And she'd wrapped Hannah and Jack up in her smothering love like they were family. This whole big happy family with me standing on the outside. It didn't seem fair or right. I'd done nothing wrong. It wasn’t as though I was Spud and just treated everyone like shit.
    Eric-Papa returned.
    "It's a snake venom mask. Here's the list of ingredients."
    He handed a piece of paper to the doctor.
    "Snake venom! What possessed you to put snake venom on your face?" The doctor shook his head.
    "It's not like I had a choice."
    The doctor read through the list looking all serious and worried.
    "It's probably just an allergic reaction to one of these ingredients. I don't think there is any actual snake venom in it. We can give you somet hing and it should clear up in three or four days."
    My heart flooded with happiness. I made a promise to my face to never treat it badly again. The doctor gave me a referral to a specialist for more tests and some cortisone cream.
    At least I'd be stuck editing together video for the next few days. It wasn't as if I'd need to see anyone and I could order in pizza. I had a perfect not-leaving-the-house plan in place.
    When I got home, it hit me. Th e thing with Eric, it’d never work out. I’d tried my hardest and it wasn’t enough. I don’t know if I had any more try in me. It’d taken her mere seconds to go from making an effort to hurling abuse at me. It just wouldn’t work.
    To make it worse, days of editing meant days of watching Eric on video. I worried the sheer force of feels would make me short-circuit before I could leave the