After I cleaned myself up in the bathroom I walked into the kitchen and was greeted by Patricia's warm smile. Though it quickly fell when she gave me a second glance. "Oh sweetie. What happened to your face?" She exclaimed. I looked at her confused and got up to see whatever it was in the mirror. My mother managed to scratch me when she slapped me and it left a red line from the top of my cheek to the indention by my nose. I fought back some tears. I didn't want to talk about it but Patricia had known me since I was little. She was like a second mom to me.
"My mom and I got into an argument an- and she slapped me." I shut my eyes to stop a few tears from falling. Her face immediately grew with concern. She pulled me into a warm protective hug.
"Oh honey, stay as long as you need, but you have to at least call her." She said. I nodded knowing that I had too. I let out a deep sigh dialing her number. "Mom," I called, "what Em," She croaked. "Why are you crying?" I inquired harshly. She acted as if I had done something to hurt her. "Because Em, it hurts the way you treat me. It really fucking does." She whispered the end sniffling. "I am not letting you play the victim right now! I'm going to stay with a friend for a few days." I stated. "Whatever Em, I'm not going to beg you to be with me. If life with me is that terrible. Than you're free to go. No longer caged up with me. But just know that everything you thought was wrong I did it all for you so that we would have it good! I am not a bad mother for wanting to give my baby girl the best I could!" She yelled in between sobs. My eyes began to sting. My breath was shallow and shaky. I hung up running to the bathroom. Patricia had returned to the room to give me some privacy. I tried to be quiet but I couldn't. I felt so conflicted with mixed emotions. I let out a grunt punching the mirror in front of me. It collapsed shattering to pieces. I sat a midst the broken pieces picking a piece up and squeezing it between my hand until the pain was too much. I threw the piece onto the ground watching as it broke into a few more pieces.
"Em," Tom jiggled the door knob. I didn't plan on opening it but I guess I didn't close it right because he stumbled inside. His face ensued with shock.
"I'll buy you a new one." I cried as more tears fell freely. He scoffed obviously more worried about the crying bleeding girl on his bathroom floor. He came and helped me up, then picked me up making me feel incredibly self conscious considering I wasnt very skinny. I told him to put me down but he just ignored me.
He sat me on his bed and got some gauze to wrap up my hand. I hadn't opened my eyes but when I did Mr. And Mrs. Hudson were in front of me with worried faces. We sat and talked about what was going on. I explained that I was just upset and stressed out. I offered to leave but they said it wasn't necessary. Patricia gave me a little speech about how I was a daughter she never had. I thanked them for being so nice to me and went to the bathroom to clean up the mess, but Tom was already sweeping up the broken pieces and throwing them away. I wiped up all the blood and any possible small glass pieces left. It had been a long day and it was barely 5 o'clock. Tom was called out of his room and I stayed on the bed. A few minutes later I was called in as well.
"Honey I just remembered we're attending a brunch tomorrow. We usually stay long enough for the barbecue and some swimming. So we'll be gone all day. I can't leave you alone--would you mind joining us?" She asked. I nodded my head. I always wanted to know what was served during "brunch". So I decided to go.
"Also get dressed kids. We're going out for dinner." She announced and we all went to a room to change and freshen up.
_____________________________________
The Next Day-
I woke up because I heard Tom dropping things in the shower. Checking to see the time was 7:30 and the brunch was at 9 I got up picking out some cute clothes that I kept at Toms because my mom was strict about what I wore.
I picked out some floral dress that had a few cut outs in the back and paired it with my all black converse. I waited for Tom to finish in the shower while I brushed my teeth and stuff. Finally it was my turn and I did my best to take a quick shower. I got out and blow dried my hair and straightened it. I put my outfit on and walked into the living room.
"What a lovely dress, Em." Mrs.Hudson gushed. I thanked her feeling my cheeks burn a little.
"You look ravishing dear." Mr. Hudson commented.
Once again I said thank you and took a seat while we waited for Tom. Which was pointless because as soon as I sat down Tom came out in a button up shirt and dark jeans. We all complimented each other once more and headed out the door. On the way Tom told me a little more about why they had a brunch. Basically it was your typical boring adult party. They would gather around to discuss their business and brag about how much more successful they were than the other. Of course everyone was passive aggressive so nothing got out of hand-- at the house anyway.
We pulled up to this big two story house that was more than sufficient for a family of four. I walked in uncomfortable. I had already notified Tom that I would be clinging to him the entire time because I didn't know any of these people.
We shared greetings and Tom and I went to the food table while Mr and Mrs. Hudson went into the living room to talk with the other adults. Tom and I made our way outside. Right in the middle was a big rectangular pool with chairs on either side. In the far left corner was a bar table with a few men ordering. Tom and I took a seat talking about the people here and school.
I peeked inside the house and thought I saw A.J. I hadn't talked to him yet. Though I didn't want to. We decided to stand back up since Tom couldn't sit down for too long. He would get antsy. I looked at the cut on my hand and quickly covered it back up. It was gross.
"Emily?" I heard someone call behind me. I turned around shocked to see Jake. He was dressed like Tom only with a blazer on top.
"Jake, hi." I said shocked to find him here. I mean what were the odds of running into him here.
Tom excused himself to go get more food I think. Jake and I went somewhere private to talk so that people wouldn't give us strange looks.
We entered some storage room with stuff everywhere. He shut the door scanning my body. I shifted my weight to one leg feeling self conscious. " What happened to your hand," he asked.
"I punched a mirror after I got into an argument with my mom." He took my hand and rubbed his thumb over the gauze on my knuckles.
"That's no way to treat a princess."
I took my hand back and offered a small smile. "Thanks, but I should get back out there. I'm sure my friend is looking for me." I said looking down leaving the room. I made my way around the house and found Tom back at the food table.
"What's wrong with you?" He asked with a mouth full of cantaloupe and its juices running down his chin. I smiled shaking my head reaching for a napkin to clean his face. He had terrible eating etiquette.
"I know what's wrong." He stated and walked away.
