Innocent

Chapter 9

I'm not sure if a scene at the end of the chapter will offend anybody, but I promised nothing bad happens.

I woke in the morning to find James gone. I was hoping he would still be here by the time I wake up, but I knew he had to go. If my parents find out here was here they would call the police. I don’t want them to do that. Hopefully his father doesn’t do anything to him for sneaking out.

I got changed into my work uniform. I didn’t feel like heading to work after the emotional breakdown I had yesterday, but I knew I had to go. Gale wouldn’t allow me to have another day off unless my breakdown was severe and I couldn’t attend work at all.

Walking into the kitchen was awkward. My family was sitting at the table eating the breakfast. They didn’t even bother to greet me good morning when I walked in. Dad was visit drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper. Mom was eating cereal while Daniel was eating cereal also, as well as texting somebody. Most likely it was Clara.

I walked over to party and grabbed the box of chocolate pop tarts. I put them in the toaster. I waited for a few minutes and then sat down at the table beside my brother. I started eating but then suddenly loss my appetite.

Dad folded up his newspaper. “Daniel, Ellie, please don’t be late coming home today. I would like us all to go out for dinner as a family. And Ellie, this time I do not want you to be running off anywhere. Your mother is driving you to work today and will be picking you up.”

I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t going to be able to win anyway. If I do say something, it will all lead into one big giant argument that the neighbours would probably end up hearing it.

Dad stood up, leaving the newspaper on the table and place his empty cup of coffee in the sink. He kissed my mother goodbye and also my brother. He completely ignored me. It made my heart sank. I have never seen him so mad at me before.

Once Dad left the kitchen, Mum told me to finish up so we could get going. She stood up and put her bowl into the sink before leaving the kitchen.

“I know you had James in your room last night,” Daniel said.

“Can you just leave me alone, Daniel?” I stood up, not bothering to eat the rest of my own breakfast and placed it on the counter.

Daniel stood up and followed me. “No. I’m not going to leave you alone until you stop seeing him, Ellie.”

I walked away from him.

“Are you stupid, Ellie? The guy raped you and you still want to see him?”

I turned around to face him, frowning. I shoved my brother hard in the chest. “Shut up, you asshole. You don’t know the story of what really happened.”

“And what really happened, huh?”

“He didn’t do it. He was framed.”

Daniel laughed. “Framed? You really believe he was framed?”

“Yes, I do. I tried to tell the truth but I had post-traumatic stress. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t tell anyone what happened. I couldn’t speak up to say he was innocent. And when I could finally speak in court no one would believe me. They wanted to believe everything Mr Waters had to say. He then threatened me if I told the truth. James and I both knew we had no chance of winning.”

Daniel stared at me, a bit shock from my sudden outburst. “Did you completely loss your mind when you were going through that post-traumatic stress thing? It seems like you completely forgot what he has done to you.”

I tensed my jaw. Ever since the incident happened my brother has turned into a complete jerk. I understood if he wanted to protect me, but I didn’t need him or anyone to completely control my life.