Non Verbal

19

I just shake my head in disbelief, at all of them.

"Lottie we want to make sure he doesn't do this again."

"I hit him first!" i say. 

"He hit you to the ground Lot-" My mum says and I lift my hands up to say I give up and I turn around to leave.

"Where are you going?" My mum calls after me.

"To get ready to go out with Scarlett," I mutter, walking back through the hall and straight into my room.

I can feel Emersyn following me, but I shut my bedroom door behind me anyway. She lets out a small laugh and opens it back up, letting herself in.

I fall down into my bed, ignoring her.

I can still hear my parents talking, like they are still fucking talking about it.

This is why they weren't told.

I just want them to help me. Like I want them to pay attention to me. I don't want them to punish Nathan.

I close my eyes and Emersyn walks around the bed, looking at it and then she sighs, slipping her jumper off and she collapses down into my bed next to me.

"What happened that night? What were you arguing about?" She says gently and I open my eyes and I glare. Like it was vicious. I don't even care. I glare at her and her blue eyes widen and then she laughs, like she smiles back at me.

"For not being genetically related you and August have the same 'Ima kick off face."

I close my eyes again.

"I hate them." I say.

She laughs again, it's soft. Sympathetic. "Been there Dotty. They just love you."

"Well I love me too." I mutter. "and they are annoying me." I open my eyes back up. "Which they wouldn't do if they loved me."

"Oh shush." She says, lifting the covers up and she closes her eyes, she looks tired.

"I'm sorry you were dragged from your work to deal with my drama Em."

"Oh shush." She says, smiling, opening her eyes to look at me. "It's all good, we go back in a couple of days."

I pout slightly.

"Ah so you do want me here." She says. "You almost fooled me."

I smile slightly at that.

I then get up out of my bed and head over to my dressing table to start doing my hair.

I was going to straighten it out of its usual waves, it makes me look older, more sophisticated. I start to brush out my hair and she sits up, watching me.

"What are you getting ready for?"

"Scarlett and I are going out." I say. "She got an offer from a uni and so we're celebrating."

"Very nice." She says but her tone is soft, concerned and I lift my eyes to meet hers through the mirror.

"Lottie, what happened with Nathan can be considered traumatic... you're the sanest out of all of us. We are just worried about you. Because you haven't had to process something like this before."

I slowly scrunch my nose up and focus on turning my straighteners on.

"What are you saying?"

"I am saying this would have hit me-"

I wince at her words.

She grimaces. "Sorry, bad word choice. I just mean that this is hurtful. You're allowed to be hurt-"