I Spun the Bottle

I Spun the Bottle: Chapter Twenty-Three

          He opened his mouth again to say something, but Taylor tugged on his arm forcefully. “We’re leaving,” she all but snarled at us.

          As Taylor towed David along with her down the sidewalk, I watched quietly. Stunned. After a few seconds, I turned and headed to my house. When I opened the door, I kept my face directed to the floor. The last thing to needed to top off this awful day was Landon finding out what happened.

          “Hey.”

          The sound of my brother’s voice made me instantly freeze. “Hi,” I replied quietly.

          “Wasn’t I supposed to pick you up from your friend’s house?”

          “Yeah…I got a ride home from someone.” My body finally seemed to unfreeze itself, and I tried to casually look like I was just going to my room.

          “Who?” he asked, turning around in the couch.

          “David,” I mumbled, still walking slowly towards my room. Realizing that my swollen cheek was on my right side, and Landon was on my left, I decided to pick my head up.

          “David…that name sounds familiar…”

          “You met him remember? He took me home when I had that swollen ankle.”

          “That asshole?” From the corner of my eye, I could see him wrinkle his nose. “You’re still talking to him?”

          “No….” I trailed off, awkwardly.  Not anymore. Before Landon could press any further, I cut him off. “I’m really tired. And I have a lot of homework to do, so can we talk about this later?”

          “Sure, fine with me.” Landon shrugged. “Oh yeah, Mom’s in a meeting so she’ll be coming home late tonight. But Dad should be home soon.”

          “Alright,” I called back to him, as I turned to enter the hallway.

          Once I knew I was out of Landon’s sight, I made a beeline for the bathroom. I turned on the light, and inspected the damage Taylor had done. On my left cheek was a dark pink, almost red-ish, hand-shaped welt across my face.

          I lightly poked the center of the welt, and hissed lowly. It was a dull, stinging pain that made me grit my teeth. I stared at the welt for a moment, before I looked for a clean cloth in one of the drawers. Turning on the faucet, I placed the small cloth under it. The fabric absorbed the cold water, and I could almost feel the pain in my cheek subside.

          After wringing it out, I cautiously pressed it against the welt. At first, it stung like heck. The feeling of the rough, damp cloth only made it feel worse, but the pain began to subside, into a dull buzzing feeling. My cheek was no doubt going to be swollen tomorrow. I shook my head, hoping that it wouldn’t be too noticeable.

          After staring at my cheek for a moment longer, I turned off the light and scurried to my bedroom. Once I was inside, I suddenly felt very tired. I glanced at my bed. It looked very inviting at the moment. For a second, I debated whether I should start on my homework…or take a nap. I went with the nap.

          I flopped on my bed, but carefully made sure my cheek wasn’t pressed against the comforters. And then before I knew it, my eyes shut…and I fell asleep.

***

(The Next Morning)

           Beep! Beep! Beep! Bee—