The Land of the Broken Hearted

One

Lyla Greene is 18 years old and hates every year she's been alive. Well not every year. Before she hit double digits everything was somewhat normal she still had her daddy and her mom still had her marbles. On her 13th birthday she woke up to the sound of her dad's footsteps walking out the door. She can remember watching him through her bedroom window upstairs leaving in his car. She still remembers him looking up at her window and blowing her one last kiss before he disappeared forever. On her 14th party she woke up to finding her mom passed out on the kitchen floor drunk. Not a happy birthday heard. Lyla lost track of her birthday after that. That's when she realized how little her birthday meant to anyone. The only good birthday she's had since her 13th was her 17th.
On her 17th birthday at 11:30 at night she heard a tap on her window. When Lyla opened it, Trevor stuck his head in. Trevor is Lyla's best friend. Has been since 14. He's the only person she loves. Trevor would do anything for her. Well anyways, on my 17th after he popped his head in he looked up at me. I remember the twinkle in his eyes. He pulled out a chocolate cupcake with a candle in it from the little box he was carrying. He put his finger up to his lips and made a quiet notion. That's when Trevor snuck out of my room but right before he kissed my cheek. I smiled for the first time in forever that night. I've never been more thankful for him.
Back to reality
I remember waking up to an obnoxious beeping noise right in my ear. I really wanted to just roll over and sleep but I know to get out of here I have to keep my grades like they are.
"Lyla Jane Greene! Get your ass down here now!" My mother yells at me every morning. Well besides the mornings where she's too drunk to function. She's never hit me before but she has made it pretty clear that I'm a worthless whore even though I'm still a virgin. "I'm coming Mom!" I yelled back. I get up out of bed and check the clock. It reads 6:45. I still have time to shower before school.
By now my mom probably forgot why she wanted me and went into the kitchen to get some rum and coke. Her favorite morning beverage
Instead of going downstairs I picked out my clothes for the day. Since it was Summer in 2 more months I decided on a pair of shorts and my favorite black Fall Out Boy t-shirt. I laid the clothes out smoothly on my bed. After that I walked into the bathroom to start the shower. Since mom is almost always drunk she doesn't take a shower very often so I usually get the bathroom to myself. Over the years I've learned to cope with the fact that I'm more of a mother to her than she is to me. I realized that my family wasn't a family anymore at my 8th grade graduation when every other student around me had parents run up to them and give them hugs and take pictures with them while I waited, by myself, outside on the sidewalk for somebody to take me home. That's when Trevor walked up to me and say by me. He asked me if I needed a ride and I broke down. He held me and told me that it would be alright. Trevor never asked questions that night. Everyday at school the next year he would always sit by me at lunch.
I was never a popular kid because I didn't have the new shoes that every girl had or a cell phone or anything like that so when Trevor sat by me he got a lot of weird looks.
Back to present day.
Showering was always my favorite thing to do during the day. I felt like maybe if I scrubbed hard enough then maybe, just maybe, I could wash away my past.
When I stepped in the water was freezing cold. It didn't bother me much. I'm use to it. Once I was in the shower I started thinking over and over again, "I can leave this life soon. I can leave this life soon."
College is only a few months away. That's if I get accepted anyways. Maybe since I've made good grades almost all my life I can get a scholarship and not have to pay so much. My job at The Diner can only pay for so much.
The Diner is an old restaurant with a 70's theme. Checkered floor, waitresses in those stupid aprons with a yellow dress underneath, even those stupid white shoes are all part of the diner.
After school I'll have to go to work. With that thought I put on my shorts and my black tee with my chucks and ran downstairs with backpack in tow. Before mom could see me I ran into the kitchen,grabbed a blueberry granola bar, grabbed the car keys to the old beat up ford. Her mom never told her to have a good day or to be safe when she went out. Her mom just didn't care enough about her is what she always thought it was.
Every once in a while I would have terrible thoughts. Sometimes I cling to the possibility of death as an escape. "Maybe if I died God would show mercy and bring me into His kingdom." ,or "if I just took these pills and slept for eternity I'd be happier." is what she thinks about at rough times. For some odd reason it gives her hope. She's never told Trevor this because he'd flip out and make her see a physcologist. Which see didn't really want to do. I didn't realize that I was pulling up to the school. I pulled into a parking lot and sat there for a few minutes because I was early. Apparently so was Trevor. I heard a knock on the passenger side window and reached over to open up the door. Trevor plopped down into the seat.
"What's up Shorty?", Trevor asked like usual. " Nothing much Mr. Long Legs. Just wasting minutes of my precious life talking to you." I replied. He faked a hurt heart and told me I wounded him. All I could do was laugh.