Alora had another restless night, and this time it wasn't because of her troubles falling asleep; she was also wide awake because she had been listening in to her parents talking about her. It appeared as if her parents wanted her to hear with their loud voices echoing throughout the house, making it possible for Alora and anyone inside to overhear and eavesdrop to what they were saying. "Another phone call from the principal, I've just about had it." She heard her father say aloud. Both his words and his tone of voice reflected on the emotions he was feeling deep down.
Her mother let out a muffled sound before speaking. "Why are you acting shocked, Russell? What more could you expect from someone like Alora?" Her mother responded with a scoff. "That girl can't seem to do anything right. She skips the majority of the days and the ones that she does show up to she doesn't pay any attention." She continued with her rambling. "She was born to fail. Always has been, and always will be."
Alora wanted to say that she was shocked to hear her parents speaking so openly bad about her, but the truth is that she wasn't at all suprised - she was used to hearing them make fun of and speak poorly of her. She had eventually developed a numbness to their words, no longer staying up late and crying herself to sleep, and stopped wallowing in her sadness over the fact that her parents would never like her the way they do for her older brother. She was practically doomed the minute she was born due to her older brother, he was perfect at everything and anything he did, and their love for him only grew when he owned a shop that sold expensive jewelry. He brought in the money their parents alway wanted but were too lazy to work for.
Her father began to ramble, playing the victim as much as possible, "I just- What did we do wrong? How did Raymond turn out to be the perfect Angel but Alora just spiraled. There was no way of controlling her ever. I feel like I did something wrong to allow her behavior to get this extreme. Maybe I should have been more strict on her-"
"No, honey. This is not our fault whatsoever. We did nothing wrong. Alora's behavior came from her own problems, and had nothing to do with the way we raised her," Her mother comforted, making Alora roll her eyes.
The phone started ringing and Alora already knew who it was going to be, no one else liked her parents enough to want to be in contact with them. "Speaking of which, It's Raymond!" Her mother exclaimed. "Hey, Honey!" She answered in a cheerful tone.
Alora's eyes clenched shut as she heard the sound of her brothers voice echo through the speaker. She'd already had enough of her parents voices and now she also had to deal with her brother as well.
After five minutes of restlessly tossing and turning, Alora got up and out of her bed, threw on a sweater and climbed out her window. She used the conveniently placed ladder to help her get down onto the ground from the second floor before proceeding down the footpath. She kicked at the stones on the ground, imaging each one to be someone she hated.
She whispered out curse words as she recited what her parents were saying. "What can you expect from someone like Alora? Blah, Blah, Blah. What can you expect from being raised by parents like them." She scoffed angrily. "I may not be the next Raymond, but I certainly can be the best Raymond hater." She kicked a stone extra hard to emphasis her annoyance towards her parents behaviors.
Growing up, it didn't take Alora long to figure out that the only way to get her parents to notice her was through doing everything wrong, and even if the attention she was getting wasn't the right kind, she would still do it to make sure her parents continued to acknowledge that she existed. She would then be content knowing that her parents, somewhat cared about her existence, even if it's for all the wrong reasons, at least she knew they didn't forget about her.
The neighbourhood she lived in was quiet, allowing for Alora to enjoy her walk in peace, at least that's how it usually went. As Alora was approaching a house that was considerably run down compared to the others along the street, she could hear yelling coming from inside. The voices were muffled, but loud enough for her to distinguish three different voices.
As she was passing, the front door was yanked open and a boy was pushed out. "You can stay out for tonight, that will teach you a lesson!" The door was then slammed shut following the boy's exit and then locked afterwards, leaving him to be stranded outside.
Alora paused as she noticed the boy cowering, "poor kid." The boy had his head in his arms as he crawled into a ball on the ground. Her heart hurt for the boy that was being mistreated, but she didn't know what to do.
She let out a deep sigh before calling out. "You alright?" The boy looked up at Alora, his eyes widening as he recognised the girl in the year above him.
"Uh...yea- I'm all good." He pulled off his best smile before looking away in shame. He was on the verge of tears, but he was too afraid to let her see them.
Alora rolled her eyes a small smile on her face. "Sure you are." She replied sarcastically.
"So what if I'm not?" He snarked. He looked confused as Alora gestured for him to come over. "What?"
"You gonna sit out here all night? Or are you gonna come with me?" He thought about what Alora was suggesting, his parents wouldn't know, nor care if he did leave the property, but the fear that something might happen to him if he followed her made him wary. "I'm not gonna sit around and wait for you to move, so get up or stay down, I don't care." Alora began to walk away, but slowed as she heard footsteps approaching.
She lightly chuckled as she noticed the boy catching up with her. The two kept quiet as they walked side by side. "So, what are you doing out here?" He spoke up as he could no longer deal with the awkward silence that followed them.
Alora pondered for a second about being honest before deciding not to, "oh, you know? Getting a head start to school," She shrugged her shoulders and answered sarcastically.
"Because you being in the principals office everyday shows how much you enjoy school." He retaliated. Alora stopped and stared strangely at the unknown boy that had walked ahead, only stopping when he noticed she was no longer walking beside him
"You're in my class?" She asked with a frown, not recognizing the random boy she met in the middle of the night.
The boy began to stutter as he thought for an answer. "I- uh. No?" He felt his face heat up as he looked everywhere but at Alora, leaving him thankful that it was dark out.
"No?" She teasingly smiled. "You don't sound too confident. How do you know who I am if we're not in the same class?" Before Alora could get a response to her question, the boy quickly darted back in the direction he had originally came from, leaving Alora to be alone once more. "Well, bye I guess." She mumbled. "People are strange." Alora concluded.
Her walk around the neighborhood ended shortly afterwards when the stars were getting covered by clouds and the wind began to pick up. It was only as Alora quietly snuck back through her bedroom window that the rain began to fall and a storm started to break out.
She could only hope that the boy from before found a place to stay and that he wasn't left out in the cold.
YOU ARE READING
Love Through Trouble✔️
Romance"How was that for a kiss?" She asked while biting her lips and admiring him. "Yeah." He slurred. "I mean good. It was great." His hands were placed on either side of Alora to keep himself steady so he wouldn't fall over and embarrass himself. "Can...
