What happened to you?

What happened to you? A story of an abusee - Ch3

Throughout the day I tidied the house; by the time Jonah left for his 3pm to 6pm shift, the kitchen was glistening, and the hallways was clear, and I was hoovering the stairs - I avoided cleaning Jonah's room. It was hard work, and I changed my blouse to a vest top and my legging to just a skirt to keep cool, wincing at the sight of my bruises. The vacuum cleaner was loud, rattling, and pretty damn decrepit, but I was grateful for the racket - I didn't have to think for once, I was just there, keeping busy. Jonah had even been vaguely non-mean. Not nice, exactly, but he hadn't hit me. That in itself was a rare treat.

I dropped the hoover for a second as I finally heard strains of my old-style ringtone, dashing to grab it and almost killing myself on the stairs in the process. I answered just in time.

"Ari?"

"OMIGOD OCTOBER EVANS-HYDES I'VE BEEN CALLING SINCE FIRST PERIOD WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!!" I had to hold the phone away from my ear so as not to get deafened by my best friend's screams. I winced a little as the movement caught my stiff wrenched shoulder. And then it hit me - the sound hadn't come entirely from my phone. In fact, I could hear the screams reverbrating down my street. Dashing to the window I could see her at the top of the road, painstakingly checking every door for the right number. I admit, I panicked.

"Stay where you are!" I wailed down the phone, pulling the deadbolt on the front door as I did, before dashing into my bedroom.

"What do you mean?" She asked from the phone, but I could hear her still walking, her steps echoed by Ariel's expensive earpiece. I scrambled into a long sleeved top, pulling my full-length legging on just in time for the doorbell. I sighed, hanging up.

I breathed for a second before answering, thankful that my bruises were covered and the house was clean for once. As I swung the door opened, I fixed my cheery face on.

"Hey Ari!" I sang, grinning at her. She opened her mouth to greet me, but it stayed open, her expression turning to a grimace as she stared at my face.

"What is it?" I asked, worried. She reached out tentatively to poke my jaw, and I flinched.

"Ow!" I said, then realised why it hurt. I had a line of purpling ugly bruises along my jaw line, from Jonah. I hadn't covered them, I had totally forgot. I froze for a second before forcing a giggle.

"Oh, these. I fell down the stairs and scraped my jaw on the bottom step. You know me, a total klutz." I shrugged and smiled at her, praying that my eyes didn't show any panic. She looked at me for a second, before nodding slowly.

"Mhm." I could tell she didn't buy it. But there was no way she would guess the truth, especially if she thought the bruises were only on my jaw. "You're sure you okay? Sometimes you have an expression like... Anyway, is this why you ditched me?"

"Um, yeah, my step-dad was worried that I might have a concussion, so he said I had to stay home." I rolled my eyes, as if I thought Jonah were being overbearingly concerned for my well-being... I only wished.

"Oh, okay. But you missed the algebra test, lucky you!" She said, mock-pouting. I laughed, thinking at least one good thing had come of today.

"Wow, my stair-klutz-ness has awesome timing." I grinned at her. I hopped out the door, closing it behind me, and linked arms with her. "C'mon, let's go for a walk, I've been cooped up in the house all day." In truth I was a little upset - as glad as I was to see Ari, I was not glad to see the way she was looking at my house. The front of the building looked decrepit and shabby, paint peeling and windows dirty, and the patch of lawn in front was weedy and overgrown. The concrete path to the front door was cracked, and ants fled as we stepped along it. Ari had never seen my house, and her eyes were wide as she was faced with my money-status. Ariel had always been rich - her very heritage was rich, going far back to some lordship or something. Ariel didn't interact much with other kids at school, so she wouldn't have spoken or got to know any poor kids - besides me, and she'd never noticed it in me before. The silence was awkward as we walked back up the road, and as I looked straight ahead, I could feel her eyes on my face. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her studying me, her eyes narrowed - but when I turned to look at her quizzically she merely smiled. I swallowed the sudden nervous lump in my throat before speaking.