She's Bad News

Chapter 10

Long Chapter!!! Woot!!!!!!

Sorry I made you guys wait. Forgive me??????

Chapter 10

Corinna’s POV

“We’re here,” Aaron said softly, glancing over at my stiff profile, obviously unsure of what to do.

I gave a jerky nod and reached for the door handle but before I could open it, my phone buzzed in my pocket. “I’ll meet you inside,” I said to Aaron who was already halfway out of his car.

“Okay,” he said quietly, understanding and sympathy in his gaze as he exited the vehicle and closed the door behind him leaving me alone inside.

“Hello,” I said into the receiver after staring at the screen for a while feeling terrified and resigned at the same time.

“Cory,” Sandra’s voice said in my ear. “You left the house just now, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” I said firmly, my voice betraying none of the hurt that was churning in my stomach as I let my head fall against the seat with a muffled thud.

“You shouldn’t have left,” she said quietly and I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, waiting to hear the satisfaction in her tone when she told me I couldn’t come back but instead, neither of us spoke, the only sound was our breathing.

“Why did you call, Sandra?” I asked finally, the events of the day congealing into an uncomfortable sensation inside of me, making me feel sick and exhausted at the same time.

“I was thinking about hitting you today,” she said after a beat, her voice hoarse and an undercurrent of shock in her words. “I didn’t even realize it until you pointed it out but I was thinking it.”

“It’s okay,” I said, clenching my hand into a fist as I concentrated on not crying. “I haven’t been the best step daughter in the world.”

“It’s not okay, Corinna. It’s not okay that I wanted to hit you and it’s not okay that you noticed before I did. I’ve been thinking about it ever since it happened and the only thing I can come up with,” she swallowed audibly and when she spoke again I could hear tears in her voice. “The only thing I can think of is that maybe you’ve seen the signs before. Has someone hit you in the past Corinna?”

“Sure,” I said mildly, ignoring my increased heart rate and my sweaty palms.

“Sweetheart,” Sandra said, her voice cracking halfway through the word. “Oh honey, I’m so sor─”

“Sorry?” I let out a snort, feeling frustrated at myself as I slipped so easily into my usual facade. “I’m not sorry. I usually give worse than I get, Sandra. When I get hit, I hit back so there’s really no need to be sorry.”

She was silent for a moment and I couldn’t even hear her breathing. I pulled the phone away from my ear to make sure we were still connected and when I returned it to its position, I heard her let out an exasperated breath. “Are you saying that you’ve been hit but it was because of your tendency to get into fights? Is that what you’re trying to tell me, Corinna?”

I let out a short chuckle, wanting this conversation to be over so I could curl up into a ball and forget about this entire day. “C’mon Sandra, what were you expecting me to say? Barb’s a bitch but she’s not abusive.” That was true, Barb had never hit me before but Barb had some friends that didn’t have the same aversion to violence as she did. “I have a short temper so I could tell when you were about to lose yours. That’s all so don’t lose any sleep over me, okay?”