Distraction: The Distraction Trilogy #1 by A. E. Murphy Page A

eyes, letting the soft voice of Lana Del Ray soothes my soul.

Chapter Six
     
    Isaac
     
    She doesn’t open her eyes until we stop behind her car. When she blinks them open with a faraway look in her glassy eyes, I wonder if she was almost asleep. She looks drowsy. Maybe I should drive her home.
    “We’re here?” Her hands rub at her eyes before she yawns wide and silently, then ends it on a little shiver and shake of her body.
    “Yep.” I open the door and notice her tremble when the cold air blasts into the car. “Are you okay to drive home?”
    She nods, pulling her jacket tighter around herself before climbing from the car. I grab the tank of petrol from my boot and she follows me to her car. “I’ll be fine.”
    “Are you sure? I could drive you home?”
    “I’m not totally useless, Mr Price.” She tilts her head and smiles before reaching up to the black sky and stretching her body. “How much do I owe you for the petrol?”
    I don’t respond. I quickly fill the tank before opening the door for her and placing her keys in her hand. I forgot I even had them. “Drive safe.”
    She nods and slides into the seat, before looking up at my shadowed face. Her green eyes seem to glow in the dark as she speaks. “I owe you one.”
    “We’ll call it even, seeing as you saved me from the neighbour from hell.”
    “Whatever you say.” She flashes me a smile and then turns the key in the ignition. “Drive safe, Mr Price.” I go to close the door, but she stops me with her hand on the window. “Don’t forget to get those questions ready for me. I’ll have them back to you as soon as possible.”
    Sigh. More work. “Pick them up tomorrow morning.”
    “Brilliant. Bye, Mr Price. Say hi to your mum for me.”
    I nod and finally close the door, though she doesn’t drive away until I’m at mine and even beeps a quick goodbye as she passes.
    Home time at last. Bloody students and their bloody naivety. As if she didn’t know it was the petrol. She doesn’t seem stupid by any means of the word, she just seems absent. It’s almost as if she’s floating through life in her own mind. Perceptive she may be when she focuses, but not when she’s day dreaming or has little to focus on. The petrol gauge is something I class as being important to focus on, but for a seventeen year old girl with boy troubles, work and studies, along with following the latest trend, I suppose the petrol gauge isn’t at the forefront of her mind.
    I grab a bite to eat and do my food shopping, as I was planning to do before I found my student asleep on her bonnet with her hazard lights flashing. At least I’m not stuck in my own mind anymore. I’m grateful for that. I actually feel like going home and resting now. It doesn’t seem so boring and daunting any longer. Maybe I’ll write for a while. It has been some time since I put pen to paper and enjoyed the flow of words escaping my mind through the tip of my ballpoint.
    My phone alerts me to a text. It’s from my dad. He’s letting me know that mum is feeling a lot better and will be discharged in the morning if she has a good night tonight. Thank fuck for that. Hopefully now I shall sleep better.
     
     
    Eloise
     
    “Maybe if you were home a little more often, I wouldn’t feel so fucking lonely and I wouldn’t feel the need to spend my time away from home!” My mother screeches, her voice carrying all the way from her bedroom, which isn’t what I’d call a short distance away.
    “Your daughter sees less and less of you every single day!” My dad argues, his voice just as loud and just as angry.
    I sigh and place the last piece of toast into my mouth. I wait for it and I don’t have to wait long. Something shatters against the wall before my mum’s high pitched screech only gets higher. “What about you? She sees less and less of you too! Why is this all on me?”
    “I’m working. I’m not partying or getting my damn nails done!”
    This is tiring. I can only