Distant » Harry Styles

Chapter 4

I follow him down the steps and into the kitchen. The dinner table has a lot of food on it, considering that it's only me, Conrad, and both his parents. We all sit down and begin to eat. The chicken is delectable and I chew slowly to savor the taste of it. Mr. Cook asks Conrad and I about school, and he's pleased that both of us plan to go to top-notch college's after high school. Mr. Cook is a lawyer, and I have never seen him in anything other than a suit. He's usually away from home, and Mrs. Cook often works late at night. This leaves Conrad and I alone a lot so we can watch tons of movies.

After dinner is over, I thank Mrs. Cook for the wonderful food. I say my goodbyes and head home. When I arrive, my mom and sister are the only one's home.

"Where were you?" my mom asks.

I completely forgot to tell her that I wasn't going to be home for dinner. Great.

"I was at Conrad's. He invited me for dinner."

"Why didn't you tell me? "

"I forgot." and walk over to the staircase.

"Don't just walk away from me Alyssa!" she raises her voice.

I stop and turn around to face her.

"What?" I snap.

"I am sick and tired of your attitude." she says, her fists clenched.

"And I'm sick and tired of being around you." I say harsher than I intended.

I can see that my words had an effect on her, and she looks like she just got slapped across the face. Her shock quickly turns into anger as she gets up. She wobbles and regains balance as she starts to stomp towards me. Her face is inches away from mine, and I can smell form her breath that she's been drinking.

"Who do you think you are talking to me like that?" she yells in my face.

"Not a drunk like you!" I yell back.

She lifts her hand and smacks me hard. I lift my hand up to my cheek and touch the stinging skin. I would never lay a hand on my mother, and I will not now. No matter how much she's hurt me, I will never hurt her physically. What hurts her the most is the words that leave my mouth, and those words are the only weapons I need.

She lifts her hand to smack me again, but I catch a hold of her wrist before her hand makes contact with my face.

"Never," I say slowly, "touch me ever again."

And I run up the stairs and go into the bathroom. I splash some water onto my face where she hit me. The skin is red and it still stings. I hear a knock on the door, and I dab my face with a towel. I open the door, and see my sister standing just outside of it. She has tears in her eyes, and her bottom lip quivers.

I pull her into my arms and rest my chin on top of her head. I rub my hand up and down her spine trying to calm her down. She probably saw what happened.

"Are you alright?" she sobs into my shirt.

"I'm fine, Alice. There's nothing to worry about." I reassure her.

She looks up and sniffles, still holding onto me.

"Let's go in your room, yeah?" I suggest and she nods.

We walk into her room and she sits down on the bed. I check my phone and it was already nine o'clock. I pluck a tissue from her desk and hand it to her. She blows her nose and tosses it to the trash can beside her. I sit down beside her, wrapping one arm around her. She lays her head on my shoulder and holds my other hand.

"Why did mom hit you?" she asks.

"She was drunk."

"Is she addicted to alcohol now?" she asks her voice cracking.

"I don't know." I whisper.

"I want us to be a normal family Alyssa." she says softly.

"I do too, I do too." I say and kiss the top of her head.

It was only a short amount of time before Alice got tired.

"Will you stay in my room tonight?" she asks with big pleading eyes.

"I'll stay."

Alice lays down and I sit in the chair until I know that she is asleep. I fix her blankets, kiss her cheek, and walk out of her room silently into mine. I replay the image of my mother slapping me, and I shudder at the thought of her doing the same to my sister. Under no circumstances, will my mother ever lay a hand on Alice.

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