Beauty and the Beast (kurtofsky)

Slushied

TW: Cursing/Abuse

He straightened out his Letterman jacket and shook out all the tired, groggy feelings he had in those moments. He checked the time on the alarm clock that sat upon his bed side table. It was 7:42am. He needed to be at McKinley, and sitting in his homeroom class in 18 minutes. If he really rushed, maybe he could make it in time, but did he have the guts to go downstairs and face what he regretted to call a father? It was something he dreaded daily. What he really wanted to do was to be able to just hop out the back window in the corner of his bedroom. His legs could survive that jump, right? Just tuck and roll, he thought. Putting this ridiculous thought from his mind, he decided to just face his fears that resided outside his door. The moment he opened it and stepped out, he heard a voice that gave a deep bellow.

"David Karofsky! Do you have any idea what time it is?" His father yelled at him from the foot of the stairs. He must've been standing there for a while, waiting for him to take his first steps out of his room. Dave began his trek down the stairs, on a beeline to his car as well as his escape. He did all he could to put his father's words out of his mind, but they felt like they were echoing and bouncing all throughout the entirety of his head, which made it quite difficult to ignore.

"You have 17 minutes to get to school and you know that it's a 20 minute drive! I will not tolerate any more of these tardies, David!" As his father spoke he continued his hard work at blocking out all of his father's criticism in order to keep himself calm. His father could tell with certainty that Dave's focus was not solely on him, however. He stormed up the stairs to meet him halfway, getting in his face to be sure to intimidate him. This was the only way he knew how to get his point across.

"Are you even listening to me, David?!" His father's finger drilled deep into his sternum. He kept himself from wincing at the pain. His father often forgot that he was as strong as he was for his age. He has a very natural muscular build, and so did Dave. Those genetics were how he had such a natural talent for football.

"Yes, sir." Dave lifted head to meet his father's eyes, using all the energy he could muster to consciously keep a straight face. He kept a good bit of his focus on breathing as well. He couldn't allow himself to lash out at his father, not again, not now. His straight, yet deliberately serious face ended up breaking at that thought of what his dad had done to him last time he allowed that to happen.

"It doesn't look like you are, David! Now that I think about it, I don't know if you ever listen to me anymore! Every word that I say to you is important! Do you understand?" He had taken notice of Dave's faltering.

"Yes, sir. I understand." Dave continued to focus on his breathing and kept his cool.

"Say it! Say that you will always listen to the things I teach you, because I know best!" His father squinted at him, anticipating him to be able to repeat back those exact words he had just said to him.

"I will always listen to the things you teach me, because you know best." Dave tried to act like he meant the words that he spoke, but he felt a burning feeling within his chest like his heart was making sure to let him know that he didn't meant a word it. This was a very familiar feeling for Dave, though. The things that he said these days, and the words, which he chose. He knew he never meant a majority of them.

His dad groaned at him very obnoxiously, almost as if to say, "I know you didn't mean a single word of that". It wouldn't be surprising to Dave if he could tell, since he's never had quite a knack being able to act, or simply just lie. His father pushed him out of his way, almost knocking him over the side of the railing.

"Watch it!" Dave cried out in fear, and as he did, he immediately realized this terrible mistake he had made. He slapped both of his hands over his mouth. This outburst caused his father to stop dead in his tracks. He turned back around toward him slowly, and gave Dave a glare that could kill. After what seemed like a few seconds of his father's contemplation, he ended up punching his son, square in the nose.