The Life of Me

Page 24

This is a memory of her past. Abuse, drugs, and drinking will be mentioned. Thank you

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Alyssa

"Mommy! Look what I found!" 5-year-old Alyssa giggled, a ladybug cupped in her tiny hands. "Darling, it's beautiful. Do you want to show Daddy?" her mother, a young lady with long, straight, auburn hair, coppery skin and green eyes, asked sweetly. Alyssa shook her head. Her father would tell her to let it go, and that it had a disease on it.

"Eliza?" a male voice boomed. Alyssa's mother straightened. Putting on a fake smile to hide her annoyance, she asked sickly-sweet, "Yes, dear?" Alyssa's father was a well-built man.

He had bright green eyes, curly brown hair, coppery skin and a stern air around him.

"Could you get me a beer?" her father asked, glaring at her mother. "Y-yes, of course." Mrs Bowen squeaked, scurrying off to get what Mr Bowen had asked. He walked over to Alyssa, a stern look boring through her. "What do you have there, Alyssa?" he asked emotionlessly. Alyssa held out her shaky hands. "A-a ladybug," she quivered. Her father sneered, smacking the tiny creature out of her hands. "How many times must I tell you? Never touch animals!" he barked. Alyssa nodded weakly, trembling under her father's gaze. Mrs Bowen returned then, handing her husband a beer like he asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~10 years later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm all about that bass, I'm all about that bass!" 15-year-old Alyssa sang as she danced around her brightly-decorated room. Meghan Trainor's 'I'm About That Bass' was playing in her headphones.

"Alyssa, dear? Could you please quiet down the music?" her mother asked softly. Alyssa smiled, showing her purple and white braces. "Of course, Mom," she replied, turning down her music. Ms Bowen smiled weakly.

It'd been two months since the untimely death of Mr Alex Bowen.

Her mother had taken up a different job, she used to work at the Court House until she married the abusive man. Right after the marriage, he started to beat her mother and Alyssa. When she was younger, Alyssa sobbed, saying they should leave him. Mrs Bowen smiled at her, whispering that he had just had a bad day.

Over the years, it had started getting worse. Her father would beat her if she had anything lower than a B+ in her grades. Once, during 6th grade, Alyssa had gotten a B-, something her father never allowed. The moment she entered the house, Alyssa braced herself for the beatings to begin.

They were horrible.

Every day, Alyssa would end up going upstairs to wash the blood from her arms and legs. She never turned to cutting, never thought that suicide was the answer. When her friends saw the marks, she'd convince them that she had just gotten into an accident. Her friends didn't believe her, but they dropped the subject.

One day, her father had taken it too far.

Alyssa had arrived home an hour late, the bus she rode had gotten into a crash, no one was hurt, thankfully. Her father lashed out, punching, beating, kicking and yelling insults at her. Alyssa stood still, waiting till it all stopped.

The moment it did, she punched him in the jaw, a crack echoing throughout the house.

Maybe, just maybe, she could have convinced her mother to leave him before he died. The first few days, she'd drink. Then drinking turned to beatings. And that turned to boy toys.

That's when it all changed.

Alyssa was never the same after that.

She'd sneak out, despite her mother saying she couldn't. She started dating people, finding out who she 'fancied' as Cheyenne had put it. It was Cheyenne that actually got Lottie and Alyssa together.

The last football game of freshmen year, Cheyenne pushed Alyssa against one of the players, Lottie Simon. "S-sorry," Lottie stuttered, getting nudged by Annie. Alyssa rolled her eyes, turning her back to the football player. "Hey! You're my soulmate!" Lottie called, seeing the starfish she had Annie draw on the back of her neck during a pre-game Truth or Dare. Alyssa froze, spinning to face the player. Scoffing, she turned back to Cheyenne, raising a middle finger at Lottie.

The very next day, a paper aeroplane flew in front of Alyssa during lunch.

'Meet me under the bleachers after school.' it read in swirly writing.

Alyssa showed up under the bleachers after the final bell had rung, her Liberty Dragons sweater on. Lottie showed up a moment later. Alyssa drew her lips back, revealing her braces. "If you're gonna ask me out, think again player. You're not my type," she lied. Truth be told, Lottie was hot. Alyssa always wondered if she worked out. Lottie sighed, shaking her head. "You're really stubborn, you know that?" "I've been told." Alyssa deadpanned. Lottie smiled, revealing her chipped tooth. Alyssa inwardly swooned. Too cute, she thought. "So, wanna go to the carnival after school tomorrow?" Lottie asked shyly. Alyssa smiled widely. "I'd love to, I'll see you after school tomorrow." she mused, pecking Lottie's cheek before skipping off.

"I can't believe you found your soulmate before me!" Joshua whined, falling on to his back the day after Lottyssa, as the Pierce siblings called it, had their date. Alyssa blushed. "It wasn't a date!" she protested. "Suuure," they smirked in reply. Cheyenne rolled her eyes at her brother's childish actions. "What about Bailey?" she asked, reading her book. Joshua blushed, stuttering out an excuse and left. Cheyenne and Alyssa burst into laughter. "Glad you found that 'perfect one'" Cheyenne put air quotes around the words 'perfect one'. Alyssa smiled, how lucky she is to have friends like these and maybe, just maybe, a soon-to-be girlfriend.