The Boy Next Door. (:

The Boy Next Door- Chapter 12

"Come on Ava, we need to leave." I gently picked her up and carried her out of the room quickly. 

"Why are you crying?" She asked. I stopped and turned to look in the mirror that hung on the wall in the entry hall. I hadn't realized I was crying. It was pretty obvious, along with the fact that I had been hit, as there was a red mark in the shape of a hand on my cheek.  

"Nothing, it's okay." I ran out of the house. Ava clung to me with her small hands, scared. I could hear him calling after me, but I would never turn back. 

When I reached Hailey's house the front door was already open, Hailey's mom standing in the doorway. 

"Colby honey, are you guys okay?" She asked, concerned. How did she know what had happened? 

"We're fine." I replied, confused. 

She led us inside and into the kitchen where Hailey sat, tears in her own eyes. When she saw us she ran forward and wrapped her arms around me. The window. She must've seen it all through the window. Crap. Becky and Ty walked in as Hailey let go and walked over to her spot at the table. Becky's eyes lit up when she saw Ava and she ran over and took her from my arms. I ran my hands through my hair and touched my sore cheek. I winced. Hailey's mom grimaced when she saw this, and she ran over to the freezer and got an ice pack. I took it from her and held it against my face. It stung at first, then stopped after a few minutes.  

"Sweetie, would you like to call your mom?" Kim, Hailey's mom, asked. She held out a phone. 

I nodded and took the phone into the family room. I dialed the number, and waited until she answered. 

"Hello?" She answered.  

"Mom?" I asked, I didn't want to cry but I was scared. I never knew dad would hit me.  

"Yeah, honey what is it?"  

"D-Dad," I stuttered. 

"What did he do?" I heard the panic in her voice. 

"H-he hit me." 

"What?!" She raged. When Mom got really mad, or frantic, she spoke in her first language, Spanish. That's exactly what she did. "Esa maldita duchas vaginales, que haría algo así a mis bebés? ¿Qué debo hacer? ¿A quién debo llamar? Bebé ¿estás bien? ¿Qué pasa con Ava?"  

"Mom, calm down. Can you just come home?" 

"Of course baby, call Ben and tell him to come home too." 

"Okay." 

"Baby, where are you at?" 

"Hailey's house, me and Ava are fine, I think he left the house."  

"Okay, I'm leaving right now." She hung up. 

I called Ben, who was with his girlfriend. He ignored my first three calls but I guess he figured it was an emergency by the fourth. 

"What do you want?" He asked, angry. I heard a girl giggle in the background. I rolled my eyes. 

"Mom told me to tell you to come home." 

"No, I'm having fun." 

"You need to come home, it's an emergency." 

"What, do you need help changing Ava's diapers?" He said sarcastically, the giggle came again. 

"If you weren't such a jerk, maybe you'd know that Ava has been potty trained for three months!" I yelled, hanging up. 

I sat there, my head in my hands for a long time. Kim eventually came out. She looked at my cheek and explained that it might bruise, probably not too bad though. We sat and talked about what had happened, until finally, my mom showed up. Without knocking, she ran inside, her heels clicking wildly as she flung her arms around me, kissing my good cheek. She spoke rapidly in Spanish and I made out a few of the words, but not many. Becky brought Ava in and handed her to my Mom, who attacked her with kisses too. Kim and Becky left the room after watching for a few minutes. Mom asked me everything that happened, cursing under her breath as I explained. After about thirty minutes, there was a knock at the door. Tyler came out and opened it. Ben stood in the doorway, looking worried. He walked over, his hands in his pockets and sat in a chair. Mom just looked at him, tears in her eyes, as she shook her head. I had told her what had happened with him too. 

"Colby, Ava, why don't you guys go into the kitchen while I talk to Bennett." I nodded, taking Ava and walking to the kitchen, where I set her down. I stood in the doorway, listening to their conversations. I knew it had to be a lecture, because Mom used Ben's full name. Ben stood and walked over to the couch, where he sat, looking at the floor. 

"Honey, what has gotten into you?" She asked, disappointed. 

"I'm sorry, I know I've been a jerk." 

"Oh, I know you have. But why?" 

"Well, Mom, I just have alot of stuff going on at school, and ever since Dad left, it's been hard." 

"It's been hard on all of us, but you don't see any of us acting this way." 

"I'm sorry, I don't know what else to say." 

"You are grounded for a month, and I want you to apologize to Colby and Ava." 

"Okay." I was surprised to see him take the punishment with no retorting.  

"Did you see your dad's car at home?" 

"No, he left." 

She nodded and instructed him to get us while she went back to the house. She wasn't going to call the cops? Great he was just going to get away with this.