#TRIGGER WARNING#(Only warning you get)
LAURALINE
"For as long as I can remember, music has always helped me cope with what I'm feeling. It helped me remember the time spent with my mother; we would randomly dance while she was trying to cook. It also helped keep me calm when I lost her after the crash. And it helps me now by dulling the pain after another beating by my father..."
Chapter One
7:15 p.m.
Music always made the pain easier to ignore.
It was the background to every memory that mattered, the ones I could bear to keep.
Dancing with Mum in the kitchen, laughing while flour covered the counter and her hair.
Crying in the back seat of a police cruiser after the crash, headphones in, volume up, pretending I couldn't hear them say the words.
And now?
It drowned out the bruises my father left behind.
I pulled on my black V-neck work shirt. Tight. Comfortable in the wrong ways. Then my frayed denim shorts, mascara, a bit of bronzer to fake a full night's sleep, and tied my hair up into a high ponytail. Grabbed my server book, phone, headphones.
Lil Bit by Nelly and Florida Georgia Line. A ritual. A vibe.
A lie.
Jogging past JB's house, I frowned.
He wasn't out front.
We always walked together.
~~~
"Evenin', Maurice!" I called as I walked into the bar, giving him a lazy salute.
He looked up from the register and smirked. "There she is. My favorite headache."
"No arguments tonight, understood?" he added, pointing a warning finger.
I held my hands up. "Scout's honor."
"JB's runnin' late. Said he'll be here soon. You know how it goes."
I nodded, though something twisted in my gut. Something that always seemed to twist when either of our dads were drinking.
"Alrighty then. Let's make this night our bitch."
~~~
The night started busy. Loud music, flashing lights, sloppy flirting. Nothing I couldn't handle.
Until I saw them.
Hunter and Dylan. Two washed-up high school has-beens who used to get their kicks tripping me in the halls and slamming me into lockers. They were football stars once. Until the pills and the booze caught up.
Now they drink here.
Tonight, they were on something else. Eyes twitchy. Energy wrong. Predatory.
"HEY SEXY!" Hunter bellowed. "TWO CROWNS AND A BUD FOR MY BOY!"
I didn't answer. Just grabbed the drinks and walked over.
But the second I set them down, Hunter grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into his lap.
His breath hit my neck like rot. "Damn, if you looked like this in school, I would've fucked you raw in the locker room."
I shoved against him. "Get off, Hunter. You're wasted."
He tightened his grip. "And you're a bitch who likes the attention. Don't dress like that and act innocent."
"Get your fucking hands off her, Hunter."
The voice behind me was cold. Sharp.
Johnboy.
I shoved away from Hunter, stumbling to JB. Threw my arms around him before I could even think.
