Teardrops on my guitar

          “Fatty Maddie, fatty Maddie…” The kids taunted from behind me. “Fatty m-”

          “Shut up!” I cried. They only looked at me and began laughing hysterically; one kid had his hands clutching his sides from laughing so much. I spun on my heel and walked up the street. I stuffed my hands into my too small black hoodie and took out my IPod. Sticking the long ear buds in my ears I blasted Face Down by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and tried to relax into the song. I pulled my black hood over my head, and looked down at the poorly paved streets and began my way home. A single tear betrayed my self-control as it slid down my acne filled cheek, followed by many others. The sky was gloomy, covered in thick gray clouds that made it look as if it were nighttime. The chilly air blew gusts of wind at me almost as if it wanted to take me down too. The stench of cigarettes and garbage drifted through the air almost suffocating me. When my apartment came into view I wiped my nose and eyes with the back of my sleeve, not wanting Karen to see me like this. But would she even care? I thought. Of course she would she’s my mom… well sometimes… I climbed the concrete steps and unlocked the battered wood door. I turned to the side slightly, barley fitting into the small doorway. The smell of alcohol greeted me, my eyes watered at the disgusting odor. There were piles of mail and newspaper stacked in one corner of the room, along with cardboard boxes for the move that never happened. They were too heavy to move anyway, since there were no men to help us lift them. Karen wasn’t home, thank god. I dropped my backpack onto the ground disturbing the dusty floor. I slowly walked to my room; there were mounds of clothes and papers everywhere. There was a mattress on the floor that was supposed to be my bed was strewn with dirty laundry and old candy wrappers. I sat on the floor and pulled my ancient laptop into my lap. It took awhile before it loaded so I used that time to clean up some of the clothes spread along the floor. Once it loaded I clicked on my best friends name. Her wonderful face showed on the blurry screen and a large smile spread across her face.

           "Hey Maddie," She smiled "How's America been without me?"

           "Ha...Mai, you’re hilarious." I laughed sarcastically. "It's been crappy." Mai winced and looked away.

           "Do they still call you that name?" She asked softly. My eyes stung at the thought of the horrid nickname and a small tear fell, I quickly wiped it away. The look on Mai's face told me that she understood my answer.

           "Maddie," She sighed. "What they say shouldn't be taken seriously. I bet the most of the so called 'skinny' girls look anorexic." I laughed slightly; She always had a way to make me feel better, but ever since she moved to England i have been all alone. I heard the front door slam shut and a shuffle of feet padding its way across our living room, there was a loud crash and a few curses followed afterwards. Karen is home, I thought bitterly.

           "So what's new with you Mai?" I asked, trying to be cheerful.

           "Stop talking. I'm trying to sleep. So shut up!" Karen yelled,I looked at Mai.

           "I'm guessing you have to go?" she asked.

           "Yeah I guess." I said looking down at my hands.

           "All right... be careful all right, ill see you this summer." she said sternly. I heard footsteps coming towards my door.

           "Maybe..." I said before I logged off. Karen came into the room with a wine bottle in her hands. She dropped the bottle and it shattered on the floor. Pieces flew everywhere. One large shard flew right by me landing next to me leg.

           "I thought I told you to keep it down.” she slurred. She then picked my computer off the ground, lifted it above her head and threw it onto the floor. She then brought her foot up and stepped on it until there was a large crack running down the middle of the screen. She just smirked at me. My only connecting to Mai... gone. I stood up tears streaming down my face. I clenched my hands into fists, feeling my nails dig in to my palms. I shook my head as if I didn't believe what was happening. Out of nowhere Karen's hand slapped me across the face. I fell onto the ground my hand covering the hand mark on my cheek my sudden burst of anger died out. She looked down and me and mumbled "pathetic" before she turned and left. I wiped my eyes with my hand and crawled over to my guitar case. I pulled it out of its soft case and pulled it gently into my lap. The strong metal strings vibrated under my fingers as I strummed. Every now and then I would tap on the smooth wooden base for a beat. No more Mai, no more friends, no more insane mom, no more family, all I had left was my guitar, it was my last string to sanity. I hummed softly letting tears drip down my face and fall gently onto the polished wood of the guitar. Then a string snapped and coiled together at the base. Slowly i brought my gaze down to the large shard of glass peeking from underneath my shoe. No more...