Chapter 53 - Chapter 52

# Chapter 52
BEAUTY

Darkness has settled on the parking area when I exit the doors to the music school where I take piano lessons.

I root through my bag for my car keys.

Ma will throw a fit if I return home late again. It doesn't matter that I'm a few weeks shy of my nineteenth birthday; my overprotective ma still treats me like a child.

After locating my keys, I cross the almost empty parking area. One of the lights is out, and I'm almost certain that wasn't the case when I arrived.

The car blips as I unlock it.

I open the door, toss my bag onto the passenger seat, and slide inside, thankful to be out of the cold.

It doesn't take long to realise that something is wrong. No matter how many times I turn the key, the car won't start. I try again, releasing a frustrated sound when the engine splutters and dies.

Slamming the steering wheel, I release a string of expletives before rubbing my face almost furiously. Yoh, Ma will kill me.

I search my backpack and frown, growing frenzied in my movements when I can't locate my phone. Where the fuck is it? I know I had it with me. Defeated, I toss the bag back down and throw open the door.

After a fairly mild day, the temperatures have dropped and the wet ground has iced over. I tighten my jacket around me to stop my teeth from chattering, but the thin material does little to ward off the cold.

I round the car and open the bonnet, my arms quaking from holding it up. I stare down at the engine, then curse under my breath. Where do I even start? I know nothing about cars.